Interview 2 with Bob Forward: 1-26-97
Bob: We can't read fanfics until the show is officially over, I'm
afraid.
Hooks: In other words, when there is no hope for a second, third, fourth,
etc, seasons, right?
Bob: Right. After that, as I've said, we can go on a binge.
Hooks: Well, that is understandable.
Has there been any developments on the new Beast Wars season, if there
is one?
Bob: I was speaking to Jonathan Goodwill friday. Hasbro is only willing
to put up half the money of the previous season at the moment. But they
are continuing to negotiate.
Hooks: There have been many debates on a.t.t. about the next season and
Hasbro's "stupidity." In effect, isn't it true that the show would bring
in MORE money for them? (More shows= more exposure, more kids buying
more toys)
Bob: Who knows? I don't pretend to be an accountant. The show's not
cheap. The first 26 cost, I believe, 18 million dollars. That's a lot
for syndication. I think the money's on the screen, but I can only hope
it is cost-effective. Hasbro claims they are not getting the european
financing because the toys haven't been released there. Maybe. It could
also be their belief that a second season should cost less because so
many characters are already created. That is standard animation logic.
Hooks: Yeah. Usually comparing first season episodes to second or third
season shows in ANY series and it can show, unless it gains a large
popularity base, such as Star Trek. 18 million is a lot, and 9 million
would be a dramatic cut. It does indeed show on screen, however, with
such quality being put into the show (story-wise and animation-wise).
Bob: Not that Larry and I saw much of that 18 mil. :) But we had fun,
and we'd like to continue.
Hooks: The fun shows in your stories. I mean, sometimes it looks like
you have TOO much fun...and really want to take things to the limit.
Hooks: Tell me the truth: How MUCH Indiana Jones do you people watch?
Bob: Oh, just wait until "Low Road" airs. I like doing "one-offs" like
"Call Of The Wild" and "Low Road." Kind of sends the message "don't take
us TOO seriously" and gives the production team a chance to do something
fresh. "Low Road" was just plain designed to be funny, because so many
episodes were coming out kind of grim.
Not too much "IJ." :)
Hooks: Speaking of getting grim: It is no secret that many of the
Predacons have come very close to final deactivation. Will any of the
Beast Warriors meet their demise in the three-part finale? Were there
ever plans to kill any Beast Warriors?...
Bob: Oh yes. For a while there Hasbro was planning to make the Inferno
toy the new Megatron. We were going to kill Megatron and bring him back
as Inferno. A few other deaths were planned as well. But I don't want to
give away too much.
Hooks: Okay. A question that has been bugging me: Who was the TF who was
speaking at the beginning of "The Probe"? And who is the other classic
character who will appear? If you cant say anything, at least a few
hints would help. :)
Bob: The TF speaking in "The Probe" is one of the Maximal Elders but we
never specified which one. The other "classic cameo" isn't quite what
you think. It sort of is, but also isn't... and that's all I'll say.
Hooks: "Maximal Elders"? I have never heard about them before. Now I
know what Mr. DiTillio meant by saying that some elements will need to
be put into a second season. :)
Bob: The Maximal Elders are briefly mentioned in "Possession." They are
the leaders. They mean well, but they make unintentional errors. For
instance, in order to prevent corrupting influence, they wipe all
records of Starscream from the Maximal data banks. They were also
responsible for the programming glitch that caused all the rouble
in"Call Of The Wild."
Hooks: Not too-bright leaders, are they? (AOL just erased my Buddy List
of over 50 for no apparent reason, and I am highly upset!) Did you,
Larry, and Ian incorporate ideas from "Ghost in the Machine" into
"Possessions." You KNOW a lot of people are looking for ANY continuity
glitches...
Bob: Ian may have. I'm not familiar with "Ghost In The Machine." I
treated "Possession" as a new story in its own right, which I think is
the only way to go.
Hooks: The only thing about "Ghost in the Machine" is that Starscream
got his body back...even though in the end he was hurling through space.
