About
The Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy is a widely successful and influential Sci-Fi comedy series revolving around the character of Arthur Dent who escapes the destruction of the earth with his friend Ford Prefect and his subsequent adventures in the universe. HHGTTG started off as a series of radio dramas/comedies commissioned by the BBC in 1978 and was created by comedic author Douglas Adams. The series has since been adapted into various mediums such as Books, TV series’, Video-Games and a Film.
History
After Adams proposed a radio series called “The Ends of the Earth” for BBC Radio (the central premise being the Earth being destroyed). Adams realized that he needed someone to provide some context to Earth’s destruction and this person would have to be an alien with a reason to be on Earth. Adams finally settled on making the alien a field researcher for a “wholly remarkable book” named The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.
From this base idea, Adams wrote a radio script which revolves around the character of Arthur Dent who is saved by his friend Ford Prefect (not from Guildford as originally thought, but from a small planet somewhere in the vicinity of Betelgeuse) from the Destruction of the Earth to make way for an interstellar express-way. The comedy then revolves around Arthur coming to grips with his new situation and his inability to adapt to living in the universe while having various adventures.
The radio-drama along with its subsequent novel adaptations have become international best-sellers being translated into 30 languages along side an equally well received TV series and film. The books and to a lesser extent the TV series has had a major impact on modern popular Sci-Fi culture with HHGTTG being hailed as the genesis for modern Sci-Fi comedy with various subsequent Sci-Fi comedies taking inspiration from HHGTTG (such as Red Dwarf).
Related Memes
Don’t Panic
Don’t Panic refers to the phase emblazoned on the Guide to prevent user of the guide panicking while Hitch Hiking across the galaxy. The book also states that "It is said that despite its many glaring (and occasionally fatal) inaccuracies, the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy itself has outsold the Encyclopedia Galactica because it is slightly cheaper, and because it has the words “DON’T PANIC” in large, friendly letters on the cover."
“Don’t Panic” has become one of the best known phases in Science Fiction with its message being both funny and sound advice for readers. This phase has been paid homage to various times in many Sci-Fi productions and was a meme in the early days of the internet.
The Answer To Life, The Universe and Everything
The Answer To Life, The Universe and Everything refers to an answer that a group of hyper-intelligent pan-dimensional beings demand the supercomputer, Deep Thought, specially designed and built for this purpose to calculate. It takes Deep Thought 7 and a half million years to compute and check the answer, which turns out to be 42 much to the annoyance and confusion of the hyper-intelligent pan-dimensional beings.
The number 42 has subsequently entered popular culture as the definite answer to the question “What is the answer to life, the universe and everything” partly due to its strong affiliation with online science fiction fan communities. The answer has been parodied and paid homage to by various tech firms such as IMB and Google and been referenced online since the days of Usenet.
Knowing Where One’s Towel Is
Towels are regarded in the HHGTTG universe as being the most useful object in the universe for a person to have. The connection between Towel’s and HHGTTG is due to advice Ford gives Arthur in the first book in the series after Arthur and Ford survive the destruction of The Earth: “any man who can hitch the length and breadth of the galaxy, rough it, slum it, struggle against terrible odds, win through, and still knows where his towel is, is clearly a man to be reckoned with”.
This idea has subsequently been reinforced by fans of the series due to the consistent use of towels in all adaptations of the series. Towels have also become a symbol of fans of Douglas Adam’s with fans organising international Towel Day to pay tribute to Adams and HHGTTG. Towels have also been used as a symbol to make fun of various Doomsday dates with fans carrying towels in case the earth does end.
So Long and Thanks for All the Fish
According to HHGTTG, Man was not the most intelligent life-form on Earth but the Third most intelligent, with the second being dolphins who knowing that the earth was going to be destroyed, left Earth behind with the message: So Long and Thanks for All the Fish.
This phase has became a fan favourite and a substitute for traditional goodbyes due to its comedic nature. The phase’s popularity has made it the source of parody and a song was created based on the phase for the film adaptation of the series.
Popular Creations
Marvin the Paranoid Android
Marvin is a secondary character in HHGTTG and is widely regarded as the fan favourite in the series. He is the starship Heart of Gold’s robot, Originally built as a prototype of The Sirius Cybernetics Corporation, he was given Genuine People Personalities technology which caused Marvin to afflicted with severe depression and boredom. He is said to have the brain the size of a planet which he is seldom ever given the chance to use. Throughout the series, his crippling depression has caused various other computer or robotic devices he has interfaced with to commit suicide.
Due to his bleak outlook on life and his pragmatic and pessimistic outlook on the other characters fortunes, he has been regarded as one of the most human characters in the series with his phases “Life, Don’t Talk to me about Life” and “brain the size of a planet” being reference by fans online. The actor who voices Marvin has also had two comedy records released in the UK while in the character of Marvin.
Deep Thought
The character Deep Thought is introduced as the Supercomputer that was created to calculate the Ultimate Question and subsequently calculates the Ultimate Question to the answer 42 leading to the creation of The Earth.
Deep Thought has been referenced and paid homage to by various Tech firms for his role in calculating the ultimate question and being the second most powerful computer ever created in the HHGTTG universe. IBM have named various Supercomputers after Deep Thought such as “Deep Thought” and “Deep Blue”.
Pan-Galactic Gargle Blaster
The Pan-Galactic Gargle Blaster is a fictional cocktail created by Zaphod Beeblebrox which is described as “the alcoholic equivalent of a mugging – expensive and bad for the head and drinking one is like having your brain smashed out by a slice of lemon wrapped round a large gold brick”.
Due to its reputation as the best and most powerful drink in the galaxy, many mixologists and bartenders have paid homage to the drink by attempting to create their own Pan-Galactic Gargle Blasters.