By Nicholas Whyte and Colette Fozard, Worldcon 75 Hugo Administration: Next year’s Hugo nominations will be the most complex ever, with six finalists for each award, a new tallying system, and a special category for Best Series. We are developing new software solutions for the Hugos – and we need to test them.
We are therefore looking back as well as looking forward – and we are inviting Filers to think themselves back to 1979, and the SF and Fantasy of that year, for the purpose of giving us fresh data to test the software with.
In order to avoid any confusion about the purpose of the exercise — specifically, to avert any suggestion that this might be a re-do of the 1980 Hugos — we are not pushing the 1980 Timewarp Project more widely on social media. At the same time feel free to quietly invite others to participate.
Please direct any comments or queries to [email protected].
Why 1980?
This was, frankly, a fairly arbitrary decision. We wanted to choose a year which was not too far back in the mists of time, but also not so recent as to reopen unnecessary controversy. By fortunate coincidence, the full counting details from 1980, including the long lists, have been preserved at smofinfo.com/wsfs/Hugos/1980%20–%20Hugo%20voting%20details.pdf so we can see what fans at the time nominated. (Of course there were different categories then — the soon-to-be-abandoned Gandalf Award, only one Dramatic Presentation category, only one Professional Editor category, “Non-Fiction” rather than “Related Work”, no Graphic Story, no Semiprozine, no Fancast, no Series.)
The 1980 Timewarp Project obviously doesn’t replace or in any way invalidate the real historic 1980 Hugo nominations, final ballot or winners, least of all our gracious host here at File 770 – it just helps the Worldcon 75 Hugo administrators test the systems in advance of the 2017 nominations and vote. The Hugo Awards for 1980 were presented at Noreascon Two in Boston; those rewards remain part of history and will never be changed.
So what are you doing?
From 17 to 31 October, you are invited to make nominations for the Hugo categories under the rules for 2017, but with respect to the state of the genre and fandom of 1979. Anyone can nominate, but only electronic nominations will be accepted.
We will publish the full dataset of submitted nominations (though without submitters’ names attached) and the final Timewarp Ballot that would have emerged from those nominations if the current rules had been in force in 1980. We will not then proceed to any further vote – the Timewarp Ballot, and the dataset of nominations, are the end of the process.
Please go ahead and get your participation login at https://1980.worldcon.fi/ – comments welcome here or via the email address above.
MEMORY-JOGGING RESOURCES
- The full Hugo results, including the long-lists (7-page PDF, last two pages in wrong order): http://smofinfo.com/wsfs/Hugos/1980%20–%20Hugo%20voting%20details.pdf
- Nebula winners and shortlists: http://www.sfadb.com/db/Nebula_Awards_1980
- Locus Awards: http://www.sfadb.com/db/Locus_Awards_1980
- World Fantasy Awards: http://www.sfadb.com/db/World_Fantasy_Awards_1980
- British Fantasy Awards: http://www.sfadb.com/db/British_Fantasy_Awards_1980
- BSFA Awards: http://www.sfadb.com/db/British_SF_Association_Awards_1980
- John W. Campbell Memorial Award: http://www.sfadb.com/db/John_W_Campbell_Memorial_Award_1980
- Analog Readers’ Poll: http://www.sfadb.com/db/Analog_Readers_Poll_1980
- Balrog Awards: http://www.sfadb.com/db/Balrog_Awards_1980
- Ditmar Awards: http://www.sfadb.com/db/Ditmar_Awards_1980
- Fan Activity Achievement Awards: http://www.sfadb.com/db/Fan_Activity_Achievement_Awards_1980
And more generally:
- The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction: http://sf-encyclopedia.com/
- The Internet Speculative Fiction Database: http://www.isfdb.org/
- The Internet Movie Database: http://www.imdb.org/
Thanks Mike! (Ticky!)
Wow, I have to laugh! When I started going to NESFA meetings in ’72 or ’73, after LACon II and before Torcon II, I casually mentioned the idea of Noreascon II to my future friend Spike McPhee, I can’t really remember who screamed at the notion, but I know that someone did (I think Jill Eastlake was the first, and Leslie Turek might have been the 2nd). Dick Harter just laughed, as he often did, and then Tony Lewis had a more measured ‘Its just too soon to start talking about the idea.’
