Death Impends

49 Blondie – Atomic +2 47 The Specials – Ghost Town 44 ABBA - The Winner Takes It All +2 39 David Bowie – Ashes to Ashes 39 Soft Cell – Tainted Love 35 The Jam – Going Underground / Dreams of Children 31 The Police – Don't Stand So Close to Me 29 The Specials – Too Much Too Young 28 David Bowie & Queen – Under Pressure 28 Adam & the Ants – Stand and Deliver 27 The Pretenders – Brass in Pocket 26 Adam & the Ants – Prince Charming 24 Blondie – Call Me 23 Roxy Music – Jealous Guy 23 The Police – Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic 22 The Jam – Start! 20 Dexy's Midnight Runners – Geno 19 Bucks Fizz – Making Your Mind Up 19 Odyssey – Use It Up and Wear It Out 15 M.A.S.H. – Theme from M.A.S.H. (Suicide Is Painless) 15 Detroit Spinners – Working My Way Back to You 14 Olivia Newton-John & ELO – Xanadu 14 John Lennon – Woman 11 ABBA – Super Trouper 11 The Human League – Don't You Want Me 8 Barbra Streisand – Woman in Love -6 6 John Lennon – (Just Like) Starting Over Edited msc's votes in as our posts landed at the same time!

Did just twig right now that you had your 100th lifetime DDP hit with Pele. Actually so has @msc!

The deadline for consulting with me about your subs has passed. Only one team (Clarence) did not get back to me in time. With that all of the picks and teams can be seen on page one. No teams mentioned next to each pick on the pick masterlist yet. Not sure if I'll have the time for that with all that's on my plate. Without further ado, a first scoreboard. I think this is all of the condolence points. If you had one of the names below at time of submission and don't see your name on the list please let me know. Pele condolence points of 0.82 go to CalebH, Charles De Gaulle, chilean way, Clarence, DeathBecomesThem, diego, drol, Funeralopolis, GreatUncleBulgaria, GuyFromFuture, Joey Russ, LizLemon, msc, Murdoc, nantonian2013, RadGuy, Sean, The Unknown Man, ThereWillBeDeaths7, and YorkshireBanker. Barbara Walters condolence points of 0.93 go to LizLemon and RadGuy. Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI condolence points of 0.95 go to An Fear Beag, BabyBlue, BuffaloPhil, Charles De Gaulle, Clarence, DeathBecomesThem, drol, gcreptile, GreatUncleBulgaria, John Key, justonecornetto, LizLemon, markb4, msc, Perhaps, RadGuy, The Old Crem, TheDumbReaper, Toast, and YorkshireBanker. Jeremiah Green condolence points of 0.45 go to Etushispushingupdaisies and nantonian2013. And, in a stunning departure for this update, someone who actually lingered into the new year, if by mere hours. Pancan-addled Scottish footballer Frank McGarvey was picked by six teams, meaning we well and truly have a game. A classic case of a "he was going to die at some point in 2023, but when in 2023?", his selectors were varied in their placements: justonecornetto scores 45 points. msc 40. drol 35. RadGuy 20. Book 15. and Banana hits his first sub for 25. And so we are off. Although only the McGarvey pickers have anything substantial by way of points, that year-end insanity means almost half of the 57 teams are on the board in some form! 1. justonecornetto 45.95 2. msc 41.77 3. drol 36.77 4. Banana 25 5. RadGuy 22.7 6. Book 15 7. LizLemon 2.7 =8. Charles De Gaulle 1.77 =8. Clarence 1.77 =8. DeathBecomesThem 1.77 =8. Great Uncle Bulgaria 1.77 =8. YorkshireBanker 1.77 13. Etushispushingupdaisies 1.4 14. nantonian2013 1.27 =15. An Fear Beag 0.95 =15. BabyBlue 0.95 =15. BuffaloPhil 0.95 =15. Funeralopolis 0.95 =15. gcreptile 0.95 =15. John Key 0.95 =15. markb4 0.95 =15. Perhaps 0.95 =15. The Old Crem 0.95 =15. TheDumbReaper 0.95 =15. Toast 0.95 =15. wannamaker 0.95 =27. CalebH 0.82 =27. chilean way 0.82 =27. diego 0.82 =27. GuyFromFuture 0.82 =27. Joey Russ 0.82 =27. Murdoc 0.82 =27. Sean 0.82 =27. The Unknown Man 0.82 =27. ThereWillBeDeaths7 0.82 =36. Everyone else 0

Correct.

Typically around the middle of the month. Before that the committee has to work on entering rudimentary data on new celebs/teams, reviewing FFBIs, etc.

Ta. It was good fun to write, and it being a year where the basic foundation wrote itself (Queen the obvious headliner, Spade's comeback a great deadpooling narrative, Ronnie playing out any DI-written year in review) certainly helped!

