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Date Posted: 08:44:04 10/11/02 Fri
Author: CW
Subject: My answers
In reply to: Cactus Watcher 's message, "With no episode, new or old, to talk about this week" on 07:49:34 10/11/02 Fri

1. Are you watching Firefly primarily because of
a. Joss' track record.
b. I like sci-fi.
c. I like westerns.
d. other (explain)

a. and b. I'm intrigued that Joss wants to head in the direction of sci-fi. I think the western theme is mostly because the audience and writers are familiar with it.

2. Are you a fan of Star Trek? If so, what do you like and dislike about the franchise? Feel free to talk about individual series, and the movies separately or to lump them together.

Sort of. I didn't watch a single ep of the original series during the first run. I saw them in reruns and found them appealing, but not as great as people were saying. It was too close to Stereotype Trek for me. ST:NG was better although at times its political correctness verged on 7th Heaven. ST:DS9 was often boring and aimless, sometimes exciting and occaisionally perceptive. I liked the bits with the Ferengi the best, and the show was consistantly better once Whorf signed on. I found the faith of the Bajorans superficial and unconvincing. I thought the Kardasians were so desperate to be evil, they were comical. I did enjoy the Kardasian tailor though. I saw only a few eps of Voyager each year. I didn't really get to like any of the characters. Except for 7 of 9, they were often inconsistent from week to week. I don't watch Enterprise. Like most of the critics, I think some of the ST movies were very good. Others were just fan rip-offs.

3. Are you a fan of Star Wars? What do you like and dislike about it.

Yes, but with resevations. For me George Lucas failed to make any 'shades of gray' ideas work as anything but schmaltz. The series is best as good guys vs bad guys. The movies are worth seeing just for the great action, but they're not so good as an attempt to tell a deeper story.

4. Are you a fan of Babylon 5? Are all 'deep' sci-fi TV shows doomed to both low ratings, and to being pushed to the margins of broadcasting?

Yes, Bab 5 was the first tv series I even thought about about taping. I worry that all shows with content that requires a lot of thought, will get pushed aside for simple minded stuff the masses can digest without a glimmer of a thought crossing their minds. Pure emotion is fun occaisionally, but must that be all we have?

5. If you like sci-fi, what are some of your other favorites, TV, books or movies?

I like the works of Larry Niven, and thought Carl Sagan's Contact made a fine movie.

6. Westerns have mostly faded from the tv screen. Do you have any old favorites? Do you have any favorite Western movies? Do you think the genre is worn out?

I watched years worth of Gunsmoke first run. I even remember listening to the radio version on the very afternoon before the first episode of the tv series was shown. It's dated now, but in its day it was the best serious tv show in any genre. When I was small I was addicted to The Lone Ranger. It was fairly mechanical, but it frequently dealt with good people getting in trouble for what others had done. That is something a kid can identify with. High Noon is still one of my favorite movies. I think the genre could use another decade of rest. In the 50's and 60's it was beaten to death.

7. I would say that Buffy and Angel are about complex relationships and tearing down fixed ideas about good and evil. Assuming Firefly gets the chance to develop do you think it will follow the same pattern?

Yes, and I'm not necessarily happy about the good-and-evil part. Call me old-fashioned, but the casual attitude toward crime, so far, is a little disturbing. This isn't Robin Hood. Even though the very first episode showed Mal has a set of moral standards, I'd just as soon not see too much 'crime is fun' from this show. Crime to survive is a different matter.

8. Play Joss for a moment. Where do you think the meatiest potential parts of Firfly lie?

River, of course, is just waiting for the right episode to do something surprising. However, I think maybe her brother Simon may have just as deep of a story. As I said before I don't really like the guy yet, but he has potential. His loyalty seems to be entirely to his sister. Jayne's loyalty is entirely to himself. Mal and the rest seem to be bonding to each other. I'm guessing that River is going to become a greater danger, which will isolate Simon even more, perhaps even more than River will be isolated. Kaylee is interested in Simon and might take his side, but we've seen no interest from him in her.

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Replies:

  • Re: With no episode, new or old, to talk about this week -- TRM, 10:51:03 10/11/02 Fri
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