Talk:Wil Wheaton

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[edit] Glaring Error

The article states "After leaving Star Trek, Wheaton quit acting altogether." If you will look at his imdb page, you will see Wheaton has, in fact, had a steady stream of roles from the 80s, through the 90s, and up to the present year. Many of these were voice acting spots, but some (as with CSI) were physical performances. Kevin Scott Marcus (talk) 12:10, 10 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Mr. Wheaton

Mr. Wheaton, I see that you have a Wikipedia account or at least are aware of this article. I also see that you seem to be apprehensive about editing this article. Please note that this is not against Wikipedia policy (see WP:BLP), as long as you adhere to all other policies. Bduddy 03:21, 20 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Brother Bear

Removed that Wil Wheaton was not in Brother Bear... Quoting Wil's Slashdot Journal

"I'm sure this is just begging for vandalism (unless those douchebags have grown up and finally kissed a girl) . . . but there is an error on my Wikipedia page that needs to be corrected. I'd do it myself, but that's against Wikipedia editing policy.

I am not in Brother Bear. Willie Wheaton, Wil Wheaton, Jr., and Reginald Maudling (Mrs.) are all not me. I've tried to get this taken off imdb, but someone (well-intentioned, I'm sure) keeps putting it back, and Wikipedia editors (also well-intentioned) are putting Brother Bear back up . . . so we're in an infinite improbability loop, and my towel is getting dirty.

Would someone please correct that, and cite this journal entry so it doesn't get corrected back?" --Tracy Blanton

Moved "Plus he's totally cool. And he rocks. No matter what other people might think" to here. He may be a total babe, but NPOV dictates that you decide that for yourself. Someone else

It seems that Wil Wheaton discovered Wikipedia. He's linked to it from his personal blog at http://www.wilwheaton.net/ and I think he may have submited the orginal bio for this page. His site is somewhat popular; quite a few people seem to have followed the link. --Stephen Gilbert

Yes, and his fans left some generally positive comments:
"Well, I checked out some things in which I have expertise, and I found no errors of fact. For something online, that's quite rare..."
"I am beginning the process of wasting all my damn time at Wiki. I took the liberty of adding "Tom Tomorrow" and "This Mordern World" entries. "Wil Wheaton" was already there! Whatta man!"
But then there's this one:
"I notice that the 2 articles I looked at in the wikipedia were based on original articles published in 1897 and 1911. I should look up relativity now, and see if it's in there."
And this one:
"the wiki is a great idea. very interesting project, but what is the priority with the experiment here... collaboration or information?"
Zoe i got that information about Will not being invited to many conventions for safety reasons from the con organisers themselves - why did you delete it?

Added detailed information about the decline of Wheaton's acting career, but his resurfacing as an internet celebrity. As "cool" as it is that Wil is a fan of wikipedia, please don't delete this added information because you think it's derogatory. There is no shame in being a child star who has faded from the limelight, and everything added is both factual and relevant. -EB-

An anon IP posted: Also in 2004 Wheaton suffered some financial issues forcing him to sell autographed memorabilia on Ebay to raise money for basic living expenses. - I suspect this is vandalism (this article is prone to it). I'd like some documentation for this, or I'm going to revert it. →Raul654 08:20, Mar 1, 2004 (UTC)

If you search the history of Wheaton's own web log on his website, wilwheaton.net, you will see tht he has discussed this topic himself. Apparently a financial struggle was endured early in 2004 due to Wheaton's pursuit of acting projects for which he was not hired; he discusses "finding old Star Trek" memorabilia in his garage and autographing it and selling it on Ebay. He also discusses doing this with headshots of himself. Not that I think it bar inclusion in an encylopedic entry, but neither was adding it an act of vandalism.

