sjk3@cornell.edu wrote:
I don't know to what extent the parallels were deliberate (though I supsect they weren't *entirely* accidental)... As I suggested here some time ago, I think it may just be that B7 was ahead of its time, and its time has finally come, which is why we're seeing variations on its basic formula all over the place these days... -- Betty Ragan ** ragan@sdc.org ** http://www.sdc.org/~ragan/
Apparently it *is* accidental. A week or two ago somebody on somelist posted a URL (which I cannot find now) for a site with interviews with the person who did almost all the writing for Andromeda (a lot himself, and he was in charge of the "team") - that is, until TPTB (including Sorbo) decided they wanted to change to a more action-oriented show. It seems they believed arcs and character interaction would confuse the audience. Anyway, he was asked if he had based anything on "Blakes 7" and he said he'd never seen it.
Which may be entirely true, but I find it *really* hard to believe, especially as there was mention of off-screen characters named Jenna and Blake - I think in the same episode. Though I've also heard that Tyr was written specifically for Keith Hamilton Cobb at Tribune's insistence.
Maybe some of the rest of the writing team are Blakes 7 fans, if Robert Wolfe is not.
Mistral