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Hello World!

I wonder if I went back through all my Hello Worlds!, how many would deal with the film 'Gladiator'? Anyway, you're about to get another one...

Yesterday I had the chance to read David Franzoni's original script for the film - what a difference! Not so much a difference quality-wise, but more a difference in tone. The finished movie dealt with the topic of "the star" and "audience gratification," but the original draft was even more satirical, complete with Maximus (or Narcissus as he was then) endorsing products such as chariots and olive oil.

The African scenes were completely missing in this draft, with the scene jumping straight from the German front to Rome. I agree with director Ridley Scott here - it was a pacing issue. In the final film the transition from general to slave to gladiator is more fully realised, while the original seemed to lack that.

In the next few days I'll have a read through John Logan's second draft to see how he incorporated the changes - certainly there were very few lines of dialogue from Franzoni's draft that made it into the final film.

Trek BBS Today

Below are some of the topics currently being discussed at the Trek BBS:

- Will you be buying the TNG DVDs?

- Did you think the Voth were realistic?

- In Science Fiction & Fantasy: What did you think of Babylon 5: The Legend of the Rangers?

More topics can be found at the Trek BBS!

Trek Two Years Ago

These were some of the major news items on January 21, 2000:

• Robert Picardo Interview
  Voyager's Robert Picardo (the EMH) talked about his biggest regret - that he was never able to do an episode with the late DeForest Kelley (Leonard McCoy). "I talked to DeForest about being on our show and he liked me and was interested in doing it, but there were always issues of his health that concerned the producers," he said. "They can't commit to doing a story unless there's a good chance they're going to be able to do it, and to me it's one of the great missed opportunities of this experience that we weren't able to be on film together."

• Beaumont Talks 'Blink Of An Eye'
  Voyager director Gabrielle Beaumont spoke about the challenges of bringing the episode 'Blink of an Eye' to the screen. "It was an ambitious script," she said. "We had to build that hillside and then lay in the scenery vistas afterwards. Vistas alone take alot of planning about how to shoot them because you have to get the perspective right. But it was an interesting script, too, because the story had so many different levels."

• ShatnerToday
  With actor William Shatner (James T. Kirk) popping up almost daily in news items, Christian suggested the site be renamed 'ShatnerToday.'

  More news can be found in the archives.

Today's Television Listings

• TNN will be showing TNG's 'Justice' at 9:00am Eastern Time, 'Heart of Glory' at 10:00am, 'The Measure of a Man' at 11:00am, 'The Dauphin' at 12:00pm, 'The Emissary' at 1:00pm, 'Suddenly Human' at 2:00pm, 'First Contact' at 3:00pm, 'Half a Life' at 4:00pm, 'Darmok' at 5:00pm, 'The Outcast' at 6:00pm, 'Hollow Pursuits' at 8:00pm and 'In Theory' at 11:00pm.

• In Canada, Space! will be showing the Original Series's 'Turnabout Intruder' at 10:00am Eastern Time, repeated at 2:00pm, TNG's 'Family' at 3:00pm, DS9's 'Duet' at 4:00pm and Voyager's 'Prototype' at 5:00pm, repeated at 10:00pm.

• In the United Kingdom, Sky One will be showing Voyager's 'Resolutions' at 17:00 GMT and Enterprise's 'Strange New World' at 20:00. Thanks go out to the Great Link for this!

• In the Netherlands, Ned2 will be showing Voyager's 'Unimatrix Zero, Part I' at 20:35. Thanks go out to StarTrek.nl for this!

Tomorrow's Television Listings

• TNN will be showing TNG's 'The Most Toys' at 8:00pm and 'Redemption, Part I' at 11:30pm.

• The Sci-Fi Channel will be showing the Original Series's 'The Paradise Syndrome' at 6:00pm.

• In Canada, Space! will be showing the Original Series's 'The Man Trap' at 10:00am repeated at 2:00pm, TNG's 'Brothers' at 3:00pm, DS9's 'In the Hands of the Prophets' at 4:00pm and Voyager's 'Alliances' at 5:00pm, repeated at 10:00pm.

• In the United Kingdom, Sky One will be showing Voyager's 'Basics' at 17:00 GMT. BBC2 will be showing Voyager's 'Inside Man' at 18:00 and TNG's 'Symbiosis' at 18:45. Thanks go out to the Great Link for this!

• In Australia, TV1 will be showing TNG's 'Man of the People' at 00:00. Thanks go out to the Australian Babylon 5 & Star Trek air schedule!

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