lurkers-guide/ftp/CompuServe/cs96-09

JMS CompuServe messages for September 1996.  Collected by John Hardin
<jhardin@wolfenet.com>.


Date: 02 Sep 1996 19:51:34 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: B5 FAN CLUB INFO!

{original post unavailable}

      They're going out in clumps, batches of newsletters, then
batches of kits, and so on until they're caught up.  Apparently almost
all of the stuff should be out within the next week or so.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 02 Sep 1996 19:51:36 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Antony Jackson <100025.2004@compuserve.com>
Subject: Would they tell you?

 Antony Jackson <100025.2004@compuserve.com> asks:
> Have you been told if B5 will be on this new station?

      No one's told me about it, and it would probably conflict with
their standing license with C4, which has first rights to the show.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 02 Sep 1996 19:51:38 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Hugo Award

{original post had no questions}

      Actually, no, two episodes of TNG also got Hugos.

      But what *is* significant here is that in 43 years, only 7 Hugos
have gone to dramatic TV series; 3 to the original Twilight Zone, 4 to
Star Trek (old and new).  This is the first Hugo in 43 years to go to a
science fiction TV series other than TZ or ST.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 02 Sep 1996 19:51:40 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Brent Barrett <75063.3305@compuserve.com>
Subject: Dead after a week? :-)

 Brent Barrett <75063.3305@compuserve.com> asks:
> Has the first week been that hectic?

      Was offline in Anaheim for Worldcon, that's all.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 02 Sep 1996 19:51:43 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Rick Sharon <76416.2213@compuserve.com>
Subject: B5 Wins 1996 Hugo!

{original post had no questions}

      Thanks.  The Hugo is a marvelous reward to everyone who's worked
so hard on the show these last 3+ years.  We're very proud.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 02 Sep 1996 19:51:47 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Bruce Probst <71154.3171@compuserve.com>
Subject: WWE: Vorlons in the Past

 Bruce Probst <71154.3171@compuserve.com> asks:
> Except - where did the Vorlons come from?
> In which case, the question is - why are they there?
> What can they possibly know about B4 since, by their reckoning,
> it's the first time it's ever made an appearance? How did they
> know when and where it would turn up? If they can do it, what's
> stopping the Shadows from doing it? Where does it all end?

      Well, the other obvious solution, since the Vorlons were then
out and running around and actively involved in the war of that time
period, he just sent out a signal, and they got there first.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 02 Sep 1996 19:51:49 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Spencer Collyer [UK] <100137.230@compuserve.com>
Subject: Grey-17...

 Spencer Collyer [UK] <100137.230@compuserve.com> asks:
> Does Neroon's revelation at the end of this episode mean that the
> Warrior caste will now be more willing to fight alongside the
> Religious caste, or is the blood between them a sign that they
> are now irrevocably split?

      I think he's closer to an understanding, but we'll see if the
others all feel the same way.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 02 Sep 1996 19:51:51 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Simon Pallett <101523.507@compuserve.com>
Subject: Grey 17 is missing

 Simon Pallett <101523.507@compuserve.com> asks:
> How much truth is there to the Minbari's beliefs, beyond the
> spiritual truth which the religious caste believe, of course?

      It has some bearing, in a way, but more in a thematic than
literal sense.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 02 Sep 1996 19:51:54 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Spencer Collyer [UK] <100137.230@compuserve.com>
Subject: G17 & C&L

 Spencer Collyer [UK] <100137.230@compuserve.com> asks:
> Are we going to learn more of this 'big city visit' in time, or
> am I just barking up the wrong tree?

         No, you're right that it was a big deal to them, but it
doesn't really center in the story much, so I don't know if it'll ever
be explored. It's just background detail at this point.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 02 Sep 1996 19:51:56 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Richard Wakefield <100534.504@compuserve.com>
Subject: Grey 17 Question

 Richard Wakefield <100534.504@compuserve.com> asks:
> What is the ' Veil' ?

      He croaked.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 02 Sep 1996 19:51:58 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Darran Williams <101656.2143@compuserve.com>
Subject: Shadow Dancing CUT

{original post had no questions}

      If they cut 7 seconds, it's likely the 7 seconds of the actual
stabbing itself, which is implicit in what happens afterward, so it
shouldn't have a major effect on being able to follow the story.  It's
a reasonable edit, and about what I'd expect given the general
attitudes on TV violence among the UK TV networks.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 02 Sep 1996 20:08:08 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: B5 CD screen saver etc

{original post unavailable}

      The CD rom has permission for all the cast photos used in the
screen saver, and there are literally dozens of them there.  But under
SAG rules, there are strong limitations on secondary use of full-motion
clips of the actors speaking or acting in scenes from the show.  If
they were put on this CD rom, the cost of licensing the clips from SAG
would make it too expensive to buy or produce.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 02 Sep 1996 20:08:10 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: SysOp Dupa T Parrot <70040.104@compuserve.com>
Subject: B5 Wins 1996 Hugo!

{original post had no questions}

      What's interesting, in noting the number of votes in the
nominations, is that if we hadn't withdrawn the second Hugo nominated
B5 episode, "The Fall of Night," DS9 wouldn't have had a nomination at
all.  They moved into the nominations when we withdrew "FoN."

                                                                  jms


------------------------------



Date: 03 Sep 1996 12:15:03 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: SysOp Dupa T Parrot <70040.104@compuserve.com>
Subject: B5 Wins 1996 Hugo!

 SysOp Dupa T Parrot <70040.104@compuserve.com> asks:
> How many nominations did FoN receive?

       I don't know offhand; my guess is that it was #5 in the overall
nominations list, because (I understand) they had to jump past #6 (The
Long, Twilight Struggle) to get to #7 (the DS9 episode) to find a
non-B5 candidate for the nominations list.  So we had 3 out of the top
6, and apparently two more B5 episodes were high up on the list, I
think in the top 10.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 03 Sep 1996 12:15:04 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Bruce Probst <71154.3171@compuserve.com>
Subject: WWE: Vorlons in the Past

 Bruce Probst <71154.3171@compuserve.com> asks:
> so the Vorlons walk on, take one look at Valen, and decide that
> he gets "the stamp of approval"?

       Well, Bruce, given that there's a massive war on, they just had
their major starbase destroyed, they were left without a platform from
which to stage the last part of the war...and here comes someone
offering a 6 mile long, perfectly empty and eminently useable base for
the last phase of the war, no charge...hell, I'd take him up on it too.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 03 Sep 1996 12:15:07 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Simon Pallett <101523.507@compuserve.com>
Subject: Grey 17 is missing

 Simon Pallett <101523.507@compuserve.com> asks:
> (Did you receive any impression of the general 'feel' towards B5
> at WorldCon?

       The reaction at the con to B5, at the awards and elsewhere, was
quite amazing.  Everywhere the show was mentioned at panels, it
appaarently got applause.  The attending fans were *extremely*
friendly, went out of their way to be nice.  The two B5 panels I gave
(the second one added on when the first one wouldn't fit into the room
provided) were extremely enthusiastic. I think the two presentations I
gave that day totaled about 2,500-2,600 people total.

       When the winner was announced for Best Dramatic Presentation,
and I headed for the stage, for a moment I thought we were having an
earthquake, or there was a sudden thunder...but it was the fans
applauding and stomping their feet enough to make the ground shake.  It
was deafening down where the nominees were, and I noticed a couple of
them looking around with a "what the hell is THAT?" look on their
faces.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 03 Sep 1996 12:15:09 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Shane S. Shellenbarger <104305.3404@compuserve.com>
Subject: Hugo Award

{original post had no questions}

       Re: the debate...the one thing I'd wanted to mention in my
closing remarks, but didn't get around to, was that religion, science,
atheism, are all just tools, neither better nor worse than the people
who use them.  They are part of our attempt to understand the universe
and our role in it.  They can be used for good or ill, depending on
who's involved and what they're after.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 04 Sep 1996 00:00:23 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Hugo Awards

 (blocked) asks:
> Now a question (to anyone, really): Which DS9 episode is "The
> Visitor"?

      I'm reasonably sure that's the one where Sisko's lost in time
and his son saves him.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 04 Sep 1996 00:00:26 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Rebecca Eschliman <76072.2345@compuserve.com>
Subject: Post-Product Question

 Rebecca Eschliman <76072.2345@compuserve.com> asks:
> Is this length of post longer because of CGI?
> In other words, how does this compare with a series such as
> "Murder She Wrote?"

      No, that's pretty much uniform whether it's a big CGI episode or
not. You need time to edit it, do all the sound work, whatever EFX are
needed, do your final color-correction, mixes...on and on.

                                                                  jms


------------------------------



Date: 04 Sep 1996 11:41:26 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Catherine Becic <73414.2603@compuserve.com>
Subject: B5 CLUB Email address

{original post had no questions}

       It's jplb5@aol.com.

                                                               jms

------------------------------

Date: 04 Sep 1996 22:11:12 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Frank J. Furfaro <74031.1005@compuserve.com>
Subject: Writers and Valen

 Frank J. Furfaro <74031.1005@compuserve.com> asks:
> Have you assigned scripts to any other writers for this season?
> If so, can you tell us who they are?
> Also, do the Minbari have any legends foretelling that Valen will
> return when he is needed, that sort of thing?

      Yeah, there are some legends about Valen returning someday, but
so far they've been only legends, nothing more.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 04 Sep 1996 23:00:00 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Kick Butt Pt.III

{original post unavailable}

"I'm here to express opinion like it or not."

   Peter, I was trying to ignore this whole last thread, but you're
really becoming a pain in the ass.

   Lemme explain a few facts of life to you.

   EVERYONE is here to express an opinion.  What happens here is that
every once in a while, some bozo (insert your picture here) comes
riding in here and has the notion that nobody else here is objective,
that he and ONLY he dares say anything negative, and puffs up like a
pouter pigeon as proclaimer of Truth, Justice and Objectivity, and all
you poor saps out there just dang well better get used to it and get
over it.

   Seen it.

   There's LOTS of positive AND negative opinion expressed here.  It
didn't spring suddenly into being when you materialized in our midst,
Peter.  Check out the Grey 17 thread.  A number of people were iffy on
it, or downright negative.  I said they had a point, and agreed with
much of it.  So right off the bat, you are proceeding from a false
assumption, that nobody else here critiques the show.  So you're wrong
on the face of it.  Don't believe me? Check the threads.  It's there. 
And elsewhere.  Always has been.  Always will be.

   But for you, it's necessary to think, for your own ego, that you
and ONLY you DARE to stand up and speak ***THE TRUTH***.  It's how you
make yourself feel important.  And the next phase of that is that you
must now put yourself in the position of feeling persecuted for your
statements...it's not enough that you must criticize, you must feel
*special* for doing so, reinforce your own sad notion that only you are
the Visionary One here.  So you come in and you insult people, deride
them...indicate that anyone who takes issue with your hamhanded and
abusive messages is a nut, or an idiot, or a blind, ass kissing fool.

   Then you go to phase three.  It's all right in line with what we've
seen here a thousand times before.  You may think you've invented this
little dance of yours, but we've seen it before you, and we'll see it
after you. You've practically become a cliche.

   Phase three, when people take offense at what you say, is to shrug
and say, "hey, it's just wit," and "chill out."  Yessir, that'll work.

   There's a particularly offensive sort of netjerk who thinks that as
long as he says what he says in a calm, flip fashion, he can say any
stupid, offensive, chowderheaded thing he so chooses...and if someone
gets upset about it, heyyyyyy, chill out, look how angry you're
getting, you're shrieking, when I was just calmly talking about how
your mother works the corner of Sunset and Vine for twenty bucks a pop,
there's nothing wrong with that, hey, it's the world's oldest
profession, why're you being so defensive....

   That's the game you play.  And it is a game, make no mistake. 
Difference is, some of us have been around long enough, and seen other
yahoos like you come storming in here doing the same thing, to
*recognize* that it's a game. And the rules of the game are as follows:
"I can say anything I want, and that's great, but if you get upset in
response, then that's wrong, and bad."

   You want to believe that you're the Last Bastion of Persecuted
Truth, the only person who can look at things calmly, so you get other
people upset to prove your point...it's a very nice, self-contained
little mobius loop designed specifically to reinforce your own
self-image.

   If you say something, that's your opinion, and you're damn well
entitled to spraypaint that opinion all over the walls, and if anybody
doesn't like it, screw 'em...but if the other users here exercise THEIR
right to hold an opinion about your boorish behavior, somehow THAT'S
wrong, that's shrieking and screaming and being an "idiot."

   I would suggest that it's you who can't take criticsm, you who
can't abide people having an opposing opinion, on one level, because
you need to deflate it or deflect it or deride it...but at the same
time, you *need* it, you batten off it like a blood-swollen tick, you
respond to it with glee, because you think it makes you important in
their lives, or at least your own.  It's like the ten year old kid
sitting on a fence firing a slingshot at a horse, you think that
because you got a reaction, it *means* something.

   And as for saying "it's just wit," there are two primary
requirements for wit: 1) it must be funny, and 2) it must not proceed
from maliciousness. Neither of those conditions is operational in your
messages.  They are mean, venal, petty, self-indulgent,
self-congratulatory, derisive, ill-mannered and offensive.

   But they're not witty.

   That's just what you hide behind, you think it excuses any stupid,
hare brained thing you choose to spout...it's just wit, just bein'
funny.

   Like I said...seen it.

   Finally, for this:

"Joe, you comments are cute at times, but remember I tell it like it
is. If you want to talk to just yes men, and women then they're all
yours. Fail them, and they'll east you alive."

   No, you don't "tell it like it is."  That's more of your ego, your
sense of god-given mission, that somehow you know the Truth and nobody
else here has sufficiently evolved to your level yet.  Nor do I talk to
just yes men and women.  That's again your way of dismissing other
people here, writing off their opinions as "yes men" while insisting
your own is more valid because you're "objective," when you're really
just being boorish.  Nobody here is a yes-ANYthing.  There's
disagreements, criticism, even some outright knock-downs.  But you
don't see them.

