tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1735001702817172149.post3719912974794003738..comments2024-03-08T03:29:53.964-05:00Comments on Francesco Explains It All: Where Do YOU Stand on The Forths Having Child Numeros Dos?Francesco Marciulianohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18027586573797441415noreply@blogger.comBlogger46125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1735001702817172149.post-85734606758775638782009-07-01T13:04:50.132-04:002009-07-01T13:04:50.132-04:00I'm for the Forths having a second child. Hil...I'm for the Forths having a second child. Hilary will finally get some space from Sally and hopefully the new baby will keep Sally off her case and out of her face.<br /><br />Sally can be darned annoying and I think it serves her right when Hilary admits she does not tell her everything. Who in their right mind would?<br /><br />I'm glad Hilary's hair has been updated from that silly preschool coiff.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1735001702817172149.post-22145256953908618092008-07-10T00:47:00.000-04:002008-07-10T00:47:00.000-04:00I came to your site just to check up on this story...I came to your site just to check up on this story line! I was out of town for a week earlier this summer and to my surprise when I came back there was this baby talk going on! <BR/><BR/>I don't have my heart set either way. I was a little concerned it was just a gimmick but you are such a good and funny writer, I think it would be very well done. Sally would have to deal with sleepless nights, what to do about childcare, and all that nitty gritty. Sally would still be the main focus.<BR/><BR/>Also I don't think Sally's 40, aren't Ted and Sally about 35? Hardly geriatric.<BR/><BR/>For the folks complaining about world population, uh, it's a cartoon!! I don't see Sally and Ted composting, recycling, and driving a Prius either but I don't care, it's not real, hello!!<BR/><BR/>Looking forward to whatever you come up with next.Chickadee_Joneshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13363055144611743977noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1735001702817172149.post-16718149482768169702008-06-13T03:09:00.000-04:002008-06-13T03:09:00.000-04:00I'll skip the second-child business, thanks. You'l...I'll skip the second-child business, thanks. You'll do it, though, because you've committed yourself. Once any news of a possible baby gets out the cult of the baby assumes all control of every aspect of your existence, and will hound you to your grave if you don't do exactly what is required to bring another precious wittle snooky wookums into the world (even a fictional one; just ask the producers of Mad About You). They, of course, will take no responsibility for it once it arrives, so you'll be stuck coming up with all the witty bits that child will need to survive in the world of the Forths.STIR FRY LADhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09807393713739394056noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1735001702817172149.post-23829554193377675142008-06-11T19:43:00.000-04:002008-06-11T19:43:00.000-04:00Oh please, no kid. A bunch of my friends have kid...Oh please, no kid. A bunch of my friends have kids and it's one of the toughest trials of my social life to try to seem interested when they talk about the trivia of kid-rearing. Why do they think I want to hear about what their child eats? In great detail? Or worse, about its bathroom habits? Don't let that world invade Sally Forth!OptimistiCynic:https://www.blogger.com/profile/06885147187793372617noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1735001702817172149.post-1061180412745009592008-06-09T13:47:00.000-04:002008-06-09T13:47:00.000-04:00On the one hand, leaving Sally Forth with a single...On the one hand, leaving Sally Forth with a singleton child reflects the reality of a lot of working women, which is that it's very difficult to have more than one child and be taken seriously on a professional level, not to mention the home front issues.<BR/><BR/>Sally getting pregnant at 40, though, opens a door to explore other workplace and health issues, including fathers using FMLA for paternity leave. Think about Ted at home with a baby for 6 months!<BR/> <BR/>I kinda like a modified version of a story arc posted above, though: Jackie gets pregnant before Sally and Ted make any kind of decision about another kid, she moves in with them to keep Laura from moving in with her, Laura comes for an extended visit anyway, Sally and Ted adopt the poor kid to save it from being raised by either Jackie or Laura.