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Babylon 5 Was First
n response to Mr. Carl Jackson's letter ("B5 Strangely Similar to DS9"), J. Michael Straczynski, creator of Babylon 5, has stated in many forums that he tried to get Paramount to bite for B5 before he went to Warner Bros. Then, after he started preproduction for WB, Paramount announced a new Star Trek, Deep Space Nine. I remember reading this on AOL, Genie, etc., when B5 was in its first syndication. He commented about the similarities, too. I don't think he went as far as to say they stole the idea, but he wasn't too happy about it, at the time. I might have some of the info slightly off, due to those "senior moments" I seem to be having now, but in essence, B5 was first from JMS's point of view.
Tommy Melton
tomintn@altavista.com
Straczynski's Babylon 5 is No Copy
r. Jackson wrote a letter ("B5 Strangely Similar to DS9") that suggested B5 is a copy of DS9 and that " ... Deep Space Nine is the original 'space station,' 'outpost' sci-fi. ... "
Perhaps you are not aware that Straczynski originally suggested B5 to Paramount before DS9 came out? And that the original plot included a shapechanger security officer? And that the whole Shadow war and the Whitestars were part of a complete plotline written before the show aired? And that in the last season or two DS9 abandoned the "total closure" per episode traditional to TV and picked up B5's "every episode is a chapter of a book" approach? It seems the copying obviously went in the other direction. As for seven years versus five, B5 was written from the start as a five-year series with a planned beginning, middle and end. So what if the commander changed, that's what happens in the military: people get promoted, transferred, rotated, etc. Having said that, DS9 is still the best Star Trek series. But, never confuse B5 as a copy of it.
Jim Meggenhofen
rackhir1@yahoo.com
Starship Troopers Fan Sounds Off
his morning was the first time I've ever heard of Starship Troopers: The Roughneck Chronicles. If I had known of this show, I would have watched it at least once to "see what the fuss was about." I've read Starship Troopers at least 15 times in the past 35 years; I thought the movie was an appalling travesty which should never have borne the name Robert Heinlein's Starship Troopers! The review I just read of the TV series sounds much better!
On a different subject, yanking E:FC from the SCIFI channel irritates me! The first year was the best; looking back at the original episodes, I can now see how the first season flowed into the second season. There were mysteries set forth in the first year that were resolved in subsequent seasons; I'd like to see those episodes again.
On yet a different subject, all Deep Space Nine and Babylon 5 had in common was that they were space stations. Both the Defiant and the White Stars were necessary and flowed from the natural unfolding of the story arcs. To compare the two is interesting, but should not be intended to suggest that one show "borrowed" from another.
Enough rambling, time to watch CNN and get more of a dose of true horror.
Mike Bell
mwbell@pld.com
Galactica Needs Original Cast
hall I use the recent Lost In Space movie as an example of a blundered attempt to cash in on the popularity of a classic series without regard to the original vision and characters of said series? Or shall I use the first six Star Trek movies as an example of successfully bringing back a classic
series while bridging it into new generations? Why was the original Battlestar Galactica successful? A story told by film is successful for two reasons: One is due to great production values, including special effects, costumes, good writing, good directing and musical score; and the other is
due to the performances of the actors and actresses. The combination of the two makes the magic chemistry to grab the attention of the audience.
Battlestar Galactica had those unique special qualities. It should have been given at least a second season during its original run. The ABC network realized their mistake after they had cancelled the series and tried to reclaim the audience with the failed spin-off series: Galactica 1980. Well, Galactica 1980 included the same spaceship, costumes, and special effects as the original show but did not include the principal actors and actresses (with the exception of the wonderful talent of Lorne Greene). If the new Fox production launches without bringing onboard the actors who portrayed: Apollo (Richard Hatch), Starbuck (Dirk Benedict), Boomer (Herb Jefferson Jr.), Bojay (Jack Stauffer), Col. Tigh (Terry Carter) Sheeba (Anne Lockhart) as well as costume designer Jean-Pierre Dorléac and composer Stu Phillips, then Fox has omitted a vital part of Galactica's chemistry. Mind you, I understand that these people have aged 20 years, but I'm not saying they should be the only stars of the new show, but that they should have meaningful roles so as to preserve the continuity of the series.
Vern Hartsock
vhartsock1@home.com
Crouching Wins Hugo as a Fantasy
evin Ahearn complains ("Crouching Tiger is Hidden SF") that Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was winning SFWeekly's (then-ongoing) unofficial Hugo Awards poll in the Best Dramatic Presentation category. The nature of his complaint appears to be that Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was not science fiction.
While I agree with him regarding the classification of the film, I argue that it is irrelevant.
Read this excerpt from the Hugo rules:
Section 3.2: General.
3.2.1: Unless otherwise specified, Hugo Awards are given for work in the field of science fiction or fantasy appearing for the first time during the previous calendar year.
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was inarguably fantasy.
In 1971, Fritz Leiber's Ill Met in Lankhmar won for best novella, and Avram Davidson's Or All the Seas with Oysters won for best short story in 1958 (both are fantasy, and there are other examples), so this is hardly precedent setting.
I doubt that Hugo Gernsback would lose any sleep at all.