   Because the universe of Peter Stathis is *just* big enough to
contain Peter Stathis, and nothing much more than that.  Your messages
are intended for the greater glorification of Peter Stathis, to elicit
persecution for the poor, embattled Peter Stathis, so that you may be
crucified on a cross of your own making because you need the pain and
the glory and most of all you need to be *right*.

   Because you are none of those.  You are, simply, ill-mannered and
in the final analysis utterly irrelevant.  The only thing more
irrelevant than you, is your opinion.  But only because it rides into
this forum stapled to a horse's ass.

                                                                  jms


------------------------------



Date: 05 Sep 1996 14:01:48 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Simon Pallett <101523.507@compuserve.com>
Subject: Grey 17 is missing

 Simon Pallett <101523.507@compuserve.com> asks:
> Oh yeah, I was wondering: do you have any special provisions for
> feline viewers of B5?

       I'm not suprised...the cat's probably keeping an eye out for
shadows. Cats are well-known shadow-detectors, you know.  Whenever you
see one looking up into a corner of the room, and you don't see
anything there, now you know what they're *really* seeing....

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 05 Sep 1996 14:01:50 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Chad Underkoffler <102512.1310@compuserve.com>
Subject: Rage's Thots: JMS' Lit

 Chad Underkoffler <102512.1310@compuserve.com> asks:
> Can you point me to where I can find out more info on this?

       Thanks.

       The Synanon game is (more was than is, but that
notwithstanding...) used in drug and alcohol counseling programs.  If
you'll check the psychology wing of your local library, you'll probably
find information on it there.

       Re: the scene you mention you'd've liked to have seen...it was
there, actually.  The editor of the book snipped it for length.  (I
think there were about six or seven substantive scenes deleted to bring
it under 100,000 words, which was about right for them size-wise.) 
With most of them you don't feel the absence; with some, you do.

       My appraisal: it's a decent enough first novel.  It was
strictly learn-as-you-go, having never done it before, and really only
doing it to see if I could do it, and because I couldn't find the book
I wanted to read, so I wrote the darned thing, never really figuring on
selling it.  It sat in the closet for something like 2 or 3 years
before my agent bugged me into letting her read it.  The second novel,
OtherSyde, is something of an improvement, I knew a little better then
what I was doing.  And the next novel, whenever I have the chance or
time to write it, should be even better.  It's going to be a long one,
a 1,000 page contemporary dark fantasy with some interesting edges to
it.  Got a great title for it, it's all outlined, just gotta find time
to write it.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 05 Sep 1996 14:01:55 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: SysOp Adrienne Chafee <76711.2643@compuserve.com>
Subject: Hugo Awards

{original post had no questions}

       Thanks...I'm not sure I heard much of anything that night....

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 05 Sep 1996 14:17:24 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: G S Fletcher-Brown <76534.513@compuserve.com>
Subject: Kick Butt Pt.III

 G S Fletcher-Brown <76534.513@compuserve.com> asks:
> Joe, do I have your permission to use the aforementioned message
> altered and amended to show they're your words, removing the
> thread title and offender's name?

       Sure, if it'll help elsewhere, feel free.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 06 Sep 1996 01:23:05 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: AsstOp Mike Willmoth <76170.1037@compuserve.com>
Subject: WorldCon & Hugo

 AsstOp Mike Willmoth <76170.1037@compuserve.com> asks:
> My only question is where will you display it?

      Thanks; I was thinking of putting the Hugo on display in my
bedroom, but I decided it was 'way too Freudian.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 06 Sep 1996 01:23:07 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Juanma Barranquero <100044.2131@compuserve.com>
Subject: Grey 17 is missing

 Juanma Barranquero <100044.2131@compuserve.com> asks:
> ...do you want to buy an apartment in Barcelona?
> ...or a cat?

      You cannot sell a cat, you can only lease it out.

      BTW, what's that behind you?

                                                                  jms


------------------------------



Date: 06 Sep 1996 12:42:38 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: B5 FAN CLUB INFO!

 (blocked) asks:
> Can you suggest my next course of action?
> And, could you let me know--if I am to send a cc of the check--to
> whom and what address???

       Drop a line to Jim Lockett at jplb5@aol.com and let him know. 
Again, there were some initial problems with the post office, and we
have no way of knowing who didn't receive one of the mailed items until
we hear from them.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 06 Sep 1996 12:42:39 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Shane S. Shellenbarger <104305.3404@compuserve.com>
Subject: WorldCon & Hugo

 Shane S. Shellenbarger <104305.3404@compuserve.com> asks:
> Joe, Have you taken the Hugo onto the set yet?

       Absolutley, I took the Hugo out on the very next day, Tuesday. 
The whole place was very excited about it.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 06 Sep 1996 12:42:40 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: WorldCon & Hugo

 (blocked) asks:
> Would you do one thing?
> You could offer it through the fan club, as our first special???
> Thinking a little further, maybe only the principle cast, the
> series regulars and Turhan Bey?? Pretty please and a whole virtual
> slice of chocolate decadence???

       It'd be difficult to get those parties all together at once,
but if it can be done, we'll try.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 06 Sep 1996 16:41:43 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Richard M. Perry <76461.2737@compuserve.com>
Subject: kick butt Pt. II

 Richard M. Perry <76461.2737@compuserve.com> asks:
> Ya don't say?
> Well I'm just shocked, you mean there's aliens on B5?
> Secondary stories?!?
> Just how big is this skyscraper anyway?
> A skyscraper in flatland, who'd have thought it possible?
> Care to be reconsidered, oh great one?

       By the way, you'll note that since coming on this last strafing
run, Stathis hasn't logged on to read any of the replies.  And
consequently hasn't responded.  Because it doesn't really matter to
him.  He just likes to swoop in here and get people upset, then swoop
out, amusing himself with the notion of everybody scrambling
around...then he waits a bit, then he does it again.

       A truly demented and sad individual.

                                                                  jms


------------------------------



Date: 07 Sep 1996 22:36:43 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Kick Butt Pt.III

{original post unavailable}

"The truth is you don't like it when I take the show to task, but
instead of getting a calm arguement, I get nasty comments."

      Nope,  Not the truth.  Because the truth is that your opinion(s)
about the show generally take up, oh, maybe 10% of your message(s). 
The rest of your messages are all about you...about the validity of
your opinion, the need for other people to listen to your opinion, your
reactions to other people's reactions, your position relative to other
people...you have no interest in discussing the show, good or bad.  The
interest of Peter Stathis is in talking about Peter Stathis, and his
centrality to the known universe. If what you say were the truth, you
would not have titled the message that you were here to "kick butt,"
given that the only butts around here are of the users of this system. 
Check your own first message again...the "opinion" part runs about 2 
sentences out of 25.  The rest is all about you.  Then you complain
when the discussion becomes about you when *you* set the parameters of
the discussion.

      Egotism?  Peter, your ego could be wrapped around the sun three
times and still leave room for a knot.

      You came in confrontational, with no interest in the discussion
itself, only in creating a discussion *about* the discussion...a
discussion in which Peter Stathis would stand crucified on a cross of
his own making, for his own edification.

      You're worse than sad and pathetic...you're a cliche, and a
boring one at that.  We've seen your act before, Peter, and we don't
fall for it anymore. Go bug somebody who cares.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 07 Sep 1996 22:36:46 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Tom Knudsen <72347.1626@compuserve.com>
Subject: WorldCon & Hugo

 Tom Knudsen <72347.1626@compuserve.com> asks:
> Are you going to let it show up on camera somewhere??

      Actually, at www.scifi.com/worldcon there's a group photo of the
Hugo winners with the things in hand that's fairly decent.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 07 Sep 1996 22:36:48 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: B5 FAN CLUB INFO!

{original post unavailable}

      Will send this on to Jim personally.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 07 Sep 1996 22:36:52 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Grey 17 is missing

{original post unavailable}

      It's *always* scary for me to go on...I'm always sure the day
before that nobody's gonna show up, and then I go into panic when I hit
the stage, and it's mainly a matter of burying that so I can get
through it and perform. These people have been there, often, for a long
time, waiting, and they deserve nothing less than a fun, interesting,
and sometimes maybe even useful show.  They deserve their money's
worth, which is why I'm so adamant about nobody getting disappointed or
cut off in line or ignored.  The second panel was a last-minute
addition when the first one got flooded out (as it werte), and after
giving my all on the first one, I was just whipped...but I wasn't about
to let anyone leave disappointed.  (As it was, I think my energy level 
was still lower than I'd've liked during the second presentation, and
a bit more rambling in structure, especially toward the end, 'cause I
was running on fumes, though so far it seems to have come off okay from
the other side of the room.)

      I think the day I ever *stop* being nervous about it, and get
either complacent about it, or take it for granted, I should stop doing
it.  But that doesn't seem terribly likely....

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 07 Sep 1996 22:36:54 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Al Lipscomb <75204.2225@compuserve.com>
Subject: WWE: Vorlons in the Past

 Al Lipscomb <75204.2225@compuserve.com> asks:
> Did B4 have more firepower than even the current B5?

      Yeah, B4 had more firepower, and it had one thing B5
doesn't...engines that can move it forward if necessary.

                                                                  jms


------------------------------



Date: 08 Sep 1996 14:23:24 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: colin heaps <100622.3610@compuserve.com>
Subject: B5 Creeping-itus

{original post had no questions}

      I love that...if you could send me a copy of that page, I'd be
grateful; we'll put it up on the B5 stage wall with some other stuff. 
(Our mailing address is Babylon 5, 14431 Ventura Boulevard, Suite 260,
Sherman Oaks, CA 91423.)  Thanks.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 08 Sep 1996 14:23:26 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Grey 17 is missing

{original post unavailable}

      Thanks; btw, who're #1 and #2 on your list?  I'd be interested
in seeing how they do it, maybe pick up a few hints on presentation.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 08 Sep 1996 14:23:28 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Julian Suddaby <106163.653@compuserve.com>
Subject: ATRCONHP

 Julian Suddaby <106163.653@compuserve.com> asks:
> Is that really the Shadows' motives?
> The fear of other races, different people?

      Nope, that ain't the motive.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 08 Sep 1996 14:23:31 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Z - Minus 10 days

{original post unavailable}

      Thanks, yeah, the countdown aspect does add a lot to this, gives
it a forward momentum and a kind of subliminal ominousness.  And as for
the Refa situation presented in counterpoint...I love how that came
out.  It's almost subversive in a way...just gives me the quiet chills.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 08 Sep 1996 14:23:33 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Simon Pallett <101523.507@compuserve.com>
Subject: And the Rock...

 Simon Pallett <101523.507@compuserve.com> asks:
> In other words, will he, in the light of the events in this
> episode, ever take action to stop Londo's campaign? I'm not
> inferring that it might be major action, such as leaving Londo's
> side, or turning against him openly, but might he now consider
> 'dropping Londo in it', to coin a phrase? (Oh, and I take it that
> the Minbari language is more logical than our own, in terms of
> word definitions?

      I don't know if Vir really has anywhere else to go....

      And thanks.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 08 Sep 1996 15:21:33 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Jackie Pearcey <102404.764@compuserve.com>
Subject: Z Minus

{original post had no questions}

      Well, you combine the release of 2,000 prisoners, many of whom
were likely resistance fighters, and the payback to one who
orchestrated the bombing of Narn, and that adds up to a pretty good
incentive to get Refa even WITHOUT Londo's presence in the deal.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 08 Sep 1996 15:21:34 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Ep. title

 (blocked) asks:
> Is that a 'real' song, or are you also a songwriter/composer??

      No, as a rule, Harlan doesn't suggest titles; "Rock" came from
the quote from the Bible, which was later made into a gospel song, used
in the show.  So it's a real song, though I did write 2 for
"Walkabout."

      PS, please be careful as your message isn't spoiler protected,
and would give away stuff.  When possible, just remember to note the
brackets around message headers.  And thanks for the rest.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 08 Sep 1996 18:31:44 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: WWE: Vorlons in the Past

{original post unavailable}

      B5 doesn't have engines that can move it; yes, budget cuts,
after spending so much on the previous attempts.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 08 Sep 1996 22:07:21 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Brent Barrett <75063.3305@compuserve.com>
Subject: Rock -- Yes!

 Brent Barrett <75063.3305@compuserve.com> asks:
> Now, the obvious question: Why did everyone seem so convinced
> that it was a major character who would die? Did the fans just
> confuse the death of Kosh with the death of Refa and you let it
> brew until we all had it dead wrong? Or is there still a death to
> come?

      Well, given that Refa has been around for two years, and Keffer
was only in a few in one season, I'd hardly put them in the same
league.  Part of all this is how you define "major."  Usually, I've
refrained from using that term...I would say someone you've seen since
the first year, for instance, or an important character.

      Certainly I was primarily referring to Kosh in my original note
about all this...but a lot of folks took that and extended it past that
point, which I just let go rather than correct, because the show should
do any correcting.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 09 Sep 1996 00:58:57 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Brent Barrett <75063.3305@compuserve.com>
Subject: Rock -- Yes!

{original post had no questions}

      Yeah, I think the message of mine you're referring to are the
ones I wrote with Kosh in mind, not Refa.  But since I obviously
couldn't say that at the time, some of it sloshed over into how folks
viewed later episodes.

                                                                  jms


------------------------------



Date: 09 Sep 1996 13:41:14 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: ATRCONHP

{original post unavailable}

       Nope.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 09 Sep 1996 13:41:18 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Dan T. Davis <71121.1254@compuserve.com>
Subject: Rock -- Yes!

 Dan T. Davis <71121.1254@compuserve.com> asks:
> So, I take it that Refa (or at least the actor playing Refa) was
> the one who said "Why me?" in your note about two deaths at the
> end of the third season? If so, could you now say a little more on
> this topic as to how the conversations went?

