Blake's 7 getting the remake treatment
By
Comrade Hero,
Posted on: 2012-08-22 13:02 in Comic and Hero-Villain Culture
Oh darn... I was almost excited for a couple of seconds until I read "SyFy".
That means there's probably only about a 1.7% chance this will be of any redeemable value whatsoever. 
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isnt it more like a 0.9% that it will be good considering where its airing?
Now we aren't ready quite yet to let the catgirls out of the bag.... (quote from ex libris)
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And if it is any good, a 0.01% chance of not getting canceled after a quarter of a season.
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Originally Posted by Lothic
Oh darn... I was almost excited for a couple of seconds until I read "SyFy".
That means there's probably only about a 1.7% chance this will be of any redeemable value whatsoever. |
Goodbye, I guess.
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Eureka
Warehouse 13
My hopes remain high.
Don't count your weasels before they pop dink!
As long as it turns out better than the remakes of early Michael Crichton movies that AMC have been doing. Hated their version of Andromeda Strain and Coma doesn't look all that hot.
Oh and Mandu forgot Being Human as one of the SyFy channel hits. Like all shows it will depend on the cast and the writing. Blake 7 always was a gritty space drama and if they embrace that aspect of the original then they may have another Battlestar Galactica on their hands.
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So long as they can get someone who can nail the part of Kerr Avon, one of the greatest characters from any science fiction series. 
Given that Battlestar Galactica was changed from a fairly lightweight space opera into a dark and gloomy political thriller, maybe the Blake's Seven remake will go the opposite direction?
I really should do something about this signature.
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I'm sure these were reasonably good shows for the people who watched them.|
Originally Posted by Mandu
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As it turned out neither one of them interested me enough to give them a try. *shrugs*
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Originally Posted by Father Xmas
As long as it turns out better than the remakes of early Michael Crichton movies that AMC have been doing. Hated their version of Andromeda Strain and Coma doesn't look all that hot.
Oh and Mandu forgot Being Human as one of the SyFy channel hits. Like all shows it will depend on the cast and the writing. Blake 7 always was a gritty space drama and if they embrace that aspect of the original then they may have another Battlestar Galactica on their hands. |
For what it's worth the American version of Being Human was entertaining mostly because SyFy was simpleminded enough to make an almost 100% exact copy (episode for episode) of the original British show and I'm reasonably sure SyFy didn't have much directly to do with the actual making of the relaunched Battlestar Galactica at all.
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Well, you can't argue that original Blake's 7 was perfect, because of the wobbly BBC sets and FX. So even a shot-for-shot remake with decent FX would be worthwhile.
I would say that the big problem is that so much recent SF has been derived from B7 that anyone coming to it new would consider it derivative itself.
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It occurred to me that Sheldon from BBT is Avon without the swagger.
I can't think of any show that's been on since B7 that's derived from it. I could see people draw parallels to Firefly but Mal wasn't on a personal crusade to take down the Alliance, simply endure them.
Same could be said about Farscape.
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In my reading about behind the scenes stuff on Babylon 5, Blake's 7 was referenced repeatedly. Basically to highlight that the concept of a TV series with a multiyear story arc had been attempted before. Unfortunately that and this thread are currently my only knowledge sources for Blake's 7. I hope it does well.
It's not how many times you get knocked down that count. It's how many times you get up.
Blake 7 is about a motley group of prisoners that escape from custody from the oppressive Federation when they stumble upon an alien ship that far outclasses anything the Federation has, including a teleportation system and later acquires a computer that has the ability to predict the future.
Every week they try to encourage a rebellion while staying one step ahead of their pursuers who is led by the female supreme commander and later post coup President of the Federation who desperately wants their ship with it's advance technology.
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I have a sneaking suspicion that had Firefly managed to continue on for multiple seasons worth of episodes that the overall story would have started leaning more and more towards Mal directly opposing the Alliance and even somehow becoming a significant threat to them. Simply "enduring" the Alliance would not have been enough for him in the long run. River probably would have played a key role in that "crusade".|
Originally Posted by Father Xmas
I can't think of any show that's been on since B7 that's derived from it. I could see people draw parallels to Firefly but Mal wasn't on a personal crusade to take down the Alliance, simply endure them.
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This, among other reasons, is why many people feel it was a shame the show wasn't allowed to fully explore that possibility.
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No I would never claim that the original Blake's 7 was perfect and certainly its special effects are fairly dated.|
Originally Posted by PRAF68_EU
Well, you can't argue that original Blake's 7 was perfect, because of the wobbly BBC sets and FX. So even a shot-for-shot remake with decent FX would be worthwhile.
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But the chances we'd ever get a shot-for-shot remake with decent FX is probably very small. *shrugs*
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Originally Posted by PRAF68_EU
I would say that the big problem is that so much recent SF has been derived from B7 that anyone coming to it new would consider it derivative itself.
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here I thought the problem is they Pancaked the Canine on marketing because Disney was afraid to alienate there Traditional audience because of Mars, and they felt they couldn't attract a male audience if they called it Princess of Mars...
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Originally Posted by Lothic
ous problems the recent John Carter movie suffered from.
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On Justice
Global @Desi Nova Twitter: @desi_nova Steam: Desi_nova. I don't do Xbox or PS3
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Well I did say one of many problem(s)... plural.
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Originally Posted by Desi_Nova
here I thought the problem is they Pancaked the Canine on marketing because Disney was afraid to alienate there Traditional audience because of Mars, and they felt they couldn't attract a male audience if they called it Princess of Mars...
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Ok, fantasy cast. And I'm picking people who are actually available for tv series rather than big names who would never do it.
