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David Perlmutter's avatar

"Babylon 5" had the advantage of one guy writing all the scripts; other shows aren't that lucky. Hence the building of franchises on inconsistencies and continuity errors.

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D. Jason Fleming's avatar

Eh, sort of. In seasons 3-5, yes, JMS wrote all but one of the scripts. But the intention, and for the first two seasons the fact, was that multiple writers were to contribute, with JMS overseeing, and handling the arc episodes.

As a counter example, I would say that Joss Whedon's shows were more consistent than most, despite having very active writers' rooms.

But the point wasn't about consistency, it was about building your story so that it is effective on its own, without needing the audience to fill in the heavy lifting through outside knowledge that none of the characters can possibly have.

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David Perlmutter's avatar

Of course. That’s what I am aiming for with my fiction.

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Fox Fier's avatar

Easter egg.

It has to work without knowing the trick.

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Back Porch Writer's avatar

Thanks for sharing this, Deej. This helps me to understand how one of my stories didn't work as well as I'd hoped. 🫡

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D. Jason Fleming's avatar

I'm glad it was helpful!

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Back Porch Writer's avatar

Your stacks always are. 👍

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Richard Hopkins's avatar

The last example with Boxleitner and Gilbert being married in real life is similar to how in Mark Harmon's last full season on NCIS they brought in Pam Dawber of Mork and Mindy fame to play a character that interacted a lot with Gibbs. Harmon and Dawber have been married for years. It was a fun bit of meta knowledge, but it's not necessary for the story.

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