The first Noreascon was also my first convention (my dad drove me in from the western suburbs and dropped me off at the Sheraton for the weekend). I moved away from Boston to the Twin Cities in 1978, and I had to fly back home to attend the convention that I had thought was such a great idea.
I can hardly wait to see what I might have voted for the first time around, and see what I’d want to vote for now.
Jo Walton’s 1980 Hugos post (from her “Revisiting the Hugos” series on Tor.com) might also be useful. Plenty of discussion in the comments too.
Worlds Without End also has a list of publications (mostly novels) by year.
1979
Well, that’s fortuitous.
Last year, in response to a comment mentioning Thomas M. Disch’s skewering of the 1979 “Best Of” works (written as he called them, by “The Labor Day Crowd”), I sought out and read Nebula Winners Fifteen. So I’ve got a head start on feeling as though I’ve read enough of these to commit a faux nomination ballot.
X-men: Dark Phoenix Saga is from 1980. Will try to do a bit more research on Best Graphic Novel.
Wait, should be comics fron 1979, right? Arrrrr, missing out on Judge Death.
Sounds cool, though I don’t know as I have the time to do it, what with reading for next year’s Hugos.
I have the mindset, though — this was only one year before I started voting for the Hugos. And I’m pretty sure I’ve read at least 80% of both finalists and longlist.
I’ll have to brush up on comics and TV shows. In ’79 I was only reading Superman/Action/etc. Ooh, Original Flavor BSG fits there, at least the last half of the season.
Not sure if I’m really the right person to participate – I was six in 1979. And while I did read a lot of SFF novels and comics from 1979 later on, watched TV and movies (both at the time and later), my knowledge of 1979 short fiction is limited to what stood the test of time and was reprinted. Ditto for magazines, fanzines and the like.
Some ideas of what was going on in comics:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eagle_Award_(comics)
Cora: Not sure if I’m really the right person to participate – I was six in 1979. And while I did read a lot of SFF novels and comics from 1979 later on, watched TV and movies (both at the time and later), my knowledge of 1979 short fiction is limited to what stood the test of time and was reprinted. Ditto for magazines, fanzines and the like.
They’re not re-awarding the Hugos, you know. It’s perfectly fine for people to throw Kyra’s evil dice and pick a bunch of nominations by that method, so it’s perfectly fine for you to nominate based on what you know. 😀
Oh, duh, the Eisners. Back when SDCC really was about comics.
As a follow-up – what JJ said! This is for data gathering purposes and to load-test the system, so the more data the merrier!
But if it’s 1980 won’t I be too busy fighting Thatcher to vote?
Meanwhile, I’m over here fighting Franz Josef Strauss and grumbling about voting for the lesser evil. Okay, actually I’m six, have just started school and am not eligible to vote, but I still gleaned that Strauss was bad news.
Meanwhile, I just signed up for this. Still stunned by the actual novel ballot, considering what was eligible that year.
The Eisner Award didn’t exist in 1980.
Jeremiah debuted in 1979:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeremiah_(comics)
UK TV in 1979:
Doctor Who
Blakes 7
Sapphire and Steel
Quatermass
Tales of the Unexpected – but I don’t think any quite crossed into actual SF
Quick question: Do Battlestar Galactica two-parters and Doctor Who serials count as short or long form? Doctor Who is probably long, because the typical serial would be four 25 minute episodes. Ditto for the Captain Future anime, which was also broadcast in serials of approx. four episodes.
And Peter Madsens first comic album Valhalla:
http://europeanclassiccomic.blogspot.se/2015/10/valhalla.html?m=1
Good point – I’d assumed short form but yeah 100 minutes for a four-parter is Long Form
Judge Dredd, The Day The Law Died:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judge_Cal
More comics from beyond the US/UK (well, actually from Belgium and Holland):
Yoko Tsuno by Roger Leloup had an unabashed SF adventure in 1979 called Daughter of the Wind
The Belgian fantasy comic Aria by Michel Weyland debuted in 1979.
Storm, a fantasy comic by Martin Lodewijk, Dick Matena and Don Lawrence had two adventures in 1979, The Last Fighter and The People of the Desert
Valerian and Laureline apparently took a hiatus in 1979, more the pity.
