History YMMV / TheHitchhikersGuidetotheGalaxy

* WTHCastingAgency: Trillian's accent. Seriously, what the Belgium was that all about? Made even stranger by the fact that she could do a perfectly passable English accent, as seen on a few outtakes. Apparently she asked Creator/DouglasAdams if he wanted an English accent, and he was so happy with her casting in the first place that he said no, she should use her normal voice. He came to regret this, in part because he realised it wasn't a particularly flattering thing to say to an actress. Trillian is also described as vaguely Arabic-looking in the book, so the obvious choice to play her is a blonde American woman.

* WTHCastingAgency: Trillian's accent. Seriously, what the Belgium was that all about? Made even stranger by the fact that she could do a perfectly passable English accent, as seen on a few outtakes. Apparently she asked Creator/DouglasAdams if he wanted an English accent, and he was so happy with her casting in the first place that he said no, she should use her normal voice. He came to regret this, in part because he realised it wasn't a particularly flattering thing to say to an actress.

* SpecialEffectsFailure: {{Egregious}}. The effects compare to some of the worst from ''Series/DoctorWho'', but the show's [[RuleOfFunny so funny]] you stop caring.
** The most {{egregious}} being Zaphod's second head, a mechanical prop which barely functioned and veered right into the UncannyValley. They tried to cover for it by his first head telling the second to "go back to sleep."

** [[TheOtherWiki Wikipedia]] is REALLY tired of people changing the entire article for Earth to say "Mostly Harmless".

** ''[[TheOtherWiki Wikipedia]]''. "While it has many errors and contains much that is apocryphal, or at least wildly inaccurate, it is slightly cheaper."

** Wikipedia is REALLY tired of people changing the entire article for Earth to say "Mostly Harmless".

* ContinuitySnarl: Adams deliberately ensured that no two forms of the franchise were the same, with the exception of Arthur and Ford fleeing the Earth in Fit/Chapter/Part/Act One.

* CoverVersion: The radio series, records, TV series and even the film all use different versions of the Music/TheEagles' "Journey of the Sorcerer".

* TooGoodToLast: One series covering the first two books and that's your lot.

** Which is kind of the joke. Ford Prefect's half-arsed attempts to blend in and the total failure of British humanity to notice anything incongruous about him has always been a part of Ford's story (just look at his name) and one the movie merely played up a bit more.

!!The franchise in general
* AdaptationDisplacement: Most people are familiar with the series as either a five or six book "{{trilogy|Creep}}", unaware that it was first a radio program. To be absolutely clear:
** 1. It was a radio series...
** 2. That got adapted into a book series...
** 3. Which had a TV show made of it...
** 4. That had a text-based computer game made of it...
** 5. Which, many, many years later, had a movie made of it...
** 6. And we can only assume it will eventually be available in [[FoodPills pill form]] at some point.
* AngstWhatAngst: Trillian barely notices when her home planet is blown up and billions are killed. Dent has the decency to be shocked for a few minutes, though once he realizes that he can't quite wrap his head around the magnitude of the loss he starts going into shock.
** The film version of Trillian doesn't even find out until late in the story thanks to Zaphod. When she find out, she goes ''ballistic''.
--->'''Trillian:''' '''''Love and kisses?!?!'''''
* AwesomeEgo: Zaphod in all versions.
* CommonKnowledge: 42 is not "The Meaning of Life", it's "The Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe and Everything." The reason it seems so random and nonsensical is because it's only an ''Answer'', and no one actually knows what the ''Question'' is.
* ContinuitySnarl: Adams deliberately ensured that no two forms of the franchise were the same, with the exception of Arthur and Ford fleeing the Earth in Fit/Chapter/Part/Act One.
* CoverVersion: The radio series, records, TV series and even the film all use different versions of the Music/TheEagles' "Journey of the Sorcerer".
* DiscreditedMeme: Like ''Film/MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail'', the jokes in this franchise have been referenced to death.
** Wikipedia is REALLY tired of people changing the entire article for Earth to say "Mostly Harmless".
* EarWorm: "[[RealSongThemeTune Journey of the Sorcerer]]". Every version with audio has got some arrangement of it.
** The 6" single of the TV theme music had a rather catchy song on the B-side called "Only The End Of The World Again", credited to Disaster Area.[[note]]According to [[http://h2g2.com/approved_entry/A32873899 h2g2]], Douglas Adams played guitar on it.[[/note]]
* EnsembleDarkhorse: Marvin is quite popular among the fans.
* HilariousInHindsight:
** ''[[TheOtherWiki Wikipedia]]''. "While it has many errors and contains much that is apocryphal, or at least wildly inaccurate, it is slightly cheaper."
*** To say nothing of the fact that anyone could wander in and write a paragraph.
*** The Wikimedia project also has a travel guide.
*** Wikipedia's article on the series itself even mentions the Guide's similarities to Wikipedia.
** You can probably compare the shoddiness of the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation's products to your least favorite tech company.
** There's a throwaway line early in the series (books and radio) about Arthur wishing he had a daughter so he could forbid her to marry a Vogon. Towards the end of the series, [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor he ends up getting one, Random.]] [[BrickJoke Who he then forbids from marrying a Vogon.]]
* ItWasHisSled: 42 is the answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe and Everything.
* MemeticMutation:
** "42"
** "Zaphod's just this guy, you know?"
** "DON'T PANIC"
** "Ten out of ten for style [or X], but minus several million for good thinking, huh?"
* MisBlamed: Many people actually cry TheyChangedItNowItSucks to the various adaptation(s) because they're "not like the book". Adams ''wanted'' the various formats to diverge as soon as possible, and succeeded.
* SuspiciouslySimilarSong: To "Tunnel of Love" by Dire Straits, in the radio adaptation of [=SLaTfAtF=].
* TheWoobie: Arthur's the CosmicPlaything. Marvin's TheEeyore.
** [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ImiqaXBMkM This]] pretty much sums it up.