Friendly PMs have been sent to those who I'm still waiting to hear back on subs. After the clock strikes midnight, anyone who doesn't respond will see everyone on their team below Pele/Benny/Green moved up one, and I will work on posting the masterlist of picks and teams, and hopefully hammer out the inaugural scoreboard for all the consolation points + Frank McGarvey.

Ah I see where I got it wrong, his work on Easy Rider was as a producer, not a director. Quick edit made.

47 Blondie – Atomic 47 The Specials – Ghost Town 44 ABBA – The winner takes it all 34 David Bowie – Ashes to Ashes 33 Soft Cell – Tainted Love +4 31 The Jam – Going underground / Dreams of children 29 The Specials – Too much, too young 28 David Bowie & Queen – Under Pressure 27 Police – Don´t stand so close to me 27 Adam & the Ants – Stand and deliver 26 Barbra Streisand – Woman in love 25 Adam & the Ants – Prince Charming 24 Bucks Fizz – Making your mind up 23 Roxy Music – Jealous Guy 23 The Pretenders – Brass in pocket  23 The Jam – Start 22 Police – Every little thing she does is magic 22 Olivia Newton-John & ELO - Xanadu 21 Detroit Spinners – Working my way back to you 21 Odyssey – Use it up and wear it out 20 John Lennon – Woman 16 Human League - Don't you want me 16 Blondie – Call me 15 Dexy´s Midnight Runners – Geno 15 M.A.S.H. – Theme from M.A.S.H. (Suicide is painless) 14 Fern Kinney – Together we are beautiful  13 John Lennon – (Just like) Starting over 13 Smokey Robinson – Being with you 10 ABBA – Super Trouper  04 Dave Stewart & Barbara Gaskin – It´s my party  01 Kenny Rogers – Coward of the county -6

And that's a wrap on 2022. Congrats to Spade on achieving the Drive For Five!

42 The Specials – Ghost Town 42 Blondie – Atomic +1 37 ABBA – The winner takes it all 33 Soft Cell – Tainted Love +3 32 David Bowie – Ashes to Ashes 29 David Bowie & Queen – Under Pressure 29 The Specials – Too much, too young 27 Police – Don´t stand so close to me 27 The Jam – Going underground / Dreams of children 25 Adam & the Ants – Prince Charming 23 Roxy Music – Jealous Guy 23 Adam & the Ants – Stand and deliver 23 The Pretenders – Brass in pocket 23 The Jam – Start 22 Barbra Streisand – Woman in love 20 Police – Every little thing she does is magic 22 Blondie – Call me 22 Olivia Newton-John & ELO - Xanadu 21 Detroit Spinners – Working my way back to you 21 Odyssey – Use it up and wear it out 20 Kenny Rogers – Coward of the county 20 John Lennon – Woman 20 Bucks Fizz – Making your mind up 18 Human League – Don’t you want me 16 Smokey Robinson – Being with you 16 Julio Iglesias – Begin the beguine (Volver a empezar) 15 Dexy´s Midnight Runners – Geno 15 Fern Kinney – Together we are beautiful 15 M.A.S.H. – Theme from M.A.S.H. (Suicide is painless) 14 Dave Stewart & Barbara Gaskin – It´s my party 13 John Lennon – (Just like) Starting over 9 ABBA – Super Trouper  7 Aneka – Japanese Boy  0 Johnny Logan — What’s another year -6

For a while it was looking like there'd be nothing else to say for this month in the HPDP, after Julia Reichert. Then those last three days happened. But first, a quick realization that I forgot to include a bonus .19 points for Bill Treacher's COVID death. That has been remedied. Now onto the December hits. The second-most-popular pick of the 2022 HPDP was the epicenter of the craziness. None other than Pele. 18 teams score their goal, in some cases quite pivotal, in those waning hours of the year: GuyFromFuture scores 50 points. Salmon Mousse, six feet blunder, Valhalla One 40. drol, Funeralopolis, maryportfuncity, The Old Crem, Torva Messor, YorkshireBanker 35. Exu, Thatcher, The Unknown Man, and theoldlady 30. Pedro67 25. MariNisia 20. and most crucially a second sub hit for Banana and Book for 50 points. Only Bibliogryphon had the 20/20 vision to pick Barbara Walters. He now has 21 points (15 basic + 6 bonus) in his View. Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI was a major substitution headache for the 2023 edition of the HPDP. But for 2022 he was fairly straightforward. The man of the cloth found his way onto 5 teams: 30 points for Dying Probably and YoungWillz, 15 points for chilean way and DevonDeathTrip, and 25 sub points for BabyBlue. And with that is the penultimate scoreboard in what has proven to be a very tantalizing finale. A very narrow bottleneck at the top sees Banana attain a slender lead, and short of a belated unveiling of a December 31 death, victory is poised to be his. A week to go before the interesting team/13th place bonuses are awarded, and the 2022 edition is wrapped up... 1. Banana 420.81 2. Book 410 3. gcreptile 400.81 4. maryportfuncity 364 5. CaptainChorizo 335 6. Salmon Mousse 291 7. drol 284 8. msc 250 9. Perhaps 248 10. six feet blunder 245 11. Pedro67 237 12. theoldlady 223.82 13. DevonDeathTrip 223 14. markb4 220.99 15. YoungWillz 217 16. An Fear Beag 215.81 17. Thatcher 213 18. Funeralopolis 196 19. Doulton 180 20. Torva Messor 164 21. Kenny 155 22. Annami 154 23. Dying Probably 151 24. Toast 150 25. MariNisia 143 26. John Key 142.99 27. YorkshireBanker 140 28. Great Uncle Bulgaria 128 29. CalebH 123 30. Valhalla One 113 31. Hell 99.99 32. Gooseberry Crumble 95.19 33. Exu 94 =34. chilean way 82 =34. The Unknown Man 82 36. GuyFromFuture 75 37. Famous6Eva 68 38. BabyBlue 60 39. The Old Crem 40.99 =40. Bibliogryphon 39 =40. JoeMoneypenny 39 42. Joey Russ 22 43. DeathByArsenic 15 =44. Death Impends 0 =44. TheSpinosaurus 0 =44. time 0

