In article <37973BD3.B34F071D@geocities.com> , "Jon A. Cruz" 
<jon### [at] geocitiescom> wrote:

> The thing the series had over the current ST at the time was in the stories
> and in the non-perfect people. ST took a lot of this for Deep Space 9 (but
> with lawyers and such lurking about we won't say 'stole'). Bottom line is
> that for the most part, I feel the graphics were sufficient to help the
> stories move along, but were not quite as good as a different TV might make
> them seem.

Didn't DS9 and B5 both start in 1993?   With a usual year or more
pre-production how could anyone reuse the ideas from someone else?


    Thorsten


____________________________________________________
Thorsten Froehlich, Duisburg, Germany
e-mail: tho### [at] trfde

Visit POV-Ray on the web: http://mac.povray.org

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Thorsten Froehlich wrote:

> In article <37973BD3.B34F071D@geocities.com> , "Jon A. Cruz"
> <jon### [at] geocitiescom> wrote:
>
> > The thing the series had over the current ST at the time was in the stories
> > and in the non-perfect people. ST took a lot of this for Deep Space 9 (but
> > with lawyers and such lurking about we won't say 'stole'). Bottom line is
> > that for the most part, I feel the graphics were sufficient to help the
> > stories move along, but were not quite as good as a different TV might make
> > them seem.
>
> Didn't DS9 and B5 both start in 1993?   With a usual year or more
> pre-production how could anyone reuse the ideas from someone else?
>
>     Thorsten

Aha. He took the bait  ;-)

Well, B5 had been in production since 1987. In June/July of 1989 JMS pitched the
series to Paramount.

From the horse's mouth:

>      What was given to Paramount: the B5 bible, artwork, 20+ sample
> stories, the pilot screenplay and other material.
>
>                                                            jms
>

DS9 premiered 1/3/93, B5 2/22/93.

And then a tiny tidbit more:

> Subj:  B5 vs. ST                        Section: Star Trek
>   To:  Saturday, June 10, 1995 12:50:09 AM
> From:  J. Michael Straczynski, 71016,1644#236204
>
>      What I've said, repeatedly, is that I don't believe for a
> second that either of the creators behind DS9 would deliberately borrow
> *anything* from anybody.  What I *don't* know is the extent to which
> the development people at Paramount, who did have the B5
> material, may have influenced that development without them necessarily
> knowing the origin of the notes.
>
>      But frankly...it's old news.  There were striking similiarities
> between the DS9 pilot and ours; however, since then their show has
> gone on into very different areas, and the similarity has diminished
> further and further until there's almost no remaining comparison.
> So for me, that aspect is really not a major factor anymore.
> We move on.
>
>                                                              jms
>
>
>
Oh, and also one extra tech tidbit: B5 was shot in 16:9 so that once HDTV is
out, it can be remastered. It also has surround-sound.


--
"My new computer's got the clocks, it rocks
But it was obsolete before I opened the box" - W.A.Y.

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In article <379### [at] geocitiescom> , "Jon A. Cruz" 
<jon### [at] geocitiescom> wrote:

>> Didn't DS9 and B5 both start in 1993?   With a usual year or more
>> pre-production how could anyone reuse the ideas from someone else?
>>
>>     Thorsten
>
> Aha. He took the bait  ;-)

:-)  Well, actually, they all combine bits from here and there.  Doesn't the
command center (sorry, don't remember how exactly the called it) very
similar to some StarWars scenes?  Oh, and then the "Photon Torpedos" in the
first StarWars film, didn't those come from the original StarTrek.  And I am
surethey appeared before in some other sience fiction novel. Not to mention
some of the smaller ships in TNG or DS9, some smaller versions of StarWars
ships, aren't they?

Well, I am afraid they all take some bits from somewhere...


     Thorsten


____________________________________________________
Thorsten Froehlich, Duisburg, Germany
e-mail: tho### [at] trfde

Visit POV-Ray on the web: http://mac.povray.org

Post a reply to this message

Thorsten Froehlich wrote:

> In article <379### [at] geocitiescom> , "Jon A. Cruz"
> <jon### [at] geocitiescom> wrote:
>
> >> Didn't DS9 and B5 both start in 1993?   With a usual year or more
> >> pre-production how could anyone reuse the ideas from someone else?
> >>
> >>     Thorsten
> >
> > Aha. He took the bait  ;-)
>
> :-)  Well, actually, they all combine bits from here and there.  Doesn't the
> command center (sorry, don't remember how exactly the called it) very
> similar to some StarWars scenes?  Oh, and then the "Photon Torpedos" in the
> first StarWars film, didn't those come from the original StarTrek.  And I am
> surethey appeared before in some other sience fiction novel. Not to mention
> some of the smaller ships in TNG or DS9, some smaller versions of StarWars
> ships, aren't they?

Yes, to one degree that is true. And B5's JMS spent a lot of time talking to
scientists to get what space & such would really be like (there are some
interesting tidbits from his participation in all sorts of on-line
discussions). StarWars had 'Proton'.

Anyway, but the point is at the time that DS9 came out it was far different
than ST and STNG, and in exactly the direction of B5. Given that before they
went into production on DS9 they had all the base B5 stuff, one can easily see
where that comes from. Sure, a new sf series might go in any direction, but
when they go in the exact direction of the flagship show being produced at the
rival studio & network...

Remote station that suddenly becomes the center of important travel. Major
stress of dealing with different races (the stress was _very_ new to ST).
Security chief being given a second chance. Station head dealing with mental
issues springing from an earlier armed conflict (new for ST). Becomes a major
diplomatic station. Grittier. Intra-personnel conflict. All sorts of little
pieces like that.

I'd view it very much like DreamWorks doing Antz to hit just before Pixar's "A
Bug's Life". And for that one Lassiter and Jobs have been able to publicly
criticise Katzenbergs[SP] character in making that decision.

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