Okay, I’ve decided that this is worthy of its own thread. Did anyone besides me notice that Garabaldi resembles Sam Vimes pretty closely? They both have/had drinking problems, they both married (extremely) rich women, they both smoke cigars, etc.
Coincidence. Vimes first appeared in “Guards, Guards” in 1989; it was first published in the U.S. in 1991. B5 came out in 1994, and Straczynski was talking about it as early as 1990. It’s impossible that Pratchett knew what JMS was thinking of (it did not become public until the pilot in 1994). It’s also unlikely JMS was thinking of Vimes.
The drinking problem is a common flaw for a character to overcome, in any case.
Vimes is based on a retired Clint Eastwood/Dirty Harry character. One of the bigger stage productions of Guards Guards had Paul Darrow playing Vimes, which was an inspired choice.
Paul Darrow played Avon in the British series “Blake’s 7” and is a much closer match than Garribaldi.
The Tolkien influence being more obvious perhaps.
Vimes is Bogart!
Pratchett has said as much.
I saw the production with Paul Darrow - he was excellent!