HIGHLA-L Digest - 6 Jun 2005 to 7 Jun 2005 (#2005-62)
Automatic digest processor (LISTSERV@lists.psu.edu)
Tue, 7 Jun 2005 22:00:07 -0400
There are 8 messages totalling 349 lines in this issue.
Topics of the day:
1. the stuff we were talking about...yeah, kinda OT (6)
2. HIGHLA-L Digest - 3 Jun 2005 to 4 Jun 2005 - Special issue (#2005-58)
3. Useful Highlander words for Scrabble players...
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Date: Tue, 7 Jun 2005 19:28:28 +0200
From: T'Mar <tmar@sifl.iid.co.za>
Subject: Re: the stuff we were talking about...yeah, kinda OT
>I disagree that you could produce a successful TV show where each week
>the main character's personality , motives, actions changed.
I was going to make a snarky comment about Quantum Leap, but I thought
better of it. :)
>All right, yes <EG> . They sound like fanfic. Methos the Lawyer, Methos
>the FBI man, Methos: Office Drudge. None of them sound like *Methos*
You say they sound like fanfic like that's a *bad* thing. I have stories
on my hard drive that seem to have been written by a certain someone...
won't mention any names, now... But yeah, let's not get into that. It
might get Nina excited.
>Could TPTB have created a *real* TV series starting Methos that would
>appeal to a large enough audience to pay? I say *no* because the
>character is too ambiguous.
You are probably right that you wouldn't get a huge audience... but a
lot of cult shows don't have humungous audiences. Plus, it might hit
on something the public suddenly seems to want. I mean, I thought
reality shows would be a flash in the pan because of how terrible they
are... they're still on the air with more and more outlandish scenarios.
I would have thought one CSI was enough, but it turns out that three
are all equally entertaining.
TPTB might get one season out of it. I mean, HL fans would watch, right?
Add some flashbacks to eras people seem to be interested in and you might
get a slightly larger audience. I think it could be done, but I concede
your point - it would never last for six years. Fans can come up with
hundreds of ideas, but writers seem to burn out after a while.
>Methos' world is *not* populated *only* by bad guys -
>unless you only show those times when he faced bad guys - which
>sanitizes the character.
Why couldn't you do both in one episode? Let the audience make up their
mind about him... Love him, hate him or just find him weird enough to
keep watching.
> IMGLO, someone could certainly write 22 entertaining episodes about
>Methos. You could *not* actually produce such a series and have an
>audience for it.
I will give you that. Don't let it go to your head or anything. :)
>(I wonder where the DHFAQ is?)(On a disk somewhere.....)
PLEASE find it and finish it! I still have my copy if you can't find
yours. I read it once every so often and really enjoy it. You could
really savage some of those later episodes in the name of
completeness. :)
- Marina. (No more Methos. This equine has decomposed.) (How on Earth did
we get on this topic, anyway?) (Methos isn't even my favourite character!)
\\ "Good girls go to heaven. ||>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> //
// Bad girls go to Smallville." || R I C H I E >> \\
\\ - 'Sorority Boys' wallpaper ||>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> //
//=======tmar@sifl.iid.co.za========|| \\
\\=======Chief Flag Waver and Defender of Richie=======//
"You know, Kent, it's always been my policy to back my reporters one
thousand percent. I mean, if you went up there and opened those
windows and told me that you could fly, I'd back you up. I'd miss
you, but I'd back you up." - Perry White; Lois & Clark.
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 7 Jun 2005 13:37:18 -0400
From: L Cameron-Norfleet <cgliser@earthlink.net>
Subject: Re: the stuff we were talking about...yeah, kinda OT
>
>- Marina. (No more Methos. This equine has decomposed.) (How on Earth did
>we get on this topic, anyway?) (Methos isn't even my favourite character!)
Indeed.
*Clearly* the franchise would benefit more from Highlander: The Ryan Years
Lisa
--
Lisa Cameron-Norfleet ** cgliser@earthlink.net
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Date: Tue, 7 Jun 2005 19:57:02 +0200
From: T'Mar <tmar@sifl.iid.co.za>
Subject: Re: the stuff we were talking about...yeah, kinda OT
>*Clearly* the franchise would benefit more from Highlander: The Ryan Years
*Snerk* I'm not even going to *try* argue for that one. ;)
I could argue about what they *could* have done... but Wendy would say
it sounds like fanfic, wouldn't get an audience, etc... And sadly, she'd
be right.
