FAQ

HG WORLD

Will HG World continue, or has it been canceled?

HG World is an independently produced show. It wasn’t “canceled” by anyone, but the production will not continue. Over the years we’ve made several attempts to revive the radio show, work the last season into a new novel (a sequel to “Jill Woodbine”) and, most recently, a podcast role-playing game set in that universe. Unfortunately, none of those efforts have worked out. It was a great ride, but life moves on.

Will there be a sequel to “The Diary of Jill Woodbine”?

Someday. The Memoirs of Red Molly is a project Jay promises to come back someday as a novel and audiobook distinct from the larger HG World universe. “Jill” was another lucky break for Jay who was privileged to work with Veronica Giguere on that project.

Did HG World really beat We’re Alive for an award?

Surprising, but true. In 2011, the show won an award for which We’re Alive was also nominated, but also the astonishing The GearHeart, Decoder Ring Theater, Tales of the Extraordinary, and Star Trek: Excelsior. This isn’t to gloat but simply state what awesome company the show kept that year. Given the accomplishments of KC Wayland and his crew, our win didn't exactly hurt their brand.

Fun Fact: Producer Scott Pigg got drunk and broke the statue after he and Producer Bryan Lincoln accepted it.

Is the show based on conservative values? Asking for a friend.

No. The show was written in different mental states, according to Jay.

No one is EVER going to hear this. Let’s just have fun and figure this all out.
Oh. So there are people listening. And there are actors volunteering to play with us. Better up the stakes and make this work.
Wow. We're getting noticed and are pulling in a global audience. Let’s effing DO THIS!
Holy crap, there is so much going on across so many storylines right now. It’s going to take us months to catch up on the current season. I know! I’ll write a simple story (Googies) to produce in the hiatus!
Well, that escalated quickly. Um. Season One is now Season Zero. Season Googies is now Season 2 and Season 2 is now season three.
Why do I look at this script with such concentrated HATE? Must take some time off.

The show has no political slant, just people who are really good or awful at surviving. And being people.

So, if you’re not going to finish the show, can you tell us what happened or would have happened?

We know from “Googies” that the world survives and recovers into a sort of over-protective socialist society. From “Jill Woodbine” we know that the infection is really a collective of entities that have been struggling to understand the hosts they found themselves in and have spent generations learning about the human body and reproducing to new hosts to build on that knowledge. We also know that Ken Peters and Todd Rage are considered heroes of the “zombie war” in that distant future. McInnes and Grant are, too. Jay has said that Hawkins was always a villain because he wanted to write his friend Orenthal, one of the nicest people in the world, as a bad guy.

From Jay: “’The Final Season’ was going to return with a time jump. This was to account, in part, for actors who weren’t available or who just didn’t want to return. In that world, we would reunite with McInnes as a leader of a camp and now dealing with an advanced, degenerative illness referenced in Googies. Grant is nowhere to be found. Ronni is part of McI’s camp, but has become a dark, cruel version of herself since something very bad happened to Hicks and her baby. Ken Peters is trying to serve in the role Grant once held, but he and McI don’t get along. It isn’t clear what has driven our heroes to this dark place. The sudden appearance of Doreen and a few people last seen stuck inside HG World racks up the tension and it seems we’re about to see our heroes try to take each other out.”

HIDDEN HARBOR MYSTERIES

Will there be a sequel/new season to Hidden Harbor Mysteries?

No. It was fun to do, but there are no plans to continue the series. It was only planned for one season.

What about the end of the show with its cliffhanger?

From Jay: "The show was presented as an example of serialized radio drama from the Golden Age. As one story ended, another began and things were left intentionally in motion, like a soap opera, to keep people coming back. One of the things we tried to do with the show was create the illusion that it was a recovered and remastered show of a show thought lost in a fire decades ago. We never intended to go beyond the defeat of the Big Bad unless there was overwhelming interest from people who wanted to see that storyline played out."

Was there supposed to be a companion series to HHM?

The web site and a companion podcast were intended to reinforce the “reality” of the show through a historical discussion of the radio station where it was produced and those involved in the production. The web site exists (unless Jay forgot to pay to renew the domain again) but the production of the companion podcast never happened, NOT because Jay is a lazy procrastinator, but because the show could stand on its own without it. Fun Fact: The narrator was going to be John Drew, whose character was based on Greg Bell, host and resident historian of RadioClassics on SiriusXM. Drew’s voice is hauntingly similar to Bell’s.

THE RESURRECTION PACT

What’s up with the sequels you posted about?

The Wonderlost, the first of four planned sequels, was shelved after considering the sales of the first. The first book started strong but performance over time showed that the long-term viability of the series was limited. (“In other words, the book flopped.” – Jay Smith)

However, Jay is working on an audio drama mini-series set in the “R.P.” universe, both virtual and real, called A Deadly Con. (Get used to this phrase, kids!) Stay tuned.

GENERAL PODCASTS

What is up with Jay and his production problems/podfading?

Good question. Jay appears at various conventions around the Mid-Atlantic. He’s usually not busy at an autograph table so he’s happy to talk. See his Appearance calendar (if he’s bothered to update it recently).

Is Radio Free Gozeria still a thing?

When we started RFG, the plan was for a dozen episodes talking about all things Ghostbusters. The condition was that the show would be recognized as a Fan Group affiliated with Ghost Corps. which owns all the intellectual property associated with the sounds and graphics we use. After three episodes, we put the show on hiatus until we received official word from Ghost Corps. But no such notification came. Inquiries about our status were never answered.

Strangely enough, in April of 2019, we were contacted about participating in the 35th Anniversary Ghostbusters Expo in Studio City, California. Our names were on a list of fan organizations registered with Ghost Corps. Stay tuned.

Is “WHY?!” still a thing?

Yes. Holden Smith, son of the author and perpetual procrastinator Jay Smith, is producing the remaining interviews and planning a new season. Stay tuned.

Does Jay really hate Shelley Winters?

No. This refers to an episode of “The Batcave Podcast” Jay did with John S Drew covering two episodes of “Batman ‘66” featuring the villainess Ma Parker, played by Winters. Jay was unimpressed with Winters’ campy, scenery-chewing antics as indicative of the show’s movement toward casting celebrities rather than presenting engaging Batman villains. Jay provided a level of invective and snark rarely expressed on such a wholesome show. But Jay has no personal ill feelings toward the Oscar-winning actress.

How many times does Jay use some form of the word “f*ck” in that episode of “WHY?!”

Let us know and you might win some sort of prize. But it was a lot.

Does Jay still think his academic degrees were worth the cost?

See the answer about “podfade” above and ask him in person. Preferably at the hotel bar after a particularly humiliating signing event.