Page 1 of 1

The War of the Worlds (miniseries)

Posted: Fri Aug 10, 2018 8:03 pm
by CrowsNest
What a sorry tale of woe. Not a major disaster, just a sign of how many broken Windows the House of a Wikipedia really has. We thought they loved them some science fiction, scribble scribble scribble, like. We thought that this would be the last room in the house to decay. We wuz wrong.....

I thought I had found a doozie for the missing articles thread, the upcoming BBC miniseries War of the Worlds, notable for reasons outlined by Geek Exchange as follows.....

http://www.geekexchange.com/news/bbc-ma ... iniseries/

This new version will focus on the novel closer than any other adaptation before, including setting the story in the novel’s original era......[and] in the book's original location.

Since the novel’s 1898 release, there have been a number of film, television, and of course, radio adaptations. Most productions have updated the novel to contemporary times and settings like the 1953 film taking place in Southern Califonia, while Spielberg’s 2005 Tom Cruise adaptation was set in New York. Even Orson Welles infamous 1938 radio play shifted locations stateside. There has only been one War Of The Worlds’ version that has retained the period setting and that was a direct-to-video adaptation.
Then I realised the article is on Wikipedia....

https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_War_of_the_Worlds_(miniseries)&oldid=849073913

....it's just not linked from the main War of the Worlds article.

https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?ti ... =853474487

In a classic example of how Wikipedia could really use some professional standards, the article on the novel does mention it, in the Adaptations section, as you might expect......
In the spring of 2017, the BBC announced that it will be producing in 2018 a Victorian period, three-episode mini-series adaptation of the Wells novel.
.....which is actually unsourced. As the line suggests (but you always have to check, and I have), that information was added in Spring 2017 (well, 24 July tbh). The lack of a source, much less a red link to an at that time missing Wikipedia page that was obviously going to be notable, is explained by the fact it was added by an IP editor.

It is telling that nobody has noticed that addition wasn't sourced all this time, and could do with a red link. Or just didn't care.

Maybe if the dufus who wrote the article for the miniseries (on 29 April) had completed the job and linked it from the novel article, he might have noticed that and added a reference at the same time. The miniseries article has had more than one editor since creation, so it's not like it's one person's mistake either.

Hilariously, it's not even linked in the Wikipedia List which specifically exists to host these links......

https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_works_based_on_The_War_of_the_Worlds&oldid=852701774

All that page manages to say is......
2018: An upcoming 3-episode mini-series produced by Mammoth Screen for the BBC.
....the explanation presumably being the editor who added that, didn't know it has its own article yet either. Naturally, in the 10 days since their edit, nobody else has noticed that error either.

A real window into the soul of Wikipedia, is given by examining where the article is linked from. Behold.....

The War of the Worlds (disambiguation)
Rafe Spall
Eleanor Tomlinson
2018 in British television
Draft:Craig Viveiros (director)

What happened to this whole series of tubes concept, that seemed so new and innovative back in 2001? Ain't nobody interested in connecting up the tubes anymooooore? One dropped tube and I nearly ended up creating an article they didn't need. Well, not quite, not even close tbf, but someone out there might end up doing it, and regretting their wasted effort.

Coincidentally, that draft for the director was only written yesterday. Not me either, honest. The tag on the article says the author, an IP editor, will have to wait seven weeks for it to be reviewed, because there are 2,600 articles in the queue. The draft space is working well then. Can't blame ACTRIAL, this one's on Siegnethaler. A butterfly's wing effect from way back in Wikipedia history. How apt.

Bizarrely, the entry for the miniseries in The War of the Worlds (disambiguation)......

https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_War_of_the_Worlds_(disambiguation)&oldid=852721194

....was added the day after the article was created, but not by its creator. Who knows, maybe he just doesn't do Wikipedia links at all? Anyway, that's another person still who is clearly not paying much attention and doing a proper job.

It is barely even worth reviewing the content of the article. It doesn't contain the geekexchange post as a reference, but tbf it didn't drop until 9 May (2017), but the fact nobody noticed so as to add this crucial context, in there or anywhere else in Teh Wiki, is telling.

Overall, the picture is a familiar one. The much maligned IP editors are still doing good work, they're just being hampered by the supposed real "editors" and the hostile design. And the experienced editors who could and should be polishing this turd to fix everybody else's suboptimal contributions, are nowhere to be seen.

To any aliens who might be reading, we humans are smarter than this. Don't be fooled by the fact this is our only widely known encyclopedia, that this giant pile of shit represents us operating at peak efficiency/creativity.