Free Firefly novel "My Own Kind of Freedom"

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Let's hear it for MONOPOLY: THE MOVIE!

I'm bemused by a film based on "Candyland", myself.

(And I'm actually a bit surprised we haven't already seen something based on "Magic: The Gathering".)
_______
Dennis

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by tsgreer

Yeah, I mean look at the runaway success of the Clue movie!

I saw that and it was not all that good.

[TallMomof2]

What I really dislike are movies based on video games! They're awful. And most video games based on movies aren't a whole lot better.

[nekokami]

Re: the original Battlestar Galactica:

Originally Posted by Steve Jordan

Me, too: Cheap Star Wars ripoff, all the way.

Eh? I suppose it only got funded because of the popularity of Star Wars, but I can't see where it was a rip-off of SW in any significant way. Completely different characters, completely different plot.

Actually, I didn't think it was that bad. Admittedly I was a kid at the time, but I read far more SF than I watched in the media, so I did have some basis for comparison. I even read the Battlestar Galactica novel. It wasn't Heinlein, but it wasn't that bad. The problem BG faced was the "to boldly flee" problem -- it was hard to keep people interested in a situation where the protagonists were retreating all the time. Hence the introduction of the Pegasus.

Now, Galactica 1980 was an utter disaster (other than the one flashback episode mentioned earlier, which was pretty cool). We only watched it because there was nothing better on TV at the time.

Regarding Knight Rider, since the most likable character in the original series was the car, I suppose all they'd need to do is get a voice actor who can play the same part (maybe even the same actor, since no one would be able to see him) and they could easily have just as much success as the first one had. I don't watch broadcast TV anymore (including cable), because the commercials drive me crazy, so I don't really care what they do.

For those of you who liked The Prisoner, I recommend the anime series Neon Genesis Evangelion. I think it was showing on one of the anime cable stations for a while, but I'd recommend the DVD version with the original Japanese audio and English subtitles (assuming you don't speak Japanese). Another good mind-bending anime series is Revolutionary Girl Utena, especially after the first few episodes.

[carandol]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Let's hear it for MONOPOLY: THE MOVIE!

I'm working on the screenplay for Noughts and Crosses. It's an epic struggle between good and evil in which there can be only one winner... or a stalemate. We've spared no expense on cutting edge special effects -- the two big-name actors (TBA) will be playing on an iLiad.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

I'm bemused by a film based on "Candyland", myself.

(And I'm actually a bit surprised we haven't already seen something based on "Magic: The Gathering".)
_______
Dennis

And the ruler of Candyland will be played by The Candyman himself... Sammy Davis Jr. even if though have to dig him up to do so.

[nekokami]

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

And I'm actually a bit surprised we haven't already seen something based on "Magic: The Gathering".

Me too. Unless you want to count the whole Yu-Gi-Oh franchise.

I suppose the only reason we haven't seen this is that even though MTG has a sort of storyline or backplot (rather, a series of them), few people seem to pay attention to that when playing the game. This is something I'm trying to overcome with my own card game, which relies heavily on the players telling a story as they play, and while the kids playing the game seem to get it, adults in the business tell me that such games don't sell, because kids don't like games that require creativity.

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

Originally Posted by nekokami

Re: the original Battlestar Galactica:

Eh? I suppose it only got funded because of the popularity of Star Wars, but I can't see where it was a rip-off of SW in any significant way. Completely different characters, completely different plot.

Yes, but the point was, it was only green-lit to capitalize on the Star Wars craze... and other than the special effects, produced by the same people who worked on Star Wars, the production wasn't good, the acting was cardboard, and the stories were hash. IMO.

Originally Posted by nekokami

Regarding Knight Rider, since the most likable character in the original series was the car...

Originally Posted by nekokami

...I suppose all they'd need to do is get a voice actor who can play the same part (maybe even the same actor, since no one would be able to see him) and they could easily have just as much success as the first one had.

Unfortunately they did not re-hire the original voice of KITT, Mark Daniels, to redo the role... and the voice they have is about as vanilla and boring-sounding as it could possibly be. With all the interesting voice actors out there, they had to get someone who makes HAL sound like Peter O'Toole...

Originally Posted by nekokami

For those of you who liked The Prisoner, I recommend the anime series Neon Genesis Evangelion. I think it was showing on one of the anime cable stations for a while, but I'd recommend the DVD version with the original Japanese audio and English subtitles (assuming you don't speak Japanese). Another good mind-bending anime series is Revolutionary Girl Utena, especially after the first few episodes.

I'll have to look for those.

[nekokami]

Originally Posted by Steve Jordan

Yes, but the point was, it was only green-lit to capitalize on the Star Wars craze... and other than the special effects, produced by the same people who worked on Star Wars, the production wasn't good, the acting was cardboard, and the stories were hash. IMO.

Well, yeah, but it was TV.

As a comparison, I'm a Dr. Who fan, but the Dr. Who episodes being produced at the same time had similar production issues, and sometimes pretty wretched acting, as well. And as for storyline logic....

I just don't hold "Sci-Fi" media to the same standard as written science fiction, I guess.

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

And do you know that by watching Firefly you are watching a western and by reading Brusts's book, you are reading a western novel. Firefly is a western in outer space.

Labels, labels... It was also a romantic comedy (between Mal and Inara, Wash and Zoe, and Simon and Kaylee), adventure, personal journey, and suspense story (River's run).

Oh, yeah: And science fiction, too. Firefly is SF that takes place in the west. (Of other planets, that is.)

Westerns are simply called westerns because people ride horses and talk funny. But who needs labels? Firefly is just good storytelling.

(Great horny toads! Gotta burn ma boots; they tetched Alliance soil...)

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by nekokami

Me too. Unless you want to count the whole Yu-Gi-Oh franchise.

I suppose the only reason we haven't seen this is that even though MTG has a sort of storyline or backplot (rather, a series of them), few people seem to pay attention to that when playing the game. This is something I'm trying to overcome with my own card game, which relies heavily on the players telling a story as they play, and while the kids playing the game seem to get it, adults in the business tell me that such games don't sell, because kids don't like games that require creativity.

It probably wouldn't be too hard to list an assortment of successful, selling games that meet your criteria. Dunno who the adults in the game biz are, but they sound like the have the same mindset as the folks coming up with TV programming.
______
Dennis

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by Steve Jordan

Westerns are simply called westerns because people ride horses and talk funny. But who needs labels? Firefly is just good storytelling.

I quote the late SF writer and critic Damon Knight: "If it reads like it could have been set in Australia, it probably should have been!"

Yes, Firefly was good storytelling. Now, consider the possibilities if it hadn't been a transplanted Western.
______
Dennis

[Nate the great]

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

I quote the late SF writer and critic Damon Knight: "If it reads like it could have been set in Australia, it probably should have been!"

Yes, Firefly was good storytelling. Now, consider the possibilities if it hadn't been a transplanted Western.
______
Dennis

It might have survived its first season.

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by Steve Jordan

But who needs labels?

I agree. It's like most good books. They don't fit 100% under any one label.

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

I agree. It's like most good books. They don't fit 100% under any one label.

No, but labels provide classifications, and classifications are necessary.

Every genre has characteristic tropes and inherent rules that govern it. It's possible to bend or break those rules to good effect, but it needs to be done deliberately out of knowledge, not accidentally out of ignorance.

Ever read a book that was disappointing because the author didn't seem to have a clear idea of what kind of book it was and what story was being told?

The label gives me an idea of what kind of book I'm going to read, and the author an idea of what kind of book she is trying to write.
______
Dennis