       Yes, it was with the actor who plays Refa that I had that
conversation. He was initially bummed out, figured I was doing what I
was doing in "Rock" because I wasn't happy with his performance or
something. So I pulled him aside and explained the situation, and
indicated that we'd likely use him again as an alien character, under
prosthetics.  If he hadn't done such a good job, this wouldn't have
happened, because no one would've cared about the character.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 09 Sep 1996 13:41:20 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Z Minus

{original post had no questions}

       Except, of course, that going on at length about the death of
Refa would require revealing what he was doing there...and I doubt very
much that the Royal Court would like even the suspicion that one of its
own was making deals with the Narns to become public knowledge...so
it's extremely unlikely that there would be any retribution.  This is
one the Centauri would prefer to sweep under the rug, I think.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 09 Sep 1996 13:41:22 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Imran Naqvi <100533.273@compuserve.com>
Subject: And the rock...

 Imran Naqvi <100533.273@compuserve.com> asks:
> I don't know, but the combination of seeing Delenn and John Kiss
> in front af that Armada seemed a little...odd?

       I guess it's really a matter of perspective.  It depends on
what the fleet is *there* for, as well.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 09 Sep 1996 13:41:24 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Rock -- Yes!

{original post unavailable}

       Thanks.  When I thought of that one, I just sat there and
grinned. It's so perverse, but yet so appropriate, all at the same
time.  Just to further add a bit of creepiness to it, in the sound mix
I had the editors verb up the music toward the fade out, so it had a
slightly distorted edge to it.  The details are everything in a scene
like that.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 09 Sep 1996 18:01:22 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Mark McGehee <75720.2420@compuserve.com>
Subject: HUGO Award

{original post had no questions}

       Thanks; that was the one where we felt we really hit our
stride.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 09 Sep 1996 18:01:25 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Dan T. Davis <71121.1254@compuserve.com>
Subject: Rock -- Yes!

 Dan T. Davis <71121.1254@compuserve.com> asks:
> Do you have many folks who have played multiple roles?

       Yeah, we've floated characters between human and alien from
time to time; we've used Wayne Alexander as a Narn, the actor who
played the Ombuds came back as the Markab doctor...we've basically got
a kind of alien rep company goig here.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 09 Sep 1996 18:04:27 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Rock - minor nit ?

{original post unavailable}

       Not in the queue, but providing security within the station...
remember, many of the Narns have joined B5 security.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 09 Sep 1996 18:04:28 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Rock - minor nit ?

{original post unavailable}

       Nope, we're generally very careful about what aliens show up in
what scenes.  (See my other note on this.)

                                                                  jms


------------------------------



Date: 10 Sep 1996 15:33:30 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: David Belt <72142.1365@compuserve.com>
Subject: I Found Demon Knight!

 David Belt <72142.1365@compuserve.com> asks:
> If I were to send them to you, could I impose upon you to sign
> them and send them back?

       If you sent it with a self-addressed, stamped envelope or
mailer, yes, otherwise it'll sit here and I'll forget to get around to
sending it back.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 10 Sep 1996 15:33:31 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Michael W. Mahoney <103007.1253@compuserve.com>
Subject: Kick Butt Pt.III

 Michael W. Mahoney <103007.1253@compuserve.com> asks:
> He's just dull enough to convince himself that he's witty: "See
> all the replies I got!?!"

       Thanks.  Me, I don't much care for flames or insults...it's
something I try and avoid where I can.  It's just not worth the hassle
or the bile or the angst.  You've gotta *really* provoke me to push
that particular button. I've gotten decent at it out of survival, and
simply because I'm a writer; you've gotta be out of your *mind* to go
up against any fairly decent writer in a written medium.  You won't
win.

       But for folks like the one you describe, they're not out to
win, only to validate their existence by generating a response, proving
they exist by the echo produced by their voices.  So in that, I agree
wholeheartedly with your analysis.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 10 Sep 1996 15:33:32 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: colin heaps <100622.3610@compuserve.com>
Subject: B5 Creeping-itus

{original post had no questions}

       Somewhat intentional; in the long run, the show will end up
either aired daily, or stripped weekly, so either way the 14 days until
climax works well, as it does now for the UK.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 10 Sep 1996 15:33:33 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: And the rock...

 (blocked) asks:
> I presume John is in love but is it clouding his judgement ?
> After spending all that time in the war room
> worrying/fretting/planning I was expecting a more extreme
> reaction when the 'White Stars' were revealed - maybe something
> along the lines of 'Why the hell did'nt you tell me about this
> before ?'

       Well, as she indicates, she didn't *have* them before.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 10 Sep 1996 15:33:36 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Richard Wakefield <100534.504@compuserve.com>
Subject: Questions

 Richard Wakefield <100534.504@compuserve.com> asks:
> Are there any plans for any books covering the technical aspects
> of Babylon 5 ? manual ?
> Who's been "spacefaring" longest the Minbari or the Centauri ?

       No immediate plans for tech books; the Minbari have been out
and about much longer than the Centauri.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 10 Sep 1996 15:33:38 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Fiona McKenzie <100705.2062@compuserve.com>
Subject: And the Rock...

 Fiona McKenzie <100705.2062@compuserve.com> asks:
> A question:are the 6 B5 books currently out consistant with
> plot-lines to come? What's the chance of you producing some large
> posters of Mira Furlan (don't know if I've spelt that correctly?)
> for my friend Marco Biagi who is currently infatuated with her?

       Thanks; the books are consistent in the broad strokes, though
some of the details veer away.  That happens when you have diverse
hands working on a project.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 10 Sep 1996 15:33:39 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Alan Mulvie <100566.1444@compuserve.com>
Subject: <<Z'Ha;Dum>>??

 Alan Mulvie <100566.1444@compuserve.com> asks:
> Could the alligator your gonna pull on us be the fact that
> Babylon 5 is gonna get blown away at the end of season 3 or early
> season 4? Perhaps this is Z day?
> Will happen before the end of the 5 years?
> Will it happen soon?

       We'll have to see...obviously I won't just say what's what
ahead of time.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 10 Sep 1996 15:33:43 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Alan Mulvie <100566.1444@compuserve.com>
Subject: Religion ??

 Alan Mulvie <100566.1444@compuserve.com> asks:
> 1) I wonder how much of the main arc is Religion based?
> Will the "enemy" be one of these or a 7th?
> 3) Are the three ages of man kind based on a religious premise,
> such as the three ages of History according to Joachim?

       No, the arc isn't religion based, though it does have
mythological underpinnings.  No 7's planned, and no, the ages of man
aren't based on a religious premise either.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 10 Sep 1996 16:00:40 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Carol Naylor <100645.2613@compuserve.com>
Subject: best CGI

 Carol Naylor <100645.2613@compuserve.com> asks:
> So do you want the photo?

       As long as you don't apply that cuddly description, I'll let
you live.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 10 Sep 1996 18:05:21 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Paul Owen <100331.2357@compuserve.com>
Subject: Rock -- Yes!

 Paul Owen <100331.2357@compuserve.com> asks:
> In "The Rock " Wayne Alexander was a Narn G'Dan, which one was he
> ? the Narn who first met G'Kar on Narn?

       He was the Narn who first met G'Kar on their homeworld; the
only one with any lines.

       Wayne has a considerably larger role in year 4 as an alien
named Lorien.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 10 Sep 1996 21:29:11 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Hart Trevor <100705.1222@compuserve.com>
Subject: Universe Today.

 Hart Trevor <100705.1222@compuserve.com> asks:
> Please can you tell me if this is case?

      No, this is still the first issue.  (Jim and his aide took a
polaroid of the big pallet of boxes going out the other day.) 
Basically, everyone's membership date is moved to when we got around to
it, so nobody loses anything.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 10 Sep 1996 21:29:14 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Rebecca Eschliman <76072.2345@compuserve.com>
Subject: Storytelling Question

 Rebecca Eschliman <76072.2345@compuserve.com> asks:
> Do you ever deliberately set out to commemorate people you've
> known when you write a story? Do you find that, once you've
> written the story, you have inadvertently commemorated people
> you've known?

      I don't know if commemorate is the right word for what you're
asking... you wanna take another stab at that and clarify?  This can
cover everything from Tuckerizing to homage to using friends or
whatever.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 10 Sep 1996 21:29:16 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: VOA

{original post unavailable}

      Well, it's conceivable....we'll have to see.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 11 Sep 1996 01:11:53 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Ron Chusid <74756.3150@compuserve.com>
Subject: General Hague

 Ron Chusid <74756.3150@compuserve.com> asks:
> Did you intentionally name your General Hague's ship the
> Alexander thinking of former Nixon White House Chief of Staff and
> Reagan Secretary of State Alexander (I'm in Control Here) Haig?

      I liked the sound of the name...and I was thinking more of the
Hague as a place, not Haig the military guy.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 11 Sep 1996 01:11:55 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: David Belt <72142.1365@compuserve.com>
Subject: I Found Demon Knight!

 David Belt <72142.1365@compuserve.com> asks:
> Are there other novels (besides Demon Night and Othersyde) that I
> should know about?

      Those are my only two novels (at present); there's a TWILIGHT
ZONE anthology I wrote, but that's damned near impossible to find.

                                                                  jms


------------------------------



Date: 11 Sep 1996 11:51:17 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Steven K. Andeweg <72143.674@compuserve.com>
Subject: Season 3 Title Sequence

{original post had no questions}

       What remarkable timing...John Copeland and I just got finished
with the main title for year 4, which is, again, different from last
year's. This time I wanted a whole new approach, on just about every
level, and designed the thing myself, working with John and the editors
to get the best shots and pull it all together.  It's *majorly* cool. 
We showed it to some members of the crew, and they're all jazzed by it,
they think it's our best main title ever.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 11 Sep 1996 11:51:18 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Tom General <102233.2410@compuserve.com>
Subject: B5 FAN CLUB INFO!

 Tom General <102233.2410@compuserve.com> asks:
> Can you come up with a way of getting to him in person?
> Are the major mailings over now?
> What about the rest of us?

       No, the major mailings aren't over, they're still going out.
Everyone who signed on will get/is getting their stuff.  He's had a lot
of email to contend with, but I do know that a lot of folks are a)
getting their stuff, and b) getting email replies.  He's getting to it.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 11 Sep 1996 11:51:19 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Neville White <100335.2721@compuserve.com>
Subject: Symmetry

 Neville White <100335.2721@compuserve.com> asks:
> Just wondering, but is symmetry a favourite concept of yours?
> So back to the first question - a favourite concept or just a
> convenient word at the time :-) ? (except that it is then what, 9
> months before we see more over here?

       Thanks.  Yeah, I like symmetry...both as a word, and as a
concept. It plays into the show a lot, showing the balance that the
universe tends to impose whether we like it or not.  What goes around,
comes around.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 11 Sep 1996 15:18:46 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Darran Williams <101656.2143@compuserve.com>
Subject: Season 3 Opening Titles

 Darran Williams <101656.2143@compuserve.com> asks:
> Is it a case that this scene was created long before the effects
> for Severed Dreams and subsequently not included or is it still
> to come ?

       No, I think the intent of my message was that it was a
foreshadowing of the big fight around B5 in "Severed," not that that
particular shot was going to be used.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 11 Sep 1996 15:18:47 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Season 3 Title Sequence

 (blocked) asks:
> PMFJI - will there be more CDs of B5 music?
> Are there going to be other writers in next season's eps?

       Chris is looking to have the new 2nd volume of B5 music out in
time to coincide with the November sweeps; I've heard the first 15
minutes, and it's great.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 11 Sep 1996 15:18:48 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Darran Williams <101656.2143@compuserve.com>
Subject: Season 3 Title Sequence

 Darran Williams <101656.2143@compuserve.com> asks:
> Is the October release date still on schedule as I expect Chris
> must also be busy preparing to score season 4?

       I think they're going to go closer to November, to capitalize
on the PR for the sweeps.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 11 Sep 1996 15:18:49 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Martin Colloby <100137.2625@compuserve.com>
Subject: Rock -- Yes!

 Martin Colloby <100137.2625@compuserve.com> asks:
> Was the music another jms/Franke composition?

       No, the song is an old gospel song that goes 'way back.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 11 Sep 1996 17:49:49 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Tom General <102233.2410@compuserve.com>
Subject: B5 FAN CLUB INFO!

 Tom General <102233.2410@compuserve.com> asks:
> Could you let us know when the major mailings are over, or when
> to contact him? So, what do I do?
> How long should I wait?
> Come on, how much longer?

       I walked down the hall to Jim's office, and asked.  Your stuff
went out this morning, several hours ago.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 11 Sep 1996 17:49:50 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Title-ATRCONHP

 (blocked) asks:
> Is there anything jms *can't* do??

       "Is there anything jms can't do?"

       Divide or multiply fractions.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 11 Sep 1996 20:28:57 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: SysOp Dupa T Parrot <70040.104@compuserve.com>
Subject: I Found Demon Knight!

 SysOp Dupa T Parrot <70040.104@compuserve.com> asks:
> Would that be "Tales From The New Twilight Zone"?

      Yup, that's the one.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 12 Sep 1996 00:58:58 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Ken Mayer <103721.3257@compuserve.com>
Subject: Bablyon 5 Stamper Set

{original post had no questions}

      Yeah, it's legit.  Thanks for asking.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 12 Sep 1996 01:05:08 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Rebecca Eschliman <76072.2345@compuserve.com>
Subject: Storytelling Question

{original post had no questions}

"So, I suppose I meant "commemorate" in the way the post office does
 -- recognizing those who have died."

      Specific persons, no.  I don't do that.  Never have.  I think,
in the case of someone I know who's passed away, it would be rude.  I
don't think I could handle it.  Over the years I've lost way too many
friends, and some wounds never entirely heal.  Best to leave them
alone, and remember those friends as they were, not as they were bent
into fictionalizations.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 12 Sep 1996 01:05:10 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: David Belt <72142.1365@compuserve.com>
Subject: I Found Demon Knight!