Chas Warren
brilfabex@yahoo.com
Potter Is For Children, Not Hugo
rely on the Hugo and Nebula Awards as a guide to what is currently best in science fiction and where it is heading. Discovering that a Harry Potter book won the Hugo was only partially disconcerting. If it ends up winning the Nebula for best novel, I will then bring myself to read Goblet Of Fire. For only then will I consider it something other than a popularity vote. Until that time, I'm going to regard this as an indication of "vote dumping" by a zealous, dedicated bunch of fanatics.
Let me stress, however, it is not that Harry Potter is fantasy over science fiction that I have a problem with. It's the fact that Harry Potter is written for 8-year-old children and not adults. To say otherwise would be just a marketing ploy to sucker in unsuspecting adults to shell out money for something they themselves might enjoy.
I'm not panicking yet, but if next year I have to venture into the kiddie section in order to purchase a Hugo-winning novel, I'll cease using the Hugos as a barometer and rely solely on the Nebula's.
Reid Babbitt
qbit@hotmail.com
Lexx Offers Up Tomorrow's Mozart
hile I am completely thrilled that someone has finally noticed the unparalleled talent of Marty Simon, it seems obvious to me that although you "reviewed" the Lexx series, you haven't watched it ... if you had done so, you would have known that, for instance, "A Walk in the Desert" was set on Fire, and that the action alternated between Xev and Prince, thus accounting for the variances in the music (the heavy undertone depicting Prince) as the two "competed" for survival. This is only one of many examples I could give you. Mr. Simon's music is astounding. How the man can compose medieval and a tune of Greek flavor ("Into the Garden") to disco, salsa and "Angel Song" which, to me is reminiscent of the duet from "Lakme" (opera).
His music also touches something in me that can make me feel a gamut of emotion. I remember scenes from the series at times but for the most part, it simply brings out an emotion. I listen to each song over and over until I feel that I have heard every last nuance and tiny note. What did you think of "Snake Dance?" I choreographed a belly dance with Xev in mind to "Feppo's Party" and it was fantastic.
I would say, about your review that you managed to dissect every sound that Simon created but (and though you might have alluded to it only a small bit) that you need to realize that in the future, generations will look upon this era as we looked at music one hundred years ago—Marty Simon will stand out as one of the greatest composers of our time, to know him or perhaps you got to interview him—that would be one of the highlights of life since I sincerely believe him to be the Mozart of our time. Simon is as diverse in creativity as Mozart was, I might even venture to say better. All in all thank you for the review in the light that it deserves. I did, in fact, purchase this computer for the sole purpose of finding out more about Lexx and its musical scoring of Mr. Simon—all I've been able to find is that he was one of the Squeamish Five, he's Canadian and he's done work for the likes of Celine Dion.
Again, thank you. I remain, a true fan of Marty Simon.
Laela M. Rakhsha
Laelamarie@aol.com
Star Trek: Voyager Pulls Rank
ts time for one last complaint about the producers of Voyager. In previous episodes of Star Trek series, the producers explained the details of uniforms and rank insignia. I recall at least one Star Trek:The Next Generation episode in which the pips were explained. When Capt. Janeway added the ex-Marquis to her crew, the ex-Marquis started wearing those elongated collar insignia vice pips.
If you're going to wear collar insignia, then different ranks must have different insignia. I was never able to clearly figure out what this pattern was. I wrote the producers (email, fax and letters with SASE) and asked for an explanation of the pattern. I never got a reply. No reply suggests that either there never was a pattern and they didn't want to have to explain this or I sent too many nasty notes to The Science Fiction Lover's Digest and got on someone's s**t list. (I really doubt the producers kept track of their critics and suspect the producers never came up with rank insignia and just didn't feel like admitting this.)
I took my best shot at creating what I thought the ex-Marquis insignia looked like. I realize that I am not an artist and that my best shot may not even come close. (Now, that was a hard thing to admit!) Take a look at my best shot and tell me what you think the insignia look like. (Voyager producers: This is you chance to "set the record straight" by telling everyone what the insignia really look like. Try this link users.pld.com/mwbell/ranks.jpg and tell me what you think. (No flames, please, I get enough crap from some of my oh-so-wonderful co-workers.)
I can only hope the producers of [Star Trek] Enterprise will: 1) answer their mail, and 2) not violate the history of Star Trek too excessively!
Mike Bell
mwbell@pld.com
Apes Ending Took Sliders Lead
hat time-travel vortex [in Planet of the Apes] or nebula or whatever might well have been an interdimensional portal as well as a time portal. Think Sliders for a moment. Adding an interdimensional aspect would allow for an elimination of the conflict about changing the past.
[Warning: Spoilers follow.]
The ending could be explained by assuming the Earth returned to was not the Earth from which the protagonist originated, but perhaps one of zillions of possible alternates—maybe another alternate involved a scenario where there was a different outcome to the final battle on the ape planet, where
the general and the other apes succeed in learning the means of controlling the spacecraft and allows the General to travels to still another Earth's past to revolt.
Other possibilities could include a situation where the General traveled back but was defeated by the humans of some other alternate reality!
The story is more of a fantasy than a hard SF thing anyway.
Joann Prinzivalli
joann_percy@hotmail.com
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