* AdaptationDisplacement: Most people are familiar with the series as either a five or six book "{{trilogy|creep}}", unaware that it was first a radio program. To be absolutely clear:

* FreudWasRight: Questular instantly dislikes Trillian.
-->'''Questular:''' She's lying. She's skinny, and she's pretty, and she's lying!

* WTHCastingAgency: Music/MosDef as Ford Prefect. [[SarcasmMode Oh, yes we totally but that he's from Guilford]].

* TearJerker: At the end of the Quandary Phase when [[spoiler: Fenchurch disappears during the hyperspace jump]].

* TearJerker: [[spoiler: Marvin's death. He's finally happy, for the first time in his entire life (which in case you forget, is eight times older than the universe), and now he's dead. Maybe that's why he's happy.]]
** [[spoiler:And then in the radio version of ''Mostly Harmless''... he's been brought back to life because his warranty hadn't run out. And is miserable again.]]
** The song "Marvin, I Love You", released by Stephen Moore in-character as Marvin, details a surprisingly touching story about Marvin discovering an old tape in his databank, recorded by some sort of A.I. who is programmed to be in love with him ("Remember, I'm programmed for you/I know we're worlds apart/Still you could break my heart"). Marvin doesn't comprehend these words or know where they came from, but he apparently keeps the tape and can play it whenever he wants.
** [[spoiler:The end of ''Mostly Harmless''. Shortly before [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt The End of Every Single Earth in Any Dimension as It Has Ever Been Known]], Arthur realises what is going to happen, and has been so thoroughly broken by the events of the series that he can't bring himself to do anything, and reacts in almost exactly the same fashion as Marvin did to his death. This may even have been deliberate, as Arthur previously described Marvin as "the clearest thinker I know".]]
** A peculiarly bittersweet one in the records, when Arthur, Ford, Zaphod and Trillian are being shot at by the cops on Magrathea and the computer bank they're standing next to is about to explode, Ford and Zaphod take each other's hands and start singing a really weird song.
--->'''Trillian''': What ''are'' you doing?
--->'''Ford''': It's an ancient Betelgeusian death anthem.
--->'''Zaphod''': Singing it makes us feel good in times of stress.\\
[''Ford and Zaphod resume singing.'']
--->'''Arthur''': Well, if you're going to be like that about it, [''sings''] "Land of hope and glory, mother of the free..."
--->'''Trillian''': Oh, well... [''sings''] "[[Franchise/TheBeatles I read the news today, oh boy, about a lucky man-]]"\\
[''Massive explosion. Silence.'']

* OneSceneWonder: Humma Kavula. Whether you approve of his addition to the story or not, there's no denying that John Malkovich (with the help of the special effects team) makes him a memorable character.

* LoveItOrHateIt

* MisBlamed: Many people actually cry AdaptationDecay or TheyChangedItNowItSucks to the various adaptation(s) because they're "not like the book". Adams ''wanted'' the various formats to diverge as soon as possible, and succeeded.

