--- Betty Ragan ragan@sdc.org wrote:
jacquispeel@netscape.net wrote:
With books there are 'if you like "x" you might
like authors a, b, c' etc. What would people recommend for other B7
viewers?
*** I'd reccomend "Space: Above and Beyond". IMO, it has a rather dark edge to it, some great characters, credible enemies, the AI's and the Chigs. It also has wonderful special effects, which weren't overdone and were well blended with the other visuals. It also has a lot of subtle homour. And it was cancelled just as it got interesting!
But it all leaves me to wonder... Can this possibly be coincidence? Is B7 being consciously imitated?
***Babylon 5 imitated B7, and other shows, profusely. It is well known that it's creator JMS is a B7 fan. There is a costume used in the "Jack The Ripper" Episode (can't remember the name, sorry!) which is almost identical to that of the Caliph of Crandor.
Can we consider all these shows to be direct descendents of B7 in some way or another? Was B7 just ahead of its time?
***IIRC, B7 was the first Sci-fi show to have a gritty, rather dark and distopian theme, and morally ambiguous characters. UFO came closest i think, with Straker becoming obsessional about fighting UFO's and their occupants.
There is very little material out there that doesn't take some idea or premise from elsewhere. if you look, it can be traced back to old movies, westerns, stage shows, musicals, and anything else.
As for Farscape, great show, shame about the Muppets!
===== "Under an Aussie sky..." http://www.southernsky.fsnet.co.uk "afterglow", http://www.afterglow.fsnet.co.uk
Kevin C McCully
"The world is what you make it".
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