- Marina.
\ "I did it all to myself, I have no one else ||>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> //
// to blame. And I cannot regret one single || R I C H I E >> \\
\\ moment of it." - Colleen McCullough ||>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> //
//=============tmar@sifl.iid.co.za============|| \\
\\=============Chief Flag Waver and Defender of Richie===========//
"I don't think that much mucous is ever a good sign." - Lorne;
"Rain of Fire/Apocalypse Nowish" (Angel)
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 7 Jun 2005 19:13:24 +0100
From: "a.j.mosby" <a.j.mosby@btinternet.com>
Subject: Re: the stuff we were talking about...yeah, kinda OT
> >I disagree that you could produce a successful TV show where each week
>>the main character's personality , motives, actions changed.
>
> I was going to make a snarky comment about Quantum Leap, but I thought
> better of it. :)
Probably a good job as QL really had a consitent character who had almost
exactly the same values each week. It was just the environment and the
challenges that changed.
>>All right, yes <EG> . They sound like fanfic. Methos the Lawyer, Methos
>>the FBI man, Methos: Office Drudge. None of them sound like *Methos*
>
> You say they sound like fanfic like that's a *bad* thing. I have stories
> on my hard drive that seem to have been written by a certain someone...
> won't mention any names, now... But yeah, let's not get into that. It
> might get Nina excited.
There's probably a large amount of almost-professional standard fanfic out
there. But, unless it's clearly out of choice (or maybe luck), the
difference between work good enough to be published and that which is deemed
not commercially viable is the fact that the many fanfic writers like to
join dots or put characters in situations that they'd never be in on the
show. It's the difference betwen writing for one's own interests and writing
for a broader audience. I think that was the point being made?
>
>>Could TPTB have created a *real* TV series starting Methos that would
>>appeal to a large enough audience to pay? I say *no* because the
>>character is too ambiguous.
>
> You are probably right that you wouldn't get a huge audience... but a
> lot of cult shows don't have humungous audiences. Plus, it might hit
> on something the public suddenly seems to want. I mean, I thought
> reality shows would be a flash in the pan because of how terrible they
> are... they're still on the air with more and more outlandish scenarios.
> I would have thought one CSI was enough, but it turns out that three
> are all equally entertaining.
If someone could create a show (as was considered) for Spike (James
Marsters) then I'm not sure Methos would have been a creative stretch.
However I'm in the camp that tends to agree that Methos is better and more
viable as a foil - the voice that argues with the hero. Doesn't mean he
couldn't have been a regular on a show of which he was an important part
(ie: the proposed Watchers' Chronicles etc). Moot point, though, as even the
Spike show wasn't demed viable and James Marsters is arguably a more
commercially known 'commodity'.
>>Methos' world is *not* populated *only* by bad guys -
>>unless you only show those times when he faced bad guys - which
>>sanitizes the character.
Though probably not commercially viable, my ideal Methos show would be to
see him finding himself in the world of politics (contemproary or otherwise)
where he's forced into the role of kingmaker, rather than king. Of course,
one could argue that he already was in that role.
John
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Date: Tue, 7 Jun 2005 15:16:39 -0400
From: L Cameron-Norfleet <cgliser@earthlink.net>
Subject: Re: the stuff we were talking about...yeah, kinda OT
me, being cheeky at marina:
> >*Clearly* the franchise would benefit more from Highlander: The Ryan Years
marina:
>*Snerk* I'm not even going to *try* argue for that one. ;)
>
>I could argue about what they *could* have done... but Wendy would say
>it sounds like fanfic, wouldn't get an audience, etc... And sadly, she'd
>be right.
I think the ultimate problem with using Richie, or Methos, or Amanda,
for that matter, as a subject for an independent show is that they
are secondary characters. And I don't mean that in the sense of how
they interact with Duncan. I mean it in the most basic concept of
how they were created and written and portrayed.
It's sort of like how a skein of yarn can knit a lovely scarf, but
not a whole sweater. The raw material is there, but there simply
isn't enough to work with. And it's not just a matter of buying more
yarn. Methos is a skein. Richie is a skein. Duncan is a sweater.
Lisa
(if duncan macleod were a sweater, what kind of sweater would he
be?)(roll call!)
--
Lisa Cameron-Norfleet ** cgliser@earthlink.net
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 7 Jun 2005 15:25:09 EDT
From: CATLADYx7@aol.com
Subject: Re: HIGHLA-L Digest - 3 Jun 2005 to 4 Jun 2005 - Special issue (#2005-58)
In a message dated 6/4/2005 5:58:58 PM Eastern Standard Time,
LISTSERV@lists.psu.edu writes:
And you can just take a look at Angel. I mean, the guy
was "the scourge of Europe" for, okay only 100 years
instead of Methos's couple thousand, but still, he
went from being mister evil nasty to good guy...and
back to evil a few times. And it still worked pretty
well. (he even got kinda gray-ish during part of Angel
S5, but that's pretty much a whole 'nother debate that
could from what I've seen go on for probably ever.
And actually Spike's another example, he was bad for
most of the show's run and then between the chip,
Buffy and earning his soul, he turned good(er)...and
they are still discussing making a Spike series
although it hasn't happened yet.
LOL, I can just see Angelus and Methos aruging over
who did a better job pillaging Europe (or which
foursome)....
"I was the scourge of Europe! And Spike was almost as
bad as I was"
"Hello, 'Death' here! And my cohorts were
'pestilence', 'famine' and 'war'. I had you beat by a
longshot And you couldn't even DO any daylight
pillaging!"
"Ever torture someone until they went insane and then
turn them to be like you? Check out Drusilla"
"Well, Cassandra might not be a basket case but I
still think I did a pretty good job on her. Anyway,
you were at the whole thing for what, a hundred years,
a hundred and fifty? I was at it for several THOUSAND
years!"
OK, so Methos does have Angelus beat...it's still
funny.>>>>>>
Now that would be a great a great fan fic!!! The
Four Horsemen versus the Fanged Four( Angel, Spike, Darla and Dru) !!!!
Rae
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 7 Jun 2005 20:20:36 -0500
From: Ginny <RED57@aol.com>
Subject: Useful Highlander words for Scrabble players...
I thought of a List Denizen the other day - Jette, are you out there? I
got to use "jo" the other evening whilst playing Scrabble, and hubby
David had to admit that he knew the word, because of Jette's "Joe's my
jo" .sig line of yore.
--
Ginny
RED57@aol.com
Fresh out of .sig lines
http://www.blogula-rasa.com
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Date: Tue, 7 Jun 2005 15:53:42 -1000
From: MacWestie <mac.westie@verizon.net>
Subject: Re: the stuff we were talking about...yeah, kinda OT
John--
> If someone could create a show (as was considered) for Spike (James
> Marsters) then I'm not sure Methos would have been a creative stretch.
There is a key difference between Whedon's vampire lead characters &
Highlander's Methos. Angel & Spike were demons & had no souls when they
were the scourge of Europe, killed 2 Slayers, ate babies, etc. When their
souls were restored, they reacted differently but both felt guilt & horror
over their evil deeds & neither (when in their right minds) cheerfully
continued committing atrocities. Far as I know, Methos was always human &
always had a soul--he just managed to ignore it in a rather stupendous way &
for a really, really long time. Actually, we have no proof that he ever
grew a conscience, as opposed to changing times simply making a low profile
the better survival course. It is the fundamental change & associated
dramatic angst the characters underwent from evil to good that makes Angel &
Spike viable lead characters; w/ Methos, there was no fundamental change of
character--only a change of times & what worked to best safeguard his
personal survival. That's what limits Methos as a viable lead character.
Lisa--
> It's sort of like how a skein of yarn can knit a lovely scarf, but
> not a whole sweater. The raw material is there, but there simply
> isn't enough to work with. And it's not just a matter of buying more
> yarn. Methos is a skein. Richie is a skein. Duncan is a sweater.
Interesting. OK--DM is a lush & intricately patterned sweater (in chocolate
tones). And Methos is a skein of basic beige. But Richie's just lint.
Nina (unfortunately, AP tends to choose sweaters that make my eyes bleed)
mac.westie@verizon.net
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End of HIGHLA-L Digest - 6 Jun 2005 to 7 Jun 2005 (#2005-62)
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