Franka by Henk Kuijpers had a massive adventure in 1978/1979 published in two albums entitled The Return of the Noorderzon and The Wreck of the Freighter. I actually own both, but have to reread them to see whether there is any SFF content, since Franka was quite often straight adventure.
Suske en Wiske a.k.a. Spike and Suzy by Paul Geerts and Willy Vandersteen: Two 1979 adventures, De pompenplanters and De adellijke ark, are clearly SFF.
I didn’t realize that both City of Death and Hitchhiker’s Guide came out in 1979. Douglas Adams had quite the year.
I don’t know when episodes started being shortened, but I expect it was after 1980, so two 50+ minute episodes should probably count as long form. But AFAIC celluloid died for the original BSG.
I’ll always have a soft spot for the original Battlestar Galactica. And there were a handful of good episodes in the latter half of the first and only season.
TV series running in 1979 included:
US:
– Mork and Mindy
– Wonder Woman
– The Amazing Spider-Man
– Buck Rogers in the 25th Century
– The New Adventures of Flash Gordon
– Battlestar Galactica
– Sword of Justice
UK:
– Quatermass
– Tales of the Unexpected
– Blake’s 7
– Doctor Who
There’s some really interesting stuff on the movie front from 79 — Alien, Mad Max, Time After Time, All That Jazz (hey, it had an Angel of Death), Nosferatu, Life of Brian, Apocalypse Now (all the hallucinations have too count for something, right?), Quintet, Being There, the first Star Trek movie, Moonraker, The Black Hole, Meteor…
Ticky!
Films released in 1979 included:
– Alien
– The Amityville Horror
– The Black Hole
– Buck Rogers in the 25th Century
– Dracula (w/ Frank Langella)
– Goldengirl
– Love at First Bite
– Mad Max
– Meteor
– Moonraker
– The Muppet Movie
– Nosferatu the Vampyre
– Phantasm
– Prophecy
– Quintet
– Star Trek: The Motion Picture
– Time After Time
– The Visitor
JJ: Star Trek, the Motionless Picture! There’s something to vote behind No Award! But wait — then where will I rank The Black Hole?
Mike Glyer: Star Trek, the Motionless Picture! There’s something to vote behind No Award! But wait — then where will I rank The Black Hole?
There was a wealth of No Awardable films that year, wasn’t there? Goldengirl, OMG. I saw that some years later and thought, WTF?
But as we are only nominating, and not voting on a final ballot, I suppose I will give TMP a sympathy nomination, for although it failed, at least it failed while daring greatly. 😉
Bartimaeus: Hitchhiker’s was on the 1979 ballot, meaning it came out in 1978. Wikipedia says the second series was first aired in 1980, so that’s too late. Rule 3.4.2 says a work published outside the US can be eligible when it is first published in the US, but the earliest US broadcast I know of (for any episodes) is 1981 — also too late for this ballot. Rule 3.4.3 says that the Business Meeting may extend eligibility in the case of very limited release — but there will be no meeting before the votes are cast. And 3.2.2 looks like it overrides these by saying (simplified) works can’t appear on multiple ballots. So HHG is out, however much I feel that it was stiffed by a combination of weak distribution and a disproportionate-for-a-UK-convention number of members from the US.
Chip Hitchcock: Hitchhiker’s was on the 1979 ballot, meaning it came out in 1978. Wikipedia says the second series was first aired in 1980, so that’s too late.
I figured Bartimaeus was referring to the novelization of HHGttG, which was published in 1979.
So the only two Saphire and Steel episodes eligible for the Timewarp Project are Rhymes and Clocks and The Railway Station. I think they’re both long form. Hmmmmmmm. Rhymes and Clocks is probably better, but The Railway Station is better paced. Hmmmmm.
Yep I was referring to the book version of Hitchhiker’s. Sorry, should have made that more clear.
All my initial short form choices are turning into longform choices. I haven’t re-watched Saphire and Steel for many years, but from vague impressions I was going to go with the Railway Station one.
As for Hitchhikers – the novel version came out in 1979… [ETA. as JJ & Bartimaeus just pointed out]
Camestros- I have them all on DVD. Come on up and watch!
