ben and noel
Dec. 13th, 2002 10:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jfbFinished watching the pilot episode of Felicity, with commentary. Two telling facts from the show's creators:
My point: No wonder I've never been able to keep their names straight.
I was a devoted viewer during the show's last two seasons, but had never seen the pilot (or, in fact, any of the first season). The most interesting thing about the pilot, for me, was how much of the show is there right from the beginning. The relationship with the parents, the central love triangle, the sense of college as a time of possibility and choice, the subtle mix of comedy and drama, the endless introspection, the sweaters, the lighting, even the everpresent "Hey"s (the only dialogue in a tense semi-confrontation between Felicity and Julie).
I was sad when Felicity went off the air--I missed her, and Ben and Noel or vice versa. But I dimly realized at the time, and understand all the more clearly now, that it was right for the show to end with graduation. The show was a coherent whole, one long story; for it to reinvent itself after that story ended would have been a risk with very little gain.
Also, Alias sure is fun.
- They originally cast Scott Foley as Ben, and didn't cast Noel until very late in the schedule. Then they found Scott Speedman, realized quickly that he was a perfect Ben, and recast Scott Foley as Noel.
- On Speedman's first day of shooting, they still weren't sure what his character's name would be. He was written as Billy, but when Ally McBeal and her rekindled flame Billy came along, they changed it.
My point: No wonder I've never been able to keep their names straight.
I was a devoted viewer during the show's last two seasons, but had never seen the pilot (or, in fact, any of the first season). The most interesting thing about the pilot, for me, was how much of the show is there right from the beginning. The relationship with the parents, the central love triangle, the sense of college as a time of possibility and choice, the subtle mix of comedy and drama, the endless introspection, the sweaters, the lighting, even the everpresent "Hey"s (the only dialogue in a tense semi-confrontation between Felicity and Julie).
I was sad when Felicity went off the air--I missed her, and Ben and Noel or vice versa. But I dimly realized at the time, and understand all the more clearly now, that it was right for the show to end with graduation. The show was a coherent whole, one long story; for it to reinvent itself after that story ended would have been a risk with very little gain.
Also, Alias sure is fun.
