A great UPI (United Press International) article

[Cerberus]

Below is a link to a very favorable article about B5. A must read for any B5 fan, and recognized on the UPI wire is not to bad. Hope you enjoy, here are a few of the quotes:

“The good guys -- and gals -- can win on "Babylon 5" but often -- all too often -- they don't. And even when they do, they often have to pay a fearsome price for it.”

“The series rejects the easy, flip sentimentality of "The Cosby Show " and the two decades of mass-produced TV sitcoms and drama that followed it. Sometimes, its characters Learn Their Lesson at the end of the episodic hour. More often they do not. “

“Another impressive ancient race on the station, the Minbari, resembles America's experience with Vietnam over the past 40 years.”

There are more but I think it is a great read. Enjoy

UPI B5 link


Cerberus

 

[Lyta]

Re: A great UPI (United Press International) artic

Thanks for the article but I haven't heard of UPI before. I didn't agree with all his comparisons but it was nice to read a positive article about B5.

 

[Cerberus]

Re: A great UPI (United Press International) artic

UPI is a leader in the in world wide news. Many news organizations, newspapers, cable outlets (Fox, CNN, ect.) all use UPI sources for news. Here is an example of a quote I would here during the news about the war in Iraq. I.e. "Were are getting word that ... has happened across the UPI wire. Because it is a news wire service is why I thought it was odd to see it.

Below is a quote from their home page.

"United Press International pioneered many areas of worldwide news coverage and distribution, striving since 1907 to provide news coverage that is fast, accurate, fair and balanced. Newspaper publisher E.W. Scripps began the company by combining three regional news services into the United Press Associations, which he founded on the principle that there should be no restrictions on who could buy news from a news service. This formula made UP a direct threat to the monopolistic and exclusionary alliances of the major US and European wire services at the time."

Hope this helps.

Cerberus

 

[PillowRock]

Re: A great UPI (United Press International) artic

I haven't heard of UPI before.

When I was a kid, 20 -> 30 years ago, UPI was basically on equal footing with the AP as a news wire service. Soemwhere along the line they have basically disappeared from any attribution among the (primarily American) news sources that I see, either in prnt or online. I wasn't sure that they were still around.

 

[PillowRock]

Re: A great UPI (United Press International) artic

Not a bad article.

He got the quote from the end of the elevaor scene wrong. IIRC, it was "I hate my life." "So do I." before the "Shut up". I guess the author didn't have ready access to a set of tapes so he could check that.

I disagreed with one accolade that he gave B5. While I think that you could argue that B5 had the best F/X that had been produced for TV up to that time, saying in spring of 2003 that still no better FX have been done for television doesn't ring true for me. The ever increasing speed of computers and continued development of the software allows some of the current (or almost current) shows to do CGI that still wasn't possible (at least on a weekly series' schedule and budget) when B5 was in production.

 

[channe]

Re: A great UPI (United Press International) artic

The content's great. I love seeing B5 acknowledged like this -- like it deserves.

(I do have problems with the way the article was written, grammar- and construction-wise, but that's just because I used to teach English...)

 

[Londos6]

Re: A great UPI (United Press International) artic

He got the quote from the end of the elevaor scene wrong. IIRC, it was "I hate my life." "So do I." before the "Shut up". I guess the author didn't have ready access to a set of tapes so he could check that.

You're quite right about the quote. Overall a good article, but I would think a professional writer would have the sense to verify quotes before using them.

 

[gangster]

It is a good read and a great article.

 

[Lyta]

Re: A great UPI (United Press International) artic

When I was a kid, 20 -> 30 years ago, UPI was basically on equal footing with the AP as a news wire service.

Whoa, really dating yourself there. Thanks to everyone for explaining who UPI is. I am glad they did such a nice article.

 

[KoshFan]

Re: A great UPI (United Press International) artic

I think the author makes the mistake of saying that B5 is a metaphor for such-and-such instead of drawing a comparison. I doubt JMS had the ASEAN nations in mind when he was writing the show. There are strong similarities and plenty of room for comparison, but is it a metaphor? Nah. It's just that JMS knew people, and knew how people operate, and wrote a show that mirrored humanity very, very well.

I liked his (her?) point about perfection in the heavens, though.

 

[Jade Jaguar]

Re: A great UPI (United Press International) artic

Pillow Rock, UPI was bought out by the Moonies, that is Rev. Sun Yung Moon and his Unification Church. Helen Thomas left immediately. They still have some good columnists, though. Joe Bob Briggs is one of my favorites. Most news media outlets consider their news service suspect, except Fox News, since Moon and Rupert Murdoch share political views and goals to some extent.

 

[Lyta]

Re: A great UPI (United Press International) artic

A reply from JMS about the article:

May.4.2003
I just have to ask, though, do you agree with the statement "Straczynski is from New Jersey, and it shows"? It certainly suggested to me that there may be yet another layer to the saga that I
>have yet to appreciate..


I'd never considered that aspect until reading it there -- sometimes swimming in a fishbowl makes you oblivious to water -- but on reflection there may be a nugget of truth in that.


Though I grew up all over the country, I've always considered myself basically a New Jersey street kid, and there's a certain attitude that goes with that, which I can see reflected in the show...a kind of in-your-face wanna make something of it? attitude.


Certainly the gritty, industrial, nuts and bolts Jersey factory look applies to B5.


The main difference I've seen between guys from New York and guys from Jersey is that guys from New York *start* fights, whereas guys from Jersey would sooner die than *back down* from a fight.