ATTN JMS - Thoughts on "Earth: Final Conflict"
Ma`el
Final Conflict"? If so, would you share your thoughts on what you've
seen?
Thanks
--
"Boone... has an uncanny ability to sense when we are lying to him."
Jms at B5
jms
(jms...@aol.com)
B5 Official Fan Club at:
http://www.thestation.com
Emmanuel Goldstein
> Haven't seen a full episode, so can't comment.
he's lucky. trust me.
emmanuel
Andrew Wendel
Emmanuel Goldstein <emma...@panix.com> wrote in message
news:7frti2$p00$1...@news.panix.com...
I'm sorry you don't like it. My favorite part about it is the arc in it,
the same thing that drew me to B5. First you have aliens, then you learn
they are not so pure, then they build a base on the moon, destroy funding
for the space program, involved in a war.
It is not the same old dam reset button junk! Has anyone noticed that DS9
is trying to move away from totally stand alone stories? It is because the
ongoing storyline draws people in and they don't want to miss an episode.
--
Andy
------
Andrew Wendel
Mechanical Engineering
Kansas State University
mailto:blind...@iname.com
http://www-personal.ksu.edu/~h38
-------------------------------------------
Save the whales.
Collect the whole set.
Adnan Virk
> is trying to move away from totally stand alone stories? It is because the
> ongoing storyline draws people in and they don't want to miss an episode.
Agreed. I think DS9 is pulling it off admirably, in recent weeks the
storyline has been picking up and looks to end wiht a bang (shaping up
to be what i wished S5 of B5 would have been).
James M. Leithead
>I'm sorry you don't like it. My favorite part about it is the arc in it,
>the same thing that drew me to B5. First you have aliens, then you learn
>they are not so pure, then they build a base on the moon, destroy funding
>for the space program, involved in a war.
Ah,
But the difference is in the seasons. S1 did as you describe, and
was EXCELLENT. S2 broke with S1 and went in a "new", crappy direction.
Lots of tacky "sci-fi" cliches and needless, mindless action. The
producers admitted they screwed up, and claim to be trying to redeem the
show, but so far the signs aren't too good. For example, they hired a
hack writer from Voyager. Sigh...
JML
Aubrey W. Adkins
Aubrey
Andrew Wendel wrote:
>
> Emmanuel Goldstein <emma...@panix.com> wrote in message
> news:7frti2$p00$1...@news.panix.com...
> > Jms at B5 <jms...@aol.com> wrote:
> > > Haven't seen a full episode, so can't comment.
> >
> > he's lucky. trust me.
> >
> > emmanuel
>
> I'm sorry you don't like it. My favorite part about it is the arc in it,
> the same thing that drew me to B5. First you have aliens, then you learn
> they are not so pure, then they build a base on the moon, destroy funding
> for the space program, involved in a war.
>
> It is not the same old dam reset button junk! Has anyone noticed that DS9
> is trying to move away from totally stand alone stories? It is because the
> ongoing storyline draws people in and they don't want to miss an episode.
>
Jabberwocky
> Haven't seen a full episode, so can't comment.
>
> jms
>
> (jms...@aol.com)
> B5 Official Fan Club at:
> http://www.thestation.com
I've been able to see the episodes fully, but I haven't been able to
see them in order. So things are a little confuseing for me.
--
______________________________________________
Jabberwocky
Treasurer of Final Fronter SFFS
www.geocities.com/Area51/Cavern/7437/finalfsfs.html
______________________________________________
SNM
> Jms at B5 <jms...@aol.com> wrote:
> > Haven't seen a full episode, so can't comment.
>
> he's lucky. trust me.
>
> emmanuel
Although the music's quite nice.
UnltdLife
> But the difference is in the seasons. S1 did as you describe, and
>was EXCELLENT. S2 broke with S1 and went in a "new", crappy direction.
>Lots of tacky "sci-fi" cliches and needless, mindless action.
I think I'd have to agree with you there. I enjoyed season 1 much more than
the present season. I have to admit I miss the character of Boone. He gave
the show a more grounded and personal feel. Changing lead actors after the end
of one season seems somehow similar to another show I used to watch a lot....
Hmmm. What was that... ? :)
Of course, if there was any attempt at replicating similar results, as much as
I liked Sinclair, I have to admit, Babylon 5 continued to get better.
I find Liam somewhat contrived and a whole lot rushed. Not to mention, not
terribly believeable. He doesn't fill Boone's shoes very well.
I didn't want to pass judgment right away since I was also initially angry at
the loss of Sinclair...
But it's just not the same without Boone.
Jason
MJWATERWTH
viewer, I tried really hard to watch the 2nd series because that's the kind of
Sci-Fi gal I am, but, unlike B5, the story lines and the characters just didn't
have what it took (or takes?) to hold my attention and IMVHO neither does DS9.
