A couple of pieces of trivia about it, for starters, it was named in honor of Roy Chapman Andrews, who was… well, Indiana Jones. But more than that, he was one of the greats of paleontology.

Second, andrewsarchus, despite being frequently depicted as a bear or wolf-like creature, andrewsarchus may have been more whale-like. The species is only know from a single, partial skull, but that skull has features similar to extinct whales.

Here’s an opportunity for the Primeval production team to “break away” from Walking with Beasts by developing a new CGI creature for andrewsarchus rather than reuse their existing one, and even explore the issue of how we don’t really know what the creature was like. While it would still be wild speculation, they’d at least have a leg to stand on to so dilettante bloggers like me won’t pick on them so much.

(Of course, that presents the problem of how to they determine that the creature actually is andrewsarchus, but I’m sure Cutter can just sniff a hair sample and make a spot on identification.)

A couple of pieces of trivia about it, for starters, it was named in honor of Roy Chapman Andrews, who was… well, Indiana Jones. But more than that, he was one of the greats of paleontology.

Second, andrewsarchus, despite being frequently depicted as a bear or wolf-like creature, andrewsarchus may have been more whale-like. The species is only know from a single, partial skull, but that skull has features similar to extinct whales.

Here’s an opportunity for the Primeval production team to “break away” from Walking with Beasts by developing a new CGI creature for andrewsarchus rather than reuse their existing one, and even explore the issue of how we don’t really know what the creature was like. While it would still be wild speculation, they’d at least have a leg to stand on to so dilettante bloggers like me won’t pick on them so much.

(Of course, that presents the problem of how to they determine that the creature actually is andrewsarchus, but I’m sure Cutter can just sniff a hair sample and make a spot on identification.)

The fallacy here is in the statement “…you cant [sic] judge. i [sic] dont [sic] see you writing a better script.”

First, how do you know I haven’t written a better script? That’s pure guesswork on your part. I actually have stacks of scripts I’ve written sitting around here. I would never argue that they’re better, but better isn’t what gets scripts produced.

For an excellent primer on scriptwriting and the business, I recommend J. Michael Straczynski’s The Complete Book of Scriptwriting, or Alternative Scriptwriting by Ken Dancyger and Jeff Rush for an interesting look at how breaking the traditional script conventions can give a better understanding of how and why the conventions work.

Even if I haven’t written a better script – even if I’d never written a script, why can’t I judge? Do food critics have to be top-rated chefs? Do theatre critics have to produce a play before they’re entitled to review a play?

Judgement is being able to look at the whole and apply logic (or other defined rules) to the situation. Having written a script isn’t a prerequisite to having an opinion any more so that being able to punctuate or capitalize is.

I try to back my opinions up with examples. The scriptwriters in this series of Primeval have taken breathtaking liberties with logic in their scripts and it shows.

For the record: I like Primeval. It’s the most interesting premise for a TV series I’ve seen in years, but I think the British argument that 6 to 12-part series allow the writers to produce higher-quality scripts has taken a black eye over this one.

This series only had seven stories to work with and they squandered most of them. It’s an excellent premise and good cast totally undermined by slipshod writing.

You’ll note, I didn’t mention the cast at all in my indictment, I have no complaint about them. I think it’s great to see a Scotsman as the hero rather than the wacky sidekick. It’s a pity that Henshall apparently has a Landau clause.*

With him being at the forefront of almost every action, it diminishes from the teamwork aspect of the show. (That means less Claudia/Jenny time, and that’s a bad thing.)

*During Space:1999, Martin Landau and Barbara Bain had clauses in their contracts that required that they be featured in a certain percentage of each episode.

The fallacy here is in the statement “…you cant [sic] judge. i [sic] dont [sic] see you writing a better script.”

First, how do you know I haven’t written a better script? That’s pure guesswork on your part. I actually have stacks of scripts I’ve written sitting around here. I would never argue that they’re better, but better isn’t what gets scripts produced.

For an excellent primer on scriptwriting and the business, I recommend J. Michael Straczynski’s The Complete Book of Scriptwriting, or Alternative Scriptwriting by Ken Dancyger and Jeff Rush for an interesting look at how breaking the traditional script conventions can give a better understanding of how and why the conventions work.

Even if I haven’t written a better script – even if I’d never written a script, why can’t I judge? Do food critics have to be top-rated chefs? Do theatre critics have to produce a play before they’re entitled to review a play?

Judgement is being able to look at the whole and apply logic (or other defined rules) to the situation. Having written a script isn’t a prerequisite to having an opinion any more so that being able to punctuate or capitalize is.

I try to back my opinions up with examples. The scriptwriters in this series of Primeval have taken breathtaking liberties with logic in their scripts and it shows.

For the record: I like Primeval. It’s the most interesting premise for a TV series I’ve seen in years, but I think the British argument that 6 to 12-part series allow the writers to produce higher-quality scripts has taken a black eye over this one.

This series only had seven stories to work with and they squandered most of them. It’s an excellent premise and good cast totally undermined by slipshod writing.

You’ll note, I didn’t mention the cast at all in my indictment, I have no complaint about them. I think it’s great to see a Scotsman as the hero rather than the wacky sidekick. It’s a pity that Henshall apparently has a Landau clause.*

With him being at the forefront of almost every action, it diminishes from the teamwork aspect of the show. (That means less Claudia/Jenny time, and that’s a bad thing.)

*During Space:1999, Martin Landau and Barbara Bain had clauses in their contracts that required that they be featured in a certain percentage of each episode.