Avon - Michael Rosenbaum (he can go from incredibly charming to totally evil in a split second)
Vila - Wil Wheaton (Wil does arrogant and weasel both quite well)
Gan - Adam Baldwin (He's not huge but does intimidating well)
Servalan - Ming Na (I have loathed her in every bad guy role she has had. So perfect)
Travis - Jamil Walker Smith (So very badass)
Haven't really got any pick for the others yet. Blake could be anybody. Even though it was "Blakes" 7 he was absolutely bland in the role. Which is ok because it let Vila and Avon be such standouts.
Don't count your weasels before they pop dink!
I think Wil could play Avon as well. He did a good job playing the genius, snarky p***k on Eureka. Actually he's made snarky p***k his go to character on BBT, Eureka, The Guild.
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Well I hope they get the theme song right. It needs a lot of updating yes but it is also very iconic.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnaut...eature=related
I'm only familiar with the series at all because Linkara mentioned it in a bit of detail. If it got put up on Netflix streaming, I'd queue it up. I'll certainly give a remake a chance.
Goodbye may seem forever
Farewell is like the end
But in my heart's the memory
And there you'll always be
-- The Fox and the Hound
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JMS cites Blake's 7 as a major influence on Babylon 5. In particular, the idea of the season long story arc, which, people forget, pretty much didn't exist before then. That was quickly copied by DS9, and pretty much everything that came later.|
Originally Posted by Father Xmas
It occurred to me that Sheldon from BBT is Avon without the swagger.
I can't think of any show that's been on since B7 that's derived from it. I could see people draw parallels to Firefly but Mal wasn't on a personal crusade to take down the Alliance, simply endure them. Same could be said about Farscape. |
Joss Whedon is very obviously influenced heavily by Blake's 7. The season arcs in Buffy, "Jossing" popular characters (although, given that some of the crew actually survived the Serenity movie, he takes it nothing like as far), charismatic and ambiguous villains, and, as you mention, Firefly, which is basically B7 in the wild west with a less motivated Blake and a more rubbish ship.
Then there is the Galactica remake, with it's dark tone and bleakness very closely resembling B7.
Back in the UK, new-Who's season arcs can also be traced back too B7 (although Old-Who did it 1.5 times, shortly after it first appeared in B7).
I really should do something about this signature.
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I think this would need a British actor. Avon doesn't go from charming to evil, he managed to be charming, cold, sarcastic and ambiguously evil all at the same time! In a perfect world, I would cast Alan Rickman. American actors - I think James Masters could pull it off.|
Originally Posted by Mandu
Ok, fantasy cast. And I'm picking people who are actually available for tv series rather than big names who would never do it.
Avon - Michael Rosenbaum (he can go from incredibly charming to totally evil in a split second) |
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| Vila - Wil Wheaton (Wil does arrogant and weasel both quite well) |
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| Gan - Adam Baldwin (He's not huge but does intimidating well) |
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Servalan - Ming Na (I have loathed her in every bad guy role she has had. So perfect) Travis - Jamil Walker Smith (So very badass) |
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| Haven't really got any pick for the others yet. Blake could be anybody. Even though it was "Blakes" 7 he was absolutely bland in the role. Which is ok because it let Vila and Avon be such standouts. |
I really should do something about this signature.
Well ignoring his recent health problems I think Michael Clarke Duncan would be a good Gan.
And while season long story arcs is a relatively "new" concept for American TV, I wouldn't say people watching a new Blake 7 would think "the season arcs remind me of Buffy" or B5 (which is at least a space drama) or possibly Firefly if the season was completed and played in the right order.
In the case of John Carter, the general public didn't realize it was the prime source of the space opera genre and thus thought it was a simple ripoff of more recent space opera like Star Wars or even Buck Rodgers. Of course back when Princess of Mars first was serialized, people probably thought it was just Tarzan on Mars and ERB was a one note hack that just recycled his core story from the jungle of Africa, to Mars, to the hollow Earth.
When I first saw Blake 7 I first thought it was Star Trek turned on it's head. The Federation was evil, the logical, emotionless science guy is an jerk, the captain always put his agenda before the ship and crew and the rest of the crew was a bunch of icky criminals. Farscape is a lot closer to Blake 7 than B5, Firefly or new BSG and I would think it would be the show people, not knowing better, would compare a new Blake 7 to. I can already see it, "it's Farscape without the Muppets and body paint".
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Originally Posted by PRAF68_EU
I think this would need a British actor. Avon doesn't go from charming to evil, he managed to be charming, cold, sarcastic and ambiguously evil all at the same time! In a perfect world, I would cast Alan Rickman. American actors - I think James Masters could pull it off. I think James Badge Dale would be a good Blake, based on his performance in Rubicon.
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Originally Posted by Father Xmas
When I first saw Blake 7 I first thought it was Star Trek turned on it's head. The Federation was evil, the logical, emotionless science guy is an jerk, the captain always put his agenda before the ship and crew and the rest of the crew was a bunch of icky criminals. Farscape is a lot closer to Blake 7 than B5, Firefly or new BSG and I would think it would be the show people, not knowing better, would compare a new Blake 7 to. I can already see it, "it's Farscape without the Muppets and body paint".
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The only two were weren't convicted criminals amongst the original seven were Cally and Zen (Blake included the master computer that operated the Liberator as the seventh member, to bemusement and irritation of Avon).
Roj Blake: Convicted child molester (framed).
Kerr Avon: Convicted embezzler.
Vila Restal: Convicted thief.
Jenna Stannis: Convicted smuggler.
Olag Gan: Convicted murderer (declared insane).
Cally: Non-human. Auron Telepath and resistance fighter.
Via Deadline
Ok, the Good:
Writer - Joe Pokaski (Heroes)
Director - Martin Campbell (Casino Royale)
Script-to-series Commitment
The Bad:
It's gonna be done by Syfy. Need I say more...
Thank you for the time...