[B5JMS] writing many episodes (was Re: Bad DVD packaging)

[b5jms at cs.columbia.edu]

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From: Claudia Mastroianni <cmastr at fas.harvard.edu>
Date: Mon, 24 Nov 2003 19:14:51 +0000 (UTC)
Lines: 40


I haven't seen the original, so I'm mailing the mod address directly. -CM

Paul Harper <paul at harper.net> wrote:
: ... now if we could just disabuse Mr Netter of the notion that B5 S3
: was the "first time in television history" that someone has written 22
: episodes of *anything* that would be great!

"consecutive" is what is meant.  I'm pretty sure he's correct.

You mention Dr Who and Blake's 7, but Blake's 7 is what JMS often
cites as the previous record, and Terry Nation only did the first
14 episodes (first season plus 1 episode) straight through.  Doctor Who's
cohesiveness was on the script editor level and up, but rotated through
many writers even in the Key to Time and Trial of a Time Lord seasons.
I've never seen a valid counterexample to the claim.  Can you produce one?
I'd be glad to know it.

The closest I can come, poking around, is the first six seasons of
Red Dwarf (36 episodes) writtten by the team of Grant and Naylor.
But that's not solo writing.  :)

: I guess it's the US-centric view of the universe coming to the fore
: again!  :-)

You may want to check your facts.  :)

There's certainly plenty of British and worldwide television of which
I'm unaware, but it only takes one example, and I haven't seen one yet.

Claudia
-- 
"Star Wars is adolescent nonsense; Close Encounters is obscurantist drivel; 
 Star Trek can turn your brains to puree of bat guano; and the greatest 
 science fiction series of all time is Doctor Who! And I'll take you all on,
 one-by-one or all in a bunch to back it up!"
                                       -- Harlan Ellison 




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From: jmsatb5 at aol.com (Jms at B5)
Date: Tue, 25 Nov 2003 09:37:16 +0000 (UTC)
Lines: 44

>Paul Harper <paul at harper.net> wrote:
>: ... now if we could just disabuse Mr Netter of the notion that B5 S3
>: was the "first time in television history" that someone has written 22
>: episodes of *anything* that would be great!
>
>"consecutive" is what is meant.  I'm pretty sure he's correct.
>
>You mention Dr Who and Blake's 7, but Blake's 7 is what JMS often
>cites as the previous record, and Terry Nation only did the first
>14 episodes (first season plus 1 episode) straight through.  Doctor Who's
>cohesiveness was on the script editor level and up, but rotated through
>many writers even in the Key to Time and Trial of a Time Lord seasons.
>I've never seen a valid counterexample to the claim.  Can you produce one?
>I'd be glad to know it.
>
>The closest I can come, poking around, is the first six seasons of
>Red Dwarf (36 episodes) writtten by the team of Grant and Naylor.
>But that's not solo writing.  :)
>
>: I guess it's the US-centric view of the universe coming to the fore
>: again!  :-)
>
>You may want to check your facts.  :)
>
>There's certainly plenty of British and worldwide television of which
>I'm unaware, but it only takes one example, and I haven't seen one yet.
>

Not that I'm actively interested in records (maybe CDs), but just to set the
record straight...all told I wrote 91 out of 110 eps, and having written all of
S3, S4 and all but one of S5 right in the middle, that puts it at 54
consecutive scripts (since Neil's came in halfway through S5).


 jms

(jmsatb5 at aol.com)
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permission to reprint specifically denied to SFX Magazine 
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