Wikipedia:Today's featured article/requests/Horrible Histories (2009 TV series)

Horrible Histories (2009 TV series)

This nomination predates the introduction in April 2014 of article-specific subpages for nominations and has been created from the edit history of Wikipedia:Today's featured article/requests.

This is the archived discussion of the TFAR nomination for the article below. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as Wikipedia talk:Today's featured article/requests). Please do not modify this page.

The result was: scheduled for Wikipedia:Today's featured article/April 16, 2014 by Bencherlite ^Talk 13:09, 7 April 2014‎ (UTC)[reply]

Horrible Histories is a children's sketch-comedy adaptation of Terry Deary's long-running book series, produced by Lion Television with Citrus Television, that ran for five 13-episode series on Britain's CBBC from 2009 to 2013. Like the books, it was intended to foster childrens' interest in British and other Western world history through factual anecdotes chosen with a focus on "gross-out"-style humour and comic violence--"history with the nasty bits left in". The producers of the TV series recruited writers and performers with roots in the adult British comedy community. These in turn took a deliberately non-condescending approach, relying instead on such influences as Blackadder and the Monty Python films. A focus on historical accuracy was combined with a comedy style relying heavily on parodies of current UK pop-culture to make those facts more accessible, leading to takeoffs of Masterchef, The Apprentice and Wife Swap among others. The result won numerous domestic and international awards, including two British Comedy Awards and four consecutive Children's BAFTAs, and eventually garnered respect as a classic from viewers of all ages. (Full article...)

Comments from nominator: Nominating at the suggestion of ColonelHenry (for which suggestion I am deeply complimented) and in light of its anniversary of first broadcast coming up shortly. It is a fairly recent FA, but by my reckoning earns points for not only the anniversary but for contributor history and, most significantly main page representation (as far as I can tell, it would be the first children's TV series to have the honour in quite awhile.) Thank you for your consideration. Shoebox2 talk 03:49, 1 April 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Support great article, relevant date--this is Shoebox2's first run through TFA, and I think her first FA. We don't get to run a childrens' TV series on TFA that often. Suggestions on the blurb, as proposed: I would consider swapping the image above with File:Horrible Histories animated title cards.jpg, and the blurb is 204 words/1,340 characters with spaces, so we would have to trim about 100-150 characters.--ColonelHenry (talk) 04:01, 1 April 2014 (UTC)[reply]

A few copyedits to the first half of the blurb, and it's down to 191 words/1,253 characters. Will take a look at the latter half tomorrow.--ColonelHenry (talk) 04:15, 1 April 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you Colonel, that's greatly appreciated. I've taken the liberty to tweak the rewrite a bit further for clarity; by my count it now comes in at somewhere around 180-190 words, hopefully this is acceptable. Shoebox2 talk 19:00, 1 April 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Non-free image removed: non-free images are not allowed on the main page, nor on this page, per the NFCC. The series' text logo may be free. — Crisco 1492 (talk) 04:14, 1 April 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Didn't realize either of them were NFCC-ineligible. Reinforces why I detest the NFCC. --ColonelHenry (talk) 04:17, 1 April 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, imagery has been the bane of this article's existence from pretty much the moment it went up. :) For what it's worth, the image of the cast is properly licensed for re-use... Shoebox2 talk 19:00, 1 April 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Shame that wouldn't show up at 100px. Do you have a link to a larger screenshot of the title card? I could crop the words, and see if it is simple enough for {{PD-Text}} — Crisco 1492 (talk) 23:44, 1 April 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Hmmm... not anything bigger than the currently uploaded file, no. But a Google search for 'Horrible Histories logo' turns up quite a few versions with and without the background (it's the same logo as is used throughout the franchise). Hopefully helpful? If not, I can try uploading a larger screen capture. Shoebox2 talk 14:37, 2 April 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Comment. The article could do with a detailed copy edit before highlighting. I've made a few changes but more care is needed eg in introducing people with full name & wikilink at first mention and with surname only subsequently. Otherwise not seeing any problems, though I must be the only UK resident never to have watched the series. Espresso Addict (talk) 23:17, 1 April 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you for your help, I've done some further work re: standardising names. As a side note, by my count this article has now been subjected to copy editing by no less than ten separate (and well-respected) editors -- can't say if this is anything close to a Wiki-record, but it's certainly beginning to feel like it. :) Shoebox2 talk 23:41, 1 April 2014 (UTC)[reply]

There's often a too-many-cooks effect, especially where an article's been through GA & FA in close succession, which I think is the case here? I'll try to have another pass tomorrow to see if I can sort some of the remaining problems out. Espresso Addict (talk) 00:18, 2 April 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks, my goal is always to improve the article. Would be happy for any help you can provide. Shoebox2 talk 14:37, 2 April 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Question: This article appears to be WP:GA quality, and not FA quality??? — Cirt (talk) 15:31, 4 April 2014 (UTC)[reply]

It was passed through the standard FA process only recently, and is as I understand it currently waiting on the bot to make the formal designation (hence the GA info still on the talkpage). So yes, it's FA-quality, inasmuch as experienced editors have determined it to be so. :) Shoebox2 talk 16:20, 4 April 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Ah, I see it at Wikipedia:Featured article candidates/Horrible Histories (2009 TV series)/archive1. Nevermind. — Cirt (talk) 16:21, 4 April 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Support, high quality article, very recently promoted to FA at Wikipedia:Featured article candidates/Horrible Histories (2009 TV series)/archive1. — Cirt (talk) 16:21, 4 April 2014 (UTC)[reply]