From: iloveds9@nospamlycos.com   
      
   "Ian B"  wrote in   
   news:4b048cf1$0$2493$db0fefd9@news.zen.co.uk:   
      
   > catpandaddy wrote:   
   >> "Ian B"  wrote in message   
   >> news:4b036786$0$2536$da0feed9@news.zen.co.uk...   
   >>>   
   >>> I think part of the problem to be addressed is that what viewers   
   >>> want- especially in the sci-fi/fantasy/et al genres- has changed   
   >>> over the decades and is no longer well suited to seasons of   
   >>> episodes, as such. If you take the original Star Trek, or indeed   
   >>> BSG, or any other comparable series, episodes were self contatined   
   >>> with only marginal continuity; discover problem, have adventure, fix   
   >>> problem, back to the ranch (something that to modern eyes looks   
   >>> incongruous sometimes even in classic stories; e.g. Kirk and crew   
   >>> having a wrap-up joke at the end after a story featuring mass death.   
   >>> The Ultimate Computer's a classic of that). So this naturally leads   
   >>> to "arcs" rather than stories, to   
   >>> exploration of the world rather than the world merely as backdrop.   
   >>> And that doesn't fit well with seasons of episodes, because a run of   
   >>> the mill adventure episode feels trivial. We haven't learned any   
   >>> more about the world. It's just "filler". The series has a higher   
   >>> purpose for us. We want to see the world, and the stoires are just a   
   >>> vehicle for that. As such it'd make more sense for these types of   
   >>> world-building   
   >>> narratives to be mini-series- release an arc every now and again-   
   >>> rather than 26 stories to come up with every year. You do the   
   >>> latter, guaranteed the fans will be disappointed with all the   
   >>> "filler" that doesn't explicitly advance the realness of the world   
   >>> they study with all the scholarly intensity of professional   
   >>> historians.   
   >>   
   >> Excellent work Ian.  When does your book come out?   
   >>   
   >> That question is only a half-joke... I think you should consider   
   >> writing one if you haven't already so considered.  Practically every   
   >> subject you speak on becomes a good read.   
   >   
   > For some reason my 2000 word polemic, "Rhubarb: The Case For Global   
   > Prohibition", keeps getting rejected by publishers. I cannot fathom   
   > why, but suspect some kind of a conspiracy.   
      
   You are a good writer Ian, really and you have a good sense of humor to   
   boot.......:o)   
      
   Gisele   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)