Nicholas, I encourage your webmaster to embrace Universal browser encoding. The Timewarp pages work in Edge and Chrome, but do not appear to work in Internet Explorer 11.
Yes, everyone should upgrade to something else, but a lot of people have not done so, and IE 11 is still being supported by Microsoft with security updates. (I haven’t bothered checking anything other than Edge, Chrome, and IE, but perhaps someone who has other browsers would be willing to do so.)
@JJ: Good grief. The only thing on the page is a Javascript file that doesn’t work in all browsers (I wonder if/how well it works with assistive technology). Hopefully their actual Hugo nominating/voting pages will be better. Two errors show up even in browsers that render the page fine.
Regardless, since I don’t really care that my main browser won’t show anything on the page (my alternate, Firefox, handles it okay; gah I really need to get around to upgrading MacOS at home… ::blush::), this is a fun concept for how to stress test their software. 🙂 My time is limited right now, but I’ll bookmark this post to remind myself to try to participate.
1979 also includes the n-th iterations of Doraemon, Ultraman, and Gatchaman, but it also most notably has the launch of the Gundam franchise, with Mobile Suit Gundam
Star Blazers, which I think is a dub or adaptation of Yamato also came out that year
Other movies from 1979:
The Brood
Stalker
The Castle of Cagliostro
The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe
The Very Same Münchhausen
A Lyste Compyled from Multytudinous Sources to Ayde in the Constryction of Nomynation Ballotes
(no warrantyes stated or implyed)
Novel
A Planet Called Treason, by Orson Scott Card
A World Between, by Norman Spinrad
A.K.A.: A Cosmic Fable, by Rob Swigart
Australian Gnomes, by Robert Ingpen
Blind Voices, by Tom Reamy
Castle Roogna, by Piers Anthony
Catacomb Years, by Michael Bishop
Class Six Climb, by William E. Cochrane
Daughter of the Bright Moon, by Lynn Abbey
Death’s Master, by Tanith Lee
Displaced Person, by Lee Harding
Dragondrums, by Anne McCaffrey
Engine Summer, by John Crowley
Fires of Azeroth, by C.J. Cherryh
Harpist in the Wind, by Patricia A. McKillip
Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams
Janissaries, by Jerry Pournelle
Jem, by Frederik Pohl
Juniper Time, by Kate Wilhelm
Kindred, by Octavia E. Butler
Kinsman, by Ben Bova
Malafrena, by Ursula K. Le Guin
Mayflies, by Kevin O’Donnell, Jr
Moon in the Ground, by Keith Antill
On Wings of Song, by Thomas M. Disch
Roadmarks, by Roger Zelazny
Sorcerer’s Son, by Phyllis Eisenstein
SS-GB, by Len Deighton
Stardance, by Spider and Jeanne Robinson
Strange Eons, by Robert Bloch
Tales of Nevèrÿon, by Samuel R. Delany
The Dancers of Arun, by Elizabeth A. Lynn
The Dark Bright Water, by Patricia Wrightson
The Day of the Klesh, by M.A. Foster
The Dead Zone, by Stephen King
The Door Into Fire, by Diane Duane
The Drawing of the Dark, by Tim Powers
The Face, by Jack Vance
The Faded Sun: Kutath, by C.J. Cherryh
The Fountains of Paradise, by Arthur C. Clarke
The Last Call of Mourning, by Charles L. Grant
The Last Enchantment, by Mary Stewart
The Merman’s Children, by Poul Anderson
The Palace, by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
The Road to Corlay, by Richard Cowper
The Stand, by Stephen King
The Starfollowers of Coramonde, by Brian Daley
The Two Faces of Tomorrow, by James P. Hogan
The Visitors, by Clifford D. Simak
The Web Between the Worlds, by Charles Sheffield
Timescape, by Gregory Benford
Titan, by John Varley
Transfigurations, by Michael Bishop
Watchtower, by Elizabeth A. Lynn
Novella
Enemy Mine, by Barry B. Longyear
Far Rainbow, by Arkady & Boris Strugatsky
Fireship, by Joan D. Vinge