Got it. You are also allowed to add a new name to your subs bench (as subs can still score points).

Keltie is already on your team: Kate Keltie Gianluca Vialli Roberta Flack Jonnie Irwin Giorgio Napolitano George Alagiah Ted Kaczynski Isabel Peron Andy Taylor Randy Jackson SUBS Shane MacGowan [currently empty]

Will that be at the bottom of your team or somewhere else? As Jackson is promoted from your subs bench you can now select a new name for your second sub.

SUBSTITUTIONS Any teams who still have outstanding substitutions to carry out have until 23:59 GMT on January 2nd to give me information on new names to put in their teams. Once that deadline is crossed, all survivors below the relevant deceased name will be bumped up one by default, and the team will not be playing at the full barrel of 10 main picks and 2 subs. The following teams still haven't gotten back to me on Pele: @Charles De Gaulle The following teams still need to sort out Pope Benedict XVI: @Clarence @BabyBlue @Charles De Gaulle @Young One @YorkshireBanker @nantonian2013 needs to sort out Jeremiah Green. Plus several PMed teams who I reached out to in the appropriate PM. If any of you listed did reach out to me, I apologize given it's understandably been a very hectic period. Just make sure to remind me of what your team adjustments are.

I have all of these teams entered. If you do not see your name here and you had either PMed me your team or posted it inthread BEFORE this post, please let me know: An Fear Beag arghton BabyBlue Banana Book BuffaloPhil CalebH CaptainChorizo Charles De Gaulle chilean way Clarence Death Impends DeathBecomesThem DeathByArsenic DevonDeathTrip diego drol Etushispushingupdaisies Famous6Eva Funeralopolis gcreptile Gooseberry Crumble Great Uncle Bulgaria GuyFromFuture Hell JoeMoneypenny Joey Russ John "요한" Sulu John Key justonecornetto LizLemon Lord Fellatio Nelson MariNisia markb4 maryportfuncity msc Murdoc nantonian2013 Pedro67 Perhaps RadGuy Sean Thatcher The Old Crem The Unknown Man TheDumbReaper TheKillingTime theoldlady ThereWillBeDeaths7 time Toast Torva Messor wannamaker WEP YorkshireBanker Young One YoungWillz

Had him last year too. Guy's pretty much my Frank Ifield equivalent at this point.

2022 will have the final update (year in review) tomorrow. 2023 teams typically are up around two weeks in? Will keep updated as we get closer.

Going to start working on all the Pope/Pele/Walters/Modest Mouse chap edits now... phew

^ FWIW Natalie Fornasier has been DQed by the committee for not having sufficient social media following. So the first sub for any Fornasier pickers would be going in.

In my 11th year of playing, I had my first ever rejection with character actor Bob Dishy. Given (alas) we've seen how more background actors often struggle to obit, might end up a blessing in disguise.

TJS for 2023: Gianluca Vialli JOKER George Alagiah Carolyn Bryant Jimmy Carter Philip Casson Simon Cowell Roberta Flack Johnny Gilbert Rolf Harris Clarence "Frogman" Henry Jonnie Irwin Steve McMichael Napoleon XIV Linda Nolan Stu Phillips Ryuichi Sakamoto Andy Taylor Michael Tilson Thomas Harrison Ruffin Tyler James Whale Philip Casson directed about 40% of The Muppet Show episodes (as well as 171 EastEnders episodes). The other Muppet Show director died in 2021 and would've QOed, so hopefully Casson does the same. Stu Phillips did a lot of TV theme music - Knight Rider, Battlestar Galactica, etc. Discovered him while reading Ronnie Spector's book as he was also the Ronettes' original producer. Was amazed he was still alive given the description of him in the book (nice guy, but produced groups like it was still 1955) felt like someone who died in the 90s!

Starmer Smith

Wrong, there's a general three team limit but they can be all regular, all theme, or a mixture of both.