Here’s the comment I wanted to put on the pilot’s official page on vo.do:
Everything looked gorgeous–the designs, the sets, the costumes, props… obviously, that’s where the pilot excels. However, I felt like the script needed another draft. It feels like the script was padded out to make the pilot longer. And just because it’s a pilot doesn’t mean you don’t need to answer some of the questions the script sets up. I was reminded of the pilot of Red Dwarf–that’s a silly comedy but does a much better job of establishing a similar premise–and it does it with jokes. Over all, I think the best thing for this show is for the emphasis to be put less on effects and more on story. Just my ¥2. I wish the best for the production!
I didn’t put that on their official vo.do page because I have to be registered to comment and when I tried to register I got, what looked to me, like database errors. Kind of a pain. :/
To expand a bit, I’d also suggest there are too many characters to follow and waaaay too much talk explaining things. After watching it, I don’t remember what “L5″ even means. Nor do I know who any of these people are or why the captain seems unstable (yet, he’s the lead character?). The acting isn’t the greatest, either, though it’s perfectly acceptable–just not anything that is going to blow you away or stop you from thinking “yeah, this is a DIY scifi show”.
I think this show has a huge amount of potential, but I have trouble thinking about how they’ll deal with the very expensive-to-produce universe they’ve put themselves in. If they go the more interesting route and set episodes in the space colonies, it’ll be really expensive in both time and money to make it look the way it should and if they set most of the episodes on the ship, then that’ll be boring without exceptionally interesting stories, which, let’s be honest, there’s really no sign of in the pilot.
Most of all, I hope these guys don’t fall into the George-Lucas Trap and think just because their show looks great, it is great. In my opinion, the best way to get people to watch a show is to provide compelling characters and situations that make us want more. Just making it look pretty will not do much for the show’s staying power and will also slow the establishment of torrenting as a viable distribution channel for original content. Regardless, as I said in my original comment, I wish them the best!
Watch the trailer or download (legally torrent) the pilot for yourself and see what you think (at that link you can also help fund their show). Or check out the official site here: http://www.l5-series.com/
