I’m Fraking Quoted

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Chris Talbott of the Associated Press picked up on my blog post a while back about the subversive power of "Frak"..and quoted me in an article on the topic that is showing up today all over the fraking place.

Lee Goldberg thinks Glen A. Larson is a genius, and not because the prolific
television writer and producer gave us "Knight Rider" and "B.J. and the Bear."

It was Larson who first used the faux curse word "frak" in
the original "Battlestar Galactica." The word was mostly overlooked back in the
'70s series but is working its way into popular vocabulary as SciFi's modern
update winds down production.

"All joking aside, say what you will about what you might
call the lowbrow nature of many of his shows, he did something truly amazing and
subversive, up there with what Steven Bochco gets credit for, with 'frak,' "
Goldberg said.

There's no question what the word stands for and it's used
gleefully, as many as 20 times in some episodes.

[…]Goldberg believes Larson should get more
credit for "frak" and has posted an appreciation on his Web site. He even sought
out Larson to let him know how he feels: "I told him, 'Frak is fraking
brilliant, Glen.' "

The reporter also talked to BATTLESTAR GALACTICA cast members, novelist Robert Crais, and he even  managed (with my help) to track down Glen for a quote or two.

"Our point was to whenever possible make it a departure like
you're visiting somewhere else," Larson said. "And we did coin certain phrases
for use in expletive situations, but we tried to carry that over into a lot of
other stuff, even push brooms and the coin of the realm."

The producers of the new BATTLESTAR GALACTICA fraking love to use the word, of course.

Co-executive producer and writer Michael Angeli, an Emmy
nominee for the episode "Six of One," said using the word in scripts is
satisfying for anyone who's been censored over the years.

"It's a great way to do something naughty and get away with
it," Angeli said.

That talented motherfraker is frakin' right.

9 thoughts on “I’m Fraking Quoted”

  1. Hi Lee–
    I read about you on CNN.com about “frak” and wanted to see if you were the same Lee Goldberg I went to UCLA with. We both wrote for the Bruin in 1985, when you were writing the first Ian Ludlow book. I saw that you and Rabkin were successful in the biz. Congratulations to you!
    Eric Potruch

    Reply

  3. You’re blog is very entertaining! Now how the HELL do I become as successful as you!?? haha Kidding. Keep up the blog, I will keep reading!
    –Chuck

    Reply

  5. It really is kind of amazing what happens when a new word is used to describe something. Karl Marx turned the word, “capitalism,” into a dirty word around the globe. No matter how hard economists tried to defend it, just hearing the word, “capitalism,” caused people to feel horrible about it. So some genius started calling it, “the market economy,” and within a few years the market economy became the darling of nations all around the world (because it works and communism doesn’t.)
    Even in our private lives, with our loved ones, there’s often a battle over what word to use to label someone’s behaviour. If you give your effort to the writing life, for instance, you may be described as “foolish” or “stupid” or “a dreamer with your head in the clouds.” Then, when you get published, all sorts of complimentary words are rolled out. “Thanks, but where were you when I was struggling and you were telling me I was a fool to be a writer?!”
    May a Higher Power always protect me from those persons who run around putting bad labels on everything! And may geniuses pop up to re-label all the good things that have been given a bad label! Amen.

    Reply

  9. Or, if you’re a fan of the Britcom series “Father Ted”, you’re familiar with “Feck”, used much like Frak, only funnier.
    Mrs Doyle: Now come on Father, what would you say to a nice cup of tea?
    Jack: FECK OFF CUP!!!!!!

    Reply

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