Is it jsut me or is everyone just jaded?

[Ryujin]

Yah. It was still better for O'Hare to have the ambiguity and allow people to question his reasons, than to make it public. Mental health stigma was (and still is) pretty strong.

True enough, though the geek community seems to be more understanding and forgiving of such things. He might have missed out on the opportunity for public support, though obviously I can understand the desire for privacy in such a matter.

 

[Umbran]

True enough, though the geek community seems to be more understanding and forgiving of such things. He might have missed out on the opportunity for public support, though obviously I can understand the desire for privacy in such a matter.

While the geek community might be okay with someone neuro-atypical, Hollywood probably wouldn't be, especially back in the 1990s. And I don't think an actor can ever count on genre programming to support them - they need to go wherever they find work.

On one of the pages I linked to is the 20th anniversary reunion of many of the cast members. In it, Jason Carter (who played the Ranger, Marcus), remarked on his surprise when he got hired, as he had been offered a three year contract. He notes to the convention audience that that just didn't happen. As an actor, you are generally contracted for a month or two. Maybe 8 months if you are doing a run in a stage play. Multi-year work is not common.

They also recount JMS's practical joke of letting Carter think his character was getting written out of the show. JMS can be mean

 

[Herobizkit]

Unfortunately, as entertaining as programs can be, they're primarily a product to be consumed and exploited. Big Telecom uses programming to bring in viewers so the subscribers will see the commercials that the networks are paid to run. Anything that goes online can be marketed for a price and riddled with forced commercial viewing - because without the revenue, the site that carries it wouldn't carry it and then you wouldn't see it at all. Anything that doesn't draw an expected amount of consistent viewers get canned no matter how strong the program (looking at you, Fox).

It's just business.

Yeah, I'm kinda jaded.

 

[Crothian]

It's just business.

What's wrong with that?

 

[Herobizkit]

In and of itself, nothing, save that it pains me that so many good programs get speared because they're not making money, or that so many projects never get off the ground because money. I mean, services like Kickstarter, Twitch and Youtube all help indy artists/performers get their products out to the masses, but not without a cost.

I also am partially jaded because I went to school for Radio Broadcast looking to get a job as an on-air personality, but once I learned that practically all of the airtime is commercialized and often pre-recorded, it took all the wind from my sails.

I get that it's a personal problem, but I don't know how to shake that feeling. It's just the way it is.

 

[Ryujin]

While the geek community might be okay with someone neuro-atypical, Hollywood probably wouldn't be, especially back in the 1990s. And I don't think an actor can ever count on genre programming to support them - they need to go wherever they find work.

Sad, but true. He, for one, certainly had a broad range of experience in the industry.

On one of the pages I linked to is the 20th anniversary reunion of many of the cast members. In it, Jason Carter (who played the Ranger, Marcus), remarked on his surprise when he got hired, as he had been offered a three year contract. He notes to the convention audience that that just didn't happen. As an actor, you are generally contracted for a month or two. Maybe 8 months if you are doing a run in a stage play. Multi-year work is not common.

They also recount JMS's practical joke of letting Carter think his character was getting written out of the show. JMS can be mean

I need to go back and see that

 

[Umbran]

I need to go back and see that

The other practical joke mentioned, in which JMS made actors believe G'Kar was going to change genders and have a liason with Londo is not to be missed.

JMS can be *very* mean.

 

[trappedslider]

I think part of the issue is that we ( geeks) tend to be genre savvy, and tend to resent the fact that some tv shows and plots rely on folks in ours eyes if not seen as in universe to be total idiots and carry the idiot ball.

 

[cmad1977]

Whatch sense8 if you want something that would never make a television network

 

[cmad1977]

Dunno. I guess part of being jaded simply comes with age: The more you've watched, the more refined your tastes get. E.g. a few years ago I realized I simply cannot bring myself to watch another typical 'popcorn' action movie. It simply bores me to death. I want a good story to accompany the action, otherwise it's just a waste of my (increasingly!) precious time.

However, tv shows don't have to be 'new' to excite me. If they're well done, retreading well-known themes is just fine, especially if they feature intriguing characters. E.g. the original 'The Killing' or 'The Bridge' were simply awesome without telling anything remotely 'new'.

And despite it becoming more and more difficult to tell a 'new' story, there are exceptions, e.g. I really thought that 'Pushing Daisies' or 'Real Humans' were rather unique (and well done).

The first two seasons of 'the killing' we're amazing.