Ker-Plop, by Ted Reynolds
Mars Masked, by Frederik Pohl
Petey, by T. E. D. Klein
Silver Shoes for a Princess, by James P. Hogan
Songhouse, by Orson Scott Card
Spirals, by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle
The Battle of the Abaco Reefs, by Hilbert Schenck
The Dancer in the Darkness, by Thomas F. Monteleone
The Jaren, by Frederick Longbeard (Barry B. Longyear)
The Moon Goddess and the Son, by Donald Kingsbury
The Napoli Express, by Randall Garrett
The Story Writer, by Richard Wilson
The Tale of Gorgik, by Samuel R. Delany
The Unlimited Dream Company, by J.G. Ballard
Novelette
Beer Run, by Michael McCollum
Blood Sisters, by Joe Haldeman
Camps, by Jack Dann
Down and Out on Ellfive Prime, by Dean Ing
Duty, Honor, Planet, by Michael McCollum
Fireflood, by Vonda N. McIntyre
First Make Them Mad, by Adrian Cole
Galatea Galante, by Alfred Bester
Homecoming, by Barry B. Longyear
Indifference, by Brian W. Aldiss
Loob, by Bob Leman
Mandalay, by John M. Ford
One Clay Foot, by Jack Wodhams
Options, by John Varley
Out There Where the Big Ships Go, by Richard Cowper
Palely Loitering, by Christopher Priest
Phoenix, by Mark J. McGarry
Prose Bowl, by Bill Pronzini and Barry N. Malzberg
Sandkings, by George R. R. Martin
Saturday’s Shadow, by William F. Nolan
Some Events at the Templar Radiant, by Fred Saberhagen
Songs of a Sentient Flute, by Frank Herbert
The Ancient Mind at Work, by Suzy McKee Charnas
The Angel of Death, by Michael Shea
The Button Molder, by Fritz Leiber
The Fane of the Grey Rose, by Charles de Lint
The Last Defender of Camelot, by Roger Zelazny
The Locusts, by Larry Niven and Steven Barnes
The Monkeys Thought ‘Twas All in Fun, by Orson Scott Card
The Ocean of Souls, by Adrian Cole
The Pathways of Desire, by Ursula K. Le Guin
The Relic, by Gary Jennings
The Thaw, by Tanith Lee
The Things That Are Gods, by John Brunner
The Ways of Love, by Poul Anderson
The Woman Who Loved the Moon, by Elizabeth A. Lynn
Short Story
…And Master of One, by Ian Stewart
All the Birds Came Home to Roost, by Harlan Ellison
Breaking the Game, by Orson Scott Card
Can These Bones Live?, by Ted Reynolds
Crossing Into Cambodia, by Michael Moorcock
Daisy, in the Sun, by Connie Willis
Dreams of the Dreamer, by Joseph Hammond
Fivesight, by Spider Robinson
giANTS, by Edward Bryant
God is an Iron, by Spider Robinson
In Adam’s Fall, by Jayge Carr
In the Country of the Blind, No One Can See, by Melisa Michaels
In Trophonius’s Cave, by James P. Girard
Mackintosh Willy, by Ramsey Campbell
No More Pencils, No More Books, by John Morressy
Northern Chess, by Tanith Lee
Old Friends, by Kevin O’Donnell, Jr
Quietus, by Orson Scott Card
Red as Blood, by Tanith Lee
Redeemer, by Gregory Benford
Rent Control, by Walter Tevis
Sex Pirates of the Blood Asteroid, by David Langford
Spareen Among the Tartars, by Susan C. Petrey
The Crate, by Stephen King
The Dreamstone, by C.J. Cherryh
The Exit Door Leads In, by Philip K. Dick
The Extraordinary Voyages of Amélie Bertrand, by Joanna Russ
The Rooms of Paradise, by Ian Watson
The Thirteenth Utopia, by S. P. Somtow [as Somtow Sucharitkul]
The Vacuum-Packed Picnic, by Rick Gauger
The View from Endless Scarp, by Marta Randall
The Way of Cross and Dragon, by George R. R. Martin
The Well at the Half-Cat, by John C. Tibbetts
Time Shards, by Gregory Benford
Unaccompanied Sonata, by Orson Scott Card
Vernalfest Morning, by Michael Bishop
War Beneath the Tree, by Gene Wolfe
Wave Rider, by Hilbert Schenck
Wives, by Lisa Tuttle
‘You’re Welcome,’ Said the Robot, and Turned to Watch the Snowflakes, by Alan Ryan
Related Work
21st Century Foss, by Chris Foss
A Reader’s Guide to Science Fiction, by Baird Searles, Martin Last, Beth Meacham & Michael Franklin
Alien Landscapes, by Robert Holdstock & Malcolm Edwards
