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blakes7-d Digest				Volume 98 : Issue 199

Today's Topics:
	 [B7L] Re: Babylon 5 repeats
	 Re: [B7L] Babylon 5 Repeats
	 Re: [B7L] Babylon 5 repeats
	 [B7L] Re: Happy Endings
	 Re: [B7L] Babylon 5 Repeats
	 Re: [B7L] Fw: computers and fandom
	 [B7L] Lexx

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 22 Jul 1998 10:16:40 +0100
From: Steve Rogerson <steve.rogerson@MCR1.poptel.org.uk>
To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se
Subject: [B7L] Re: Babylon 5 repeats
Message-ID: <35B5ADF7.BD2BEA@mcr1.poptel.org.uk>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; x-mac-type="54455854"; x-mac-creator="4D4F5353"
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I said earlier: "the fifth season [of babylon 5] they are showing [in
the uk]  on Sunday lunchtime, sometimes cut, and repeated late Monday
night uncut"

However, when I went to Ch4's web page to email them to complain about
the way I was treated on the phone (see yesterday's email) I found a
number of posts from fans complaining that they were also cutting the
late Monday night showing on some episodes.

The address is:
http://www.schools.channel4.co.uk/c4info/areatop.html
--
cheers
Steve Rogerson

Redemption 99: The Blakes 7 and Babylon 5 convention
26-28 February 1999, Ashford International Hotel, Ashford, Kent
http://www.smof.com/redemption/

"Get in there you big furry oaf, I don't care what you smell"
Star Wars

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 22 Jul 1998 13:42:43 +0100
From: "Dangermouse" <master@sol.co.uk>
To: "Judith Proctor" <Judith@blakes-7.demon.co.uk>,
        "Lysator List" <Blakes7@lysator.liu.se>
Subject: Re: [B7L] Babylon 5 Repeats
Message-Id: <199807221245.NAA01678@gnasher.sol.co.uk>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

----------
> From: Judith Proctor <Judith@blakes-7.demon.co.uk>
> 
> Channel 4 used to edit for violence etc. and I can recall one episode
where the
> whole meaning was lost because they edited out a scene of someone
injecting
> himself with a drug.

Not just violence - they cut "Burn you bastards" from one episode - this
from the network whose new all-gay soap is to be called Queer As Fuck...

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 22 Jul 1998 13:40:05 +0100
From: "Dangermouse" <master@sol.co.uk>
To: "Steve Rogerson" <steve.rogerson@MCR1.poptel.org.uk>,
        <blakes7@lysator.liu.se>
Subject: Re: [B7L] Babylon 5 repeats
Message-Id: <199807221245.NAA01668@gnasher.sol.co.uk>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
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Steve Rogerson wrote:

> did at a later slot. The fourth season they showed uncut in a late slot
> and the fifth season they are showing it on Sunday lunchtime, sometimes
> cut, and repeated late Monday night uncut.

Allegedly. Actually the Monday night ones are the same cut versions as
Sunday.

> Keep your eyes peeled for the Drazi Sunhawk in Deathwalker (episode nine
> I think) and a few later episodes. This was the ship that was based on
> the Liberator, but more curvy and with an orange elongated ball rather
> than the round green one.

No, keep your eyes peeled for the Blips' ship in Phoenix Rising, which *is*
the Liberator, albeit with the green globe and weapons pods removed.

> My understanding is that the UK will get the last five episodes before
> the US. This has been done before on B5, where some episodes at the end
> of one season where shown here first.

Actually it's happened for every season except season 4.

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 22 Jul 1998 16:16:27 +0200 (MET DST)
From: Gordon & Carol <storm@catchnet.com.au>
To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se
Subject: [B7L] Re: Happy Endings
Message-ID: <35B583CF00000138@backup.catchnet.com.au> (added by backup.catchnet.com.au)
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

I was not going to get into this one as I adore both shows. Both Blake and
TOMWDOB are very high on the shock scale and to the uninitiated very
surprising, sad but surprising...However:


>Date: Tue, 21 Jul 1998 16:44:54 +1000 (EST)
>From: David Henderson <David.Henderson@jcu.edu.au>
>To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se
>Subject: [B7L] Re: Happy Endings
>Message-ID: <Pine.OSF.3.96.980721161653.3632B-100000@barra.jcu.edu.au>
>Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII
>
>Kathryn Andersen wrote:
>
>> To be less succinct, the ending of S:AAB compares favourably with the
>> end of Blake's 7, though of course it has a different tone, because
>> the whole show had a different tone.  Ironic, rather than tragic.
>> Obvious comparison: they're dead, Jim.  Well, half of them are
>
>
>
>Well I guess S:AAB compares in that some of the major players
>(in which we care about) are killed / maimed / etc.  But I found the
>overall tone (feeling) was still of accomplishment.  (They found Kylen(?),
>won the war, overcame their personal conflicts,...).

Yes they found Kylen, but they never won the war, obviously with the death
of the Chig Ambassador ( whom we never really knew *was* an official
ambassador, he may have been a high ranking soldier ) the peace negotiations
would have come to a halt.. As for overcoming their personal conflicts, the
loss of his 'mother' and 'father' would only have added to Hawkes, I
believe. And there was plenty of other conflicts still to be resolved..


>Where as B7 was just bleak (bloody effective, but still bleak). Nothing
>was gained by the B7 crew, we were left with nothing to hold up and laud.

I suppose one could say that the actual crew never gained anything but they
could have been held up as martyrs for the remainging rebel cells? Omitting
of course how or rather who killed Blake...