* ContinuitySnarl: Adams deliberately ensured that no two forms of the franchise were the same, with the exception of Arthur and Ford fleeing the Earth in Fit/Chapter/Part One.

** The 6" single of the TV theme music had a rather catchy song on the B-side called "Only The End Of The World Again", credited to Disaster Area.[[note]]Douglas Adams is rumoured to have played guitar on it and since he was a very good guitarist, it's quite possible.[[/note]]

** The theme on the TV series and record albums is a BBC-re-orchestrated edition of the Music/{{Eagles}}' "Journey of the Sorcerer."

* AdaptationDisplacemen: Few people seem to realize the radio series predates the book.

* AdaptationDisplacement and OlderThanTheyThink: Few people seem to realize the radio series predates the book.

* [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks He Changed It Again But It Sucks This Time]]

* MostWonderfulSound: Who else is now just reading the book in Creator/StephenFry's voice?
** [[http://www.audible.com/pd/Sci-Fi-Fantasy/The-Hitchhikers-Guide-to-the-Galaxy-Audiobook/B002VA9SWS Now available for the enjoyment of all.]]
** A lot of the characters will forever be associated with their voices from the film. Creator/AlanRickman and Creator/BillNighy as well.

* VisualEffectsOfAwesome: Even detractors of the film admit the scene of the Earth being rebuilt was very beautifully handled.

* ContinuitySnarl: Adams deliberately ensured that no two forms of the franchise were the same, with the exception of Arthur and Ford fleeing the Earth in Fit/Chapter/Part One. In a sense, Adams was {{Troll}}ing his own fans... or at least making sure everybody remembered the MST3KMantra. Which would you rather do, bicker over fictional minutiae or have a good laugh?
** Definitely bicker over fictional minutiae.
*** [[ArgumentOfContradictions Oh no we wouldn't!]]

*** Huh. [[TVTropes I thought we]] [[DrPediaAndMrTrope were talking about]] [[RetconningTheWiki ourselves here.]]

* LawfulNeutral: The Vogons.

** [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ImiqaXBMkM This]] pretty much sums it up.
* ZeroContextExample: The number 42 is an in-universe use of the trope.

* BlatantLies: Ford's claim to be from Guildford becomes this since he's got an American accent, unless one is supposed to believe he means he's from America via Guildford.
** That argument only works if you're British and you're thinking of Guildford, near London. This film was made for Americans, who will think first of Guildford, Connecticut (just down the road from New London CT, oddly enough). A black American from Guildford is perfectly feasible - so long as the Guildford is in New England.
** There is also a Guildford in Vermont and a Guilford County and town in North Carolina. So lots of places for an American-accented Ford Prefect to come from. Only... the American version might have renamed him "Ford Edsel" or something, as the Prefect was only ever sold in Britain?
** The accent is remarked upon, though, as if he'd claimed to be from Guildford in England, since there's a line to the effect of "So you're not from Guildford; well, that would explain the accent"
** Considering the fact he was presumably a lot closer to the English Guildford than anywhere in America when he claimed to be from Guildford, people would tend to assume he meant the English one. An American from Guildford, Connecticut in England would probably specify "Guildford, Connecticut" or just say they're from Connecticut or the US.

* AdaptationDisplacement: Few people seem to realize the radio series predates the book.

** The accent is remarked upon, though, as if he'd claimed to be from Guilford in England, since there's a line to the effect of "So you're not from Guilford, well that would explain the accent"

* InternetBackdraft: When it was first announced that Mos Def would play Ford Prefect, there was a lot of racist comments made about him. Most of it subsided by the time the film came out.

* MostWonderfulSound: Who else is now just reading the book in Stephen Fry's voice?

* CommonKnowledge: 42 is not "The Meaning of Life", it's "The Answer to the Great Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything." The reason it seems so random and nonsensical is because it's only an ''Answer'', and no one actually knows what the ''Question'' is.
* ContinuitySnarl: Adams deliberately ensured that no two forms of the franchise were the same, with the exception of Arthur and Ford fleeing the Earth in Fit/Chapter/Part One. In a sense, Adams was {{Troll}}ing his own fans... or at least making sure everybody remembered the MST3KMantra. Which would you rather do, bicker over fictional minutia or have a good laugh?

*** Oh no we wouldn't!

** "Ten out of ten for style [or X] but minus several million for good thinking, huh?"

** The theme on the TV series and record albums is a BBC-re-orchestrated edition of the Eagles' "Journey Of The Sorcerer."