To end the prepetual vandalism of the site address, I created a mediawiki tag and protected it. →Raul654 23:21, Mar 17, 2004 (UTC)

It says that the deleted scene is on the DVD however I can't find it. In addition, I have tried googling about it and some sources say it isn't on the DVD. Could someone either tell me where to find it or can we edit the article to be accurate? Alison9 03:45, 26 Feb 2005 (UTC)


[edit] Weird Juxtaposition

Although his character (and by extension Wil himself) was loudly hated by a small but vocal group of Trekkers alt.wesley.crusher.die.die.die) during TNG's first run, Wheaton has emerged as a vocal member of the geek / nerd community and runs his own weblog web site, Wil Wheaton Dot Net

Shouldn't that web site be Wil Wheaton Not Ded ? --Philopedia 14:03, 20 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Why would it be? Visit the site and read the title. -- Cyrius|✎ 22:34, 15 July 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Brother Bear

Wil Wheaton says the "Willie Wheaton" in Brother Bear is some other guy, and that IMDb is wrong and won't fix it. As this has been "helpfully" re-added back in the past, it needs to be stated explicitly. -- Cyrius|✎ 29 June 2005 16:02 (UTC)

And just to make clear that this reinsertion problem isn't hypothetical, this little "fact" has had to be removed from the article three times. -- Cyrius|✎ 29 June 2005 16:09 (UTC)
Yeah at least one of those was my bad... I assumed that Wil would have had IMDb corrected and so if it was there it was accurate... stupid me ... :)  ALKIVAR™ 29 June 2005 17:59 (UTC)
He says he's tried but they won't fix it! Meanwhile, he posts a plea in his Slashdot journal and gets it fixed here in 9 minutes. -- Cyrius|✎ 29 June 2005 18:38 (UTC)

[edit] Pie in the Sky

This entry has a link for Pie in the Sky. However, this link is for the UK TV drama series of that name, not the unrelated film that Wil appeared in. I'm new to Wiki but I assume there should be a new entry for the film and a disambiguation page? -- Nigel Campbell

Yeah, probably. -- Cyrius|✎ 22:33, 15 July 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Biography Gap

Why does the biography begin after the end of Star Trek and with him struggling to find work/reinvent himself? And must we use "like many actors" twice in a row? --feitclub 04:03, August 17, 2005 (UTC)

Well, after ST:TNG and before The Rest of His Life he worked for NewTek (the Video Toaster people) and then for a bit for G4 (actually G4 would fall into the Struggle to Re-invent Himself). Somebody looking for something to do could probably look up dates and insert some details..... Taco 03:42, 30 July 2006 (UTC)

The biography should definitely include more details about his childhood acting career, getting the part in "Stand By Me", becoming a teen idol during the Star Trek years, etc. Vandelay 17:41, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Cleanup

Okay, Mr. Wheaton has pointed out that some of the information in this article is inaccurate. Additionally, I would like to spend some time cleaning up this article and perhaps later, submit it for feedback from other editors who aren't involved. Why am I writing this instead of just doing it? Well, partly because I'll never actually do the work unless I put a comment like this here. Also, because I'd really like people's help on this. This article is already better than most of the other ones on my watchlist, but I think we can make it much better still. And, quite frankly, I'm going to have a hard time figuring out what's good, what's wrong but should be corrected, and what needs to be dumped. So please, let's all get together and fix this article! Suggestions and comments are most welcome! --Yamla 03:01, 4 February 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Libertarian cat

There was no assertion in the article that Wheaton has libertarian beliefs or is affiliated with the party, so I removed the cat. --Deville (Talk) 00:19, 7 May 2006 (UTC)

In an interview, he stated he was Libertarian. Also, on his website, he says "I often describe myself as a 'left-leaning libertarian...'" and "Now, if I had my druthers ... I'd have the Libertarians as a third party..." I will reinstate the LP category and post a link to an interview. -- Moviecritic, May 21, 2006


[edit] Onion Contributions

There is no mention of Wil Wheaton's frequent contributions to the Onion's AV Club, through his feature Games of Our Lives. Someone more closely associated with this article should add that.