 David Belt <72142.1365@compuserve.com> asks:
> What is the title of the TZ anthology?

   "Tales from the New Twilight Zone," from Bantam.

                                                                  jms


------------------------------



Date: 12 Sep 1996 18:42:36 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Anita Karve <73653.3253@compuserve.com>
Subject: B5 FAN CLUB INFO!

{original post had no questions}

       They're all going out first class.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 12 Sep 1996 18:42:37 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: ATTN:JMS Tamlyn Tomita

{original post unavailable}

       Well, now that she's on BZ, that kinda precludes it in any
event, so it's kind of a moot point, though I'm very pleased for her
success.  She's a fine person.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 12 Sep 1996 18:42:43 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Richard L. Long <76562.2757@compuserve.com>
Subject: B5 FAN CLUB INFO!

{original post had no questions}

       Posters only got approved recently, so they're lagging behind.

                                                                  jms


------------------------------



Date: 13 Sep 1996 12:12:46 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Rock -- Yes!

{original post unavailable}

       Not that I'm aware of, no.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 13 Sep 1996 16:42:05 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Robin L. Small <76640.2012@compuserve.com>
Subject: Ghosts from the past

 Robin L. Small <76640.2012@compuserve.com> asks:
> I was wondering if/when we'll be seeing: The Walkers (Zog dudes)
> from Sigma957 (what is their race/name, btw?) The Technomages
> from "Geometry of Shadows"??

       She didn't know what was coming, and that worried her.  She is
most secure when she has a definite plan of action, and variables
aren't something the Minbari are good at in any event, they're very
rigid and structured.

       And we'll be seeing the Sigma walkers again in the not too
distant future.  And some of their pals.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 13 Sep 1996 21:44:07 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: B5 FAN CLUB INFO!

{original post unavailable}

      Yes, the poster was only approved (finally) by WB about 2-3
weeks ago, at which point we began to produce them and mail them out.

                                                                  jms


------------------------------



Date: 14 Sep 1996 21:19:05 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Tom Knudsen <72347.1626@compuserve.com>
Subject: Foundation Image Out

{original post had no questions}

      Actually, the note to lwtattler was a *private email* which
should not have been posted publically, so let your conscience be your
guide on letting this stay here.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 15 Sep 1996 00:11:18 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Meryl Yourish <103470.2703@compuserve.com>
Subject: Dust to Dust question

 Meryl Yourish <103470.2703@compuserve.com> asks:
> Are there any scenes from episodes that haven't aired yet?

      No, I don't think there's anything else from later eps in there.

      And thanks again....

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 15 Sep 1996 00:11:19 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Brent Barrett <75063.3305@compuserve.com>
Subject: The Visible David

 Brent Barrett <75063.3305@compuserve.com> asks:
> Will we ever *see* Sheridan & Delenn's son David (at any age) in
> the series?

      Well, I wouldn't want to preclude anything at this point.

                                                                  jms


------------------------------



Date: 15 Sep 1996 13:29:07 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Laurence Moroney <100546.50@compuserve.com>
Subject: Rock -- Yes!

 Laurence Moroney <100546.50@compuserve.com> asks:
> Is there any plan to do this?

      Not currently, no.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 15 Sep 1996 13:29:09 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Laurence Moroney <100546.50@compuserve.com>
Subject: Shadow Dancing-Gumph!

 Laurence Moroney <100546.50@compuserve.com> asks:
> Couple of questions: (1) Have we seen where Delenn dropped the
> snow globe before somewhere? I don't recall this image in AAITN,
> was it there or elsewhere?

      Yes, the snow globe was shown as a flash-forward in "WWE-2," and
we did see that image of Sheridan in Psi Cop uniform in "All Alone."

      And thanks, it's a great ep.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 15 Sep 1996 13:29:11 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Shadow Dancing

{original post unavailable}

      Great, thanks, good to hear.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 15 Sep 1996 13:29:14 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Arwel Parry <100336.623@compuserve.com>
Subject: Shadow Dancing

 Arwel Parry <100336.623@compuserve.com> asks:
> A cute kid appears on B5 and it _survives_?!?
> or was the kid getting spaced in the 7 seconds that C4 cut?

      Yeah, the Minbari greeting is a hoot...there's a lot in that
episode I just like a lot.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 15 Sep 1996 14:01:13 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Alan Mulvie <100566.1444@compuserve.com>
Subject: Shadow Dancing

 Alan Mulvie <100566.1444@compuserve.com> asks:
> I ask you if the perspective was that of Anne Sheriden?
> If it was, then why did the extra's behave as if they'd seen a
> ghost? Is she gonna re-appear next week?
> Or was she credited purely to allow a credit before Anne?
> ie was the character important or was it artistic licence?

      The script said the extras shouldn't make a big deal about
seeing her. The director did that on the set.  That's not what I had in
mind, but it isn't that big a deal...I figure she's a striking looking
woman, maybe that's a good justification.

      The ordering of credits was done to de-emphasize and hide (as
much as possible) the appearance of Melissa.

                                                                  jms


------------------------------



Date: 15 Sep 1996 13:29:07 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Laurence Moroney <100546.50@compuserve.com>
Subject: Rock -- Yes!

 Laurence Moroney <100546.50@compuserve.com> asks:
> Is there any plan to do this?

      Not currently, no.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 15 Sep 1996 13:29:09 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Laurence Moroney <100546.50@compuserve.com>
Subject: Shadow Dancing-Gumph!

 Laurence Moroney <100546.50@compuserve.com> asks:
> Couple of questions: (1) Have we seen where Delenn dropped the
> snow globe before somewhere? I don't recall this image in AAITN,
> was it there or elsewhere?

      Yes, the snow globe was shown as a flash-forward in "WWE-2," and
we did see that image of Sheridan in Psi Cop uniform in "All Alone."

      And thanks, it's a great ep.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 15 Sep 1996 13:29:11 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Shadow Dancing

{original post unavailable}

      Great, thanks, good to hear.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 15 Sep 1996 13:29:14 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Arwel Parry <100336.623@compuserve.com>
Subject: Shadow Dancing

 Arwel Parry <100336.623@compuserve.com> asks:
> A cute kid appears on B5 and it _survives_?!?
> or was the kid getting spaced in the 7 seconds that C4 cut?

      Yeah, the Minbari greeting is a hoot...there's a lot in that
episode I just like a lot.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 15 Sep 1996 14:01:13 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Alan Mulvie <100566.1444@compuserve.com>
Subject: Shadow Dancing

 Alan Mulvie <100566.1444@compuserve.com> asks:
> I ask you if the perspective was that of Anne Sheriden?
> If it was, then why did the extra's behave as if they'd seen a
> ghost? Is she gonna re-appear next week?
> Or was she credited purely to allow a credit before Anne?
> ie was the character important or was it artistic licence?

      The script said the extras shouldn't make a big deal about
seeing her. The director did that on the set.  That's not what I had in
mind, but it isn't that big a deal...I figure she's a striking looking
woman, maybe that's a good justification.

      The ordering of credits was done to de-emphasize and hide (as
much as possible) the appearance of Melissa.

                                                                  jms


------------------------------



Date: 16 Sep 1996 12:18:06 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Paul Owen <100331.2357@compuserve.com>
Subject: Shadow Dancing

{original post had no questions}

       There was a combination of reasons, including production
schedules, for the decision.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 16 Sep 1996 12:18:11 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Simon Pallett <101523.507@compuserve.com>
Subject: Shadow Dancing

 Simon Pallett <101523.507@compuserve.com> asks:
> Are they now lying low due to the loss of Kosh, or is there some
> other reason for their apparent lack of interest in the affairs
> of the other races? And if there is another reason, will it be
> addressed soon?

       There are other reasons, which yes, will be addressed soon....

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 16 Sep 1996 12:18:12 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Rebecca Eschliman <76072.2345@compuserve.com>
Subject: Dust to Dust question

 Rebecca Eschliman <76072.2345@compuserve.com> asks:
> In what other series does what seems to be arrogance in one
> episode turns out to be prophecy when viewed from an episode
> further down the line?

       Yeah...we're slippery that way....

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 16 Sep 1996 12:18:14 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Larry Rosenblum <72122.1555@compuserve.com>
Subject: B5 visibility/popularity

 Larry Rosenblum <72122.1555@compuserve.com> asks:
> Do you agree that there has been a noticeable increase in
> recognition of B5 over the last six months, and if so, to what do
> you attribute it?

       Yes, I agree that there has been an increase in our visibility
lately. I think it stems from a number of things.  First, we've
outlived the expectations for us.  Everybody wrote us off, said we'd be
gone in half a season (including Entertainment Weekly).  We've been
stomped on, panned, abandoned, derided and left for dead.  But we keep
on going, like some kind of deranged, phosphor-dot Energizer bunny. 
Look at the shows that, unlike B5, got lots of PR, had big names
attached to them, were held up way above us by the fickle media...VR5,
Earth 2, SeaQuest, Space Rangers, Space Above and Beyond, others...and
they're all gone.  And we're still here.  We can't be ignored any
longer.

       A lot of folks are still asking, Can B5 succeed?  But in
whatever television terms you choose to apply, we *have* succeeded.  We
succeeded when we went three years, which is exceedingly rare in ANY SF
series.  Had we gone only 3 years, even though the story wouldn't have
been finished, the series itself would've been a success from a purely
TV perspective. Remember, the original Star Trek itself only went 3
seasons...and look where that led.

       Second, I think more people have at least sampled the show, and
from the ratings, more people have stayed with it, and seen what it is
we're doing. The longer you're on the air, the more folks will run into
you, even if just by accident.  Where virtually every syndicated show
has lost ratings, B5 has grown, slowly but surely.

       There comes a point where a series, any series, reaches
critical mass in terms of public recognition.  I think we're finally on
the cusp of that.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 16 Sep 1996 12:18:21 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Slight Fan Club panic

{original post unavailable}

       Sure, it's jplb5@aol.com.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 16 Sep 1996 12:18:23 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Shadow Dancing

{original post unavailable}

       Yeah, the channel 4 reference was a nod to the UK.  Wondered if
it'd get noticed....

       Good point, when you do a battle like that...what do you do
next that won't seem anticlimatic?  Usually you save something like
that for your last episode of the season, not your next-to-last, or
you've blown your big EFX show 1 show early.  It makes for a real
challenge...what do you do to follow THAT up?

       I think we figured it out....

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 16 Sep 1996 12:18:26 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Creature CGI

 (blocked) asks:
> With the Foundation situation does it mean that we won't get to
> see these after all ?

       Actually, no, the equipment now in hand is equal to or better
than the previous stuff, so that's still a very viable option.  I just
gotta find the story to go with it.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 16 Sep 1996 17:19:55 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Shadow Dancing

{original post unavailable}

       Thanks, glad you decided to join the family....

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 16 Sep 1996 17:19:57 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Ghosts from the past

{original post unavailable}

       No, it's just a matter of fitting everything in, in its proper
place.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 16 Sep 1996 17:19:58 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Shadow Dancing

{original post unavailable}

       No, Sheridan isn't the man in the middle...the man in the
middle is the one out there who sent Anna.  As Ivanova says, his
opposite number.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 16 Sep 1996 17:59:20 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Dr John A Purvis <100341.1147@compuserve.com>
Subject: Shadow Dancing

{original post had no questions}

       They cut that?  How curious...I didn't know that.  From what
I'd seen of British TV, some shows use the word bastard like I use a
comma, they're ubiquitous....

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 16 Sep 1996 22:28:57 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Rebecca Eschliman <76072.2345@compuserve.com>
Subject: Dust to Dust question

{original post had no questions}

      Actually, the best "slippery" line came from Australian artist
Peter Ledger, who before his passing helped visualize the designs of
B5: "Slippery as a bucket of monkey's foreskins."

      It's the kind of hideous line that just keeps you up at night,
trying to pretend you never heard it....

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 16 Sep 1996 22:28:59 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: David Kuhn <73532.741@compuserve.com>
Subject: And the Rock Cried Out

{original post had no questions}

      Thanks.  It's comical...and it ain't comical...it's designed to
elicit conflicting emotions, between what you *are* feeling, what you
*should* be feeling, and so on.  I like uneasy laughter....

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 17 Sep 1996 02:33:53 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Rebecca Eschliman <76072.2345@compuserve.com>
Subject: I Finally got it! <G>

 Rebecca Eschliman <76072.2345@compuserve.com> asks:
> And what about that intriguing new central logo?

      The logo in the center of the new poster is the one that now
hangs in the Council chambers for the League of Non-Aligned Worlds.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 17 Sep 1996 02:40:42 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Juanma Barranquero <100044.2131@compuserve.com>
Subject: B5 game?

 Juanma Barranquero <100044.2131@compuserve.com> asks:
> Is it true?
> There's a B5 wargame in the works?
> Or is that just an off-hand reference to the RPG by Chameleon
> Eclectic?

      Yes, there's a B5 war game in the works....

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 17 Sep 1996 02:40:44 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Shadow Dancing

{original post had no questions}

      Thanks.  With "Shadow" my hope is really to erase most (though
obviously not all) suspicions or predictions on how the last one will
go.  If we already had our big EFX battle, it won't be that...Anna's
here, so it can't be that...it can't ever be a return to tabula rasa,
an empty slate, but by doing what's normally done in the season closer
one episode prior to that, it may help ease the way for a different
tonality to come in.

      And thanks again...you definitely won't be disappointed.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 17 Sep 1996 02:40:46 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Shadow Dancing

{original post unavailable}

      Thanks.  What matters for me is that it should feel like a real
future, that this is happening somewhere, and these are a series of
reports back from that place.  It's certainly real enough in my head
some days....

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 17 Sep 1996 02:44:36 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: >> Z'HA'DUM <<

{original post unavailable}

      I was gonna say something to that effect, but last time I did,
everybody jumped funky on me, so now I just nod in at the window, like
a black and frosted rose left over from the spring (to paraphrase
Christopher Fry).

