26-435: Bill & Ted is an American science fiction comedy franchise created by Chris Matheson and Ed Solomon . It features William "Bill" S. Preston Esq. and Ted "Theodore" Logan, portrayed by Alex Winter and Keanu Reeves , respectively, two metalhead slacker friends who travel through time and beyond while trying to fulfill their destiny to establish a utopian society in the universe with their music. The series spans
52-587: A 1981 TV series , a 1984 computer game , and 2005 feature film . A prominent series in British popular culture , The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy has become an international multi-media phenomenon; the novels are the most widely distributed, having been translated into more than 30 languages by 2005. Terry Pratchett 's 1981 novel Strata also exemplifies the comic science fiction genre. Ed Solomon Edward James Solomon (born September 15, 1960)
78-522: A Utopian future built around their music. In Bogus Journey , Chuck De Nomolos, a resident of the utopia, is sick of it and sends a pair of Bill & Ted robot doubles back into the past to kill Bill and Ted and make a future based on his ideals. Bill & Ted are killed, face the Grim Reaper , and manage to beat him at several games. This gives them the opportunity to find allies to stop their robot doubles and De Nomolos before an upcoming Battle of
104-566: A film trilogy: Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989), Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey (1991), and Bill & Ted Face the Music (2020). The series has been mainly produced by Scott Kroopf . There have been numerous spin-offs , including an animated television series (with Winter and Reeves reprising their roles), a live-action television series in 1992, video games and comic books. Originally released and co-produced by Orion Pictures , ownership moved to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer following
130-417: A history report. Rufus, a guide from the year 2688, arrives to provide them the time machine which allows them to travel back in time and meet historical figures in order to learn about key historical events. If Bill and Ted fail to pass, their teacher will have to flunk them and Ted's father will transfer him to an Alaskan military high school , which will lead to Wyld Stallyns never forming, in turn destroying
156-520: A number of hit franchise films, including Men in Black , Charlie's Angels , and then writing the Now You See Me films. Solomon worked on an early version of a Universal The Invisible Man remake , with Johnny Depp . In March 2016 he completed production on Mosaic , a 12-hour long-form TV project for HBO in collaboration with director Steven Soderbergh . This production would mark
182-420: A tie-in comic following the plot of the first movie timed to coincide with that film's release on home video. The sequel was adapted by DC's competitor Marvel Comics , published to coincide with the second film's release in theaters. Its popularity led to the ongoing Marvel series Bill & Ted's Excellent Comic Book by Evan Dorkin , which lasted for 12 issues. There was a weekly 2/4 page semi-adaptation of
208-418: A time-travelling robot. Kelly warns their teenage daughters, Billie and Thea, about their plight, and the two go off into the past to help create a band to make the great song for their fathers in time. Shortly before the release of Face the Music , Winter and Reeves discussed the possibility of a fourth Bill & Ted movie, the latter telling Rachel Smith of Entertainment Tonight that it would be "up to
234-409: Is a subgenre of science fiction or science fantasy that exploits the science fiction genre's conventions for comedic effect. Comic science fiction often mocks or satirizes standard science fiction conventions, concepts and tropes – such as alien invasion of Earth, interstellar travel , or futuristic technology. It can also satirize and criticize present-day society. An early example
260-467: Is an action-RPG video game based on the Bill & Ted universe was released by Built Games in 2018 for iOS and Android devices. Bill & Ted also featured in an annual live-action show at Universal Studios Florida and Universal Studios Hollywood during Halloween Horror Nights . Typically the show parodied the past year's worth of notable pop culture events, featuring locally cast performers as
286-467: Is an American filmmaker. He is best known for writing the screenplays to Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989), Men in Black (1997), and Now You See Me (2013). Solomon grew up in suburban Boston , until his family moved to California . He went to UCLA and majored in Economics while beginning his career as a joke writer, stand up comedian, and playwright. While still in college, he
SECTION 10
#1732802062169312-786: The 1989 film Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure . It was released by Capstone for DOS , Commodore 64 , and Amiga systems in 1989. A video game for the Atari Lynx handheld based on the Bill & Ted films and the Saturday morning cartoon. An action-adventure video game based on Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure that was released in North America by LJN for the Nintendo Entertainment System . An action - puzzle game loosely based on Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure . Wyld Stallyns
338-489: The Alex and Keanu Bill & Ted story. I think it's done, but if people were interested in a Billie & Thea continuation, I think it'd be cool." The first season was produced by Hanna-Barbera and ran for 13 episodes on CBS in 1990, featured the voices of Carlin, Winter and Reeves returning to their roles in the film. A second season of eight episodes ran on Fox Kids and was produced by DIC Entertainment , with none of