--The Frog 15:29, 8 August 2006 (UTC)


[edit] Monolith Press

The article Monolith Press points to the article Wil Wheaton. This is wrong..they are separate entities, and this makes the article reference itself. --Nemilar 09:34, 4 November 2006 (UTC)

I've created a stub article for Monolith Press. Yay! My first stub!
--Nemilar 09:49, 4 November 2006 (UTC)


[edit] Politics

I think there should be a section detailing Wheaton's political views- for one thing, Wheaton's self-identification as a libertarian doesn't seem sufficiently clear to some (see "Libertarian cat" above). For another thing, the only other political references in the article in its present form are "A column that Wheaton wrote for Salon.com in 2005, The Real War on Christmas, attacked conservative commentators..." and "Though never one to shy away from politics, in September of 2006 Wheaton very stringently clarified his anti-Bush beliefs...", both of which strike me as being rather randomly positioned within the article. --Redeagle688 01:43, 17 December 2006 (UTC)

Please add Wheaton's birth info--parents, birthplace, etc. Thanks!

[edit] Wil Wheaton's favorite number

Wil Wheaton's favorite number has been added and removed two times now. Favorite numbers are clearly suitable for trivia sections, but this particular favorite number is more like a political statement and is therefore definately important encyclopedic information which deserves at least a place in the trivia section like so:

  • Wil Wheaton's favorite number is 09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0 [1]
  1. ^ http://wilwheaton.typepad.com/wwdnbackup/2007/04/numbers_are_awe.html

or possibly its own subsection outside of trivia if more information can be found regarding the political statement Wil is making.--MarSch 12:58, 8 May 2007 (UTC)

It's his favorite number string if we're going to be specific, and I think it's not notable enough to bother including. -- Ipstenu (talk|contribs) 15:00, 8 May 2007 (UTC)
what do you mean number string? Do you mean numbers should be represented in decimal notation or they aren't really numbers? --MarSch 13:31, 13 May 2007 (UTC)
Did you even read his webpage or Google that string? That's the key to unlock HD-DVD disks. It's a string because it has letters as well as numbers and is only worth mentioning as it reflects his beliefs that data encryption of music and movies is silly. If it's worth mentioning, then it would be better served to explain his thoughts without resorting to the number string :) -- Ipstenu (talk|contribs) 13:30, 14 May 2007 (UTC)
it is the number represented by that string which is important, not whether it is represented in hex or decimal. Yes, obviously I am aware, that is why I used the terms "political statement" above. --MarSch 13:50, 14 May 2007 (UTC)

So why not just write up an explanation of his political statement into a subsection, rather than file it under trivia (which should be avoided anyway)? :) -- Ipstenu (talk|contribs) 14:28, 14 May 2007 (UTC)

Because I don't know of any sources that are explicit about it, only his own declaration of his favorite number.--MarSch 09:34, 15 May 2007 (UTC)

How on Earth is a favourite number important encyclopedia information? It is not a political statement to have a copyright circumvention key as a favourite number. This sort of trivia rubbish just sullies the hard work done on conveying notable and useful information on the article's topic. (WP:TRIVIA is a good page to read up on) Remy B 03:38, 15 May 2007 (UTC)
It is a decryption key, the main use of which is to be able to make free software implementations of hddvd players, such that people who happen to care about free licensing for more than just wikipedia can play their own hddvd's on their own computer for themselves in freedom and with no restriction of their fair use rights. Just because you do not understand the issue or do not care doesn't mean there is no political message there. --MarSch 09:42, 15 May 2007 (UTC)
I know all about the hex key, the Digg controversy, the YouTube video, the Kevin Rose "We hear you", etc. etc. But that topic has nothing to do with Wil Wheaton anymore than it has to do with me, you, or Genghis Khan (for example). If that issue is highly noteworthy, make an article about it, but it doesn't belong on the article of someone who discussed it. Not to mention that the term "favourite number" is barely resemblant of a fact, even if you have a reference. It could change tomorrow, or was never seriously said in the first place, etc. Wikipedia is a place for notable information, not all the information you can find, or all the information of the latest controversy you just read about. Let's stick to serious information, and not dilute the real content with wishy washy nonsense like someone's "favourite number". Remy B 11:43, 15 May 2007 (UTC)
Wil disagrees. If he himself thinks it is important enough to mention about himself, then maybe you should reevaluate your reasoning for excluding this info. --MarSch 12:14, 15 May 2007 (UTC)
Wil certainly doesn't decide the notability criteria of Wikipedia, and regardless, he hasn't stated that he wants his "favourite number" on his Wikipedia article, or that you can speak for him about it. I mean, this is meant to be a serious encyclopedia. It is not serious to list random facts like one's "favourite number", even if it is a reference to some recent controversy. Remy B 12:30, 15 May 2007 (UTC)
I do not claim to speak for him nor that he defines what is notable on wikipedia. I claim that he can decide what is a notable part of his political opinion and that he said that he wants this on his article. --MarSch 14:02, 15 May 2007 (UTC)
Which he asked to have added as, it seems, a bit of a dig against Wikipedia, for banning HD DVD code and related discussion pages. I don't think it's notable enough about Wil to bother with including. -- Ipstenu (talk|contribs) 14:35, 15 May 2007 (UTC)

