We're taking the position that some things might look similar to
Earth life, but others won't. n'grath has a fairly traditional insectoid
look, but that is so pervasive here that it's a good chance it'll work
out there. On the other hand, the pak'ma'ra, which you'll get a good look
at in "Legacies," are *quite* different from earth critters. The basic
problem, of course, is that all we have as a frame of reference, in
reality, is Earth stuff; we haven't yet seen real alien life. So
anything we come up with is in some way, however distorted, based on what
we can conceive of. This is limited by experience. This is the problem
on ANY level in dealing with aliens. Whatever we conceive will never be
a fraction of what the reality would be.

jms

It's interesting you mention the floaters as being something "totally
different from any Earth lifeform," because according to what Sagan said
at an appearance, they're based to a large degree on jellyfish, combined
to some degree (in terms of eating habits) with whales.

jms

Okay, but now, the only problem is...let's say we take your advice,
and build an alien around the design of an oyster. Now we have Sinclair
having a converstion with an oyster. Can you *imagine* the audience
reaction? Some things sound nice in theory, but when you build it, and
try to play it for drama...it ends up very, very badly.

jms