364-612: The Bands where they must also rescue the princesses to whom they are engaged and start their musical careers. Bill and Ted are now middle-aged parents, yet to realize the music that the future Utopian society will follow. They are warned by the Great Leader and Rufus's daughter Kelly from the future that they only have a short time in their present to create the great song or reality will collapse. Bill and Ted decide to travel to their future to try to find their song, but are hunted by
390-488: The animated series published for a year by UK's defunct Look-In Magazine from 1991 to 1992. In 2015, Boom! Comics revived the franchise in comic form with the six issue miniseries, Bill & Ted's Most Triumphant Return , followed by a trade paperback collection of the Marvel Comics releases, Bill & Ted's Excellent Comic Book: Archive (2016). The success of the miniseries led to two additional miniseries:
416-488: The band up forever. Unbeknownst to them, their music will form the basis of a utopian society in the future. The leaders of this society send Rufus ( George Carlin ) to help Bill & Ted pass school and assure the future with the aid of a time machine , which appears as a phone booth . Later films focus on attempts by others to break up Bill & Ted so that their music will never lead to a utopian future. Excellent Adventure introduces Bill and Ted who are trying to write
442-527: The fans". When asked in an interview with DiscussingFilm in August 2020 if the characters of Billie and Thea could result in a sequel or spin-off film, writer Ed Solomon stated, "It wasn't when we were first writing it, but as we saw Brigette and Samara inhabit these roles, I thought for sure if there was interest and people wanted to carry this forward, the Bill & Ted spirit, I would absolutely let those characters carry it forward. I think we've finished with
468-536: The film was produced in 1998 called Bill and Ted's Excellent Musical Adventure . There were also Game Boy , NES and Atari Lynx games released, which were very loosely based on the film's plot. A PC title and nearly identical Amiga and Commodore 64 port were made in 1991 by Off the Wall Productions and IntraCorp, Inc. under contract by Capstone Software and followed the original film very closely. A single player graphic adventure PC game based on
494-509: The four issue Bill & Ted Go to Hell (2016) and the five issue Bill & Ted Save the Universe (2017). As an official prequel to the third movie, Dark Horse Comics released the four issue miniseries Bill & Ted are Doomed (2020). A cereal based on the animated series adaptation. It was made by the defunct Ralston Purina . It was short-lived, like the cartoon and it included many giveaways and promotions. A musical based on
520-487: The late 1940s. In the 1950s, comedy became more common in science fiction. Some of the authors contributing to the sub-genre included: Alfred Bester , Harry Harrison , C. M. Kornbluth , Frederik Pohl , and Robert Sheckley . The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a comic science-fiction series written by Douglas Adams . Originally a radio comedy broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1978, it later morphed into other formats, including stage shows, novels, comic books,
546-663: The most popular early writers of comic science fiction: the Gallegher series (about a drunken inventor and his narcissistic robot ) and the Hogben series (about a family of mutant hillbillies). The former appeared in Astounding Science Fiction in 1943 and 1948 and was collected in hardcover as Robots Have No Tails (Gnome, 1952), and the latter appeared in Thrilling Wonder Stories in
SECTION 20
#1732802062169572-542: The original cast. A later live-action series, featuring none of the cast from the films, included Christopher Kennedy as Bill and Evan Richards as Ted (who also voiced the same roles in the animated season produced by DIC). This version aired seven episodes in 1992 on Fox . William Sadler additionally reprised his role as the Grim Reaper in "The Assassin", a 1994 episode of Tales from the Crypt . DC Comics produced
598-608: The purchase of Orion in 1997, and MGM has been the main licensee and distributor since. The series has grossed $ 85 million and received generally positive reviews from critics. The series follows the pair of William "Bill" S. Preston Esq. ( Alex Winter ) and Ted "Theodore" Logan ( Keanu Reeves ), initially two teenagers living in San Dimas, California in 1988. They want to make their rock band "Wyld Stallyns" successful, but their ambitions and lackadaisical attitudes leave them close to flunking out of high school and threatening to split
624-497: The title characters. In 2013, the Universal Studios Hollywood Bill and Ted's Excellent Halloween Adventure show was cancelled following allegations by Jamie Lee Curtis Taete from Vice of homophobia and racism in that year's show. The show continued at Universal Studios Florida , until 2017. Science fiction comedy Science fiction comedy ( sci-fi comedy ) or comic science fiction
650-530: Was a staff writer for Laverne & Shirley – making him (at the time) the youngest member of the Writers Guild of America . He then spent three years writing the cult Showtime TV series, It's Garry Shandling's Show , before venturing into feature films in the 1980s. He helped create and co-write the critically acclaimed comedies Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure and Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey (with Chris Matheson ). Solomon also worked on
676-590: Was the Pete Manx series by Henry Kuttner and Arthur K. Barnes (sometimes writing together and sometimes separately, under the house pen-name of Kelvin Kent). Published in Thrilling Wonder Stories in the late 1930s and early 1940s, the series featured a time-traveling carnival barker who uses his con-man abilities to get out of trouble. Two later series cemented Kuttner's reputation as one of
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