Talk:Episode 104: You Don't Have a Pet to Be Popular

James van der Beek
I added a trivia note about James van der Beek's appearance in this episode, with the screenshot from his page. Andrew took it out, with the edit summary: "Van der Beek already included in cast list".

I know that he's already listed on the page, but I think his appearance is an interesting trivia note and worth spotlighting with another sentence and a picture. There's not a heck of a lot that's worth saying about Aliens, so I think there's no harm in spotlighting the soon-to-be-famous guest stars. I think we could do the same for Aaron Eckhart and Allison Janney, especially if we could find some screenshots of them from their episodes. -- Danny (talk ) 00:21, 23 December 2008 (UTC)


 * It just looks really odd, awkward and redundant, and moreso since the same info is already on Aliens in the Family (in the trivia section, but I see that's been pushed down since a gallery of placeholders for each episode was added; I think that could also be jettisoned, since the episode category is a better way to navigate). If you really want to leave it there, but it just looks like repetition, since the fact is right below, the picture's on van der Beek's page, and most know he starred on Dawson's Creek. It doesn't seem to really relate to the episode page, and it just looks really odd. I have the whole run, by the way, in variable quality. An image for Janney is doable (though I think there's better ways to expand that page when I get to it), but Eckhart's is brief, blurry, and pretty pointless (it's easier to tell it's him by his voice, uttering his one line). -- Andrew Leal (talk ) 00:33, 23 December 2008 (UTC)


 * It doesn't seem redundant to me. Yes, his name is on the page, but it's in the middle of a list of other actors like Blaze Berdahl who aren't very interesting. I've been fixing up those pages a bit today, and when I saw his name in the guest cast, I thought, "wow, really?" I think it's worth including that note and picture so that other people have that same experience, when they might otherwise pass it by. -- Danny (talk ) 00:42, 23 December 2008 (UTC)


 * It's just that we don't do that on Farscape, and it seems like something that could lead to a trivia note for every actor; Nate could argue that Robert Westenberg deserves a note, and so on. There's plenty of similar examples on Dinosaurs voices and we don't do that there, and on and on. It especially looks weird as a trivia note. It would work better worked into the summary; i.e. "Heather prepares for her date with Ethan (played by a pre-Dawson's Creek James van der Beek)." That seems more natural while also being interesting, as opposed to, "Oh yes, this Van der Beek guy, did you know he was on Dawson's Creek?" I still don't think we need a guest star image on every page, though, and if anything, I'd say dump that episode listing on Aliens in the Family and take that "Trivia" section, which is right now about guest stars, and use it as a kind of all-purpose "Before we knew who they were" gallery/note section. Especially since, in fact, it is easier to spruce up individual episodes, but harder to make coverage of the show as a whole very interesting (two episodes aired in prime time, most were run off on Saturdays). Taken en masse, I'd say they're more interesting than a thumbnail below a link to the person's page with the same image. -- Andrew Leal (talk ) 00:48, 23 December 2008 (UTC)


 * I actually think we could have something like that for Farscape and Dinosaurs; it would liven up those episode pages considerably. I wouldn't mind a note about Robert Westenberg, or anybody who's had a memorable career. I think it works much better as a trivia note than wedged into the plot summary. I'd rather keep the synopsis focused on the story, and put the guest cast stuff into another section.


 * Right now, our episode pages are fairly anemic. We have a section for guest cast that's just a dull list of names. There's no pressure to keep those pages short, so why not build up that section? -- Danny (talk ) 01:43, 23 December 2008 (UTC)