Talk:Man in Black

Converted back to disambig
I don't think this should be a redirect to Johnny Cash. Especially since he is so well known as Johnny Cash. The other uses may not seem important, but I think they are important enough to leave this as a disambig/list page. Please consider that the first link on this page is to Johnny Cash, so it's not like someone is not going to find the link. Megapixie 22:39, 5 December 2005 (UTC)
 * None of the other entries on this page actually point to anything. It's all about characters that don't have articles and will likely never have articles.  What is the point of those entries?  No one will find the page about those characters from the page?  Tedernst | talk 22:42, 5 December 2005 (UTC)
 * Because I don't think that this is a stict disambig page. The radio show "The Man in Black" is actually quite famous in the UK - but I never found enough material to create a page on it - it's a bit like the Beta letter page. If you like I'll remove the disambig tag - but there are plenty of counterexamples where strict disambiguation isn't quite the right thing. I'm with the whole disambig MoS thing (see http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Man_in_Black&diff=26098261&oldid=25202972 ) - but be warying of applying the rules too strictly. Megapixie 22:59, 5 December 2005 (UTC)
 * I'm not aware of the existence of a style guideline for a partial dab. Could you point me to that?  I've been editing quite a few pages where various editors have been making similar claims to yours.  If such a guideline doesn't exist, perhaps one should be written.  Thanks.  Tedernst | talk 23:26, 5 December 2005 (UTC)
 * How about that ? I understand where you are coming from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Magnum&action=history - but remember to tread gently - and Assume good faith. Megapixie 00:31, 6 December 2005 (UTC)
 * I apologize if it seemed I was not assuming good faith. I did not revert your edits after my edits.  I'm totally serious about the partial dab issue.  I tend to think that such a page does not exist, or should not.  My opinion is only one among many, however, so if there's a guideline I don't know about, I'd really like to know.  Your comprimise certainly works for me.  Thanks and keep up the good work! Tedernst | talk 17:52, 6 December 2005 (UTC)

I agree the information on the disambiguation page was important enough to stay. Certainly the radio show The Man in Black is important enough to warrant an entry someday, even if the person with the relevant knowledge has yet to come along. David L Rattigan 0958, 6 Dec 2005 (GMT)

The Song
What about the song Man In Black by Johnny Cash? --Phoenix Hacker 23:51, 25 March 2006 (UTC)
 * If you ask me, "Man in Black" and "Men in Black" should be on the same disambig page, with a redirect from one to the other... and the song should be listed separatedly from (though right after) the Johnny Cash entry, because technically one is a man and the other is a song by and about the man. Wahkeenah 23:58, 25 March 2006 (UTC)
 * Yes, but now the song links back to the disambig page, with no actual page about the song. --WhiteDragon 09:48, 23 July 2007 (UTC)

Difference between man in black and men in black
The pages should be separate, since they aren't related in any possible way. When someone searches for someone called "the man in black" they are looking for one of the things now listed, be it a fictional character called the man in black, like in a series by a bestselling writer, or the album, or a famous person who was called that constantly by the news media. This has nothing to do with "men in black" which would refer to the conspiracy theorists about a group of government agents handling aliens, the movie about it, and whatnot. Disambigeous pages exist to help people sort through a common search term and find that they are looking for. Is there any possible chance anyone would confuse the two?  D r e a m Focus  15:07, 30 April 2010 (UTC)

Going through the list of things to see what belongs

 * Johnny Cash has always been referred to as the man in black. Google news search and book search would surely turn up plenty of references for that.
 * For the Dread Pirate Roberson character from The Princess Bride, he appears to be referred to as the man in black in some places. stands out.  Was it just in the script, or was it in the film itself he was called that?   D r e a m Focus  15:13, 30 April 2010 (UTC)
 * Dale Earnhard is referred to as the man in black in a quick Google news search.   D r e a m Focus  15:15, 30 April 2010 (UTC)
 * Mark Gatiss entry seems to check out. A notable program by the name The Man in Black did exists.
 * Randal Flagg is a very notable character in Stephen King's The Stand, as well as in the The Dark Tower (series), where he was called the man in black. Seven novels so far in that series.   D r e a m Focus  15:25, 30 April 2010 (UTC)
 * Ritchie Blackmore appears in a quick Google news search for his name and "man in black", he called that in the press.   D r e a m Focus  15:28, 30 April 2010 (UTC)

Move request

 * The following discussion is an archived discussion of the proposal. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. No further edits should be made to this section. 