<BR/><BR/>Although I do like the adopt-an-older-kid idea very well. Some friends of ours just adopted a 5-year-old, and it's been a very different experience for them from bringing a baby home.Original Leehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10981389867596781210noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1735001702817172149.post-68717191415314740622008-06-09T10:42:00.000-04:002008-06-09T10:42:00.000-04:00There are so few positive portrayals of single chi...There are so few positive portrayals of single child families in the media. Sally Forth has always given me irrational and pathetic comfort about my own one-kid family. Let Hil stay an only!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06258025828324998422noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1735001702817172149.post-46549022616276575282008-06-08T19:40:00.000-04:002008-06-08T19:40:00.000-04:00How about Sally finds out that she cannot conceive...How about Sally finds out that she cannot conceive, due to fallopic tube scarring from an old chlamydia infection, BUT...<BR/><BR/>... it is revealed that Ted is actually an transgendered female to male who still has her reproductive organs! (You have to admit he's always had those vaguely girlish gestures.)They go on a merry hunt for an appropriate sperm donor - you could bring in potential candidates from other strips! A nine month roller coaster ride ensues: international media attention, visits to Oprah, tabloid covers! It practically writes itself!<BR/><BR/>And I don't know where Hillary came from. Probably the same place as the chlamydia.Ciao Binohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00443298128030574385noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1735001702817172149.post-18467098467864200562008-06-08T10:12:00.000-04:002008-06-08T10:12:00.000-04:00d,b,: Indeed those are real names and the story Te...d,b,: Indeed those are real names and the story Ted relates is how I spent many a summer. In fact, you just encouraged me to post the strip here so that maybe my friends from a long lost time may find it.Francesco Marciulianohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18027586573797441415noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1735001702817172149.post-70735707242191832142008-06-08T09:39:00.000-04:002008-06-08T09:39:00.000-04:00Off-topic: I loved the Sunday (6/8/08) strip! Ar...Off-topic: I loved the Sunday (6/8/08) strip! Are those real names?<BR/><BR/>I was half waiting for Ted to launch into the story of how he and his friend tried to give a frog bionic implants!D.B. Echohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01797128570217627410noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1735001702817172149.post-75648902961212280232008-06-07T18:44:00.000-04:002008-06-07T18:44:00.000-04:00Why not? You've had the characters evolving for so...Why not? You've had the characters evolving for some time now, and I trust your writing enough that I don't expect that the strip will suddenly become too "cute" once it has a baby in it. It could be interesting.Erichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13126605289069345398noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1735001702817172149.post-58311631215494666212008-06-07T14:21:00.000-04:002008-06-07T14:21:00.000-04:00Perpetuating the culture of “bundles of joy” as ro...Perpetuating the culture of “bundles of joy” as romantic is naïve, irresponsible and self-serving. It’s way past the time of having babies with a Hallmark mentality. This strip gave some responsible and valid reasons for not reproducing merely out of whimsy. How about landfills (ten diapers a day) or consumerism/resource exploitation (plastic carriages the size of small SUVs that decompose about as fast as radioactive waste)? We can’t both think of the human race as “special” AND act indiscriminately or impudently. “Just one more” is how we got to 6.672 billion.rinconhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16727262982833657438noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1735001702817172149.post-25738282897869507512008-06-07T04:49:00.000-04:002008-06-07T04:49:00.000-04:00I don't care one way or the other, but what I do c...I don't care one way or the other, but what I do care about is internal consistency. If time is passing for one person then it has to pass for everyone.<BR/><BR/>If Sally gets pregnant then ~9 months later the baby is born, how do you justify Hillary still being 10? If the baby becomes a toddler, how do you justify Hillary still being 10?<BR/><BR/>A lot of animated TV shows make this mistake, and it just ruins the continuity. Take King of the Hill for example: Bobby turned 13 in 2000. Yet in 1997 he was 12, and in 2008 he's still 13. This just doesn't make sense.