Re: Babylon 5 pilot in original edit on thewb.com

Ian J. Ball <ijball-NO_SPAM@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
"Adam H. Kerman" <ahk@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Micky DuPree <MDuPree@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Maybe I'm the only one, but I'm very understanding of the fact that TV
producers face enormous challenges just getting something on the air.
Saying, "I meant to do it this way all along," seems less about
protecting an actor (or even the studio, who I'd be more likely to
blame), and more about protecting the meta-myth of the singular five-
year arc that was completely planned out from the beginning. I thought
the idea of building "trap doors" under each character as a contingency
plan was one of his more brilliant strategies for coping with the
vagaries of producing series television, and I'd have preferred that he
just admit that he had to resort to a trap door a little earlier than he
had expected. Despite preferring Sinclair to Sheridan, I would have
been more sympathetic to JMS's desire to retcon the pilot if he had been
honest about the fact that he had done so.

He's not allowed to be honest. Anyway, it sounded like he was taking the
heat to protect his studio masters.

If you can't be honest, you should just say nothing. You shouldn't lie.

What part of being a television producer don't the two of you get?

Lead actor gets fired. He cannot just say nothing. They come up with a lie
that doesn't, on its face, implicate any of the parties involved but is
obviously a lie. That's as close to the truth in Hollywood as you can get.

It's his idea but it's not his studio. He doesn't have the final say. Best
he can do is resist interference as much as possible, then write characters
that send up his studio bosses, who won't notice.
.

Relevant Pages

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