<snip>

><<  But I found the
> overall tone (feeling) was still of accomplishment.  (They found Kylen(?),
> won the war, overcame their personal conflicts,...). >>
>
>
>   I didn't get quite the same feel. It seems to me that the creators were
>merely trying to end the series by tying off the story threads, while leaving
>an ending that they could pick back up on if the series were picked up by
>someone. It was a bit forced for me, with our heroes convienantly split up
>just in time to meet disparate endings, they introduced an even bigger mystery
>without resolving it(the exact relationship of the Chigs to Humans), and to me
>anyways, ending with a grim tone with the final scene. And the AMF at the end
>of the episode I read as an angry "finger in their face" to the network that
>essentially killed the series by its time slot and constant pre-emptions.
>D. Rose

Morgan and Wong had a definite plan as to where the story was going, none of
it was really forced, maybe they could have tidied up a few of the threads
when it became apparent that there would be no second season... But then
again,the final season of Blake's 7 was not originally planned for.. That's
why they destroyed the Liberator I believe?  Then all of a sudden seemingly
out of the blue, there's another season being produced....  M&W were still
trying for an eleventh hour reprieve as it were and so they stayed on track
with regards to their story. 
Only one hero met his end, Wang.. Vansen and Damphousse were to be rescued
and after spending some time on earth and having an AI leg replacement
McQueen would have rejoined the 58. And the fight goes on.. or it would have...

Hondo.






Semper Fidelis
LT. Colonel  Carol "Hondo" Mason                           SPACE:
63rd Squadron: Blazing Knights.                      ABOVE AND BEYOND.
Official Australian Branch - Ready Reserves
<storm@catchnet.com.au>   <http://www.users.bigpond.com/FIVE8/>

" God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change. The
courage to change the things I can. And the wisdom to bury the bodies of the
people who piss me off!. And also help me to becareful of the toes I stand
on today, As they may be connected to the arse I might have to kiss tomorrow."

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 22 Jul 1998 13:31:34 -0400 (EDT)
From: Claudia Marie  <cmarie@tiac.net>
To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se
Subject: Re: [B7L] Babylon 5 Repeats
Message-Id: <199807221731.NAA14396@shell1.tiac.net>

I apologize in advance for the lack of Blake's 7 content in this post.

Ray Kaplan <rckaplan@agamemnon.ai.uiuc.edu> wrote:
: On Mon, 20 Jul 1998, Anne Lane wrote:
: >Just the right timing for me, as I'm about to register for Redemption but 
: >have never watched Babylon 5 (because everyone says you have to start at 
: >the beginning!).

You don't have to, you *can* pick it up partway through.  But it's so
much richer if you do it right.  :)

: Definitely, but do it in the order of which the episodes were made, not
: the pure chronological time line of the story.  

This gave me pause because I thought for a moment than you meant episode 
order within a season.  (Some episodes were shuffled around from production
order due to non-story constraints and the canonical order is different
than the first-aired order.)

: For the most part it is
: the same. I think it is totally the same for the actual series, but I
: wouldn't recommend seeing In the Begining, the first B5 movie, first even
: though it is the earliest in the story's timeline.  It was a good movie,
: but it gives away a little too much of the mystery during the first few
: seasons if you saw it before seeing at least the first four seasons.  (It
: was orignially aired between the fourth and fifth seasons in the US.)

Agreed.  The pilot can be viewed before the series (obviously!) but I would
leave ITB until after season 2 at least.

The Lurker's Guide has both the original US air order at
http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/countries/us/old.html
and the JMS-approved order at
http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/countries/master/eplist.html

There were some little tweaks in the series itself, but none that I
think are crucial to the story.  In some cases the production order
was never intended to be the broadcast order; Infection, which I
consider the weakest B5 episode ever, was the very first filmed,
presumably so that the actors had their characters somewhat in hand
before Midnight on the Firing Line (the first story-wise) was filmed.
Actually, there was a lot of shuffling of production order in the first
season, probably because some sets and alien makeups required more
lead time and some special effects required more time after filming.

Putting Walkabout between Interludes and Examinations and WWE makes
sense to me, but I think all of the tweaks are for pacing, not crucial
plot elements.

Claudia

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 22 Jul 1998 23:33:18 +0100
From: "Alison Page" <alison@alisonpage.demon.co.uk>
To: "Lysator" <blakes7@lysator.liu.se>
Subject: Re: [B7L] Fw: computers and fandom
Message-Id: <E0yzGqg-0003sC-00@post.mail.demon.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

Kathryn made a lot of interesting points

> Thing is, the usual thing when a fan discovers fandom is a "Whew! I'm
> not alone!" feeling. 

I must say I would never have even have called myself a fan without the
Internet. I wouldn't have dreamed of going to a convention like Deliverance
without having got to know people first through these mailing lists. 

I can remember thinking 'it would be such fun to write stories using
characters from TV series - but what a twit I am - who would be interested
in anything like that?' LOL

Alison

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 23 Jul 1998 12:31:10 +0100
From: Steve Rogerson <steve.rogerson@MCR1.poptel.org.uk>
To: Lysator <Blakes7@lysator.liu.se>
Subject: [B7L] Lexx
Message-ID: <35B71EFD.FE6B34EF@mcr1.poptel.org.uk>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; x-mac-type="54455854"; x-mac-creator="4D4F5353"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

I know this is off topic, but I need help from the USA. I've just heard
that it is going to be at least next year before the four Lexx films are
released on video in the UK. However they are already available in the
US. Given I can handle NTSC, is there anybody in the US who can buy them
for me and post them to me. I'll pay for them and p&p obviously.
--
cheers
Steve Rogerson

Redemption 99: The Blakes 7 and Babylon 5 convention
26-28 February 1999, Ashford International Hotel, Ashford, Kent
http://www.smof.com/redemption/

"Get in there you big furry oaf, I don't care what you smell"
Star Wars

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End of blakes7-d Digest V98 Issue #199
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