USA - JMS called, he wants his plot back

[mpdfuzz]

So I watched this new show, 4400 tonite. It was ok, didn't quite know what it was about. Turns out - SPOILERS AHEAD - that all the alien abductee's in the last 70 years or so, suddenly all appear back on earth together at once, on national TV, all 4400 of them.

OK so this is kinda neat. But then, guess what, they start developing strange powers....

WHAT A HOSE JOB RIP OFF of JMS's Rising Stars.

I know the details are dfferent, but the premise is the same.

Still, the show wasnt too bad, I will try to catch next weeks episode.

[mpdfuzz]

OK, was I the only one who watched this series?

[CensusTaker]

No, while I didn't watch the show (being in another country) im sure someone did, I just think that your implying a beliefe in Rising Stars being origional just means no one can be bothered replying.

[Grappler]

I'm watching a rerun of Sundays broadcast as I am writing this. I saw it then and thought it was cool. Although I don't know anything about JMS's Rising Stars. I thought it was a ripoff of mutants, but whatever. The movie is a good watch though.

[Briel]

Almost everything under the sun has been done before. The only real question is if the characters and acting are of good quality and engaging you on a personal level.

Being abducted and returned with powers is hardly new. JMS just upped the number of people he had it happen to.

No disrespect to JMS of course. I hope to one day be able to afford all of B5 on DVD.

[warden]

I thought JMS ripped off Tolkien too much in B5...

Andrew

[Briel]

Anything that will get peole to go back and look at scource material is only a plus.

Most of the people who went to see Lord of The Rings on the big screen have never read the books, and probably never will.

Tolkien even goes back to King Arthur, which JMS cribbed from and even said so on screen.

[Clix776]

Straczinski can have his plot back once he promises to finish it. Next issue is only three years overdue at this point...

As to a rip off - that's horse-hockey. JMS had a meteor "event" affect everyone in untero in a small town, giving them superpowers. They proceeded to grow up together and go their separate ways. 4400 has people abducted over a span of 50+ years returning all at once with superpowers. Their ages are different, their experiences are different. The only similarity between Rising Stars and 4400 is superpowers from an unknown source. That's hardly enough to call a ripoff.

Have a Great Day,
Gary E. Poisson

[Ignatz_Mouse]

JMS is guilty of far worse ripoffs himself. The premise for Crusade is a direct Space Cruiser Yamato rip-off-- Earth has 5 years to live, lone ship with giant cannon of immense power on a quest to save it. A bit too similar for my tastes.

[machineman]

well, mpdfuzz, when I got to work monday night, I asked my friend who also reads comics if he caught the 4400, because I was gonna say to him" Rising stars rip", but before I could say it, he did. So no your not the only one who thought the similarities were a bit too much to be very original. I kept looking at the credits when it was over to find JMS's name somewhere. I

[machineman]

well, mpdfuzz, when I got to work monday night, I asked my friend who also reads comics if he caught the 4400, because I was gonna say to him" Rising stars rip", but before I could say it, he did. So, no, you're not the only one who thought the similarities were a bit too much for them to not be aware of Rising Stars. I kept looking at the credits when it was over to find JMS's name somewhere(it wasn't). I've never seen babylon5 or this yamato deal. But I have read "stars", supreme powers, and spidey and enjoy them very much. But that episode of 4400 was just the pilot episode, where they go with it will probably be nowhere near rising stars. And I thought it was a fairly good show.

[Wyldstaar]

Havn't any of you guys ever seen Village of the ####ed or read The Midwich Cukoos? The book was written in 1957, and the film was released in 1960. It's the same premise as all the others.

Good writers borrow, great writers steal.

[Funky Jett]

It has been said many times that there are only 7 distinct story plots, and Hollywood keeps rehashing them over and over and over and over and over again.

I'm certain that Rising Stars was a ripoff of someone else's story. And that was a ripoff of someone else's story as well. It happens. Did you enjoy 4400? Excellent. The fact you have seen this story before shouldn't really be a surprise and shouldn't make you hate 4400 either.

