Babylon 5- The Lost Tales *SPOILERS*

[colonyearth]

I put up with it for many years, but in the last year they have lost me, there are too many people who are trolling the boards, saying some of the most assanine things i have ever read. I have no problem with someone who doesnt like a show and can give a good reason as to why not liking it, or presenting their point in a mature manner, but I just couldnt take all the rone moore sucks, bsg sucks .. ratings suck, old bsg rocks .. etc posts. I came back to the boards in december for the lost room, which i found to be an interesting premise, and at those boards it was all about bashing it and bashing sci fi for cancelling stargate .. which has nothing to do with lost room ..
As far as gateworld goes, i found the forums to be interesting up until stargate was cancelled, then for alot of members, it became a place to bash sci fi .. for cancelling a show that had been on the air for 10 years, 5 of which never would have existed if not for sci fi .. not to mention the spin off which was already guranteed a 4th year, then the bashing moved over to their bsg forum, taking alot of the same form, how could this show be on when stargate wasnt .. or typing things like .. well .. i like bsg, but i am not going to watch it because i am boycotting sci fi .. heh ..

...this has by far been the place with the most intellectual conversations, it has allowed me to keep what is left of my sanity :P

This is exactly what I'm talking about. And this is exactly why BSG might not get a 4th season...which will truly anger me, especially given that it's idiots that caused it to happen. Why does one SF show have to be in competition with another? As fans we should welcome good, well written and inspired SF. Some of the same things were said about Sci-fi when they cancelled Farscape and brought in Stargate, but Stargate remained and in some form still remains to this day. Even SG-1 is getting two direct to DVD movies a la B5 and may still get a big screen film out of it all. I do get angry also that Sci-fi might cancel BSG claiming ratings drops, but they're the ones that screwed around with their rockin' Sci-Friday line-up; it's echoes of what happened when Farscape bit the dust. What has always gotten me, especially today with shows available for download on sites like i-tunes, is that Sci-fi never counts the ratings for the second airing (all us B5 folks know that one all too well) and they most likely won't take into consideration that while BSG's ratings might have slipped a bit (and why not running during regular season network timeslots against jugernauts like Grey's Anatomy and Desperate Housewifes), they don't count the afore mentioned second airing, they don't count TIVO recordings (yes they can and do know who's just recording it but they don't care since it's the sponsors who really rule and they think they're being fast-forwarded through...and they are), and they won't, most likely consider the fact that BSG is the 5th most downloaded show on i-tunes and sites like it...where Universal is making money off of it, but not Sci-fi directly. I could be wrong and, even though Sci-fi is owned by Universal, they could be getting a piece of the action from downloads.

What the industry needs to learn (it is learning, slowly, but not fast enough to help save inspired television like BSG) is that people are tired of commercial television. They want their shows and they want them straight through. DVD, downloading, etc. have all spoiled us.

And not counting Tivo'd viewings really ticks me off because I'm one of those. Since I work nights, my roommate just Tivo's them all and we watch them together when we're all home. Yes, we fast-forward throught he commercials, but hell, who doesn't and who wouldn't if they had the chance. What the advertisers need to realize is that even at fast-forward, their messages are getting through. It's called subliminal advertising. I can still tell you what commercials I skipped and what they were for. Sometimes, I even stop one because it catches my eye.

There are solutions. All showings should be considered. And fans should stop bickering and all join to demand more well made, well written and inspired SF. Our voice is louder when we speak as one. B5 taught us that. Which is probably why this is the most intelligent forum to visit. We B5'ers are a...well, I like to think we're a special lot, a bit above the rabble, who like to think sometimes.

Peace,
CE

Yes, here I return with my mile long posts...oops.

[Radhil]

I'm all over the Tivo (and I am intentionally leaving out a rant regarding Tivo subscription fees, because that would dwarf your epicus, CE). BSG, Heroes, Lost, all of it gets Tivo'd because I ironically have more of a chance to sit down during the daytime, while I'm futzing with bills or computers. That and my schedule sucks, but what else is new.

In as much as I'd like to go to direct downloads and screw the commercials and what not, it won't happen. They can't get mere downloads right (I am NOT buying an entire season of Lost because I missed one episode, and NBC, fix your damn forcefed ads so I don't have to watch Robin Williams DVD ads 12 damn times just to catch my lost Heroes). The advertising industry itself is far too invasive, and it'd just find a way to embed itself in whatever outlet the creatives turn to (you know WB is gonna have it's way with Lost Tales, regardless of new B5 holy sanctity and all).

One thing I know has no fans that I'm trying to watch: Dresden. Yeah, it's schtick. But it's likeable, like SG has been, and it lowers my bar so I don't take the good stuff for granted. Like most fans do. (see how I tied in a pointless rant right there?)

[Andrew_Swallow]

And not counting Tivo'd viewings really ticks me off because I'm one of those. Since I work nights, my roommate just Tivo's them all and we watch them together when we're all home. Yes, we fast-forward throught he commercials, but hell, who doesn't and who wouldn't if they had the chance. What the advertisers need to realize is that even at fast-forward, their messages are getting through. It's called subliminal advertising. I can still tell you what commercials I skipped and what they were for. Sometimes, I even stop one because it catches my eye.

