chris beacham
Registered Senior Member
This lifted from another discussion group I read:
SPIELBERG 'TAKEN' BY MINI RESPONSE
Steven Spielberg is thrilled with the response his new mini-
series, 'Taken', has gotten from TV viewers.
The 10-day, 20-hour series chronicled the lives of three
generations of families whose lives were altered by alien
encounters.
"I guess a lot of people have been abducted," the series'
executive producer joked with United Press International. "I
think more Americans have been abducted now that I see the
ratings. The ratings are the best the Sci Fi Channel has ever
had."
So, does the man behind 'E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial' and 'Close
Encounters of the Third Kind' really believe in aliens?
"I don't personally believe anyone has ever been abducted by
aliens," Spielberg explained. "This is a nice mythology, a good
saga. I think the reason 'Taken' clicked with the public was it
wasn't 20 hours of special effects. It was 20 hours of family
dynamics and trauma. It really was a trauma drama and that is
all to the credit of one man, Leslie Bohem, who wrote every
single hour of that show.
"When I was trolling the waters looking for the right person (to
write the series) because I had the concept, but I needed
someone to write all the episodes, it was Les who said, 'I don't
want to do spaceships and aliens every single episode. I really
want to show the effects it has on the people who have been
taken and the effect on his loved ones.'"
That said, Spielberg admitted he does believe in intergalactic
life, but quickly qualified the statement by adding: "I believe
that we are not alone in the universe, that somewhere out there
there are a billion possible places for intelligent life to
evolve. I don't really know if I believe that we have ever been
visited in our century. Maybe if you go to... books and look at
the mythology of who built the pyramids... who really built the
pyramids, who knows? But I don't know if I really believe that
either."
Bruce Maccabee (another Scientist looking for guess what....?):
"Twenty years ago after ET was in the theatres and Steve was
earning (I was told) a mere $3M per DAY from the film, we at the
Fund for UFO Research decided to approach him through a mutual
acdquaintance to ask if he would be willing to toss a little $$$
in our direction for research... a few tens of K would be
nice... "chump change" for him. Response: "I can't get involved
in anything controversial."
SPIELBERG 'TAKEN' BY MINI RESPONSE
Steven Spielberg is thrilled with the response his new mini-
series, 'Taken', has gotten from TV viewers.
The 10-day, 20-hour series chronicled the lives of three
generations of families whose lives were altered by alien
encounters.
"I guess a lot of people have been abducted," the series'
executive producer joked with United Press International. "I
think more Americans have been abducted now that I see the
ratings. The ratings are the best the Sci Fi Channel has ever
had."
So, does the man behind 'E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial' and 'Close
Encounters of the Third Kind' really believe in aliens?
"I don't personally believe anyone has ever been abducted by
aliens," Spielberg explained. "This is a nice mythology, a good
saga. I think the reason 'Taken' clicked with the public was it
wasn't 20 hours of special effects. It was 20 hours of family
dynamics and trauma. It really was a trauma drama and that is
all to the credit of one man, Leslie Bohem, who wrote every
single hour of that show.
"When I was trolling the waters looking for the right person (to
write the series) because I had the concept, but I needed
someone to write all the episodes, it was Les who said, 'I don't
want to do spaceships and aliens every single episode. I really
want to show the effects it has on the people who have been
taken and the effect on his loved ones.'"
That said, Spielberg admitted he does believe in intergalactic
life, but quickly qualified the statement by adding: "I believe
that we are not alone in the universe, that somewhere out there
there are a billion possible places for intelligent life to
evolve. I don't really know if I believe that we have ever been
visited in our century. Maybe if you go to... books and look at
the mythology of who built the pyramids... who really built the
pyramids, who knows? But I don't know if I really believe that
either."
Bruce Maccabee (another Scientist looking for guess what....?):
"Twenty years ago after ET was in the theatres and Steve was
earning (I was told) a mere $3M per DAY from the film, we at the
Fund for UFO Research decided to approach him through a mutual
acdquaintance to ask if he would be willing to toss a little $$$
in our direction for research... a few tens of K would be
nice... "chump change" for him. Response: "I can't get involved
in anything controversial."
