Oh, yeah, that's right. This conversation is in two different threads. You're probably right on a lot of points, joe_H, but I think you may be backlashing a little on Kurtz due to the fanboys who worship him do so because of their own backlash against Lucas/McCallum/whoever. I mean, obviously Kurtz isn't completely incompetent, otherwise he and Lucas wouldn't have worked together as long as they did. And, based on interviews I've seen and read (granted, it's pretty much solely based on Empire of Dreams and the Kurtz interview), they seemed to have had some sort of collaboration and trust. So he shouldn't be credited with making Star Wars what it is, but give credit where credit is due.

And to all those McCallum bashers out there, well, the nephew of Michael "Basil Exposition" "Logan" York can't be all bad, huh?

And I know I myself have called McCallum a yes man in the past, but these newer discussions have convinced me that he's not as bad as he's been made out to be, just as Kurtz isn't as great as he's been made out to be. When you balance out both extremes of the pendulum, you'll find the truth somewhere around the middle.