Michael O'Hare

[Republibot 3.0]

Originally Posted by Springer

To be fair, he has an impressive CV. Maybe just not a good fit for B5, he clearly had a different view on it than JMS. He was a producer on the show as well until the parting of ways so they must have shown him a great deal of trust in the beginning.

Everyone has an off day.

And, hey, perhaps schlogging through all the mess to make the pilot impressed JMS with his sticktuitiveness.

[Jan]

Originally Posted by Republibot 3.0

And, hey, perhaps schlogging through all the mess to make the pilot impressed JMS with his sticktuitiveness.

I've always figured that since it was JMS' first series, he counted on names like Compton and Netter to help sell the show *after* the pilot. The theory was that the show would start filming episodes immediately after the pilot but it didn't happen that way.

Jan

[Republibot 3.0]

Originally Posted by Jan

I've always figured that since it was JMS' first series, he counted on names like Compton and Netter to help sell the show *after* the pilot. The theory was that the show would start filming episodes immediately after the pilot but it didn't happen that way.

Jan

Was Netter anyone of note at that point? I think he was vaguely tied to Robotech about a decade earlier, but apart from that [Checking] Nope, I'm thinking of Jeffrey Willerth (sp?) who was a writer on Robotech. And Netter was a suit at MGM for half a decade, then a producer/co-producer.

[Jan]

Once one has had power in H-wood, as Doug Netter most certainly had had at MGM, unless there's a major scandal there's still a lot of influence and connections. Jeff Willerth, was never more than a producer's assistant (and body of Kosh, of course) on B5 as far as I know.

Jan

[JoeD80]

JMS had stated a couple of issues with Compton's directing - that the editing was hard because Compton would rarely shoot enough coverage; and that he would often have the actors static in one place and not have enough for them to do beyond the dialogue. "Believers" and "The War Prayer" both had added scenes shot because there wasn't a long enough edit at the end.

On the flip side, I think Peter Jurasik said he liked Compton, and Michael O'Hare said that he was a big help with him on getting the Sinclair character down. So Compton was apparently very good with the actors, which not all of the directors were (Mario DiLeo, Adam Nimoy).

[Republibot 3.0]

Originally Posted by Jan

Once one has had power in H-wood, as Doug Netter most certainly had had at MGM, unless there's a major scandal there's still a lot of influence and connections. Jeff Willerth, was never more than a producer's assistant (and body of Kosh, of course) on B5 as far as I know.

Jan

Willerth also wrote for Robotech, and Netter did a CGI demo reel for one of the failed attempts to revive Robotech, so I confused the two. My bad.

[Republibot 3.0]

Originally Posted by JoeD80

JMS had stated a couple of issues with Compton's directing - that the editing was hard because Compton would rarely shoot enough coverage; and that he would often have the actors static in one place and not have enough for them to do beyond the dialogue. "Believers" and "The War Prayer" both had added scenes shot because there wasn't a long enough edit at the end.

HA! YES! I'M RIGHT! Kinda.

Remember upthread when I said the Sinclair/Caroline/Battle of the Line sequence felt like they just did one take? And it wasn't very good (On Caroline's side), so they just used what they could in the original pilot? That's consistent with what you just said about Compton's directorial style.

[Raw Shark]

Richard Compton directed 'Infection' and 'Midnight on the Firing Line,' both of which I thought were terrific. Some of his other episodes tended to be clunky, some of the ones which aren't considered among the best. But the first season was very clunky in some places and very polished in others. That's something I love about season one, that it was so experimental, that every idea they had got filmed, the whole crew came up with ways to make it work on a budget. Sometimes it didn't work, but by this process they got most of the kinks out, and season two was a more polished production. But I do think some of the writing in the first season was the best. The wild ideas and concepts just kept coming. A refugee export service! After years of watching Next Generation, that was the line that made me think 'Oh damn, I don't think we're on the Love Boat anymore.'

Raw Shark

"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it."
Aristotle

[Republibot 3.0]

Originally Posted by Raw Shark

The wild ideas and concepts just kept coming. A refugee export service! After years of watching Next Generation, that was the line that made me think 'Oh damn, I don't think we're on the Love Boat anymore.'

Amen, brother! Preach on!