To be fair, the episode you mention, 1x04 "Infection", is consistently rated the lowest of any B5 ep, ever, on the Global Episode Opinion Survey.
And still the ep contains this bit of dialogue:
REPORTER: After all that you've just gone through, I have to ask you the same question a lot of people back home are asking about space these days. Is it worth it? Should we just pull back, forget the whole thing as a bad idea, and take care of our own problems, at home? SINCLAIR: No. We have to stay here, and there's a simple reason why. Ask ten different scientists about the environment, population control, genetics - and you'll get ten different answers. But there's one thing every scientist on the planet agrees on: whether it happens in a hundred years, or a thousand years, or a million years, eventually our sun will grow cold, and go out. When that happens, it won't just take us, it'll take Marilyn Monroe, and Lao-tsu, Einstein, Maruputo, Buddy Holly, Aristophanes - all of this. All of this was for nothing, unless we go to the stars.
Could you at least watch "Signs and Portents", "Babylon Squared" and "Chrysalis" before drawing these conclusions? I'm sure Firefly had its off episodes as well.
... to Free Republic, where opposing viewpoints are deleted, and vanish without a trace. Until the Freepers don't have to silence---and I mean literally silence, not just mod down---any dissent, I'm going to bask on this here moral high ground.
They shouldn't have modded you down. Given the size of the sex toy market, I think that'll be a primary use for this stuff. (If it's easier to clean than 'Cyberskin', it'll sweep everything at once.
Yep. Do that, and you'll be a smashing success... among the three percent of the population who cares enough to research their candidates and issues.
Real elections are won by masses of voters who probably didn't watch the debates, know who the front-runner is because the newspaper told them, and vote for the taller candidate no matter what.
The only ones who were harassed or arrested were the ones who engaged in violence, criminal trespass, or other actions which went beyond speaking their minds.
You know, I have the loveliest bridge to sell you, over in Manhattan.
No, widespread candidate spam isn't going to happen. Here's why: when you get viagra spam and chuck it, you do no harm to the spammer. It's not like you're going to go out the next day and boycott viagra. But if you have a choice about a product you see heavily spammed and one you don't, the choice will be clear.
If anything, I'd expect candidates to spoof spam from each other.
Yes, you're, of course, right. Hell, the biggest comment the fans had after the first ep was, "get rid of that weirdo with the big hair!". jms, in the end, knew better.
Someone did a really decent analysis of the character development of Lt Corwin. That's a Tripod page with popups, but there's a better analysis out there, honest. The point is that even a minor character with so few lines can have really decent development over the years. That's the kind of continuity other shows don't even dream about.
--grendel drago
G'KAR: The future is all around us, waiting, in moments of transition, to be born, in moments of revelation. No one knows the shape of that future, or where it will take us. We know only that it is always born... in pain. --3x22, "Z'Ha'Dum"
Forget it. There's a reason why TNG had seven seasons, why DS9 had seven seasons, why Voyager had seven seasons, hell, why Buffy the Vampire Slayer had seven seasons.
The seven-season mark is the sweet spot when it comes to syndication. See, when more than seven seasons are made, it costs the network. When fewer than seven are made, syndication will not bring in optimal profits. The Simpsons is some kind of mega-wacky voodoo case; I don't know. But seven seasons is what networks want.
Do you think he could find room for Alyson Hannigan, too?
Forget it, dude. She's found fame and success with the 'American Pie' series, and so will never again return to the low-paying field of television.
Besides, would you really want to see her on a Star Trek series? Even if it were directed by Joss? I'd rather put her on some non-Trek project of his, or maybe whatever J. Michael Straczynski's working on. But it's moot; she's going to make a series of eminently forgettable teen slasher movies, sex comedies and possibly a few poorly-done action flicks while she can still pass for a teenager. (She turns thirty in March.)
Entertainment companies don't produce film/TV for quality ideas or execution anymore.
They never did. Looking back in the past lets us skim through decades of production, and the crap has mostly been filtered out. Ten years from now, the only shows from the nineties that will be remembered as good SF storytelling are probably B5, some of the early seasons of X-Files, some of TNG and DS9, and not much else. We'll have forgotten the crap, and will be busy moaning how the Holovid companies don't produce three-vee for quality ideas or execution anymore.
Makes me wish I was on Usenet when the show was actually running, seeing all the jms posts on the Lurker's Guide to B5.