                                                                  jms


------------------------------



Date: 17 Sep 1996 11:57:48 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Simon Grierson <100407.2075@compuserve.com>
Subject: Creature CGI

 Simon Grierson <100407.2075@compuserve.com> asks:
> Will Netter Digital (?) be using Sillicon Graphics workstations?
> Did Foundation use KPT Bryce?

       You've just passed beyond the envelope of my expertise....

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 17 Sep 1996 11:57:49 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Late "Avalon" question

 (blocked) asks:
> My brother was wondering into my ear about whatever happened to
> the sword that Michael York's character gave to Delenn in "A Late
> Delivery from Avalon" -- what *did* she do with it? Does she still
> have it -- use it as a back scratcher or vermin control like
> Londo's kutare or what?????

       It went back to our prop department....

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 17 Sep 1996 11:57:50 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Season 4

{original post unavailable}

       Thanks.  We started filming 3 weeks ago, and will be finished
sometime in May.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 17 Sep 1996 12:06:08 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Radio Times

{original post unavailable}

       Anything there worth repeating?

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 17 Sep 1996 14:36:48 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Shadow Dancing

{original post unavailable}

       Apparently there's some sort of rule at C4 about showing
American produced shows in the watershed prime-time hours.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 17 Sep 1996 14:36:49 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Helene Northway <72370.1026@compuserve.com>
Subject: I Finally got it! <G>

{original post had no questions}

       Thanks.  Yours is the first detailed feedback I've gotten back
on the poster.  I designed it myself, with Jim Lockett then doing the
actual work of putting the darned thing together from the various bits
and pieces.  The feeling I wanted was of these old scrolls, found long,
long after the fact, and when you unroll them, looking up at the stars,
there are the faces of our characters, and the scroll tells their
stories....

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 17 Sep 1996 14:36:50 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Steve Arnott <70247.2614@compuserve.com>
Subject: B5 visibility/popularity

 Steve Arnott <70247.2614@compuserve.com> asks:
> While it's not up there with winning a Hugo, hey, every little
> bit helps, right?

       Cool, I didn't know this...thanks.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 17 Sep 1996 17:35:59 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Laurence Moroney <100546.50@compuserve.com>
Subject: Z'Ha'dum Spoilers

 Laurence Moroney <100546.50@compuserve.com> asks:
> Seems that this is going on in your story, or do you have a few
> more aces up your sleeve?

       Thanks.  The portrayal of their motives is somewhat more
elaborate, but the sense is there, and as you yourself note, there's a
certain cold logic there which can be agreed with at some level.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 17 Sep 1996 17:35:59 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Juanma Barranquero <100044.2131@compuserve.com>
Subject: >> Z'HA'DUM <<

{original post had no questions}

       From the way it was worded, it was written by someone who's
actually seen the thing, since the little moves and such described
weren't in the script.  Must be an advance copy in the UK.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 17 Sep 1996 17:36:00 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Tom Knudsen <72347.1626@compuserve.com>
Subject: I Finally got it! <G>

 Tom Knudsen <72347.1626@compuserve.com> asks:
> What does the alien text (Minbari) in the sword logo say and what
> race's script is it?

       The Minbari script on the left says the same thing as the
English sentence on the right.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 17 Sep 1996 17:39:58 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Tony Cherrington <100770.3121@compuserve.com>
Subject: Thank you from the uk

 Tony Cherrington <100770.3121@compuserve.com> asks:
> I have just watched Shadow Dancing, and I felt I had to finaly
> take the plunge and say publicly *thanks*, Have you any idea of
> what the next seven days are going to be like ?

       Thanks.  If we come even close to someday being classified as
literature, that would be a good thing; a chance to show you can tell
a quality SF story for television.  But the day they put out a Cliff's
Notes version of the series, I'm leaving for the Arctic Circle.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 18 Sep 1996 00:02:47 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Rebecca Eschliman <76072.2345@compuserve.com>
Subject: I Finally got it! <G>

 Rebecca Eschliman <76072.2345@compuserve.com> asks:
> I doubt you'll be willing to answer this until after the final
> season, but why would a Minbari/Human heraldic image be central
> to the Council of the League of Non-Aligned Worlds?

      Basically, it's the symbol that went up when the various sides
began to join under Sheridan and Delenn against the shadows.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 18 Sep 1996 00:02:49 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Rebecca Eschliman <76072.2345@compuserve.com>
Subject: B5 game?

{original post had no questions}

      No, this is another game.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 18 Sep 1996 00:02:55 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Rebecca Eschliman <76072.2345@compuserve.com>
Subject: >> Z'HA'DUM <<

 Rebecca Eschliman <76072.2345@compuserve.com> asks:
> (further paraphrase) After all, what is a halo?

      Now that's writing....
                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 18 Sep 1996 12:27:26 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: >> Z'HA'DUM <<

{original post had no questions}

       Re: my "everybody" comment...y'gotta understand, my posts here
get reposted/forwarded to at least 2-3 mailing lists, the Internet and
elsewhere, so whenever I do something that's actually stupid, or
perceived as stupid, not only do I get whomped on here, but as it
ripples out, I get to relive the experience and re-argue the arguments,
for *days*.  I'm not complaining, I knew the job was dangerous when I
took it, just point out one facet of the situation and thus my comment.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 18 Sep 1996 12:27:28 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: I Finally got it! <G>

 (blocked) asks:
> At a guess, those of us who got membership kits without posters
> will have to wait some more, yes? Is the poster shipped rolled or
> flat?

       Alas, they're shipped flat.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 18 Sep 1996 12:27:29 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Chris Hartford <101363.2270@compuserve.com>
Subject: Z'Ha'dum Spoilers

{original post had no questions}

       What Sheridan is told, in that episode, by them, concerning
their motives, is absolutely true, certainly from their point of view.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 18 Sep 1996 12:27:31 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Late "Avalon" question

 (blocked) asks:
> No -- I meant what did *Delenn* (the character in the story) do
> with the sword?

       No, you were being clear, I was just being puckish.

       Well, in theory.

       I actually haven't worked out what she did with the sword, or
who has it now.  I have several options on this, all of them
interesting, and never made the final decision.  Maybe they used it to
make the new emblem.  Lemme dwell on this.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 18 Sep 1996 12:27:33 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Helene Northway <72370.1026@compuserve.com>
Subject: I Finally got it! <G>

{original post had no questions}

       "Who will still be around to find the bottle?"

       Dick Clark.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 18 Sep 1996 16:09:21 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Late "Avalon" question

 (blocked) asks:
> so does this mean that there are really no loose ends on B5?
> only things that you are still thinking about??
> Do you know how this kind of thing pans out when you write it, or
> is it simply fortuitous /serendipitous? Or is there more in *you*
> than you know?!!

       I try not to randomly drop in significant lines without knowing
ahead of time where it's going to go, or where it has the capacity to
go.  You can't just mess with the audience that way; that was where
Twin Peaks went afoul. You just have to vary them; some things are
obviously significant, some things only become significant in hindsight
(or rerun).  It's a hard dance to dance.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 18 Sep 1996 16:09:23 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Kevin P. Kenney <104102.352@compuserve.com>
Subject: Early Word on Year 5?

 Kevin P. Kenney <104102.352@compuserve.com> asks:
> Assuming the ratings only go up in November, and considering WB's
> apparant pride in the Hugo, do you think there's any chance about
> getting the nod for year 5 any earlier than the last minute this
> year? Say, after the Broadcasters' next shindig in Vegas (early
> '97)? And have you handed out any scripting chores yet, or it this
> also waiting on Nov.? Which episode number, if so?

       It's way too early to judge the impact of any of that stuff.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 18 Sep 1996 16:09:25 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Brent Barrett <75063.3305@compuserve.com>
Subject: Z and the Q

 Brent Barrett <75063.3305@compuserve.com> asks:
> Question: Does the "explanation" in "Z'Ha'Dum" explain it all, or
> will there still be unanswered questions about the Shadows and
> Vorlons into next year?

       Well, it sorta answers all the questions...it's hard to explain
until you've seen the episode and the ones that follow.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 18 Sep 1996 16:09:26 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Necronomicon

{original post unavailable}

       Yes, I'll be there (and that was noted also in the latest
Zocalo, I checked).  Should be fun.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 18 Sep 1996 17:24:13 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: B5 in Philadelphia

{original post unavailable}

       I haven't heard anything definitive yet, but I know they're
working on it.

                                                                  jms


------------------------------



Date: 19 Sep 1996 20:56:26 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: SysOp Dupa T Parrot <70040.104@compuserve.com>
Subject: Coming Of Shadows promo

 SysOp Dupa T Parrot <70040.104@compuserve.com> asks:
> Did it take much prodding to get WB to do this or was it their
> idea?

      It was their idea.  They're impressed that we go the Hugo.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 19 Sep 1996 20:58:30 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: SysOp Adrienne Chafee <76711.2643@compuserve.com>
Subject: Ruth gets a new job

{original post had no questions}

      I missed the start of this thread...Ruth, if you see this,
congrats on making your life interesting.  Great news.  Good luck.

                                                                  jms


------------------------------



Date: 20 Sep 1996 12:49:25 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Z. Michael Milutinovic <71532.2231@compuserve.com>
Subject: Question To JMS About EA

 Z. Michael Milutinovic <71532.2231@compuserve.com> asks:
> JMS, do the people of the Earth Alliance know about the Army Of
> Light and there recent battles like Shadow Dancing?

       They've heard rumors, usually the ones furthest away from
Clark's confining influence....

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 20 Sep 1996 12:49:26 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Bernard F. Dowdy, J <76550.347@compuserve.com>
Subject: The Stars My Destination

{original post had no questions}

       I'm glad you had a chance to check it out; it's a great book.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 20 Sep 1996 12:49:27 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Ruth gets a new job

{original post unavailable}

       Whenever we step out on our own courage and dare to change our
lives to make it more in line with what we want it to be, 9 times out
of 10 it works out infinitely better than we (and others) expect.  Of
course, there's always that 10th time...but the lesson obtains.  You
can live a better life if you decide to do so and take action.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 20 Sep 1996 18:36:42 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: David Duff <106251.3535@compuserve.com>
Subject: Babylon 5

 David Duff <106251.3535@compuserve.com> asks:
> Trip to Zha,dum?
> Does Sheridan have an anti-Sheridan?

       Thanks...I imagine the wait won't be easy, but it'll be worth
it.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 20 Sep 1996 18:36:43 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Brent Barrett <75063.3305@compuserve.com>
Subject: Shadow Sleeping

 Brent Barrett <75063.3305@compuserve.com> asks:
> Or did you and just run out of time to fit it in?
> I'm curious, did you plan to show more there and just couldn't
> fit it in, given the enormous nature of the episode?

       Basically...we've got 44 or so minutes...we could've shown the
whole battle as shown, or shown Sheridan trying to sleep.  One would
have to go to make room to include the other.

                                                                  jms


------------------------------



Date: 21 Sep 1996 15:33:24 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Hart Trevor <100705.1222@compuserve.com>
Subject: JMS's AOL Homepage.

{original post had no questions}

       I deleted it; it really wasn't worth looking at, honest, I
wouldn't lie to you about this, I was just diddling about....

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 21 Sep 1996 15:33:25 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: B5 Newbie Delurks!

{original post unavailable}

       Thanks.  The online aspect gives it an almost family feel
somedays. Vaguely dysfunctional, but what can one do...

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 21 Sep 1996 15:33:26 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Season 4

{original post unavailable}

       Certainly, LoTR is one of the best examples of modern heroic
fantasy ever written.  It's just brilliant; I reread it every 3-4 years
just to walk around in that world for a while.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 21 Sep 1996 15:33:27 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Bernard F. Dowdy, J <76550.347@compuserve.com>
Subject: The Petition Worked!

{original post had no questions}

       That's terrific, congratulations, and thanks for staying with
the effort.  They do pay off.

       What's been interesting is that lately, the reruns of B5 are
pulling in numbers very close to the *original broadcast*.  Everyone at
WB has noticed this, and given the number of stations that have
recently moved B5 back into prime time, or given us back a second run,
I think they're noticing as well.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 21 Sep 1996 15:33:28 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: <Shadow Dancing> quick q

{original post unavailable}

       And then, there are just times you do it 'cause it feels more
dramatic that way....

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 21 Sep 1996 15:38:57 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Bruce Probst <71154.3171@compuserve.com>
Subject: B5 visibility/popularity

{original post had no questions}

       Yes and no.  The British SF shows are a different issue.  As
for American TV, no space-based series beyond the ST shows have gone on
for more than 3 years since Lost in Space.  Thirty years.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 21 Sep 1996 20:15:45 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Chas T Freund <75036.160@compuserve.com>
Subject: Narn Shadow Relationship

 Chas T Freund <75036.160@compuserve.com> asks:
> Or is it something else?
> If they aren't loyal to G'Kar, why not?

      Narn is somewhat factionalized itself, as is every world; there
are different followers of different denominations of sometimes similar
basic beliefs.  Catholics and Protestants are both members of the same
faith, but a Protestant doesn't recognize the power of the Pope;
neither does a Mormon, or a Lutheran.  Similarly, not everyone invests
G'Quon with the same amount of reverence or credibility.  And G'Kar can
call upon those who believe similarly to send out an expedition, but
may not have the clout in the rest of the goverment to do much more
afterward.

      And yes, initially the shadows had no interest in the Narns,
until such time as the Narns, led by G'Quon, began to engage in
sabotage and direct attacks to drive them off their homeworld.  Then
the killing started.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 22 Sep 1996 01:32:50 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Rebecca Eschliman <76072.2345@compuserve.com>
Subject: JMS in the Forefront

{original post had no questions}

      Really?  Cool...wait until the new version comes out....

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 22 Sep 1996 01:35:16 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Daniel F. Evan <104377.1433@compuserve.com>
Subject: B5 in Philadelphia

 Daniel F. Evan <104377.1433@compuserve.com> asks:
> Isn't there a way to resolve this issue?
> I know you know because" you've always been here" so what is
> causing all these problems?

