[B5JMS] And what did they pick to save instead?

Mon Apr 8 04:23:36 EDT 2002

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
From: "Mac Breck" <macbreck at access995.com>
Date: Fri, 5 Apr 2002 13:33:08 -0500
Lines: 151

----- Original Message -----
From: "Anna Hayward, Alien Visitor" <Anna at ratbag.demon.co.uk>
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated
Sent: Friday, April 05, 2002 12:35 PM
Subject: Re: And what did they pick to save instead?

> Mac,
> >> >> BATTLESTAR GALACTICA!
> {snip}
> >> I'm finding my eyeballs are trying to crawl back into my head to avoid
> >> reading these posts. BG doesn't even belong in the same *universe* as
> >> B5.
> >
> >Wasn't this the show that had the immortal piece of dialogue that went
> >something like "The Xylons are closing, now 10 microns away."  Seems like
> >they should rename it Battlestar Bumpercars!
>
> LOL! Yes, I remember that, as well as similarly inane dialogue.

I undoubtedly got the quote wrong, but you got the gist of it.  ;-)

> Worst of
> all was that muppet-dog thing that made Star Trek's Wesley Crusher look
> like an exciting and dynamic character that you deeply cared about.

It was almost cartoon-like so it might do better on Saturday mornings.

> >
> >The "Sci-Fi" Channel seems to be doing *just about* everything that they
can
> >***to further cheapen the reputation of Sci-Fi*** (BG ?, "Interceptor
Force
> >2" ???  "Dream Team With Annabelle and Michael"  Please, spare me!),
>
> I have no idea about any of those presumably appalling shows. I pray I
> never do.
>
> > and are
> >loathe to legitimize Sci-Fi with the mainstream.
>
> Sci-fi *is* mainstream.

I meant mainstream "to the average person on the street and the mainstream
award shows" (e.g. the Emmys and Oscars).  Most people I know watch things
like Everybody Loves Raymond, ER, NYPD Blue, The Practice, Law & Order, etc.
They consider Sci-Fi to be flaky, and definitely NOT mainstream[1].  They
point their fingers at Trekkies and make fun of them.  They consider all
Sci-Fi the same, and lump Trekkies in with B5 fans, and wouldn't be caught
dead watching **any** Trek or B5/Crusade/Rangers, or any Fantasy like Buffy
or Angel.

The only real breakthrough at the Emmys (for a Major award, not for "Best
Makeup") was The X-Files awhile back, and I'm sure the majority of the Emmy
voters consider that an aberration.  When sci-fi shows start winning about
the same percentage of Major Emmys and Oscars as the Police shows, Lawyer
shows, and Hospital shows, then they'll be mainstream.  This new "Sci-Fi"
Channel slate is going to further delegitimize sci-fi.

> The most popular shows of the last two decades
> have been sci-fi and/or fantasy (Star Trek TNG, X-files, Buffy...).

These are considered, by the "mainstream" crowd,  cult shows, popular only
with Sci-Fi nuts and geeks, e.g. people who dress up in Spock Ears or
Klingon outfits and go to conventions.  Change the channel of the big screen
at a bar to Star Trek, TNG, X-files, Buffy, B5, or Angel and see what
happens.  No matter what's on at the time, whichever of those shows you
picked, it won't stay on.

> The
> most popular movie of all time was "Star Wars". What were the audience
> figures for movies like The Matrix?

Movies are a different animal.  You're more likely to get somebody to watch
one movie than watch an entire TV series.

> I suspect a conspiracy of boring men in suits who think sci-fi is just
> for the kids and who want to show endless, wall-to-wall "Friends", "Sex
> in the City" and daytime chat-shows about whether some 6-foot sequined
> individual is a man or a woman, or who fathered some poor baby with a 15
> year old mother. I wouldn't mind if some of this stuff was *good*
> fiction or good journalism, but so much of it is brainless pap.

It's easier to make something cheap and flashy that sells, than to make
something of quality that sells.  Since all they're concerned with is the
bottom line, they take the easier route, and pander to the Jerry Springer
watchers.

> > I'm surprised they're not
> >bringing Black Scorpion back!
>
> The more I hear about that show, the worse my gut-feeling becomes.

If you missed it, you didn't miss anything.

> On UK Sci-fi channel, the recent stuff has been re-runs (on an endless
> loop) of Psi Factor and Poltegeist: The Legacy. Psi Factor was a series
> I really enjoyed for a while, but you can only see the same episode so
> many times before it gets boring (a rule that doesn't apply to B5). The
> Legacy is all occult stuff with no sense of humour, so I don't enjoy it.
> Oh, they also show a series called "The Burning Zone" which I used to be
> addicted to years ago, but being a mystery type series, doesn't bare
> numerous repeats.
>
> Then later on in the evening they show stupid horror movies (again
> repeated ad nauseum) and follow it up with anime (I tolerated Akira, but
> the rest you can keep IMHO).
>
> OTOH, Bravo has actually being showing some good stuff. B5 is being
> shown on a daily basis (after a 3-day B5 marathon - for a while there,
> it was the B5 channel, which is a move I can only approve of!). They are
> showing a series called "Seven Days" which I really enjoy (although I
> hear some rat pulled it after a few episodes)

Seven Days had some good episodes. :-)

> and at the weekend, they
> are treating us to re-runs of "Airwolf" and "Knight Rider" (which might
> be nonsense, but I enjoy it).
>
> What I really enjoy and don't get anywhere near enough of is series with
> decent arcs and proper beginnings, middles and ends. Too many shows,
> IMHO, believe in pressing the re-set button at the end of every single
> episode. I'd like to see character's develop and stories move forwards.
> Too many shows seem to end up like something out of "Groundhog Day",
> going over and over the same material and no one ever gets anywhere.

At least Groundhog Day had fun with it.  Still love that scene with Bill
Murray driving that pickup truck off the cliff with the groundhog on his
lap, at the wheel.  :-)

[1] The "Sci-Fi" Channel's new programming will REINFORCE this stereotype.

Mac Breck
------------------------
Vorlon Empire

http://www.scifi.com/b5rangers/   http://www.b5lr.com/

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
From: jmsatb5 at aol.com (Jms at B5)
Date: 07 Apr 2002 08:55:54 GMT
Lines: 16

Regarding Battlestar Galactica...you have to remember that this is something
that had been originally in development for one of the networks and went down. 
Lots of development money had been spent by the studio, down to building sets. 
And SciFi is owned by Universal/USA Studios, which also owns Battlestar
Galactica.  Waste not, want not....

 jms

(jmsatb5 at aol.com)
(all message content (c) 2002 by synthetic worlds, ltd., 
permission to reprint specifically denied to SFX Magazine 
and don't send me story ideas)