DRIVE - reality series -> drama

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Taking a reality concept and transferring it to an hour long drama can be a tricky proposition. Lost did it deriving off of Survivor but now we have Drive to the Amazing Race. Now that the boilerplate is set.. as this clearly had a Lost tie-in.. while being OFF TOPIC lets talk about how Drive made the transition. (i.e. this belongs here and not in Bull**** General that nobody reads)

I approach new series' very skeptically.. especially one that tries to emulate what Lost accomplished. Color me a bit underwhelmed by the pilot... it was interesting enough.. but it didn't really have that... that something more that is hard to describe. It looked like your standard by the numbers throw everyone together... some against their will, with your standard range of characters. And i'm all for good car work both in racing and photography(edit: and it would be a crime if they didn't fit in some world-class stunts). But it was pretty by-the-book.

Tonight episode though... all I can say is god damn. I came in not expecting much and got blown completely away. This was basically the establishing episode for Nathan Fillion's(if you don't know who that is.. you can turn your genre badge in at the door) establishing episode for one Alex Tully. When they finally revealed what they were up to and why he was there with the chair through the window I literally stood up out of my chair with a HELL YEAH. It was furthered by his transformation into the real Alex Tully which was just another HELL YEAH.

I haven't been this excited about a series in quite a while and I think you can tell that from reading this. If they can keep the writing up on this show and be able to pull off and execute the type of story they are going for.. its going to be one heck of a testosterone-laden ride. I'd honestly suggest if you haven't seen it or saw the pilot that you give the 3rd episode a try. If its not your thing cool.. but if you are a genre nut for car/race/road shows than by all means strap in and join the fun.

And one last thing.. if you're one of those that can't suspend your disbelief and have to ask 15 questions of how, why, and whatfor... THEN YOU JUST WONT GET IT. GO BACK TO WATCHING OPRAH OK.

Tee hee.

Never even heard of it until I read your post, sound's really good, I'm thinking Deathrace 2000 ( not expecting them to kill everyone for points ) and Cannonball run, only better and with added drama. DL'ing now, I'll get back to you when I've seen it, should squeeze it in between B5...watched pilot and am now on season 1.

First 3 epiosdes right?

[irretrievable]

Yeah. My husband found the pilot and, due to the title, tuned in. We both really liked it. We thought it was Cannonball Run with a little Stephen King's The Long Walk thrown in. Ever read that? He wrote it under the name Richard Bachman. Very cool story. We were both hooked when the chair went through the window too.

[tailhook]

Originally Posted by Markus.Darkus

Never even heard of it until I read your post, sound's really good, I'm thinking Deathrace 2000 ( not expecting them to kill everyone for points ) and Cannonball run, only better and with added drama. DL'ing now, I'll get back to you when I've seen it, should squeeze it in between B5...watched pilot and am now on season 1.

First 3 epiosdes right?

The first 2 were technically one as they tied them both together as 'the pilot' but they were still aired split by credits on Sunday night and were tonally different so I counted them as 2 episodes.

Should be 3 hours total.. the 2 hour pilot and the episode they aired Monday.

And good job on B5!

It also isn't really going for the cheese factor like Deathrace 2000. Think more along the lines of Vanishing Point or Gone in 60 seconds(the original).

The overlying race is directly tied towards The Amazing Race like Survivor was for Lost.

Some of the stories of the contestants are straight out of the genre book though.

Alex Tully is basically the same type of character as Viggo Mortenson was in A History of Violence.

Oh yeah....this show rocks.

More sinister secret organizations, all the best shows have them at the moment...Lost, Heroes, Prison Break and now Drive.

Thanks for pointing this one out Tails..it's awesome....anyone not watching should get involved.

It's nothing like Deathrace which isn't a bad thing, although I'll always have a soft spot for Deathrace 2000.

See what your saying about Tully being like Tom Stall, the 3rd episode was great....I was rootin for him to dump that old pick up from episode one and the finale to ep 3 had me buzzing. Some interesting characters....the one who'd just had the kid has got me intrigued...she's a fruit loop!

I cannot wait for the next episode.....errr what days it on your time, is it Monday..is that what your saying above?

[tailhook]

Originally Posted by Markus.Darkus

Oh yeah....this show rocks.

More sinister secret organizations, all the best shows have them at the moment...Lost, Heroes, Prison Break and now Drive.