      I've also gotten conflicting stories over what's happening
there; all I know for sure is that WB is working to rectify it.

                                                                  jms


------------------------------



Date: 22 Sep 1996 13:37:37 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Anthony R. Nollet <71232.2556@compuserve.com>
Subject: B5 in Philadelphia

 Anthony R. Nollet <71232.2556@compuserve.com> asks:
> P.S.: Will the early seasons of B5 be coming out on tape soon?

      We're still negotiating for the release of the tapes...last we
heard Nixon had 'em....

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 22 Sep 1996 13:37:39 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Brent Barrett <75063.3305@compuserve.com>
Subject: The Accent

 Brent Barrett <75063.3305@compuserve.com> asks:
> (Seriously, how come good guys rarely wear glasses on TV?

      I dunno what problem others have with the ides of British actors
as heroes or good guys.  Maybe they're still fighting the colonial
war....

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 22 Sep 1996 13:37:41 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Julian Suddaby <106163.653@compuserve.com>
Subject: Z'ha'dum

{original post had no questions}

      "I hate you."

      Thank you.  I try.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 22 Sep 1996 13:37:43 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Marion Harvie <101757.2744@compuserve.com>
Subject: Z'Ha'Dum

{original post had no questions}

      Thanks.  It's a lovely episode.  This is the one where, after we
watched the final audio mix playback, prompted me to say to the other
producers working on the show, "gentlemen, we have just entered
history."

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 22 Sep 1996 13:37:45 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: B5 Last ep <Z'ha'dum>

 (blocked) asks:
> I was also really expecting B5 to go, but it didn't - saving that
> up for another time???!!

      Thanks...yeah, it has some surprises, with teeth....

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 22 Sep 1996 13:37:47 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Melanie Dymond Harper <100753.754@compuserve.com>
Subject: Alligators

 Melanie Dymond Harper <100753.754@compuserve.com> asks:
> So, the question remains: was he captured, or did he volunteer?

      "Was he captured, or did he volunteer?"

      We'll have to see....

      And thanks.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 22 Sep 1996 13:45:31 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: SNOW WHITE CASTING CALL

{original post unavailable}

      From the back of the room, I would like to suggest that this is
a mind-numbingly bad idea.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 22 Sep 1996 13:45:32 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Draco <101603.2062@compuserve.com>
Subject: ZHD - Cut?

 Draco <101603.2062@compuserve.com> asks:
> Can anyone confirm if C4 have cut Z'Ha'Dum ??
> Maybe we've missed something (I've still to watch the ep again),
> but what went on after he shot at that Shadow?
>  - did he kill it, did he shoot at Morden while he was there?
> (I'm pretty sure I'd have done) And how did he get away?

      No, C4 didn't cut anything there.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 22 Sep 1996 14:50:20 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Final ep. is superb.

{original post unavailable}

      Thanks...it's a knockout, I think.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 22 Sep 1996 14:59:05 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Andrew Bradbury <100777.747@compuserve.com>
Subject:  Z'Ha'Dum 

{original post had no questions}

      Thanks.  The parapet shot was one I was very particular about, I
really wanted it to feel *high*, and impressive.  That whole sequence
is one I run again and again, it's very moving.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 22 Sep 1996 14:59:08 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Darran Williams <101656.2143@compuserve.com>
Subject: ZHD - Cut?

{original post had no questions}

      Basically, my thought was that it was just the one shadow in the
room, and there was a tussle with some others, and he started running,
made a break for it...didn't seem worth the time to show what would've
been only a few minutes of hit 'em and run.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 22 Sep 1996 14:59:10 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: The man in-between ?

{original post unavailable}

      Actually, the phrase is "the man in the middle is looking for
you."

      Justin describes himself as "a middle-man."

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 22 Sep 1996 14:59:12 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: <<Za'Ha'Dum>> Oh Boy!

 (blocked) asks:
> I look (or 'lurk'?) at the Lurkers Guide on the Web so I know
> that a forthcoming ep in S4 is called 'Whatever happened to Mr
> Garibaldi?' but I gotta know now - is he dead?
> is he having a Sinclair experience?
> what?
> Will we see Sheridan again?
>  - on this side of the Rim at least?
> Are you sure you are an atheist?

      Thank you.  (And I'm far from the last reasonable atheist on the
planet; we're just a quiet bunch, that's all.)

      As for Garibaldi and Sheridan, well, we'll have to see, won't
we?

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 22 Sep 1996 21:25:31 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Z'ha'dum cliffhanger

{original post unavailable}

      This is a spoiler message in the wrong area; suggest you move it
to 6 and delete this one.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 22 Sep 1996 21:48:52 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Kevin Wood <100337.272@compuserve.com>
Subject: Thank you from the uk

 Kevin Wood <100337.272@compuserve.com> asks:
> Do you realise it took half the evening before I was able to get
> onto the B5 web page, only to find out absolutely nothing? How can
> you do this to us?

      Thanks.  For me, waiting to hear reactions to the shows is
almost as hard as it must be to wait for them...and very pleasing when
they come.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 22 Sep 1996 21:48:54 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Publicity?

 (blocked) asks:
> Do you know if WB is going to do any kind of publicity here in
> the US for the last couple of season 3 shows because of the
> Melissa Gilbert/Bruce Boxleitner connections? Will we be seeing
> them on Entertainment Tonight promoting the show?

      I think the publicity will only come in for 322, for Melissa's
appearance there, not in anything before that.  They only promote
shows that fall within sweeps periods.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 22 Sep 1996 21:48:55 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: George Wilson <100331.723@compuserve.com>
Subject:  WoW - Z'Ha'dum 

 George Wilson <100331.723@compuserve.com> asks:
> "Have the Vorlons and Shadows foreseen the consequences of
> Sheridan's 'Leap of Faith' at the end of Z'Ha'dum?"

      I think the two sides have been too caught up in their own
agendas to realize what was happening right under their noses until it
was too late... except for Kosh, whose last traces did what they
did...for a number of reasons.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 22 Sep 1996 21:48:58 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Simon Pallett <101523.507@compuserve.com>
Subject: Season Finale

 Simon Pallett <101523.507@compuserve.com> asks:
> Well, what can I say that has not already been said?

      Thanks...the final fate of the first White Star is very moving,
like some great silver bird plunging on fire out of the sky, bringing
retribution and striking one last time.  That kind of image is a very
powerful one to me, and it works very well here.

      As for what Morden and Justin told Sheridan...I'd say it was
pretty much the truth.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 22 Sep 1996 21:49:01 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Questions for JMS

 (blocked) asks:
> Why do the Vorlon ships come out of the jumpgates backwards?
> Less painful?
> Is this "Piece" the vorlons are looking for, his living spirit?
> In all that confusion I cant remember if Garibaldi fired six
> shots or only five?

      Vorlon ships come out backwards when possible to help
decelerate.

      Pat has interesting eyes...they're slightly larger than is the
norm, and they take some getting used to.  Those eyes are one of the
things that beckoned to me to cast her...they're the eyes of a
telepath, who sees more than should be seen.  They're terrific eyes.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 22 Sep 1996 21:49:03 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: David Manders <100641.1115@compuserve.com>
Subject: Z'Ha'Dum

{original post had no questions}

      Haven't heard formally when C4 will air the fourth year...and
thanks.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 22 Sep 1996 21:49:05 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: The man in-between ?

 (blocked) asks:
> Excuse my joining in, but is it not actually " the man in between
> is looking for you."?

      Nope.  It's the man in the middle.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 22 Sep 1996 21:49:08 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Simon Grierson <100407.2075@compuserve.com>
Subject: >>Za'Ha'Dum<<

 Simon Grierson <100407.2075@compuserve.com> asks:
> So, can I ask if I am correct and John S is still alive?
> Does this have any connection to the Season 4 episode "WHatever
> happened to Mr Garibaldi"? Thridly, Julain - the "Old Guy" on
> Za'Ha'Dum is the Man in the Middle? Or is he Sheridons Equal and
> Opposite on the other side? Or is that Mr Morden?
> So what do I think of the Shadows motives?
> Has Chrstopher Franken got a bigger orchestra to work with now?
> When is Channel 4 palnning to bring B5 back next year?

      Thanks....

      Obviously the questions are better answered in the series, but I
think you'll find the answers interesting.

      As for the music, no, it's the same orchestra Chris has always
used. I've seen times when people assumed he was using synth and
wasn't.  He uses the Berlin Film Symphonic Orchestra for a goodly
amount of the work for the show.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 22 Sep 1996 21:49:10 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Za'Ha'Dum thanks

 (blocked) asks:
> Sheriden : given that the White Star has Vorlon technology, that
> Vorlon ships have some sentience and that there was a white light
> flash before the nuclear explosion, can I assume (stupid
> question, I know) that the sentient part of the White Star was
> saving itself and Sheriden by leaving the White Star early enough
> to catch the captain and dive deep enough to use the protection
> of the planet's mass? Any chance of you casting some light?
> With best wishes for next season - do I really have to wait until
> July??

      No, the White Star didn't have any substantial consciousness to
eject before impact.  It's gone.

      And thanks, on it all...G'Kar's final litany is very moving, and
the music throughout works so well...as you say, it's going to be hard
to beat.

      But that's what we do around here.  Because if we ain't pushing
it every day to get better, what's the point of living?

      Having now seen the first two finished S4 episodes...I think
people are going to be pleased.  What strikes me about the new season
is that it seems suddenly very mature, more filmic...everyone's very
excited about it here.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 22 Sep 1996 21:49:12 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Imran Naqvi <100533.273@compuserve.com>
Subject: Z'Ha'Dum

 Imran Naqvi <100533.273@compuserve.com> asks:
> What is it with you?
> What are you going to do to Ivanova next year?
> And Garibaldi?
> How on earth do I avoid eight months of spoilers?

      Thank you, and what you say is quite true: whatever else one may
say about Warner Bros., however much we may feel frustrated about the
videotape issue, or the PR, or other elements, the stone cold fact is
that they let us make this show the way we want to make it.  They don't
interfere, they don't give notes, they leave us alone.  They trust us. 
I'd rather have that trust and do the story I want, than have all 3
seasons on tape and not have it be the series I wanted to do.  If
that's the trade-off, then I take it gladly.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 22 Sep 1996 21:49:16 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: ep22 question

{original post unavailable}

      Garibaldi programmed it from the intructions given him by
Sheridan; it would've been set to explode at a certain point.  He gave
it final detonation instructions when he signaled it via his link.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 23 Sep 1996 00:37:16 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Andy Scrimgeour <100716.117@compuserve.com>
Subject: BABYLON 5 SEASON FINALE

{original post had no questions}

      The reason for the difference in air dates in the UK and US is
this:

      Here we have reruns.

      We get the broadcast schedule from WB, which makes all final
decisions on this matter.  Then the show starts airing.  We still have
post production to do, and the breaks for reruns give us time to finish
the episodes.

      C4 doesn't do reruns.  They run straight through.  So if they
began the season there the same time as the US, they'd run out of
finished episodes to air right around (thinking...) episode 10 or so. 
Then they'd have to wait.

      What C4 needs to do is figure out when the earliest is that the
final cuts can be delivered, then backtrack that to when they can
start.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 23 Sep 1996 00:42:49 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Double Bluff <<Z'hadum>>

{original post unavailable}

      One thing to also note is that when the shadows appeared, they
swarmed all OVER B5 as fast as they could, circling it without slowing
down much.  So if Draal *did* launch an offensive, it'd take out B5 in
doing so.

                                                                  jms


------------------------------



Date: 24 Sep 1996 13:52:23 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: The man in-between ?

{original post unavailable}

       Yeah, that's me...and thanks.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 24 Sep 1996 13:52:24 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Thank you from the uk

{original post had no questions}

       Thanks, it's a lovely show.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 24 Sep 1996 13:52:25 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: >>Za'Ha'Dum<<

 (blocked) asks:
> Just a thought, but was the talking bomb a nod to Dark Star?

       No.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 24 Sep 1996 13:52:29 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Martin Shaw <101642.505@compuserve.com>
Subject: Couple of Questions..

 Martin Shaw <101642.505@compuserve.com> asks:
> Is this due to some technical hitch, or is it intended to be
> someone else? Did Morden get a Fatal Sun tan?
> but what do they get out of it?
> Now the Shadows have had a rather large setback, will the Vorlons
> be prepared to intervene?

       Actually, no, that was Kosh's voice, treated the same as
always.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 24 Sep 1996 13:52:30 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Phil Morris <100602.3647@compuserve.com>
Subject: B5 Last ep <Z'ha'dum>

 Phil Morris <100602.3647@compuserve.com> asks:
> One question though: as you always start off a new season in
> 'light' mode so as to gradually introduce new viewers to the Arc,
> will you start off season 4 in 'light' mode?

       Season 4 definitely starts in dark mode.  Bigtime.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 24 Sep 1996 13:52:32 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Neville White <100335.2721@compuserve.com>
Subject: Z'Ha'Dum

 Neville White <100335.2721@compuserve.com> asks:
> what?
> I now have to wait 6+months to see what happens next in the UK???

       Thanks.  One of the things I like about the episode is the
emotional content, as it builds toward the end of the ep.  I've watched
it (in finished form) a half dozen times or more...but certain
sequences never stop being interesting.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 24 Sep 1996 13:52:34 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Marina Waring <106312.3516@compuserve.com>
Subject: Z'ha'dum

 Marina Waring <106312.3516@compuserve.com> asks:
> I was also wondering where you get the ideas from?

