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Gary Owens is dead


Troels Pleimert

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No, sorry, this is not some tasteless joke. Unfortunately.

 

Gary Owens died yesterday.

 

I don't even know what to say. His voice was such an important part of my growing up. The world is a poorer place without him.

 

http://variety.com/2015/tv/news/gary-owens-announcer-of-laugh-in-fame-dies-at-80-1201433731/

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It's difficult to put anything into words - especially since he was so much better at it. Even beyond Space Quest, Gary Owens could enrich anything he was a part of. I remember being little and rewatching a VHS dinosaur documentary he hosted over and over again before I ever knew who he was, and my favorite part of the tape was always seeing Gary voice a claymation dinosaur version of himself (I can't find a video, but he was basically a T-Rex with glasses).

 

It's a sad day to lose such a great man and he will be missed. Thanks for all the laughs, Gary. :(

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I just realised, while replying to a topic about Gary's death over on the VSB dev forums, that I literally cannot think of a better adventure game narrator than him. Gary Owens just did it best. I've played multiple adventure games where I've found myself wishing that the developers would've hired him instead of whoever was narrating that particular game. He was just perfect whether he was snarky, deadpan or just plain narrating. You could tell that he wasn't just reading lines - he actually understood what he was doing.

 

In a way, it'd be very fitting if the SpaceVenture narration turns text-only now. Rest in peace, Mr. Owens.

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Needless to say, I'm saddened by Mr. Owens' passing. Even before he came on board as the narrator in Space Quest 4, I was a huge fan of his work on Laugh-In and Space Ghost. As I said on Twitter last night, his performance as the Space Quest narrator was so good that you could retroactively imagine him providing voiceover for the earlier games in the series.

 

Plus, if I'm going to screw up in an adventure game, there's nobody I'd rather hear admonish me for my stupidity than Gary Owens.

 

It's a shame we'll never get to hear Mr. Owens' dulcet tones in SpaceVenture; I'm certain he would have knocked it out of the park yet again. That said, we're lucky to have some amazing performances to look back on and enjoy.

 

Jess

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Dang, RIP Gary.

 

I was only just thinking the other day, "I hope he doesn't pass away before he does the SpaceVenture narration

(or pass away at all, obviously)," but here we are.

His voice/delivery was perfect for this kind of game, as we all knew from SQ4 and SQ6.

 

As far as a new narrator, George Lowe does the Space Ghost voice on "Space Ghost Coast to Coast" (so he's basically

mimicking Gary's original Space Ghost voice), so he might be a good replacement if you want a similar vibe to Gary's...

though it may also be cool to go with someone completely different, but just as funny.

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Regarding potential successors, another voice I always liked was that of Neil Ross.

 

I really like the voice he does for Whitley White in the animated version of "Attack of the Killer Tomatoes,"

that has a lot of the same qualities as Gary Owens... narrator-like but also very expressive and sarcastic, etc. -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqy1Wut-roY&t=0m58s (58s seconds in)...

 

Though I wasn't that in love with the narrator voice he did for Leisure Suit Larry 6+7...

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If another voice actor could do an absolutely spot-on "Gary as narrator" impression, I wouldn't mind that at all.

 

It's like how Mel Blanc created the Bugs Bunny voice, but since he died in '89 loads of other voice

actors have "covered" that same voice.

 

In that way, Gary's vocal style would live on, as do all of Mel Blanc's vocal creations.

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I like the suggestion of Tom Bergeron. While most of his jokes on AFV are absolutely awful, he knows how to deliver them with just the right amount of sarcasm.

 

It's really hard to find someone who can hold a candle to Gary and his zany sense of humour. Don Pardo would spring to mind if he hadn't already left us...

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I grew up watching re-runs of Laugh-In, where he was the announcer, and Space Ghost... that voice just filled my ears as a kid.  And then when he was the narrator on Space Quest IV?  That was mind blowing at the time.  The world has lost an amazing performer and voice.  How many voice casters send out notices liked "WANTED: GARY OWEN'S STYLE VOICE OVER". He's his own damn catagory in voice-actring.

 

I will miss him in SpaceVenture, but I know we'll all honor his memory.  Let's do a hangout sometime and watch his highlights, heh, eh guys??

 

 

Bt

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Longtime Two Guys fan, SpaceVenture backer, finally registered after ages of lurking to post on this thread.

 

Gary Owens was a true legend.  His work was a major part of my inspiration to pursue the work I do now in performing, radio, and voice acting.  He'll be missed terribly by all his admirers, and SpaceVenture will definitely feel his loss.

 

 

As far as a new narrator, George Lowe does the Space Ghost voice on "Space Ghost Coast to Coast" (so he's basically

mimicking Gary's original Space Ghost voice), so he might be a good replacement if you want a similar vibe to Gary's...

though it may also be cool to go with someone completely different, but just as funny.

 

George Lowe started his version of Space Ghost by trying to slightly imitate Gary Owens' original.  The Owens impression was soon dropped entirely, though, as the Cartoon Network version of Space Ghost quickly became a comedic character completely seperate and distinct from Owens' original.  Lowe's Space Ghost voice rapidly evolved into a differently-textured and uniquely-performed character, he made the performance all his own.

 

If Lowe were interested in doing SpaceVenture (and I'm not assuming he would be, I usually hate these fantasy-casting things as there's so much more that goes into the decision for an actor to take a part) it'd be a perfect nod to Owens while keeping the narration unique and great to listen to in its own right.

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If Lowe were interested in doing SpaceVenture it'd be a perfect nod to Owens while keeping the narration unique and great to listen to in its own right.

 

I totally agree - I think my early post was badly worded...
 
I didn't mean to paint Lowe as a sort of inferior imitation of Owens, as yes, he is an awesome vocal actor
in his own right (and Lowe's Space Ghost Coast to Coast voice is arguably as widely known or more widely
known than the original Space Ghost too).
 
In the earlier Coast to Coast episodes he does pretty much nail the Gary Owens voice too though, if they 
wanted him to do that --
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I like the suggestion of Tom Bergeron. While most of his jokes on AFV are absolutely awful, he knows how to deliver them with just the right amount of sarcasm.

Yeah, the jokes on AFV are awful. But Bergeron has a wicked sense of humor off that show. I think Space Quest/SpaceVenture might be right up his alley. Whether it's realistic to get him to do voice over for a game is an entirely different matter, though.

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