Thanks for pointing this one out Tails..it's awesome....anyone not watching should get involved.

It's nothing like Deathrace which isn't a bad thing, although I'll always have a soft spot for Deathrace 2000.

See what your saying about Tully being like Tom Stall, the 3rd episode was great....I was rootin for him to dump that old pick up from episode one and the finale to ep 3 had me buzzing. Some interesting characters....the one who'd just had the kid has got me intrigued...she's a fruit loop!

I cannot wait for the next episode.....errr what days it on your time, is it Monday..is that what your saying above?

It took over the Prison Break time slot after that show ended for the season. Mondays at 8pm just before 24.

How is B5 coming along?

Originally Posted by tailhook

It took over the Prison Break time slot after that show ended for the season. Mondays at 8pm just before 24.

How is B5 coming along?

I've only watched the Pilot movie and 4 episodes...but I'm watching prison break again at the moment with my friend, I was starting to get into it and will defiantely give it the time it deserves shortly.

Where do the B5 films fit in with the seasons Tails?

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Originally Posted by Markus.Darkus

I've only watched the Pilot movie and 4 episodes...but I'm watching prison break again at the moment with my friend, I was starting to get into it and will defiantely give it the time it deserves shortly.

Where do the B5 films fit in with the seasons Tails?

Not really much need to bother with them until after you finish the series as you will avoid spoilers that you would have known allready watching the series. "In the Beginning" covers the Earth-Minbari War which occured 5-10 years or so before season 1(2257+1) (for some reason the editor wants to make all eights smileys), led to the formation of The Babylon Project, and is the best of the lot. The rest are for the most part standalone and just for extra stories not having to do much with the overall story. The series arc is really the meat and potatoes.

"Mind War" is a great one coming up soon and then you get your ass kicked with "And The Sky Full of Stars".

Make sure you watch all the episodes though as some like "Born to the Purple" while seemingly fluff have content that doesn't pay off for 2 years(show time.. i.e. 2 seasons later).

Btw.. what do you think of Rousseau(Mira Furlan) as Delenn? Pretty wild look she had in season 1 hehe. It was even more wild in the pilot which was filmed like 1 year before they had gone on the air and had the makeup locked in for some of the actors.

Originally Posted by tailhook

Btw.. what do you think of Rousseau(Mira Furlan) as Delenn? Pretty wild look she had in season 1 hehe. It was even more wild in the pilot which was filmed like 1 year before they had gone on the air and had the makeup locked in for some of the actors.

In the pilot she's virtually unrecognisable but by season 1 you can see that it's her.

Although the effects aren't groundbreaking, some of the make-up is awesome

Cheers for the info on the movies, I'll let you know how I'm getting on as I progress through the seasons.

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Originally Posted by Markus.Darkus

In the pilot she's virtually unrecognisable but by season 1 you can see that it's her.

And her look changes again in season 2.

Originally Posted by Markus.Darkus

Although the effects aren't groundbreaking

!! You are kidding right.. seriously?

The effects were absolutely groundbreaking for the time, even moreso than the makeup. Babylon 5 was literally the very first sci-fi live-action television series to have its effects completely computer generated. Deep Space 9(except for select effects i.e. wormhole) and TNG(hi.. we're shipbound most of the series looking out windows at star patterns) were both models.

Paramount wouldn't make the switchover for Star Trek for at least 3 more years.. and when they did they hired away the company who did the effects for B5, Foundation Imaging, to do it. Everything you see post fall-1996 in the ST universe was an evolution of the effects work originated at B5. And FI could rock the house. The one thing nobody ever complained about with Star Trek in the Voyager and Enterprise years was the effects.

But with B5 you have to remember this was 1992-1998(the years the series was in production including pilot, not when they aired). Toy Story didn't come out until 1995 and that was done off extremely expensive SGI workstations. Your normal PC at the start of the series was at best a 486.. Pentiums weren't even out yet. The series itself was done originally using Lightwave off of Amiga systems and then kept upgrading as the technology took off. Primitive by today's standards, yes... but absolutely groundbreaking for its time.

And there are two ships that I don't think would have translated well at all with models. The first is the living Vorlon ship and the second you'll first see in "Signs and Portents", the namesake episode for the season.

Also.. afaik the critter in Grail is one of the very first live-action completely computer generated aliens.

Actually.. here is an excellent read:

Babylon 5 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia