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Laura 'ad astra' Sack writes...
I finally got around to reading Starship Trooper. I'm not entirely clear how involved a story editor is on an overall series versus a producer, so please forgive me if I ask questions that don't apply...
Roughnecks was clearly based on the hoaky movie, though without the hoakiness and restoring some of the most glarring ommisions - most obviously the exosuits that made fighting with the bugs the least bit sensical. Other aspects of the book could enter in simply by virtue of the time to do so, like the Skinny's. Like in the movie; Rico, Dizzy and Carl (& Carmen) form the nucleous of characters instead of it just being Rico's story. Dizzy and Carl aren't dead. (In general the troopers have way better survival rates.) His father is dead. Dizzy is female as are many infantry troopers. (And there are probably a lot more male pilots than the none I remember in the book; just a mention that men were physically inferior for the job.) etc. The choices make sense- you can't build off of a franchise popularity by ignoring the franchise. Also, the book covers decades of Ricos life and development and often not in chronological order.
I still love the series but and think it was really great military storytelling (and I apologize for relying on years old memory here) but I don't really remember much of Heinlein's philosophy of citizenship and responsibility and, for lack of a better term (because he clearly thought Carmen qualified), 'manliness' coming up. Browsing through the archive I see that Heinlein is one of your favorite authors and that you 'tried to slide in a few' controversial ideas but there were limitations of formate that got in the way.
Questions:
1- a clarification- it was the time and pace limitation of a 30minute show versus that of a prose novel and not controversy that was the main impediment, right?
2-if you can still recall at this point, where and when did the urge to slide in the ideas come up? specific events or in general.
3-a stretch: The idea to wound one trooper and have his son be sent in his place- was that all an attempt to capture a little of the interaction or at least themes between Rico and his father?
4-what are you personal thoughts on Heinlein's ideas?
5-do you have outlines or summaries of the concluding episodes that never were produced that could be posted here?
Greg responds...
1. Yes. But we did address the "citizenship" thing in the flashback episode to Rico's senior year in high school.
2. I think those ideas informed the series. Where we had room to spell them out, we did.
3. I don't think so. We just wanted to show the realities of a long war, while giving our characters great fodder. It felt right, mostly.
4. Some of them are appealing on some level. But mostly, I wouldn't want to live in that world.
5. I have scripts for sure. Maybe outlines. (Although, I don't have ANY of it HERE in my WB office.) Don't know about posting them. I'll think about it.
RADIO PLAY: The History
I posted this in the comment room, but Todd suggested I repost it here...
RADIO PLAYS...
Sometimes I just don't have anything Gargoyles for us to do. And I'm not sure if just doing old episodes is all that interesting. And the other things have been fun... at least it seemed that way to me.
Here's a history of the works of the GATHERING PLAYERS...
1998 - RAIN OF THE GHOSTS (an unproduced pilot I wrote)
1999 - THE ROSWELL CONSPIRACIES (a rejected pilot I wrote)
2000 - ROUGHNECKS: THE STARSHIP TROOPERS CHRONICLES (the last arc of the series, which I story edited, half of which was unproduced. Written by me, Jon Weisman Lydia Marano, Cary Bates and Michael Reaves.)
2001 - GARGOYLES: "Hunter's Moon, Part Three" (Note: this was the first time that we actually did something gargoyles related for the radio play. This included scenes that were cut for time from the original. Written by Michael Reaves.)
2002 - TEAM ATLANTIS: "The Last" (Unproduced episode featuring Demona and Fiona Canmore, written by me)
2003 - GARGOYLES: "The Reckoning" (Performed in honor of Gary Sperling, who co-wrote the script with Lydia.)
2004 - GARGOYLES: "The Journey" (my uncut version of the script)
2005 - DOC SHAKESPEARE (An unproduced pilot written by myself and Sam Bernstein)
2006 - GARGOYLES: "The Mirror" (written by Lydia Marano and Brynne Chandler Reaves)
2007 - GARGOYLES: "Clan Building, Chapters III, IV & V: Invitation Only, Masque & Bash" - (from the comic, premeiring chapter V before it was published. Written by me...)
2008 - Geez, I should probably figure this out soon...
Anyway, you can see that traditionally, we've only done something gargish about half the time. For me it's fun to get to see my unproduced work performed, and it does give the fans a little insight into the biz. In any case, I've never heard any complaints from the folks who attended.
Greg Weisman
OFF TO CHICAGO... ON A WING AND A PRAYER...
Lawrence Matheson writes...
who invented robotic body armour? was it MacBeth?Renard?Xanitos? or someone else?
Greg responds...
I think it was Robert Heinlein.
Shan writes...
Greg --
Posting this though I know it will take a while to be answered, but I'm afraid I'll forget to ask you at a later time.
This is a Starship Troopers Roughnecks question about the inscription on Razak's urn. I'm assuming that you scripted what it would say, sounded like your touch.
The quote, near as I've been able to tell, is part of a longer quote by an 18th century female astronomer. Is that right?
Secondly, are there any significance to the dates used? You often tend to choose month/day combinations with personal significance. Just wondering.
Thanks!
Greg responds...
Actually, I had nothing to do with the inscription on the urn. In the original script, I described it as a small metal box.
Steve Nunez writes...
I loved your episode of Video wars for the jem series, I was wondering how you and cary bates came up with the storyline, and why you only seem to have written 1 episode for the show? You and Cary also seem to have done a lot together. Will you two be working on future shows? and personally, I think you both rock! :-) Stnp@yahoo.com
Greg responds...
