From: nomail@gordol.org   
      
   It is alleged that Paul Harper claimed:   
      
   > >Be honest:  What did you really not like about S5?  My guess is it's   
   > >the telepath thing   
   >   
   > Yes, that's the main thing. What you say about the Centauri storyline   
   > is correct - that was good. But the whole telepath thing looked like   
   > what it was - pure padding. It added nothing to the overall story (not   
   > even the bit about the Vorlons meddling) and would have been better   
   > replaced with a half-dozen discrete episodes that actually told some   
   > of the back-story. The trio of trilogy books had a hell of a lot more   
   > interest and storyline than the first half of season 5. Use some of   
   > that ferchristsakes! And the whole Lennier mini-arc was padded too.   
      
   Try to imagine how it would have been if he had known there was going   
   to be a season 5.  Those story lines you hate so much would have been   
   condensed to just the more important bits.   
      
   This wasn't the place to do a full back-story, it was a place to move   
   the story forward.  Yes, it was padded.  It was padded out of necessity   
   by having the original full layers of plot being yanked out from under   
   it the year before.   
      
   So he used it to lay the groundwork for future plotlines.   
      
   Lyta's involvement with Byron set up her actions later in the series,   
   and lay the actual groundwork for the Telepath War, which we never got   
   to see.   
      
   IMO, the single biggest problem was Byron.  There really did need to be   
   more story around to limit his screen time.   
      
   > It's as though the whole thing was written by someone who had a   
   > storyline for the five years, but had absolutely no flexibility or   
   > writing ability to deal with the initial plan going wrong.   
   >   
   > I suspect that the same (to an extent) applies to Crusade as well.   
   >   
   > Sure, TNT fucked around with it big time, but surely someone who   
   > claims to be a show-runner and "A-list" writer should be able to   
   > manage his way around this without allowing the whole thing to be   
   > compromised to the point of destruction?!   
      
   He wasn't an "A-List writer" yet.  To get the show to air at all, he   
   had to sign ownership over to Warner Bros, making JMS an employee.  As   
   such, there is only so much freedom he has.  From what I understand,   
   the showrunner doesn't own the show, s/he's simply the one responsible   
   for making sure that the production actually runs reasonably smoothly   
   within the limits imposed by the studio and, if different, the show   
   owners.   
      
   > Sorry, but no. There is a significant track record here of things   
   > going off the rails and keeping going off at high speed.   
      
   One cocked-up season of an otherwise great series is a significant   
   track record?  He pulled the plug on Crusade before it could be forced   
   off the tracks by TNT.   
      
   --   
   Jeffrey Kaplan                                         www.gordol.org   
   The from userid is killfiled             Send personal mail to gordol   
      
   "You stole my car!  BAD BUNNY!" - Torg, 'Sluggy Freelance'   
      
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