Wil also states that he likes walking barefoot in the grass on his blog (and talks about the weather, about caring for his pets, etc etc). 'Notable' is subjective in a lot of instances, and saying 'He blogs about it!' is a slippery slope, since people (including Wil) blog about anything and everything. Wil was making a anti-encryption dig (which is a little political depending on your POV I'll grant you). He made one post about it. Since we can't tell if he's being facetious or not, and he's only mentioned it once, we should leave it out. (Psst, Wil, I'll buy another copy of Dancing Barefoot if you start posting about this every day for a month ;) ) -- Ipstenu (talk|contribs) 13:40, 15 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Guidelines, Notability and Trivia

I'm breaking this out to separate the discussion of the afformentioend number (string) and notability. Please note, I'm not saying that Wil isn't a notable person, I'm bringing this up to try and get everyone on the same page for what sort of information is appropriate for a Bio page. Wikipedia isn't a shill for a company or an individuals beliefs. Wil is a political opinionated person, but detailed discussion about the nitty gritty of his thoughts is something he should do on his website, not on an encyclopedia.

All that said, we probably do need to break out a section on Wil's activism and beliefs, in a general way. He's got a lot of information that can be included, from his published works. And yes, an autobiography, when published by a company, can be added. -- Ipstenu (talk|contribs) 14:50, 15 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Quit acting...

"After leaving Star Trek, Wheaton quit acting altogether"

I think that line needs a rewrite. He'd acted in many MANY other shows since then...I'd suggest something along the lines of "After leaving Star Trek, Wheaton quit acting altogether...for a short time, at least".

Also, he was in an episode of "The Invisible Man" (which was since TNG finished) which, although being a one-off, is noteworthy IMO...It was well-acted and it was a different character to his usual as he played a bad guy :-) —The preceding unsigned comment was added by SmUX (talk • contribs) 13:48, 10 June 2007.

He was also in an episode of CSI iirc. — pd_THOR | =/\= | 19:21, 10 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] External links

Someone using the 63.229.217.49 (talk) IP address, and more recently the 63.229.218.189 (talk) IP address, has been deleting the following URLs and text from the External links section:

The first link was being changed to the old wilwheaton.net site, but the last edit just removed the text. Is there any reason why these links should be removed? They seem both relevant and notable to me. If people agree, someone should restore the above. I've already reverted these changes twice and I would rather get a few more opinions on this before repeating the revert so that I can point the anonymous editor to this discussion. If someone else does the revert, please point 63.229.218.189 (talk) to this discussion. Thanks. -- HiEv 11:40, 30 August 2007 (UTC)

The external links you posted all seem like reasonable additions to the article. If they were deleted with no explanation, then re-add them to the article. Rray 15:09, 30 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Atheist?

Twitter entry on September 12th —Preceding unsigned comment added by 216.249.145.225 (talk) 23:54, 21 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] He hates Wesley Crusher Too

Put in that he thinks Wesley Crusher was an annoying brat. :) His blog pretty much says that as he views the episodes lately, he realizes how he dislikes Wesley. But he was required to play him as instructed and his lines were given in the script, he didn't create them. He actually finds it funny how Trekkies come up to him at conventions with a photo of him from a episode where Wesley was stabbed to death (of course he didn't really die) and ask him to autograph it. As if he didn't get the joke. Fanra 02:38, 23 October 2007 (UTC)