Arthur C. Clarke, by Eric S. Rabkin
Barlowe’s Guide to Extraterrestrials, by Wayne Barlowe and Ian Summers
Broca’s Brain, by Carl Sagan
Fantasy Literature, by Marshall B. Tymn, Robert H. Boyer & Kenneth J. Zahorski
Giants, by David Larkin
H.R. Giger’s Necronomicon, by H. R. Giger
In Memory Yet Green, by Isaac Asimov
Metamorphoses of Science Fiction, by Darko Suvin and Gerry Canavan
More Fantasy by Fabian, by Steve Fabian
Roger Zelazny, by Carl B. Yoke
Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature, by R. Reginald
The 80s: A Look Back, by Tony Hendra, Christopher Cerf & Peter Elbling
The Art of the Brothers Hildebrandt, by Ian Summers
The Flight of Dragons, by Peter Dickinson
The Inklings, by Humphrey Carpenter
The Language of the Night, by Ursula K. Le Guin and Susan Wood
The Science Fiction Encyclopedia, by Peter Nicholls
The World of Science Fiction: 1926-1976, by Lester del Rey
Wonderworks, by Michael Whelan
BSG two-parters would be about 88-90 minutes, and DW was almost always 4 or 6 parts back then, easily both Long Form.
Of course, with the Beeb’s irregular schedule of worldwide syndication, DW, B7, and HHGG wouldn’t have gotten nominated in 1980 unless all the voters were from the UK — not likely at a Boston con, even with nominators from previous years’ English venue.
BSG and Buck Rogers would have been much more likely. Possibly WW, but those were the eps set in present time, which weren’t as good. Although the ep set at an SF convention (with guest star Robby the Robot!) or the ones with UFOs and aliens might have gathered some acclaim. Or at least a good excuse to maybe get Lynda Carter’s attention. The live-action Spider-Man was terribad and looked cheap, plus Spidey was thought of more as a kids’ character thanks to his recent years on “The Electric Company”; the TV show was canceled after only 13 episodes because adults didn’t watch it. Fanboys hated it b/c none of the regular villains were in it. However, everyone liked the Hulk, which also managed to have decent acting thanks to Bixby, so it would easily have made the list. Hulk smash puny Hugos.
1979 was during the Claremont run on X-Men, so I’m sure it would have grabbed at least one slot. People were really interested in Superman thanks to the Hugo-winning movie. The Inkpot Awards (SDCC) were given before and after that, so could provide some ideas for possible nominees. I see Claremont and the Pinis on it for the 1980 awards; people who weren’t around back then have no idea how HUGE Elfquest was then and it very well could have gotten as many slots as it was allowed to.
My Hugo-sense is Tingle-ing.
I think these days Joanna Lumley would just make me think of Patsy from Absolutely Fabulous and that might make them unintentional hilarious rather spookyooky.
Well my BDP Long Form overfloweth now – I have to include Stalker (although I didn’t see that until the mid 80’s). The short fiction is making me feel like an under-read fake 🙁 I don’t recognise much of it. But that’s good right? New stories to find.
Other British TV around in 1979 –
The Omega Factor
The Tomorrow People (s8)
JJ, Kendall – thanks for your feedback.
Kendall – can you give some more specific detail about the two errors you refer to? Email to [email protected] should be fine.
All – thanks for compiling a fantastic list of resources. I’m going to go back and change some of my own votes now!
Fantasy Books from 1979:
http://www.risingshadow.net/library/search_list/fantasy/1979
Neverending Story by Michael Ende was one easily missed. Do use the link to find more SFF from the year.
I see that Thieves World #1 was published in 1979. I guess that will make me nominate Robert Asprin as Best Publisher: Short Form.