The way they tell the stories

First, let me say that I think this series is brilliant.

I've been curious about the method of storytelling they used, which is unlike any of the series which came afterwards. Admittedly, From The Earth To The Moon isn't quite the same as later shows like The Sopranos and The Wire, which are a) more 'TV series' like, and b) aren't historical dramas. Other HBO historical dramas, like Rome and Deadwood, were definately laced with artistic license, where Band Of Brothers and From The Earth To The Moon had historical accuracy as an underlying mandate (even if certain liberties were taken...these are not meant to be documentaries, after all).

So, all that being said, From The Earth To The Moon takes a unique approach to telling the stories of each Apollo mission. Rather than showing the entire sequences of events in mostly chronological order, each episode follows the evolution of a mission and its crew, thereby jumping back and forth in dates (flashbacks not withstanding).

I'm wondering how the series would have looked if they'd kept it to a more chronological method, with the individual stories overlapping. It isn't until I watched the series a few times over that I started trying to place scenes and dates against each other, trying to see the big picture, which was that crews and missions were overlapping all over the place.

Just a reminder, I'm not in anyway bothered by the approach they took, I just like thinking about the alternative. Consider Band Of Brothers, who had a wealth of characters and individual stories, but kept to a mostly chronological format (really, except for the first episode, which is 90% flashback).

Thoughts...?

The King Of Rhye

"My first thought was he lied in every word."