Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

1. a very popular bbc radio series written by douglas adams, originally broadcast in 1978, with new episodes broadcast in 1980, 2004 and 2005.
2. a book released in 1979 by douglas adams, derived from the first series of 1. also the blanket t-tle for a series of four further books by adams set in the same universe. sometimes known as “a trilogy in five parts”.
3. 1979 stage show derived from the first series of 1.
4. 1979 lp recording derived from the first series of 1.
5. 1981 bbc television series derived partially from the first series of 1., with some material from 2. and additional original material.
6. a 1984 computer text adventure game by infocom, freely adapted from the beginning of the first series of 1.
7. a 2005 film from disney, very loosely derived from the first series of 1. widely felt to have lost most of the humor and pacing of the original in the process of adapting the material to an american audience. the death of douglas adams (and subsequent editing of the script by others) may have played a part in this.
the hitchhiker’s guide to the galaxy was one of my favorite books in high school.

hitchhiker’s guide to the galaxy
1. the original science-fiction comedy. written by the late douglas adams, hgttg incorporated poignant observations about the nature of life, the universe and everything with ridiculous slapstick. it began as a radio show, but was later made into a book trilogy in five parts. the one steadfast rule of the series is that logic and causality are for sissies.

2. a fictional device similar to a pda which contains an encyclopedic database about everything you could possibly want to know about, written by underpaid or unpaid people not really concerned with accuracy (much like urbandictionary). it comes in a box that has the words “don’t panic!” in large, friendly letters.
“thanks to the hitchhiker’s guide, i’ve become an expert in all sorts of useless cr-p. and i can fly.”
a book never published on earth, and until a terrible catastrophe occurred in an alternate probability in 1979, never seen or even heard of by any earthman.
nevertheless, a wholly remarkable book.
in fact, it was probably the most remarkable book ever to come out of the great publishing corporations of ursa minor- of which no earthman had ever herd either.
no only is it a wholly remarkable book, it is also a highly successful one- more popular than “celestial home care omnibus,” better selling than “fifty-three more things to do in zero gravity,” and more controversial than oolon colluphid’s trilogy of philosophical blockbusters, “where g-d went wrong,” “some more of g-d’s greatest mistakes,” and “who is this g-d person anyway?”
in many of the more relaxed civilizations on the outer eastern rim of the galaxy, the “hitchhiker’s guide” has already supplanted the great “encyclopedia galactica” as the standard repository of all knowledge and wisdom, for though it has many omissions and contains much that is apocryphal, or at least widely inaccurate, it scores over the older, more pedestrian work in two important respects.

1. it is slightly cheaper.

2. it has the words don’t panic inscribed in large friendly letters on its cover.
“the hitchhiker’s guide to the galaxy has a few things to say on the subject of towels.”
a book. but not just any book, this book is my god.
\”oh no, not again.\”
the hitch hiker’s guide to the galaxy — not an earth book, never published on earth, and until the terrible catastrophe occurred, never seen or heard of by any earthman.

nevertheless, a wholly remarkable book.