       Coming up with ideas is easy, as long as you know who your
characters are and what they want and what the world is like around
them.  It's like knowing what a good friend will say when they bump
their shin into the coffee table in the dark; you create any given
situation, which is itself a logical extension of the world they're in,
then drop those characters into that situation...and the story takes
care of itself.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 24 Sep 1996 13:52:41 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Shadow Dancing

{original post unavailable}

       Under SAG rules, you must put guest stars of a certain calibre
in the opening credits; also, for Melissa to take back-billing would
have been a break in her work to date elsewhere.  We had no choice in
this, it's all stuff regulated by the guilds.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 24 Sep 1996 13:52:42 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject:  Z'ha'dum

 (blocked) asks:
> 1) Why do the Shadows and Vorlons interfere ,what do the get out
> of it that they are willing to invest aeons of time and risk
> their lives ? 2) The Shadows and Vorlons were supposed to be equal
> in their approaches, was this a mutual accord between the two, or
> did it involve other first ones ? 3) What's greener about the
> greener pastures the other first ones have gone to ?

       All those get answered in the first part of season four, so I'd
rather leave it to that.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 24 Sep 1996 13:52:44 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: David Duff <106251.3535@compuserve.com>
Subject: Season Three.

 David Duff <106251.3535@compuserve.com> asks:
> When is it coming back!!!!!!?

       I don't know yet when S4 will beginning its run on C4; I'd
guess sometime in the late spring, around the same time it began this
season plus or minus a few weeks.

       And thanks....

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 24 Sep 1996 13:52:47 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: PETER WADSWORTH <106013.1551@compuserve.com>
Subject: To Mr. JMS.

 PETER WADSWORTH <106013.1551@compuserve.com> asks:
> How long ago did you get the idea though?
> Will she be coming back in the future or what?
> How many more seasons do you see B5 going on for?

       Thank you.  The basic storyline for B5 was conceived by me back
around 1986, the pilot movie was written in 1987, and it took us 5
years to sell the show.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 24 Sep 1996 13:52:50 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Darran Williams <101656.2143@compuserve.com>
Subject: Za'Ha'Dum thanks

 Darran Williams <101656.2143@compuserve.com> asks:
> He wondered how do the Shadows build anything with only their
> little claws to help them ?

       The other crew of the Icarus shown on Z'ha'dum were all done
CGI.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 24 Sep 1996 13:52:51 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Season Finale

{original post unavailable}

       Two different things...the allies of the shadows can know about
us, can have used influence to start infiltrating the Psi Corps, long
before we found out about them.  And bear in mind that Earth is not
monolithic; the FBI may not know what the CIA is doing.  That some in
the Psi Corps may have had something going on there doesn't mean anyone
from IPX knew about it.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 24 Sep 1996 13:52:53 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: James & Deb's <101355.3704@compuserve.com>
Subject: Z'ha,dum

 James & Deb's <101355.3704@compuserve.com> asks:
> Joe, Just a quick question after watching your most amazing
> episode ever.What happened to all the ships that were ment to be
> guarding Babylon 5.All i could see used was the star furieries?

       Most would've been getting repaired from their recent
engagement. And the shadows phased in too close to B5 for either ship
to ship combat, or anything from Epsilon 3.  Any attack on them
would've also destroyed B5.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 24 Sep 1996 13:52:55 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Richard M. Perry <76461.2737@compuserve.com>
Subject: Necronomicon

 Richard M. Perry <76461.2737@compuserve.com> asks:
> Is there anything special you plan on bringing with you?

       I tend to bring music videos and bloopers, some trailers/clips,
but no finished episodes, as WB doesn't allow screenings in front of
large audiences.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 24 Sep 1996 13:52:57 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Michael Beemer <71551.1670@compuserve.com>
Subject: Walkabout ?

 Michael Beemer <71551.1670@compuserve.com> asks:
> I *love* those little moments of synchronicity where I'm feeling
> *exactly* the same thing as the characters - the three Shadow
> vessels fade out ("bug out?" Now, a question - is the success of
> this operation what caused the Shadows to put Anna into play? Did
> this prove that Sheridan had to be dealt with *now*?

       It's certainly gotten their attention...but it's the events in
"Shadow Dancing" that tipped them into moving directly.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 24 Sep 1996 13:53:01 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Coming of Shadows PR

{original post had no questions}

       Thanks...we'll take all the help we can get.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 24 Sep 1996 13:53:02 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Is she toast? (322 spoil

 (blocked) asks:
> Sheridan, I'm not gonna ask you about Justin or Morden or even
> Garibaldi - but Anna has definetly been reduced to her component
> molecules, hasn't she?

       She's an ex-Sheridan.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 24 Sep 1996 14:16:46 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Neil Plucknett <101371.1144@compuserve.com>
Subject: Sheridans survival

 Neil Plucknett <101371.1144@compuserve.com> asks:
> (1) Given that the white star was about to hit dead centre with 2
> planet busters on-board, why did an echo of Kosh's voice tell
> Sheridan to jump down a dirty great hole? (2) Why did the shadow
> cruiser hijack Garibaldi c/w Starfury and take it back to the
> homeworld ?

       Well, it was either jump or get vaporized....

       In that sense, as someone else once pointed out, Sheridan is a
hero in the Heinleinian tradition.  He does the logical thing, whatever
that is, to survive.  "Okay, I'm about to get vaporized...but if that
hole is several miles deep, it might shield me and keep me alive for
another 10 seconds. Yes, there's the *splat* at the end problem, but
I'll have 10 seconds in which to figure out that problem...."

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 24 Sep 1996 14:16:47 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Anthony Hughes <100277.3720@compuserve.com>
Subject: Mistakes in <Z'ha'dum.>

{original post had no questions}

       The shadows entered through a different door/entrance; it was
to the right of the room, which would've adjoined the room next door. 
Anna and John came through the door on camera left.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 24 Sep 1996 14:16:48 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Christopher Harrison <101712.2401@compuserve.com>
Subject: Z'ha'dum doors

 Christopher Harrison <101712.2401@compuserve.com> asks:
> Did anyone else notice that those stone like doors on Z'ha'dum
> sound rather like the doors in the game Quake?

       It's just a sound of stone grinding on stone.  With a slight
animal like sound, as though entering someone's maw.  Which is what I
wanted.

                                                                  jms


------------------------------



Date: 24 Sep 1996 21:33:39 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Slight Fan Club panic

{original post unavailable}

      I'll need a last name so I can personally have Jim check.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 24 Sep 1996 21:33:41 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Neil Plucknett <101371.1144@compuserve.com>
Subject: Sheridans survival

{original post unavailable}

      Well, given that Garibaldi is any number of light years away at
the moment at which Sheridan is dropping, I'd say any attempt to arrive
before Sheridan would hit bottom would be less than useless.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 24 Sep 1996 21:33:44 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Brent Barrett <75063.3305@compuserve.com>
Subject: A Rollercoaster

{original post had no questions}

      Thanks.  An emotional rollercoaster is a good image for that
episode; it takes you in every direction and then just drops you.

      Re: the Revelations scene...we actually shot that entire
sequence, with the notion of possibly re-editing "Revelations" and
inserting the Melissa piece instead...sort of TV by way of soviet
revisionism...and of course it was *always* that way...what other
version was there?

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 24 Sep 1996 21:42:07 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Fiona McKenzie <100705.2062@compuserve.com>
Subject: White Star (K'Z'D)

{original post unavailable}

      Who said they were speaking English?  In a WW II movie, when you
go to the Germans, you can understand what they're saying on the
premise that yes, it's German, but we're hearing it as English.  On the
other hand, if Garibaldi programmed them, then they may have been in
English...there's no way to tell exactly.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 25 Sep 1996 01:46:53 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Season Finale

{original post unavailable}

      The building was a lot bigger in the book than it should've
been, more like a quonset hut arrangment hastily erected.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 25 Sep 1996 01:46:55 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Season Finale

{original post unavailable}

      Well, I don't know if the shadow pilot was aware of the Psi
Corps research installation...they're not really aware of much of
*anything*, except their orders...I'd just suggest that there may be
something beneath that particular installation, and a reason they built
it there.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 25 Sep 1996 01:49:10 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Christopher Harrison <101712.2401@compuserve.com>
Subject: 1/3 and 2/3 and the rest

{original post had no questions}

      No, the First Ones, Vorlons and Shadows aren't parents in any
sense of the word...we all evolved on our own, there's no common
genetics, and they didn't seed life here or elsewhere.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 25 Sep 1996 13:29:29 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Alan Mulvie <100566.1444@compuserve.com>
Subject: White Star (K'Z'D)

 Alan Mulvie <100566.1444@compuserve.com> asks:
> " Who said they were speaking English?

       Yes, if you have a translater in the room...but if you have two
Narns speaking in a room, they're not going to need a translator in
there with them.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 25 Sep 1996 13:29:30 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Slight Fan Club panic

{original post had no questions}

       I checked with Jim's elves, and I'm told yours went out either
Monday or Tuesday.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 25 Sep 1996 13:29:31 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Dale A. Wieber <73141.1332@compuserve.com>
Subject: B5 Club Help

{original post had no questions}

       Jim says he got your change of address after it went out; he's
now waiting a few days to see if it comes back to us, or gets forwarded
on to you.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 25 Sep 1996 19:04:59 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Z'Ha'Dum

{original post unavailable}

      Thanks.  Generally, I'm here for both kinds of comments...there
are brickbats, and occasional roses, and you have to learn to take them
both with a fair amount of equanimity.  Unless they're just simply
being unfair and malicious, at which point you simply take their heads
off and move on.

      But in general, I've found the criticisms here to be
even-handed, fair and often I agree with them.  The roses sustain one
between brickbat festivals.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 25 Sep 1996 19:05:02 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Phil Morris <100602.3647@compuserve.com>
Subject: Those final words .....

{original post had no questions}

      Thanks, Andreas did a terrific job on the end monologue.  Very
moving.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 25 Sep 1996 19:05:05 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: colin heaps <100622.3610@compuserve.com>
Subject: Starburst article

 colin heaps <100622.3610@compuserve.com> asks:
> So what happens??

      Thanks; I think I have that issue.

      Larry DiTillio made the point, while on the show, that some SF
fans reared on ST expect everyone to talk like English earls, very
proper.  We go for vernacular every time.  I like the rough edges, the
hesitations, the stumbles.  In editing 402 the other day, there's
several takes to choose from in a particular scene, but I picked the
one where the actor slightly stumbled over the line, because it was at
the heat of the moment, and in that kind of situation, we all get
flustered.  It made it feel more real.

      Slang and idiom have been with us forever, and always will be. 
Now, on the other hand, I don't go full-tilt bozo with it, by peppering
the dialogue with lots of techtalk and futureslang because I think it
becomes intrusive. So we try to find a balance.  Some people don't like
it, and like their SF to all sound the same.  That's fine.  Tastes
vary.

      Also, I use some dialogue styles that lean toward the
theatrical, what you'd see on the stage, or hear in a radio drama. 
Other times I'm right in the gutter.  You use different tools for
different jobs.  My influences are from Rod Serling and Charles
Beaumont and Norman Corwin and Ray Bradbury, so you're going to hear
those colors from time to time, and because you don't hear a lot of
that particular style in TV these days, some people think it's 
bad...no, it's just a different approach to dialogue.

      Look at Harold Pinter, then look at Christopher Fry, then look
at Joe Orton.  Between just those three you've got three very stylized,
consistent approaches to dialogue, not like the other two at all, and
between them more diversity than in a hundred TV shows.  In theater,
which is where I cut my teeth, it's *okay* to have dialogue that's
somewhat stylized, or a bit more formal, a bit more literate, or
whatever.  In TeeVee it's all gotta be the same.  To which I say...why?

      (I've also made the mental assumption of a return to a new
formality in 2260, since styles go in and out of fashion.  People use
the word Mr. and Ms. more often, there's a more formal stance with
people you often get when a culture comes out of a major war, as we did
after WW2.)

      But dialogue tastes are utterly individual; what works for one
may not and likely will not work for someone else.  And that's okay. 
That's as it should be.  As long as the totality works.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 26 Sep 1996 00:12:15 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: David Belt <72142.1365@compuserve.com>
Subject: I Found Demon Knight!

 David Belt <72142.1365@compuserve.com> asks:
> So where do I send the books?
> Do you have any children?

      Mail can come to me at:

      14431 Ventura Boulevard, Suite 260, Sherman Oaks, CA 91423.

      No kids; they'd be redundent.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 26 Sep 1996 00:12:16 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Brent Barrett <75063.3305@compuserve.com>
Subject: Those Darned Spheres

 Brent Barrett <75063.3305@compuserve.com> asks:
> Is it?
> And, if it is, why is it?
> Was it shot for each episode?
> Since each was supposed to be of the exact same event, why risk
> getting them different each time?

      Sometimes there are practical considerations in the overall
staging; when we shot the flash-forward, Melissa wasn't there, so when
she was, there was some interest in restaging things.

                                                                  jms


------------------------------



Date: 26 Sep 1996 11:34:39 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Brent Barrett <75063.3305@compuserve.com>
Subject: Surely Serling?

 Brent Barrett <75063.3305@compuserve.com> asks:
> Am I correct?
> Is that a Serling line you've honored us with?
> Am I just nuts?

       No, it's not from anything I'm aware of, though it's a concept
that seems very natural.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 26 Sep 1996 11:34:40 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Phil Morris <100602.3647@compuserve.com>
Subject: Those final words .....

 Phil Morris <100602.3647@compuserve.com> asks:
> Or maybe it was just the lighting?

       Probably the lighting.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 26 Sep 1996 11:34:41 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: G'Kar as Shadow ally?

{original post unavailable}

       I think that reasoning can be applied to any side.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 26 Sep 1996 16:51:47 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: B5 Tapes

{original post unavailable}

       It just ain't gonna move WB to release the tapes; we're
negotiating to do them ourselves.  WB Home Video almost never releases
TV series, mainly movies.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 26 Sep 1996 16:51:48 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: 322 Transcript

 (blocked) asks:
> Trying to get this episode straight in my mind, I made a
> transcript of the episode from when Sheridan enters Justin's
> quarters to the end(Obsessive? So, can I do this?