Page moved and the dab page was cleaned up. Vegaswikian (talk) 16:13, 1 July 2010 (UTC)

The Man in Black → ??? — This stub article Man in Black, about Cash's book, is clearly not the primary topic; it's reasonably likely that people who type in "Man in Black" are looking for Johnny Cash or one of the other pages at the disambiguation. In addition, "The Man in Black" is probably a naming violation; "Man in Black" would be the proper term. The Man in Black should be moved to Man in Black if there's no primary topic for the term, or Man in Black (disambiguation) if there is a primary topic to send "Man in Black" to, such as Cash. Should be noted that the above discussion on disambiguation is five years old  Pur ple  back pack 89    04:11, 25 June 2010 (UTC)


 * Man in Black → Man in Black: His Own Story in His Own Words

I would think Lost fans or Stephen King fans would be searching for the term more than those interested in a dead musician that hasn't had a song out in a decade or so. Have to check which one gets the most page views to know for certain.  D r e a m Focus  18:15, 25 June 2010 (UTC)
 * Whoops, my mistake. Johnny Cash does have a lot more hits than everyone else.  But that is for people that searched for his name as well, or linked to it from somewhere.  Do any of his fans not know his real name?  I think they'd search for Johnny Cash, while "man in black" would be if they were searching for something else.   D r e a m Focus  18:18, 25 June 2010 (UTC)
 * What I'm saying is that most people aren't looking for his book. They're more likely looking for the man himself, or the Lost or Stephen King references you mention.  Moving the book allows us the choice of moving the disambiguation page to its proper title of "Man in Black", or redirecting Man in Black to Cash and moving this to Man in Black (disambiguation)   Pur ple  back pack 89    22:18, 25 June 2010 (UTC)


 * Support only Johnny Cash fans would know it. 76.66.195.196 (talk) 20:52, 25 June 2010 (UTC)


 * Support Whoops. I thought you meant changing The Man in Black instead of the Man in Black.  You posted on the wrong talk page.  Yeah, that makes sense.   D r e a m Focus  23:33, 25 June 2010 (UTC)
 * I went ahead and did it. Don't think anyone could possible argue this most obvious thing.  Three for it and none against it.  And I updated the link on this article's page to point to his book at its new location.  Man in Black now redirects here.   D r e a m Focus  23:37, 25 June 2010 (UTC)
 * OK. Do you want this to keep its title, or drop the "The" now that Man in Black redirects here?   Pur ple  back pack 89    23:51, 25 June 2010 (UTC)
 * Whichever article more people search for. It doesn't really matter.  Either one you search for, brings you to the same page, so it doesn't really matter.  All news articles and whatnot that mention a man in black, always say THE man in black, as far as I know.   D r e a m Focus  23:56, 25 June 2010 (UTC)
 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the proposal. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

BBC Radio series
There have been four related BBC Radio series narrated by a faintly sinister character called "The Man in Black": There are further details on the first three of these here and on the last two here and here. An anthology of stories from the first series of Fear On Four was published as I'm unsure how best to incorporate this information into the article, so if anybody's got any ideas, go for it. -- Nicholas Jackson (talk) 22:28, 9 May 2012 (UTC)
 * 1) Appointment With Fear ran for ten series on the BBC Light Programme between 1943 to 1955, with Valentine Dyall.  Very few (only four) episodes survive.
 * 2) The Man in Black ran for one series of eight episodes on the BBC Light Programme in 1949, also starring Valentine Dyall.  No episodes survive.
 * 3) Fear On Four ran for five series on BBC Radio 4 between 1988 and 1992, starring Edward de Souza.
 * 4) The Man In Black has so far run for four series on BBC Radio 4 Extra since 2009, starring Mark Gatiss.