Thanks. Cary & I were writing partners for years, mostly at DC Comics. Nowadays, we still like working together, so I made him a story editor on Gargoyles. And I've had him write scripts for me on that show, plus Starship Troopers & Max Steel.
Basically, if I ever get another show, we'll wind up working together again, most likely.
I'm glad you liked the Jem episode. We only did one, because we were only offered one. I'd have been happy to do more. I'm not too clear (as it's been over 15 years) how we came up with that particular storyline, but I think it was suggested by the bible. Not the premise per se, but it felt like a natural.
AZRAEL writes...
HELLO GREG!!!!! I WRITE TO YOU FROM PERU, IN SOUTHAMERICA!!!!!! AND I REQUEST TO YOU THAT EXCUSE MY WRONGS,SINCE MY NATIVE LANGUAGE IS NOT THE ENGLISH. MY QUESTION IS: COULD YOU TELL ME MORE ABOUT THE FINAL EPISODES OF "ROUGHNECKS"?
SERIE WAS AIRED HERE WHIT VERY HIGH AUDIENCE RATINGS, BUT THERE WAS NOT THE FINAL EPISODES. ABOUT THE END OF THE WAR AGAINST THE BUGS. I WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT IT!!!!!!!
PLEASE, GREG, ANSWER ME,SINCE I WRITE YOU FROM PERU (VEEEEEEEEEERY FAR).
THANS AND GOOD LUCK, GREG!!!!!!!!!!!!
Greg responds...
Sony had an order for 40 original episodes. And we wrote all 40. And we voice recorded all 40.
But at some point -- I think because one of the CGI studios declared bankruptcy, taking with it a chunk of Sony's budget -- Sony decided that to save money on the order of 40, they'd have to cut four episodes and replace them with four clip shows.
By that time, pre-production was pretty far along. Since this was a money-saving solution (not a creative one) in the first place, it made budgetary sense to shelf the episodes that had the least work done on them. So the last four episodes were shelved. Then someone realized that the episode depicting the destruction of Buenos Aires would be extremely expensive to produce. So that one got shelved and they put the fourth to last episode back into the pipeline.
John Skeel writes...
Hey Greg,
What's the story on Max Steel? What are you up to lately? Want to have lunch? Call me sometime. johnskeel@hotmail.com
Greg responds...
Hey John,
About two years ago you posted the above message on ASK GREG.
Unfortunately, I'm so far behind answering ASK GREG questions, I only just saw the message. Two years out, I don't know if this hotmail address will still work. I know that the old e-address I have for you is dead. As are all the phone numbers. I haven't been able to reach you in forever.
On the other hand, I've had the same damn contact info since leaving DreamWorks in 1998.
So I don't feel too guilty.
Anyway, I'm still freelancing. I did a season of Max Steel.
What have you been up to?
FYI: John is a talented producer, that I partnered up with at DreamWorks. We also worked together on ROUGHNECKS at Sony. Haven't talked to him in a long while.
Laura 'ad astra' Ackerman writes...
Not a question- just a comment:
I saw a notice on SciFi.com that the latest Starship Troopers DVD was coming out (February). I took a look at it and the other three on Amazon.com. They are a fangirl's ideal! Episodes + lots of comentary (from recognizable names :) + behind the scenes. Now if I could only afford them... oh well, next career.
Still, somebody must be in a profitable profession. If "Amazon.com sale rank" means what I think it does two of the DVDs are among the ~50 and ~60 most common ordered things today. (or were in February)
Between that and noticing Disney has put a little link next to some of the Gargoyles tapes to say "I'd love to see this in DVD form" I think things bode well for a DVD release here too.
Greg responds...
Things bode very well, as the DVDs are scheduled to be released in 2004 to coincide with the series tenth anniversary.
And I think those Starship DVDs turned out great. I highly recommend them. (And I get no financial benefit from doing so.)
Sanjai K. writes...
Hi Greg, I'm a big fan of the Starship Troopers Roughnecks series, which you wrote for. I wanted to ask you, did the worlds we saw the Roughnecks fighting on then comprise all the worlds involved in the "First Interstellar War"? Or were there other worlds being fought over during that war, which we didn't get to see? Also, since I notice that it's referred to as the "First Interstellar War," does that mean that there were other interstellar wars following that one, presumably with different enemies? Again, the show was incredible -- so sorry that more episodes were never made.
Greg responds...
I wasn't the producer of that show, just one of the story editors, so what follows is only my opinion.
I believe that there were other planets involved in the war that the Roughnecks just weren't assigned to.
And I know we had plans for a second season and another "war". But we never got to even produce the last three episodes of the first season, so a second season obviously never materialized.
Zelandonii writes...
Will you be making any kind of public appearences in Northern California in the foreseeable future? Or anywhere else other than the Gathering? (I don't plan to bombard you with a dozen tedious questions about the ages of various characters while you're minding your own business at the supermarket or anything like that)
Greg responds...
I don't often get asked to make "public appearances".
I go to the Gathering every year, because (a) it's a blast and (b) they pay my way. I couldn't afford it otherwise.
I have been going to the San Diego Comiccon the last few years because the Starship Trooper fans have organized a panel and invited me. And I can afford to drive down to San Diego for a day. Don't know if I'm going this year. Don't know if they're doing the panel this year. I haven't been contacted.
I'd happily go anywhere I was invited assuming it was either close and uncostly and/or my way was paid.
So if you want me in NoCal, I'm not that hard to get. I'm a con-whore.
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