The 1st series is where you have to catch the attention of viewers not the 6th
(? Sorry I haven't kept count, it's kinda hard to in England.) Don't get me
wrong I watch and enjoy DS9 but it's not vital that I see every episode and I
certainly wouldn't tape and treasure every episode, nor would I animatedly
discuss the intricate ins and outs of the plot or travel 35 miles to share in
viewing parties as I do with B5, (yes I know it's not far to you in the US but
this IS England).
Jules.
Dan
That's very interesting. Is 35 miles really a long way in England? You
do have highway's, don't you?
Andrew Wendel
Dan <dan...@erols.com> wrote in message news:372E32...@erols.com...
Not as many people have cars in England. My dad's company had some Japanese
come to visit (in Kansas City), and they were going to the Rocky's for the
weekend. Their jaws dropped to the floor upon being told it was an eight
hour drive.
--
Andy
------
Andrew Wendel
Engineering God
Kansas State University
mailto:blind...@iname.com
http://www-personal.ksu.edu/~h38
-------------------------------------------
"Smile, it's the second best thing you can do with your lips.
Gharlane of Eddore
In <19990501183033...@ngol05.aol.com>
mjwat...@aol.com (MJWATERWTH) writes:
>
> I watched the entire 1st series of E:FC but getting rid of Boone lost
> me as a viewer, I tried really hard to watch the 2nd series because
> that's the kind of Sci-Fi gal I am, but, unlike B5, the story lines
> and the characters just didn't have what it took (or takes?) to hold
> my attention and IMVHO neither does DS9. The 1st series is where you
> have to catch the attention of viewers not the 6th (? Sorry I haven't
> kept count, it's kinda hard to in England.) Don't get me wrong I watch
> and enjoy DS9 but it's not vital that I see every episode and I certainly
> wouldn't tape and treasure every episode, nor would I animatedly discuss
> the intricate ins and outs of the plot or travel 35 miles to share in
> viewing parties as I do with B5, (yes I know it's not far to you in the
> US but this IS England).
> Jules.
>
While it was in development, "EARTH: FINAL CONFLICT" earned nothing over
here but guffaws; it looked like a blatant and incompetent attempt to
wring a few more bucks out of Goddenberry's name, honchoed by a bunch
of opportunists. The smarmy incompetence of the official web site, the
pilot episode's tactical stupidities and errors of logic, were enough to
turn many of us away from watching the series; but those of us who gave
it another try later noticed that the series actually had some internal
coherence and imagination, and some staff who were trying to do good
work. In short, the Canucks were doing a series derived from a fairly
pedestrian Goddenberry concept, but they were doing a *GOOD* series
worthy of people's attention, and often of respect. As a result, most
of us went out of our way to get the first season ( what you brits call
the first "series" ) on tape during the re-run cycles.
Then it started to run into problems; the distribution company, trying
to tweak things for better ratings, started running episodes out of
sequence ( in one instance, they held back an episode or two and
moved up the last couple of the season so they could run the semi-final
and final eps during a ratings month, and posted some of the most
addle-pated garbage on the Net that we'd ever seen, "justifying"
this stupidity on the basis that more people would tune in to watch
the "good" episodes..... )
And when they counted their mail, and realized they were taking flak
over running episodes out of order, they decided to order the
production crew to make the next season's material less sequence-
dependent, more singleton stand-alone episodes. And then, to add
major injury to minor crippling, they decided to mandate a "more
action-oriented format" for the second year, and out of a clear
blue sky canned Kevin Kilner, one of the show's major strengths,
and replaced him with a Young Punk With Attitude. Worse, the
Young Punk was a Magical Half-Alien ( yeah, yeah, I know, one-THIRD
Magic Alien ) and no longer a good identification character for
the majority of the habituated watchers *or* for the kids the
distributors thought they were shooting for.
Even worse, in the distributor-mandated format revision, a goodly
chunk of the writing/production team went overboard, leaving the few
decent guys still on the staff to bust their tails trying to paste
things back together. After the first dozen episodes of the
second season, they got Carleton Eastlake on-board; this isn't
too bad a thing, since he's done occasional acceptable work in
the past... but the first thing *HE* did was hire Lisa Klink.
Yes, that's right, Lisa Klink. Lisa "Harry Kim In Castle Anthrax"
Klink, previously of "VOYAGER."
At this point, the series can best be regarded as a near-total loss,
a victim of distribution company "management."
I seem to recall that it's been renewed for another couple of
seasons, so it will be a long time dying, but probably won't
go anywhere very interesting on the way to its shabby funeral;
salute it, walk on past, and tune in "STARGATE SG-1," which
for all its shortcomings is still reasonably viable, and
occasionally shows flashes of respectable concept and execution.
Shaz
Dan wrote in message <372E32...@erols.com>...
>MJWATERWTH wrote:
>>
>> I watched the entire 1st series of E:FC but getting rid of Boone lost me
as a
>> viewer, I tried really hard to watch the 2nd series because that's the
kind of
>> Sci-Fi gal I am, but, unlike B5, the story lines and the characters just
didn't
>> have what it took (or takes?) to hold my attention and IMVHO neither does
DS9.
>> The 1st series is where you have to catch the attention of viewers not
the 6th
>> (? Sorry I haven't kept count, it's kinda hard to in England.) Don't get
me
>> wrong I watch and enjoy DS9 but it's not vital that I see every episode
and I
>> certainly wouldn't tape and treasure every episode, nor would I
animatedly
>> discuss the intricate ins and outs of the plot or travel 35 miles to
share in
>> viewing parties as I do with B5, (yes I know it's not far to you in the
US but
>> this IS England).
>>
>> Jules.
>
>do have highway's, don't you?
>That's very interesting. Is 35 miles really a long way in England? You
>do have highway's, don't you?
Yes, we do have highways (motorways) but they are really designed to connect
major cities and not us poor hicks in the countryside. Smaller towns and
cities are connected via B roads (if you're lucky, an A road) which follow,
in most cases, the old dirt tracks used by farmers and merchants hundreds of
years ago. Those roads had to go around the properties (farmland, lord's
estates, hunting grounds, forests, whatever) already there, so they often
take circuitous routes. A typical English country road twists and turns and
can even practically double back on itself (if you drive via one of the A
roads into Scotland you actually have to go south for a while to end up
going north). The minor roads here in my part of the world (Sussex) are
narrow, are often not really designed for more than a cart and horse to
travel along (so if you run into a coach or a truck coming the other way you
can sometimes back up more than a mile before you find a passing place),
have no lights, are shaded by trees, and unless you live around here are
pretty bad for giving you a hint as to where you're going. Giving directions
in the UK is more a case of 'Go out the village, follow the road 'til you
reach the first junction, turn right, over the bridge, left at the little
grass island, follow the road and just keep going until it runs out, then
turn right at the pub (name always supplied)' etc. We navigate by pub names,
war memorials, churches, and the occasional sign in the country. You in the
US tend to give directions in terms of North, South, East and West. In the
UK those terms are pretty well meaningless. Oh, the sign may SAY M1 North,
but you may well be travelling South, East or West for some time before you
actually start going north.
Let's face it. We had the paths before we had the cars. Our major roads
often follow a route laid out by the Romans, while our minor roads connected
farms and markets and the local lord's estates. You have cities like Detroit
which were built on a grid plan. We have cities like London which are
actually an amalgamation of lots of little villages (Soho was a village, and
a nice one MANY years ago. Read A Tale of Two Cities by Dickens) which just
grew together over time. Roads which make sense to village life look
circuitous to say the least in a city. This is why people often think London
Black Cab Taxi drivers are taking them the long way round to rack up the
fare. They're not. The one way system and twisted roads force them to take
odd routes. Private cab companies, on the other hand, can be a tad dodgy.
And no, we don't pull stuff down to make it easier. The Brits are a nation
of pack rats. And the older it gets, the more we try to hang onto it, no
matter HOW awkward it makes things.
Shaz (who lives in a house built in 1358, in a village that was mentioned in
the Doomsday Book of 1067 and is VERY happy they won't ever knock us down to
make the local route easier for 40 wheeled trucks)
LessXTreme
discussed over here...anyway...
>I have to admit I miss the character of Boone. He gave
>the show a more grounded and personal feel. Changing lead actors after the
>end
>of one season seems somehow similar to another show I used to watch a lot....
>
>Hmmm. What was that... ? :)
>
>Of course, if there was any attempt at replicating similar results, as much
>as
>I liked Sinclair, I have to admit, Babylon 5 continued to get better.
I don't think it was really an attempt to replicate similar results. B5 had a
command structure, an infrastructure, and developed each character on their
own. B5's command structure allowed Sinclair to be replaced believably. EFC was
focused on Boone-B5's credits never said that the point of the story was
Sinclair's search for the truth, did they? While I liked EFC's supporting
characters, they were just that, supporting characters. Though well-developed
supporting characters, they weren't standalones. The producers removed the
focus of the story and replaced him with a one-dimensional superhero. Bites
quite a bit... Though the superhero qualities have been toned down quite a bit
recently, Liam, the alleged "star," is still one-dimensional, and the
supporting characters now have to provide all the character...ugh.
MJWATERWTH
Jules.
Jules.
MJWATERWTH
It's not the distance it's the mentality
Jules.