Someone has to tell advertisers that repeats are boring. Seeing the same advert 4 times in an hour is an over dose on adverts. When they repeat all evening it is a big motivation for fast forwarding through the adverts.

A simple start is to ration an advert to once per hour and once per show.

[Garibaldi's Hair]

Without wanting to jumble this thread too far away from where it started ... i.e. B5:TLT, there are a number of issues doing the rounds here, and some thoughts just leapt in there.

It seems to me that not counting TIVO recordings in rating figures is perfectly logical with the TV business model the way it is. Like it or not, advertisers still pay a big chunk of the funds needed to make these shows, so TV networks need to be able to sell their advertising space based on those people watching who are not just fast-forwarding through the commercial breaks. Simple economics, surely?

Now it is clear that the TV business model will have to change over the next few years ... and B5:TLT (and other things) going straight to DVD is one part of that. If these first few efforts are profitable without TV airings, then surely it will take off as a medium in its own right - just as vinyl records (and subsequently cassettes and CDs) took off so we don't have to rely on the radio to play the music that we want to hear when we want to hear it.

There are, however, two competing movements in TVs future as far as I can see.

On the one hand TV and DVD is moving towards High-Def, surround sound, superior picture quality etc. etc. On the other, there is increasing demand for on-demand services and downloadable movies and TV shows.

To an extent, those two things are surely mutually exclusive - on demand through digital TV delivery is all well and good, but we are an awfully long way away from widespread internet connections fast and powerful enough to download movie and TV content in HD quality.

While those things shake themselves into some sort of sustainable order, I imagine the current model of normal definition (for want of a better term) will continue with broadcast schedules and advertising revenue ruling the roost.

And has anyone done any research into what proportion of the TV watching public is actually clamouring for more than they are already getting? Here in the UK there are many people resentful of being forced to get digital TV in order that the government can switch off the analogue system sometime in the next 10 years.

If the majority of TV watchers aren't bothered about HD and on-demand, then it seems unlikely that the networks will place those things as a priority over and above the current system.

Music is moving on - now that the official UK chart includes downloads (so a track doesn't even need to be released as a single to make number one in the singles charts) I imagine the record companies will stop releasing singles soon, leaving CD albums and individual song downloads as the most common formats.

TV is already decades behind on that sort of delivery system.

[qstor]

lost tales

Has anyone seen anything to indication that LT might be on the Sci-Fi Channel first before going to DVD? Or is WB having it straight to DVD?

thanks

Mike

[Jan]

As of JMS announcing the project last July, he said that at that time a network was interested in carrying the Lost Tales but nothing had been settled. There hasn't been any update on that since so as far as we know, it's still a direct-to-DVD project.

Jan

[colonyearth]

One thing I know has no fans that I'm trying to watch: Dresden. Yeah, it's schtick. But it's likeable, like SG has been, and it lowers my bar so I don't take the good stuff for granted. Like most fans do. (see how I tied in a pointless rant right there?)

Hey, I like Dresden...it's fun!

[AaronB]

Hey, I like Dresden...it's fun!

I agree. It's a good watch.

[Joe Nazzaro]

Having read all of the Dresden Files books, I've got to say I have a few problems with the series, not including Paul Blackthorne who I think is very good. It's just silly little stuff that continues to annoy me. For example what's the point of filling his place with candles because his magical powers short out just about anything technological in nature, and then as I noticed in last night's episode, put a pinball machine in the middle of the floor?

Incidentally, that sound you heard was Jan tearing her hair out as we verr wildly off topic. Maybe to bring us around full circle to the Lost Tales, if the project is basically being done as a direct-to-video, I don't see them selling a terrestrial air date, because common sense would dictate it would just cut into video sales. But that said, when has Warners ever used anything related to common sense when it pertained to Babylon 5. Just look at JMS's intro in the new script book when talking about WB trying to persuade TNT that B5 was completeafter just four seasons.

There goes Jan's hair again.

[Jan]

There goes Jan's hair again.

That was paper! Paper, I tell you!

Sheesh....
Jan
(who's always been happy to split posts off to their own thread if people want me to. I live to serve and all that...)

[Garibaldi's Hair]

Just look at JMS's intro in the new script book when talking about WB trying to persuade TNT that B5 was completeafter just four seasons.

Hey Joe ... given that those of use poor boobs who don't live in the US are going to have to wait several more days before our script books arrive, can you keep the spoilers in the spoiler thread ...

[Shadow-Sentient]

per release dates, imdb has this:

Release dates for
Babylon 5: The Lost Tales - Voices in the Dark (2007) (V)
advertisement Country Date
USA 24 July 2007
USA 27 July 2007 (San Diego Comicon)
Germany August 2007


Also Known As (AKA)
Babylon 5: The Lost Tales USA (working title)

[Darth_librarian]

SPOLIER WARNING -gateworld synopsis

Gateworld has a fairly detailed synopsis of the first two stories. Sounds accurate, and interesting if it is. OBviously, its a huge spoiler as well...

SPOLIER WARNING!

http://www.gateworld.net/babylon5/movies/voicesinthedark.shtml

[Garibaldi's Hair]

What's a Spolier ... and why do I need to be warned about one.



Sorry, couldn't resist.

[Darth_librarian]

What's a Spolier ... and why do I need to be warned about one.



Sorry, couldn't resist.

Has it been that long since there's been any B5 to spoil ?