<BR/><BR/>You can't have your cake and eat it too. Either time is frozen in place and no one can change, or time moves forward for everyone.Mathew Wallshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06524311857930464031noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1735001702817172149.post-30499908373021055902008-06-07T01:10:00.000-04:002008-06-07T01:10:00.000-04:00I'm all for adoption, how about rat from pearl's?I'm all for adoption, how about rat from pearl's?Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01356918897854052258noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1735001702817172149.post-10616670920089333082008-06-06T23:48:00.000-04:002008-06-06T23:48:00.000-04:00Sweet lord, Ted just spent a year unemployed, and ...Sweet lord, Ted just spent a <B>year</B> unemployed, and the Forths were just scraping by as a single-income family with one kid at pretty much the cheapest age children are ever at. It would be criminally irresponsible for them to even consider having another baby!<BR/><BR/>NO BLOOD FOR OIL!<BR/><BR/>Wait, um. NO BABIES FOR SALLY!cappadociushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03444938548248623609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1735001702817172149.post-13715656622421511472008-06-06T17:57:00.000-04:002008-06-06T17:57:00.000-04:00NO more kids!!! Please leave that to Baby Blues, ...NO more kids!!! Please leave that to Baby Blues, For Better or Worse, and Family Circus.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15053960656192890544noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1735001702817172149.post-22844473025255642342008-06-06T17:31:00.000-04:002008-06-06T17:31:00.000-04:00Baby, yes...as long as it's a strangely mutated-lo...Baby, yes...as long as it's a strangely mutated-looking thing, and they eat tiny little chickens that spurt black goo, and there's a pasty-faced woman singing from the radiator, and...2fshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17813487704459856169noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1735001702817172149.post-14607950922759426702008-06-06T16:07:00.000-04:002008-06-06T16:07:00.000-04:00I think they should go for it, but end up with Sal...I think they should go for it, but end up with Sally giving birth to sextuplets, resulting in Ted snapping into total madness and getting committed to an asylum.<BR/><BR/>At that point the strip shifts focus solely around Ted's exploits at the asylum, and is renamed 'Beyond the Forth Wall' as Ted tries to convince the doctors and fellow residents that they are all puppets in some madman's (sorry Ces) comic strip.<BR/><BR/>Either that or after Ted gets committed, Saturday's strip shows an autistic Faye peering into a snowglobe of the Forth house, with Monday's strip reverting back to normal with Hil as the only Forth child.ParallaxGhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14950767354975004369noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1735001702817172149.post-7450104205890206162008-06-06T15:43:00.000-04:002008-06-06T15:43:00.000-04:00If it means we get to see a Sunday strip's disposa...If it means we get to see a Sunday strip's disposable title box featuring Sally doing some parody of that Vanity Fair cover with Demi Moore... then DO IT DO IT!<BR/><BR/>Actually, talk to your compatriots in the cartooning world and announce that the celebrity baby boom is officially bleeding over into the comics page. Nothing would make me a happier camper than to see Sally, Miss Buxley, Marcy Cobb, and maybe Luann and April, unexpectedly encountering each other in a grand Lamaze class crossover.Kreptahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07328164582893392417noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1735001702817172149.post-50748228903576394432008-06-06T15:10:00.000-04:002008-06-06T15:10:00.000-04:00Adopt. That way you can add a new little kid char...Adopt. That way you can add a new little kid character while not increasing the surplus population. Now get back to work, Mr. Cratchit!Dvandomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09150990184070800442noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1735001702817172149.post-3152707922203056122008-06-06T13:23:00.000-04:002008-06-06T13:23:00.000-04:00I'm for anything that lets us see Sally in a frill...I'm for anything that lets us see Sally in a frilly next to nothing, or with a post coital bounce in her step. If Ted dies from exhaustion as a result of her forty year-old whoopee making well that's a bonus. As far as a baby, well I don't really care one way or the other.Brent McKeehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14883838112004433045noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1735001702817172149.post-66122020701754065882008-06-06T10:55:00.000-04:002008-06-06T10:55:00.000-04:00Oh yeah, and then to your actual question: a new b...Oh yeah, and then to your actual question: a new baby would allow the strip to revisit Greg Howard's original premise for the strip, which was a humorous look at a serious subject: Sally navigating the workplace challenges faced by women. <BR/><BR/>When the strip debuted, just <I>being</I> a (non-secretarial) female office worker was a source for plenty of material. Nowadays, "Sally Forth, The Working Woman" isn't much of a premise, so the strip has shifted more to being "Sally and Ted versus the World." <BR/><BR/>But one workplace subject that is still rich with material is how the world of work deals with the fact that women sometimes reproduce, and sometimes have to be absent from the office for extended periods after doing so, and sometimes want to come back to their jobs whether part-or full-time afterwards.<BR/><BR/>So if you can use the new Forth to tell those stories, good on you. If Re-run Van Forth turns your strip into the Family Circus, I will be unhappy.Holy Prepucehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13412338463895874903noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1735001702817172149.post-59060285466040322662008-06-06T10:40:00.000-04:002008-06-06T10:40:00.000-04:00OK, how exciting for an old-school "SOAP" fan like...OK, how exciting for an old-school "SOAP" fan like me (4 years old when it went off the air but remember it vividly and of course have the first season DVD set) that your post yesterday contained an extended riff on "Benson's" origins as the Tates' butler -- and <I>then</I> Billy Crystal turns up last night on Letterman with the full series "SOAP" DVD set and a minature horse in a pink dress like the one he wore as Jody in the pilot?Holy Prepucehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13412338463895874903noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1735001702817172149.post-13154726302221053782008-06-06T10:30:00.000-04:002008-06-06T10:30:00.000-04:00You could let them try for a second child and then...You could let them try for a second child and then come up empty.<BR/><BR/>Then you could go exploring the possibility of the Forths adopting a child from China, or Guatemala, Romania, or some other third world country that is supplying childless couples in the US with the plug that fills their empty lives.<BR/><BR/>Plus, you could start to incorporate international smirks and snarkiness.Nom du Jourhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00651958198462380276noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1735001702817172149.post-84261444563924525112008-06-06T09:32:00.000-04:002008-06-06T09:32:00.000-04:00This is fascinating.I've never been in contact wit...This is fascinating.<BR/><BR/>I've never been in contact with a comic writer before in any way. I've also never felt a hint of power in any way, and your proposition is a bit daunting.<BR/><BR/>Seriously.<BR/><BR/>I...I don't want a say. I want the magic to continue, be it in my movies, comics, or books.<BR/><BR/>If I get a say, I become too close to the process, I think. It's actually a bit fuzzy for me to know anything about you and then to read Sally Forth. <BR/><BR/>Now when I find something clever in the strip, I feel a small sense of pride, as if I have actually met or known you in some way. It's an unusual and wierd feeling.<BR/><BR/>I prefer not to know. Not to have say. And I never ever really want to meet or know Garry Trudeau, except to say to him 'Thank YOU' for all the strips and the enjoyment.<BR/><BR/>I think I'll leave it at such for you in these comments as well: <BR/><BR/>Thank YOU for all the smirks and clever commentary condensed down into 3-4 panels each week day. I like reading the work of talented people who HAVEN'T given up (Jim Davis comes to mind...hell, even Berkely Breathed comes to mind).<BR/><BR/>Do whatever it is that you do. Just know we appreciate it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1735001702817172149.post-67901075753238734602008-06-06T07:52:00.000-04:002008-06-06T07:52:00.000-04:00I think having a baby would "start the clock" for ...I think having a baby would "start the clock" for the Forths. They'd all have to age, IMHO.<BR/><BR/>As another poster wrote, I had no idea I didn't really have a strong opinion. You're a good storyteller, and I'm mostly content to follow the path you mark for us.<BR/><BR/>Cheers!Gary Shttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11048007235331827147noreply@blogger.com