       Yes, it would be a definite copyright issue to post that much
material without authorization.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 26 Sep 1996 16:51:49 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Robin L. Small <76640.2012@compuserve.com>
Subject: Perks of the FanClub

 Robin L. Small <76640.2012@compuserve.com> asks:
> Now that I'm a member of the b5fc, how do I get the extra perks
> on 'the station'??? is there someone I can e-mail to ask about
> it???

       Well, you can email John Copeland about it at pigdog13@aol.com,
but basically, we're still waiting on approval from WB before putting
the new areas on-line, including a dedicated chat server and the Gold
Channel area, which will be for FC members *only*, whether they choose
to take up residence on the station or not, which has behind the scenes
photos I've taken, and my personal journal from the filming of most of
a season.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 26 Sep 1996 16:54:47 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Scott Baker <76072.1744@compuserve.com>
Subject: ATTN JMS: A B5 Novel???

 Scott Baker <76072.1744@compuserve.com> asks:
> Indeed in May of this year you posted an excellent dissertation
> on writting in general and writting B5 in particular, and I was
> wondering when all of this is over, and after you take your long
> nap, if you were going to publish the scripts as a novel? Do you
> have any advice for a wouldbe writter?

       Publishing the scripts in book form is something that I'll have
to consider later, there will probably have to be negotiations with WB
over it.

       There's no real advice I can give to an aspiring writer that
would mean a damn except to write, keep writing, keep sending it out,
and don't stop.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 26 Sep 1996 20:34:39 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Hart Trevor <100705.1222@compuserve.com>
Subject: Slight Fan Club panic

{original post had no questions}

      Try a direct line to jplb5@aol.com, and if that doesn't work,
lemme know.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 26 Sep 1996 20:34:41 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Scott Baker <76072.1744@compuserve.com>
Subject: ATTN JMS: A B5 Novel???

 Scott Baker <76072.1744@compuserve.com> asks:
> If I may ask, what do you mean when you reference writting
> "tools" you've developed, and how do you know when there working?

      Tools are tools...learning how to use narrative in a scene, and
narration over a scene, as different things...using visual
counterpoint to a scene...different kinds of exposition, and ways to
present exposition so that it doesn't *feel* like exposition...it's all
intuitive.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 26 Sep 1996 20:53:29 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: All 
Subject: B5ers on SF Vortex

      As a general advisory: tomorrow on the Sci Fi Channel's new
show, SF Vortex, you will find Jerry Doyle, Bruce Boxleitner and B5
producer John Copeland (on his return visit, the second of three, he's
becoming so popular there that we're now nominating him for resident
Media Sex God).  Look for them toward the latter half of the program.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 27 Sep 1996 01:40:53 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Season 3 Title Sequence

{original post unavailable}

      The new soundtrack should be out in November sometime.

                                                                  jms


------------------------------



Date: 29 Sep 1996 15:44:50 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Perks of the FanClub

{original post unavailable}

      Yes, you need Netscape 2.0 (or compatible) to get past the demos
screen.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 29 Sep 1996 15:44:51 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Alan L. Ravitch <73627.3126@compuserve.com>
Subject: Perks of the FanClub

 Alan L. Ravitch <73627.3126@compuserve.com> asks:
> Next move is?

      Next move is, I go to Jim and ask where your stuff is.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 29 Sep 1996 15:44:53 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: B5 Calendars

 (blocked) asks:
> Do you think it would be bad etiquete to ask Bruce if he could
> pass them along?

      Yeah, they're great; a UK company is doing a B5 calendar for
1997, which should be out shortly.

      Generally one does not give cast member A a parcel for cast
member B; mainly because it's never just one person who wants to do
this, and you can end up with 15-50 items to bring back with you.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 29 Sep 1996 15:44:57 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Chris Croughton (UK) <100014.3217@compuserve.com>
Subject: B5 Tapes

 Chris Croughton (UK) <100014.3217@compuserve.com> asks:
> Weird or what?

      There's always been more of a sell-through market in the UK on
tapes, so that helps.  But the bottom-line problem is that WB Video
mainly only handles guaranteed big sale stuff like their movies.  You
very rarely see ANY tv show sold on cassette from WB Home Video.  I
rather suspect they think TeeVee is beneath their notice.  We may call
in Jimmy Carter to see if he can work out a release of the hostages.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 29 Sep 1996 15:44:58 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Eric Baker <76600.2605@compuserve.com>
Subject: USENET SFWA post

 Eric Baker <76600.2605@compuserve.com> asks:
> Not SFWA surely?

      Organizationally, no, SFWA doesn't make a big deal about who
sold what copies, but it *is* a point of status within SFWA -- selling
authors tend to get more attention than non-selling authors, that's
understandable -- and within the greater SF establishment.

      And yes, Norman could win a Nebula...I only used the word
"theoretically" to indicate that his work does fall within the correct
parameters (prose, SF, book form) to be nominated, but that the odds
of such a book winning would be slim at best unless the books made a
HUGE change in direction.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 29 Sep 1996 15:45:02 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: David Kuhn <73532.741@compuserve.com>
Subject: Sheridans survival

 David Kuhn <73532.741@compuserve.com> asks:
> How could Sheridan pick up enough terminal velosity to reach that
> hole before the White Star blew and released 1 - 1.2 gigatons of
> nuclear devistation? Now I have to wait till the October 28th
> Satelite feed for a new epsiode??!!

      Well, if you hadn't spoiled yourself, you could enjoy new
episodes NOW with the rest of the country, starting this week, but
noooooo, you had to go and jump the gun, well you've made your bed,
young man, now you have to sleep in it.

      And there are shadows underneath it.

      Sleep tight.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 29 Sep 1996 15:45:04 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Gayle S. Stever <103202.3163@compuserve.com>
Subject: Z'Ha'Dum questions

 Gayle S. Stever <103202.3163@compuserve.com> asks:
> Were the people living on Grey 17 prisoners there or were they
> staying there by choice?

      Depends on your definition, but basically, they were there as
part of this cult...but any good cult leader knows you should make it
just a *bit* hard for them to get out.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 29 Sep 1996 15:45:07 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Delenn and Sheridan

 (blocked) asks:
> Did you create that idea or was it taken from some other religion
> or philosophy?

      As far as I *know*, at least, that bit about seeing your true
face revealed as you sleep is something I came up with on my own. 
There's just something I like about it, and if you've ever watched
someone's face while they're sleeping, you understand.

      Though one person did comment, "So a man's true face is all
mushed up against the pillow and drooling?"

      We don't talk anymore.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 29 Sep 1996 15:45:09 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: The man in-between ?

{original post unavailable}

      Yep.  I checked.  I screwed up in my comment.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 29 Sep 1996 15:45:11 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Bancroft Gracey <100532.1747@compuserve.com>
Subject: ep22 question

 Bancroft Gracey <100532.1747@compuserve.com> asks:
> BTW, were the 'creatures' we saw - the one Sheridan shot at & the
> pair behind Anna in the tunnel - the actual Shadows, or more of
> their (biomechanical?) servants?

      No, those were definitely shadows.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 29 Sep 1996 15:45:13 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Those final words .....

{original post unavailable}

      It left me rather optimistic, yes...and generally quite pleased.
I wanted to sneak a peek at the reaction without being seen...until
somebody put the camera on me.  Suddenly I felt like Mussolini standing
in the balcony about to address a crowd, and moved away as soon as I
could.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 29 Sep 1996 15:45:15 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Arwel Parry <100336.623@compuserve.com>
Subject: Z'ha'dum - sneaky!!

 Arwel Parry <100336.623@compuserve.com> asks:
> It was only on my 6th viewing of "Z'ha'dum" today (the S4C
> transmission) that I noticed that when Kosh appears in the mirror
> behind Sheridan, he says "If you go to Z'ha'dum, will you die?" 
> Were you telling us that even the Vorlons don't know everything,
> or setting us up for eight months of uncertainty and doubt?

      No, he says "you will die."  Very odd...check it again.  We used
the same audio track from before.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 29 Sep 1996 16:00:56 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Double Bluff <<Z'hadum>>

{original post unavailable}

      Nope, there was a very specific reason why Garibaldi was picked
up, and there's a suggestion of it in what Justin says at one point to
Sheridan.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 29 Sep 1996 21:40:34 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: SysOp Dupa T Parrot <70040.104@compuserve.com>
Subject: Sheridans survival

 SysOp Dupa T Parrot <70040.104@compuserve.com> asks:
> Do Shadows go "bump" in the night?
> Or are they more of a "ping"?

      They're silent.

      That's what makes them so scary.

      If you hear them, you're fine, but if you hear *nothing*....

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 29 Sep 1996 21:40:36 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Bancroft Gracey <100532.1747@compuserve.com>
Subject: ep22 question

{original post had no questions}

      They're also in the main title, and we've seen them before
elsewhere several times.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 29 Sep 1996 21:40:39 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Dr John A Purvis <100341.1147@compuserve.com>
Subject: Double Bluff <<Z'hadum>>

 Dr John A Purvis <100341.1147@compuserve.com> asks:
> ?

      That's correct.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 29 Sep 1996 21:40:41 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Darran Williams <101656.2143@compuserve.com>
Subject: Double Bluff <<Z'hadum>>

 Darran Williams <101656.2143@compuserve.com> asks:
> Question: I don't know whether anyone has already asked this but
> was Justin a crew member of the Icarus ?

      No, he was assigned there later.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 29 Sep 1996 21:40:44 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Ivanova and the Raven

{original post unavailable}

      No, the critter wasn't anything to do with the Exogenesis
creatures; and no, Ivanvoa does not have an implanted personality.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 29 Sep 1996 21:44:14 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: NEW SIMM GROUP FOR B5

{original post unavailable}

      Be advised that your simm is, insofar as I know, unlicensed and
unauthorized, and be further advised that WB has shut down other such
unlicensed and unapproved simms.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 30 Sep 1996 00:58:28 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: All 
Subject: B5 T-Shirts

      As well as going on about unlicensed B5 products, a number of
folks have been asking for info on what IS authorized.  Hence, this
note....

      One of the most popular items here at the B5 stage are the
t-shirts made by All-U.  They're color, on black, but done so in a way
that the ink and coloration isn't thick, but feels very natural with
the fabric.  They look great and wear well over time.  (They are also
the only ones making *long-sleeve* B5 t-shirts.)  We order about 3-4
cases at the start of each season, and by Christmas they're all gone. 
The crew loves 'em, and many of the cast also wear them.

      Anyway, if you'd like more info, you can order the shirts from
All-U at 1-800-424-ALLU.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 30 Sep 1996 00:58:31 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Rebecca Eschliman <76072.2345@compuserve.com>
Subject: Drink to Me Only...

{original post had no questions}

      I can only conclude that I'm a smarter guy than I'd thought....

                                                                  jms


------------------------------



Date: 30 Sep 1996 17:59:00 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Delenn and Sheridan

 (blocked) asks:
> .....so when were YOU talking to my wife?

       Do you have any idea the kind of restraint that has to be used
when confronted with a straight line like that?  I think I hurt myself.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 30 Sep 1996 17:59:02 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Double Bluff <<Z'hadum>>

 (blocked) asks:
> Could I please prod you to post the song lyrics from Walkabout
> sometime soon? Pretty please, and a virtual slice of Rosie's
> chocolate raspberry cake???

       Yeah, eventually I'll upload the lyrics, it's something I've
meant to do for a while, I've just been distracted lately.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 30 Sep 1996 17:59:04 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: NEW SIMM GROUP FOR B5

 (blocked) asks:
> How will the forth coming B5 role playing game, supposedly being
> created be Chameleon Eclectic Games, be effected by copyrights? 
> Will everyone who runs a campaign need to be licensed and
> authorized by WB <which seems a bit rediculous, but seems to be
> in effect what you are saying here> or is it covered by the game
> company's authorization? Furthermore what would happen if someone
> were to run an online game (say in GO RPGAMES) using these rules?

       The use of the Chameleon game is fully covered by their
license.  If one is having online games using that, for which users are
paying access time, that's something I don't know.  I'll have to find
out.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 30 Sep 1996 17:59:05 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: David Kuhn <73532.741@compuserve.com>
Subject: Sheridans survival

{original post had no questions}

       I think WB does something to the tapes during the transfer in
which they insert the commercials that degrades the sound quality
slightly.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 30 Sep 1996 17:59:07 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Framing a shot

 (blocked) asks:
> I was wondering when your shooting do you frame the shot for the
> best possible 16:9 widescreen ratio image and then get the best
> pan and scan from that, or do you always go for the best 4:3
> image and just make sure that there are no unwanted booms etc in
> the expanded 16:9 frame ? Is it the same process for the CGI
> sequences ?

       We slide it back and forth.  Some shots are composed for
narrow, some for the wider aspect ratio.  Sometimes a character's face
is somewhat off center or out of frame for that reason.  It's whatever
looks best per shot.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 30 Sep 1996 17:59:10 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: B5 Tapes

{original post unavailable}

       Can't.  And even if you could, you couldn't play them on
American VHS players.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 30 Sep 1996 17:59:13 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: B5 Last ep <Z'ha'dum>

{original post unavailable}

       Nope.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 30 Sep 1996 17:59:14 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: NEW SIMM GROUP FOR B5

{original post unavailable}

       "What can they do, sue me?"

       Yup.  They've shut down several others doing this that way.

       "C'mon, like they're gonna sue a 17 year old."

       Nope, they'll just sue your parents.

       And bear in mind, you don't have to sue someone to get a
restraining order against them...which is what WB did to a couple of
other unlicensed SIMMS.  You (or your parents) just end up spending a
lot of time in court.

       Don't mess with the Shield.  Trust me on this.

                                                                  jms

------------------------------

Date: 30 Sep 1996 17:59:16 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Chris Croughton (UK) <100014.3217@compuserve.com>
Subject: B5 Tapes

 Chris Croughton (UK) <100014.3217@compuserve.com> asks:
> How's season 4 going?

       Season 4's going well; just about to settle down and watch the
director's cut of 403.

                                                                  jms