I still can't believe he actually talked to the people on Usenet while writing all but one episode of seasons three, four and five. The man's some sort of cyborg, he's gotta be.
I'm still gonna write him a great big gushing thank-you once I finish watching the last season. I've been working my way through the whole bunch over the last year, and while I may want to curse jms for raising my standards so much, I'm pleased beyond words that something that good could actually get a spot for five years.
I dunno; Babylon 5 had a tiny fraction of Star Trek's budget, and managed to put in (a) more effects shots, (b) more realistic effects shots (look, you shouldn't be able to see a beam weapon shooting out like a glowing spear, and the ships shouldn't just sit still while shooting at each other) and (c) much better makeup (compare the scads of Drazi, Minbari and Narn in every B5 ep with... what, one Klingon in TNG?).
I mean, if they had had TNG's budget, I'm sure it would have looked better. As it was, the whole thing was done on a shoestring. And besides, geeks should appreciate that they pioneered the use of all-CG space shots and CG set extensions.
I doubt it [TNG] will ever be topped or even equaled.
*cough* Babylon 5 *cough*
Not only did they have better character development---the characters were flawed, headstrong, occasionally doing the stupid or wrong thing---but they had continuity. Set aside the vagaries of a weekly television show, and watch it on the DVD set. Even standing alone, episodes like "Z'Ha'Dum", "The Illusion of Truth", "Severed Dreams" and "Intersections in Real Time" are a cut above the best that TNG put forth.
Specifially, for character development, look at where Garibaldi goes over the five seasons, constantly circling the drain, sometimes pulling himself up by his bootstraps, sometimes messing up everything and everyone he cared about.
It's not that TNG was bad. It's just that Babylon 5 raised the bar to such a degree.
The business model relies on the idea that people will get it and not really use it. And most of them, in fact, do get it and not use it.
Look, just because someone uses the service a great deal doesn't make them "Main Customers". Heavy downloaders send in the same fifty bucks a month (or whatever). The whole point is that people get the broadband who don't 'need' it.
They'd like nothing more than for all their customers to check their email once a day and maybe visit cnn.com or something before signing off. As for the heavy downloaders, my guess is that they wish they'd just go away.
To summarize: No one likes you. Downloading a lot does not make you special. It makes you a pain in the telecom company's corporate ass.
Kinda reminds me of the way some people got rid of their trash during the New York City garbage strike in the seventies... he'd bag it up, then put it in a gift-wrapped box, and leave it on a doorstop somewhere. It would, invariably, vanish very quickly.
... the point is that it costs them time and effort to implement that kind of rate structure. Heavy downloaders cost them money. If they can make life shitty for heavy downloaders, they will. Heavy downloaders are not some kind of well-funded constituency that's going to rise up and knock heads. We're a minority, and the ISPs can and will piss on us as much as they possibly can.
My folks decided not to give us presents this year, and give the money to charity instead. I think this is a good idea.
See, we're Hannukah people, not Christmas people. Most Christians think we celebrate Christmas with the serial numbers filed down, but it's really not like that. The presents we used to get were little things---some nifty pens, a t-shirt---certainly not the crap our fellow consumer-citizens are using to bury themselves in debt.
So, what am I missing? Twenty bucks---maximum---of various kitsch. What am I getting? A warm fuzzy. Not to mention that I already got one big-ticket item from my folks this year (a flat-panel monitor, at commencement) and getting stuff makes me feel obligated.
After all, isn't it really all about giving? Eh? Eh?
Slashdot Mirror
To be fair, the episode you mention, 1x04 "Infection", is consistently rated the lowest of any B5 ep, ever, on the Global Episode Opinion Survey.
And still the ep contains this bit of dialogue:
REPORTER: After all that you've just gone through, I have to ask you the same question a lot of people back home are asking about space these days. Is it worth it? Should we just pull back, forget the whole thing as a bad idea, and take care of our own problems, at home?
SINCLAIR: No. We have to stay here, and there's a simple reason why. Ask ten different scientists about the environment, population control, genetics - and you'll get ten different answers. But there's one thing every scientist on the planet agrees on: whether it happens in a hundred years, or a thousand years, or a million years, eventually our sun will grow cold, and go out. When that happens, it won't just take us, it'll take Marilyn Monroe, and Lao-tsu, Einstein, Maruputo, Buddy Holly, Aristophanes - all of this. All of this was for nothing, unless we go to the stars.
