Bad Friday

[selenak]

Great Maker, this day starts out depressing. First I hear JMS had cancelled FedCon, and if not for the chance to see Stephen Furst (hobsonphile wouldn't forgive me otherwise) and hanging out with muffinmonster, so would I. Next iamsab shocks me with this news - the JMS commentary tracks for Crusade - already released on DVD in the US but not yet in Europe, where we'll have to wait until March - will be removed. (Apparently the WB wanted to delete some of his remarks re: what happened with Crusade and he said "all or nothing", which means we'll get nothing. Note to self: must get Furst's autograph to bribe Hobs to transcribe the JMS comments for me, as she already is in possession of a Crusade set with the commentaries.

And then snurch_tv croaks it. That means no more Carnivale for me. Well, until the end of March anyway, when it, too, will get released in Region 2. Doesn't help my momentary depression, though.

Speaking of deaths, I hear Enterprise got cancelled. I only ever watched the first three eps, courtesy of bimo (which weren't bad, just not particularily exciting or different from what I had already seen on other Trek shows), and given that at the time I was busy discovering Farscape and then got Firefly, I never got around to watching more. Here's what sounds like a good analysis of reasons for the cancellation, both external and internal. One argument especially reminded me of cavendish.

Trying to find some good news in all this gloom, I stumbled across a beautiful photograph or two of Berlin, made last weekend by merkuria_lyn. Have a look, folks, they're very pretty.

But then I made the mistake of putting in Sleeping in Light - as I hadn't heard JMS' audio commentary on it yet, and now I'm sobbing again. That episode, and The Fall of Centauri Prime, always do it for me. (It's no consolation that the Great Maker is getting all emotional and torn-up as well.) Leaving you now to cry some more and/or to find something to lift my spirits...

Comments

[bimo.livejournal.com]

That means no more Carnivale for me. Well, until the end of March anyway, when it, too, will get released in Region 2. Doesn't help my momentary depression, though.

This probably isn't going to make up for my latest shortcomings, but if you like, I could try to get you some Carnivale episodes...

As for the cancellation of Enterprise, I already suspected sómething like that might happen. While season 4 so far has proven to be quite an improvement over previous years, several episodes (ironically the rather good and interesting ones) had a certain "now that our ship's sinking anyway, we finally can write whatever we want " flair about them.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Oh, I'd be very grateful for more Carnivale. The last one I managed to get as #6. Thank you.

(BTW, saw your Nip/Tuck story announced, but I never watched the show, so I can't comment.)

Incidentally, could you send the Galactica mini back to me? (But to my address in B. as I'm going to be there for the next week.)

[bimo.livejournal.com]

Oh, I'd be very grateful for more Carnivale. The last one I managed to get as #6. Thank you.

So the next one would be 1x07 "The River", wouldn't it? I still can't promise anything, but right now, chances of getting the episodes for you look quite good :-)


BTW, saw your Nip/Tuck story announced, but I never watched the show, so I can't comment.

Ah, the pitfalls of having succumbed to a show that none of your friends actually watches *g*

Knowing my tendency to stay close to canon, it's not so much the content/characterisation issues I'm insecure about, but rather the language.

However, it felt incredibly good to learn that my writing muses apparently are very much alive *g*


Incidentally, could you send the Galactica mini back to me? (But to my address in B. as I'm going to be there for the next week.)

How soon do you need the DVD back? Trying to escape from the horrors of Rhineland Carnival, I'm leaving for a short weekend trip to Goslar tomorrow and won't return before Tuesday afternoon.

Should I mail you the DVD today or would Tuesday/Wednesday still be okay for you?

[selenak.livejournal.com]

No, Tuesday/Wednesday would be fine.

And yes, it would - you're a peach, thank you.

[merkuria-lyn.livejournal.com]

Aww, sounds like you are having a really bad day. Glad the photographs helped cheer you up a bit - if only for a few minutes. ;-)

I still haven't seen Carnivale but from the distress that not watching it causes you I gather that it must be petty good. I'm hoping that it will be shown on Sky soon...

[andraste]

I'm sorry about your bad day, and the Sleeping in Light commentary did that to me as well. It really brings home just how close JMS is to the show emotionally. (Not that other creators aren't, but they seem to be able to watch the final episodes of their own shows without waiting several years after they're finished.)