Bob: Mmph. Well, he is sans body at the beginning of "Possession" though
that could have happened at some point while hurtling thru space for 300
years --maybe more, depending on his space-time position. In any case, I
haven't seen the episode myself. A lot of the writing was deliberately
vague because we were not sure how much Starscream animation could be
done, afforded, etc. -- if any.
Hooks: That is understandable. Besides, Galvatron DID shoot him on his
decent through space, and Starscream was screaming for a while in his
final scene. So one can assume he died...again.
Bob: It'll work.
Hooks: Any plans on the next season?
Bob: Quite a few. You'll understand when you see how we ended the first
one. And even at that we had to drop a great Dinobot subplot, just for
time.
Hooks: Dinobot is a great character, and someone who really has many
complexities. He has more characterization than many characters on "more
adult" tv shows. :) On that note, will Beast Wars end in a cliffhanger?
Bob: Cliffhanger? Oh yes. We are expecting to hear audible screams of
frustration from fans.
Hooks: Just hearing THAT is a frustration!!! AHH!
And if there is no second season, that would really kill me. Much like
the end of SPACE: Above and Beyond, or the original series with
Galvatron and Scorponok ready to conquer the galaxy after the Bots
retook Cybertron.
Bob: Yes. All you can know is that we do have a resolution if a second
season happens. But we tell no one. For freelancers, this is all the job
security we have. ;)
Hooks: That's great. Simply PRIME. :) And to think that a single season
would have to be simple for a "kids show." Then again, nothing with this
show is "simple."
Bob: Well, until "Low Road."
Hooks: The "humor" episode. Can't wait! Last humor episode was, what,
"Better Mousetrap"? I really thought the Rat was caught in a
trap...permanatly.
I got an E-Mail from someone about Beast Wars names. Before they landed
on this planet, what were the original names of the characters? The
question was asked in reference to my fanfic where such names included
Nox, Trap, Daibot, and Terrorsor.
Bob: As I think I've said before, Larry had worked out some names along
those lines but I don't remember what they were. It was impossible to
work it all in and only got confusing so we dropped it. There is such a
thing as too much detail.
Hooks: Yeah, that is true. Besides, the characters seem to fit into
their new names comfortably, and kids would get confused with these
little details/
Bob: I had to write it short anyway since we didn't want to get a good
look at them prior to their replicating animal forms. Otherwise
Mainframe would have had to design a whole set of characters with no
animal attributes. $$
Hooks: What, ANOTHER 18 million? What fun. Let me guess...those
characters in "Beast Wars Part One" were not even fully designed; they
were partial characters, and the shadows were placed in just the right
spots. :) Save $$$.
Bob: Right. Part of the writing and setup had to take the production
into account. The landscape had to be rocky for a while because trees
took longer to "build." By episode 3 or 4 we could start throwing
jungles around. We were told at first that the robots would not have
mouth movements to save animation -- that's why Larry and I wrote them
in Beast form a lot in the early eps. We wanted some facial expression.
As it turned out, the animators did a better job and the robots were
cool.
Hooks: I missed the characters in robot mode in the beginning. I thought
that it was harder to animate them in robot mode, so I assumed that is
why Beast forms were used mostly in the beginning and the whole subplot
of "energon build-up" was used. I noticed it has faded in the background
a bit overtime, and the "Maximize" and "Terrorize" is less of an
activation code, and more of a battle cry. :)
Bob: I like the Energon build-up problem but Larry is irked by it, so it
kind of goes back and forth depending on who supervised the script. The
"Maximize" and "Terrorize" just became a given and we didn't feel the
need to do it every time.
Hooks: That's great. Writers' conflict! :)
Bob: Actually we get along surprisingly well. We just have preferences.
I think that it makes for a more rounded show.
Hooks: Well, I have a Super Bowl party to go to! Bye! Nice talking to
you!
Bob: Packers. Bye!