[machineman]

I don't think anyone said they hated it because it was similar to rising stars(I could be wrong I didn't read everyone's post very carefully) as for me I thought it was good, and I was hopeing JMS wrote it. I would have liked to see his non-superhero version of his own story. I just thought it was awfully soon for something so similar to come out. But the similarities didn't bother me at all, like I said, there's more of this story to come, and I doubt all these people will adopt secret identities and start fighting/commiting crimes. And hopefully they won't all gain more power when somebody kills one of the other 4400. (Ican't believe noone flamed JMS here for ripping on highlander too).

[Wyldstaar]

Now that I think about it, I don't think I've EVER seen a post complaining about how some story was a rip-off of some other story that was actually true. The last thread like this I saw was about how I, Robot was a rip-off of The Terminator! By the time I read the thread, there were already a dozen or so people who were in total agreement. After I stopped laughing, I pointed out that I, Robot was written by Asimov in 1950.

The main cause of the belief that one thing is a rip-off of another in these situations is usually caused by the limited experience of the person with the belief. Some kid who's read Rising Stars watches 4400 and believes it's a rip-off because he's never read a book that wasn't assigned by a teacher for a report, or seen a movie made before 1985. To these sorts of people, all I can say is that you are MISSING OUT! There's a big wide world out there, and it existed long before you were born. Try experiencing some of it now and then. Watch some black and white movies on AMC or TCM. Read books other than those you are required to. English teachers don't usually assign student to read On the Road by Jack Kerouac. That doesn't mean it's not worth reading.

[Briel]

I just want to say how much I miss Starblazers (aka Spacecruiser Yamato).

After all these years with the exceptions of Noir and Neon Genesis, I've yet to see a better written Anime series.

[Wyldstaar]

Briel, we certainly seem to have the same tastes in entertainment. Doctor Who, Star Blazers, Heroclix... Am I your evil clone? I'd hate to think that you're my evil clone, because that would be FAAAR too evil. I'm bad enough as it is!

Of all the various TV shows that I loved as a kid, almost all of them seem incredibly stupid to me as an adult. Starblazers is one of the few that holds up as being entertaining still. The only bad thing is that the company who owns it is dirt cheap about making improvements for the DVDs. The little seen third series "Bolar Wars" is in desperate need of being re-dubbed, but Voyager refused to spend the money necessary to do it. The voice actors for Bolar Wars were different from the first two seasons, and half as talented. I've only seen two episodes, and that was all I could take. It was painful to watch.

[Briel]

Alas I have never seen the third story arc. Maybe one day when I am rich. Yeah right! LOL! Where I lived they shew the first two storylines twice and that was it.

I have a little toy of the ship though.

There was an ad in Heavy Metal for the complete series on VHS once, but it was $600.

[Ignatz_Mouse]

I'd like to see subtitled, uncut version of the series, too.

Funky, there may only be 7 basic plots, but some things go beyond coincidence. I can't speak for the 4400/Rising Stars (though it seems a bit tenuous) but I sure can for Crusade/Star Blazers.

Oh, and Lion King is Hamlet. I think that's a little more specific than one of seven generic plots.

[Wyldstaar]

Originally posted by Briel
Alas I have never seen the third story arc. Maybe one day when I am rich. Yeah right! LOL! Where I lived they shew the first two storylines twice and that was it.

I have a little toy of the ship though.

There was an ad in Heavy Metal for the complete series on VHS once, but it was $600.

They only showed them TWICE? That's too bad. Here the station aired Starblazers every afternoon from around 1977 until about 1983. From what I gather, the third series was only aired once, and that was in California.

The DVD's are pricey, but not as bad as the VHS copies used to be. All three series on DVD will run you $336. I'd recommend skiping the third series, and just getting the first two. The two of them cost $224.

[Briel]

I live in California, but My station never showed the third section. I didn't even know there was one until I saw the ad for the whole set that I mentioned.

I think Starblazers affected us so much because it was the first time American audiences saw a cartoon with real consequences aside from Johnny Quest.

People got hurt, had feelings, experienced growth, development, & loss, as well as a storyline with a targetted tangible goal.

It was like watching a TV show with living people in it.

Quite a change from Superfriends and Scooby Doo.

[Wyldstaar]

I just wish that someone (Cartoon Network? Hello...) would buy Starblazers and remaster it. Voyager remastered it, but they didn't do a very good job of it. Much of the footage is still far from original qualility. They remastered the footage just enough to make it watchable.