I hope you can find another source for Carnivale - I do have it on tape, PAL standard, although the quality on the last four episodes isn't good. Maybe some kind American Crusade fan will extract the commentaries as audio files? I could do it if I had the DVDs, and I could probably talk someone else through the process.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Not that other creators aren't, but they seem to be able to watch the final episodes of their own shows without waiting several years after they're finished.

Quite.*g* My guess is that it's probably due to the fact that in normal circumstances, the other creators don't write so many of the episodes and take the story so incredibly personally.

bimo has promised to try for Carnivale. If she doesn't succeed, it will have to be the DVDs, I guess...

[andraste]

My guess is that it's probably due to the fact that in normal circumstances, the other creators don't write so many of the episodes and take the story so incredibly personally.

Indeed. JMS proves it's possible to be a fanboy of your own show, that's for sure.

If she doesn't succeed, it will have to be the DVDs, I guess...

I know someone else who's looking for torrents, and I'll tell you if she finds one.

[artaxastra.livejournal.com]

I would agree with much of what the reviewer of Enterprise said. I would also add that I think from the first episode, Enterprise was victim to the worst timing ever in the ST universe. It was designed to be a show about going forward -- the original credits make this clear, with the international space station completed and the Ariane spaceplane powering away -- that these are near future things that people (geeks) like me can recognize as our future 10 years from now, 20 years from now. Yes, in some ways this violates Trek canon.

Because in Trek canon to date, the early 21st century is not a brave new era of international cooperation, of plans completed. It's a dark future of the Third World War, with massive destruction across the middle east, and tens of millions of civilian casualties. The credits should have shown the ISS plunging burning into the Pacific because no government could maintain it, New York under a mushroom cloud, Paris occupied by Khan Noonian Singh's forces in their turbans and desert camo.

But you can't film this. It's too close, too scary.

So Enterprise was trying to be an optimistic little show which skipped the tragedy and went straight to the denouement -- Utopian Earth at peace, all racial and religious prejudice dead. Oh, they say that things were bad, but nobody acts like they've come out of a culture that reflects this. In Trip's parent's childhood, they were refugees carrying their radiation-sick children away from hot zones. When Archer's dad was a kid, they had no food. Hoshi and Malcolm's family lived in the occupied Pacific Sector for twenty years, like growing up in the shadow of Prague Summer. None of this was there. Everybody was unscarred by their collective cultural experiences in ways that made no sense.

Because Enterprise premiered Sept. 26, 2001, two weeks after 9/11. And these were not stories that the network and creators thought people wanted to hear.

I think they were wrong. People on the edge of a dark time want to hear stories about people who have endured it. If that weren't true, surely Gone With the Wind would have been a dismal failure of a book in postwar Europe, rather than a major bestseller.

Enterprise should have stepped up to the plate and done what Roddenberry always tried to do -- confront the looming social fear and tell stories about it, rather than try to be a happy skippy 90s kind of show.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Oh, they say that things were bad, but nobody acts like they've come out of a culture that reflects this.

That struck me in the pilot. They were just like the Federation humans in the 23rd century who had lived in a peaceful paradise for eons. It's been a mere 60 years here in Europe since WWII, and in Eastern Europe, where people didn't have the Marshall Plan, you still see the scars.

I think they were wrong. People on the edge of a dark time want to hear stories about people who have endured it. If that weren't true, surely Gone With the Wind would have been a dismal failure of a book in postwar Europe, rather than a major bestseller.

Exactly. I know lots of women of grandmother's generation identified with Scarlett for that reason.

Incidentally, that's also why I think the new BSG packs such a resonance (and seems to do great in the ratings, with the last ep being seen by over 3.0 million). It's very consciously a post-9/11 show from the miniseries onwards, and in a good way. Of course Ron Moore comes from Star Trek - TNG and DS9 - and in DS9 especially told stories tackling dark present-day issues.

[artaxastra.livejournal.com]

They were just like the Federation humans in the 23rd century who had lived in a peaceful paradise for eons.

I'll buy that from people who have been at peace for two centuries. But a mere 50 years or so? In First Contact, we saw the kind of life people are living in the aftermath of the wars. Archer and Trip were born in settlements like that refugee camp, if the timeline makes sense -- because we see Zephraim Cochrane as an old man starting the 20 year project that leads to Enterprise. Surely this has some impact on them! It would make sense to me for them to be more like Europeans of your parents' age, and for the younger generation of Hoshi's age to have a perspective more like yours.

It's been a mere 60 years here in Europe since WWII, and in Eastern Europe, where people didn't have the Marshall Plan, you still see the scars.

You can see the regional differences in the US from the Civil War, after 140 years. It's not nearly as clear as it was with someone of my grandmother's generation, who was born as close to the Civil War as we are to the Second World War, but it's still there. Will there still be a difference between East and West at the end of the 21st century? I'd posit that there will be.

Incidentally, that's also why I think the new BSG packs such a resonance (and seems to do great in the ratings, with the last ep being seen by over 3.0 million). It's very consciously a post-9/11 show from the miniseries onwards, and in a good way.

OK! I am sold! I will start taping it! (It's on after my bedtime, since I get up so early with the VSP!) I will start watching, despite my love of the original. *surrenders to the evil twin*

[veritykindle.livejournal.com]

I will start taping it!

Actually, if you are in the US, now is a good time to start taping BSG. They are airing the first five episodes of the series (which is as far as showings have gotten in the US) on Tuesday, Feb 8, starting at 7 PM Eastern.

I just wanted to let you know, in case you weren't aware of this. :)

[selenak.livejournal.com]

I *heart* you, and what veritykindle said, because the show should be seen from the beginning, for continuity reasons. Didn't you mention you have the miniseries somewhere on tape? That's the very best way to start, but if you don't have it, those first five eps, in the right order, will do.*g*

[janewt.livejournal.com]

Hugs and tea?

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Tea is always good!

[saava.livejournal.com]

Really curious about the Crusade commentary now. I'm glad my sister already has the DVDs.

I'm finding that I'm reacting to B5 a lot more emotionally during my rewatch with lauranobaka than I did when I first watched. This probably has something to do with how quickly I went through the series the first time around. Sleeping in Light made me cry the first time. I'm scared what it'll do to me upon rewatch.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Do tell us just what he says that the WB wanted to cut!

[muffinmonster.livejournal.com]

I hear your pain about JMS' cancelled appearance! And if you know the reasons, it gets even worse:

http://www.ostfc.de/ostfc_forum/thread.php?threadid=3970&boardid=16&styleid=1

Das ist ja sowas von unnötig gewesen! ARGH!

I'm glad you'll still be attending the con, though, I'm looking forward to meeting you again! :) If not for Stephen Furst and the friends I want to meet at the con, I'd probably be selling my ticket by now. Sigh. This sucks! *whines*

[smashsc.livejournal.com]

I see you have another offer but I'm offering as well. I can get eps 7-12 up on YSI by Sunday.

And I still have access to all the eps of S2 that have aired thanks to my spiffy TV box. I don't have a European VCR but if you can read the format, I'd be happy to put S2 on US VHS tapes and send those to you.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Alas no, I can't read the format. However, since bimo isn't sure whether or not she'll mange to get them it would be nice to have a second source, and thus I'd be profoundly grateful.

[smashsc.livejournal.com]

S1 is no problem. I'll get that on YSI as soon as I can (your @ livejournal.com email addy works?)

For S2, I'll look around for an electronic copy I can send. What VHS formats can you play? I might (stress might) have a way of getting them on PAL.

*grovels*

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Yes, that would be my email address.

PAL is the format for me.

[hobsonphile.livejournal.com]

Note to self: must get Furst's autograph to bribe Hobs to transcribe the JMS comments for me, as she already is in possession of a Crusade set with the commentaries.

You don't have to bribe me. I'll do it for free. But I still command you to see Stephen Furst anyway. *g*

[selenak.livejournal.com]

I knew you were a Minbari changeling, and I shall obey!

[shezan.livejournal.com]

No, no, Enterprise had gotten excellent in Seasons 3 and 4! I'm so annoyed at the cancellation. The scripts were tight, the plots very nicely balanced between main and secondary story, and I loved the characters (but it's true they didn't do much with Travis or, to some extent, Yoshi.)

[selenak.livejournal.com]

I'll check it out sooner or later. Right now, I'm not in a shape to mourn it yet other than in general sympathy to fellow fans...

[fay-morgenstern.livejournal.com]

First I hear JMS had cancelled FedCon

Noooooo !!! That's not exactly helping my decision whether to go or not :-(.