Could you at least watch "Signs and Portents", "Babylon Squared" and "Chrysalis" before drawing these conclusions? I'm sure Firefly had its off episodes as well.
--grendel drago
... to Free Republic, where opposing viewpoints are deleted, and vanish without a trace. Until the Freepers don't have to silence---and I mean literally silence, not just mod down---any dissent, I'm going to bask on this here moral high ground.
--grendel drago
They shouldn't have modded you down. Given the size of the sex toy market, I think that'll be a primary use for this stuff. (If it's easier to clean than 'Cyberskin', it'll sweep everything at once.
--grendel drago
Yep. Do that, and you'll be a smashing success... among the three percent of the population who cares enough to research their candidates and issues.
Real elections are won by masses of voters who probably didn't watch the debates, know who the front-runner is because the newspaper told them, and vote for the taller candidate no matter what.
--grendel drago
The only ones who were harassed or arrested were the ones who engaged in violence, criminal trespass, or other actions which went beyond speaking their minds.
You know, I have the loveliest bridge to sell you, over in Manhattan.
How's that kool-aid working out for you, now?
--grendel drago
No, widespread candidate spam isn't going to happen. Here's why: when you get viagra spam and chuck it, you do no harm to the spammer. It's not like you're going to go out the next day and boycott viagra. But if you have a choice about a product you see heavily spammed and one you don't, the choice will be clear.
If anything, I'd expect candidates to spoof spam from each other.
--grendel drago
Not all of us are 'independent erotica research consultants', you know. And unless you're calling it that, watching porn online isn't a 'profession'.
--grendel drago
You mean maximum connections, dude. I have no idea how minimum connections would even be implemented.
"No! No, you can't disconnect! I have to keep some of these open! Aaaargh!"
--grendel drago
As a testament to the power of word-of-mouth advertising, I now have a Friendster account.
I feel kinda skeevy.
--grendel drago
Where, exactly, in the GPL?
--grendel drago
Yes, you're, of course, right. Hell, the biggest comment the fans had after the first ep was, "get rid of that weirdo with the big hair!". jms, in the end, knew better.
Someone did a really decent analysis of the character development of Lt Corwin. That's a Tripod page with popups, but there's a better analysis out there, honest. The point is that even a minor character with so few lines can have really decent development over the years. That's the kind of continuity other shows don't even dream about.
--grendel drago
G'KAR: The future is all around us, waiting, in moments of transition, to be born, in moments of revelation. No one knows the shape of that future, or where it will take us. We know only that it is always born... in pain.
--3x22, "Z'Ha'Dum"
It could have used one or two more seasons.
Forget it. There's a reason why TNG had seven seasons, why DS9 had seven seasons, why Voyager had seven seasons, hell, why Buffy the Vampire Slayer had seven seasons.
The seven-season mark is the sweet spot when it comes to syndication. See, when more than seven seasons are made, it costs the network. When fewer than seven are made, syndication will not bring in optimal profits. The Simpsons is some kind of mega-wacky voodoo case; I don't know. But seven seasons is what networks want.
--grendel drago
Do you think he could find room for Alyson Hannigan, too?
Forget it, dude. She's found fame and success with the 'American Pie' series, and so will never again return to the low-paying field of television.
Besides, would you really want to see her on a Star Trek series? Even if it were directed by Joss? I'd rather put her on some non-Trek project of his, or maybe whatever J. Michael Straczynski's working on. But it's moot; she's going to make a series of eminently forgettable teen slasher movies, sex comedies and possibly a few poorly-done action flicks while she can still pass for a teenager. (She turns thirty in March.)
--grendel drago
Entertainment companies don't produce film/TV for quality ideas or execution anymore.
They never did. Looking back in the past lets us skim through decades of production, and the crap has mostly been filtered out. Ten years from now, the only shows from the nineties that will be remembered as good SF storytelling are probably B5, some of the early seasons of X-Files, some of TNG and DS9, and not much else. We'll have forgotten the crap, and will be busy moaning how the Holovid companies don't produce three-vee for quality ideas or execution anymore.
--grendel drago
Makes me wish I was on Usenet when the show was actually running, seeing all the jms posts on the Lurker's Guide to B5.
I still can't believe he actually talked to the people on Usenet while writing all but one episode of seasons three, four and five. The man's some sort of cyborg, he's gotta be.
I'm still gonna write him a great big gushing thank-you once I finish watching the last season. I've been working my way through the whole bunch over the last year, and while I may want to curse jms for raising my standards so much, I'm pleased beyond words that something that good could actually get a spot for five years.
"There will never be another one..."
--grendel drago
I dunno; Babylon 5 had a tiny fraction of Star Trek's budget, and managed to put in (a) more effects shots, (b) more realistic effects shots (look, you shouldn't be able to see a beam weapon shooting out like a glowing spear, and the ships shouldn't just sit still while shooting at each other) and (c) much better makeup (compare the scads of Drazi, Minbari and Narn in every B5 ep with... what, one Klingon in TNG?).
I mean, if they had had TNG's budget, I'm sure it would have looked better. As it was, the whole thing was done on a shoestring. And besides, geeks should appreciate that they pioneered the use of all-CG space shots and CG set extensions.
--grendel drago
I doubt it [TNG] will ever be topped or even equaled.
*cough* Babylon 5 *cough*
Not only did they have better character development---the characters were flawed, headstrong, occasionally doing the stupid or wrong thing---but they had continuity. Set aside the vagaries of a weekly television show, and watch it on the DVD set. Even standing alone, episodes like "Z'Ha'Dum", "The Illusion of Truth", "Severed Dreams" and "Intersections in Real Time" are a cut above the best that TNG put forth.
Specifially, for character development, look at where Garibaldi goes over the five seasons, constantly circling the drain, sometimes pulling himself up by his bootstraps, sometimes messing up everything and everyone he cared about.
It's not that TNG was bad. It's just that Babylon 5 raised the bar to such a degree.
--grendel drago
As they get bigger, TVs are usurping functions of other devices, particularly computers and printers.
Yeah, because I can use my new TV to read Usenet, play Warcraft and burn CDs.
You'd think a tech writer would know the difference between a computer and a computer monitor.
--grendel drago
The business model relies on the idea that people will get it and not really use it. And most of them, in fact, do get it and not use it.
Look, just because someone uses the service a great deal doesn't make them "Main Customers". Heavy downloaders send in the same fifty bucks a month (or whatever). The whole point is that people get the broadband who don't 'need' it.
They'd like nothing more than for all their customers to check their email once a day and maybe visit cnn.com or something before signing off. As for the heavy downloaders, my guess is that they wish they'd just go away.
To summarize: No one likes you. Downloading a lot does not make you special. It makes you a pain in the telecom company's corporate ass.
--grendel drago
Then what else is a computer, to Joe Average Windows User?
And who in the hell was saying that "Linux is a viable multimedia platform" three years ago?
--grendel drago
Man, that's awesome.
Kinda reminds me of the way some people got rid of their trash during the New York City garbage strike in the seventies... he'd bag it up, then put it in a gift-wrapped box, and leave it on a doorstop somewhere. It would, invariably, vanish very quickly.
--grendel drago
... the point is that it costs them time and effort to implement that kind of rate structure. Heavy downloaders cost them money. If they can make life shitty for heavy downloaders, they will. Heavy downloaders are not some kind of well-funded constituency that's going to rise up and knock heads. We're a minority, and the ISPs can and will piss on us as much as they possibly can.
--grendel drago
DVDs use MPEG-4? Where have I been all this time?! And they don't make progressive-scan DVDs? Holy crap! What's all this shit I have here?
--grendel drago
A working prototype? Undergoing testing right now? What the hell is this doing on Slashdot? We're only interested in vague vaporware!
--grendel drago
My folks decided not to give us presents this year, and give the money to charity instead. I think this is a good idea.
See, we're Hannukah people, not Christmas people. Most Christians think we celebrate Christmas with the serial numbers filed down, but it's really not like that. The presents we used to get were little things---some nifty pens, a t-shirt---certainly not the crap our fellow consumer-citizens are using to bury themselves in debt.
So, what am I missing? Twenty bucks---maximum---of various kitsch. What am I getting? A warm fuzzy. Not to mention that I already got one big-ticket item from my folks this year (a flat-panel monitor, at commencement) and getting stuff makes me feel obligated.
After all, isn't it really all about giving? Eh? Eh?
--grendel drago