More on "Darth Icky":

i heard a story from some people who worked on a pretty high profile...ancillary star wars entertainment product ....

anyway they heard word that lucas was very excited about the project and was, in fact, so excited about it that he had come up with a brand new character expressly for this project that would become part of the official star wars canon, etc.

obviously everyone was really excited.

the day came for lucas to meet with them. lucas coming to their offices was basically like the ******' pope or president coming, huge deal, big preparation, everyone's buzzing around etc etc

so they finally sit down with lucas in the conference room, and he starts by saying how impressed he was, how he wanted this product to be a real core part of star wars lore, blah blah blah...

then he says, "So the character I've created for the [project] is..."

*everyone leans forward, anticipating with bated breath*

"....Darth...Icky"

so they're like, "Darth...Icky"

and he's like, "yes, Darth Icky - I-C-K-Y" and begins to explain the character

so then after they were all freaking out like how the **** are we gonna write around this retarded character etc, eventually they just drug their feet on it for long enough that lucas had moved on to his next brilliant idea and forgot about it and the public never knew of Darth Icky.

I'm currently working on my first photonovel, centered around my new character, Darth Gag-Me-With-A-Dead-Smurf

Fascinating article in Game Informer this month on same topic

Indeed.

Fall Of The Empire: How Inner Turmoil Brought Down LucasArts

My favorite part: Lucas suggesting that The Force Unleashed's protagonist should be named Darth Icky or Darth Insanius.

A similar situation arose with Star Wars: The Force Unleashed’s protagonist, Starkiller. “[That name] was only supposed to be a nickname or call sign, not a proper name from the beginning,” a former LucasArts employee says. The development team hoped that Lucas would give Vader’s apprentice a Darth moniker, which at the time, was something that didn’t happen often.

“The team threw a Hail Mary to George, saying the game would have more credibility if the apprentice had a ‘Darth’ title,” a Force Unleashed team member says. Lucas agreed that this situation made sense for Sith royalty, and offered up two Darth titles for the team to choose from. “He threw out ‘Darth Icky’ and ‘Darth Insanius.’ There was a pregnant pause in the room after that. People waiting for George to say ‘just kidding,’ but it never comes, and he just moved on to another point.”

Lots of blame on Jim ******* Ward in that article, too.

And Jesse, you really should probably not read this:

LucasArts’ push for more internally developed Star Wars titles left behind a tantalizing trail of unreleased projects. Star Wars: Imperial Commando, a sequel to Republic Commando, would have put the player in control of an Imperial assault team, but never made it out of the conceptual phase of development. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic III was almost greenlit, but none of the people I talked to involved in the project knew why it was canceled. “Most of the conceptual and story groundwork for the title was there,” a LucasArts employee says. Star Wars: Jedi Knight III – Brink of Darkness and Jedi Master were two different directions LucasArts hoped to take its Jedi Knight series, but neither made it to proper development. Other scrapped Star Wars titles included Smuggler, a linear action game that focused on a Han Solo-like character; Rebel Warrior, a violent action game with a Wookiee protagonist fighting the Empire; a title that put players into the role of Darth Maul called Star Wars: Darth Maul; an internally developed Star Wars MMORPG codenamed Proteus; a Call of Duty-like shooter named Star Wars: First Assault; and most surprisingly, Star Wars: Episode VII – Shadows of the Sith, which was believed to be a spin-off to the upcoming motion picture now helmed by J. J. Abrams.

For everyone else's annoyance level's sake, I promise I'm done after this. I have posted some a*hole things. True. However, only as an over reaction to something as trivial as a tv show. I, again my opinion, I obviously don't know you, think you enjoy the a*hole comment as a part of your argument, and that isn't just based on this particular conversation.

That's fair. I know I've got a horrible reputation for being an ******* around here. I don't think I'm that way any more, but it's something I'll probably never be able to live down with some people. Oh well. Can't do anything about that now. Made my own bed and all that.

Ok Jeff, Jesse, and the others that just want to talk about the show, I promise I am done until we are discussing this Sunday's episode. SORRY all.

Yes. Let's just get back to talking about the show, which is, without question, the most finely-crafted program in the history of broadcast television. A show against which all other shows will be judged, from now until the end of time.

Again killing off Rick or the show isn't good still makes no sense. And apparently that's what you think. Do you want the main character in all shows you watch killed off? I think I am done debating with you. I appreciate Greg and Matt M debating with me and Justin, etc because it feels like a friendly debate. Any time YOU say anything it seems like you're being an a*hole for the sake of being an a*hole, in my opinion, so it riles me up too. I could be reading you wrong, and if so I apologize, but I don't think so, so that is a pretty worthless apology.

We will just have to agree to disagree and I will continue watching the show and enjoying it and rooting even harder they never kill off Rick both because I like his character and just to be a jerk. Thanks.

Yeah, you're not taking this discussion about a zombie TV show way too personally at all. My bad.

"On AMC's The Walking Dead, anyone can die at any time! Except Rick, because it's his story, and except Daryl, because he's the bad-boy that the ladies love, and Michonne, too, 'cause she looks cool with her sword and whatnot. And probably Maggie, 'cause she's the only hot piece of ass on the show. Everyone else is fair game!"

Matt...How does Carl not shooting Rick equal "dumb and directionless?"  The point of the episode was that Carl has been building up resentment for his dad and feels he doesn't need him.  Him NOT shooting Rick signaled his realization that he'd rather die than be alone. Thinking Rick is zombified, he'd actually rather just end it all right there versus going on alone.  That's not dumb - its actually pretty powerful character development.  And it's obviously taking a main character in a new, more mature direction.  Could it be that the show is solid and it's you who just doesn't get it?

I said Carl not shooting Rick was the show taking the easy way out. Did it develop Carl as a character better than the alternative? There's no way to know. But the alternative would have made for much more interesting TV. Dumb and directionless was just a general descriptor of some of the decisions they've made after the first season.

By the way, Kirkman is on record as saying the WD is "Rick's Story," so killing him off for shock value would be a pretty stupid move.  You want to compare this to Breaking Bad, but you're offering up the equivalent of Walter getting killed in season 2 and the rest of the story focusing on Jesse.

If it's Rick's story, then we know he's gonna make it out of every situation they put him in, like James Bond. That's boring. And means that line they like to trot out that "anyone can die at any time" is total bull****.

And I'm not the one who mentioned Breaking Bad, but do people really want to compare the two? Really?

Beyond MY opinion, I think Nick and others are just bothered by the constant ripping on the show.  This is obviously a thread for people that really like the show.

Then let's update the thread title to "The Walking Dead (ONLY for people that really like the show)"

That doesn't mean you can't point out things that bother you or that you wish had happened differently, but saying the storyline sucks or the writers constantly "blow it" isn't going to make you a lot of friends here.  And frankly, it makes you sound pretty stupid for continuing to waste your time on a show you don't like.

I like the show. It can be great TV when it wants to be. Too bad it hasn't wanted to be for a while.

Thanks for the heads up.

You're welcome.

Sneak preview of Episode 11: Rick, Carl, and Michonne clear another house.

The show had an opportunity to get super-interesting with Carl shooting Zombie Rick, but, as usual, they blew it.