lurkers-guide/ftp/CompuServe/cs96-10

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

Date: 01 Oct 1996 12:55:13 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: NEW SIMM GROUP FOR B5

{original post had no questions}

       Best to drop a note to ken_parks@warnerbros.com and ask
directly of the source at WB legal.  That way you'll be copacetic from
the start.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 01 Oct 1996 12:55:14 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Hug Mr. Ellison for me

{original post unavailable}

       Thanks on Harlan's behalf, and I'll send him a copy of this.  I
think he'll be pleaed....

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 01 Oct 1996 12:55:15 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Brent Barrett <75063.3305@compuserve.com>
Subject: Season Four: 403

 Brent Barrett <75063.3305@compuserve.com> asks:
> When you're done, could you let me know (generally, of course
> :-), how you feel it came out?

       They're all coming out nicely...very different feel this
season, which takes some getting used to, but overall, very very nice.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 01 Oct 1996 12:55:18 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Brent Barrett <75063.3305@compuserve.com>
Subject: The Plunge

 Brent Barrett <75063.3305@compuserve.com> asks:
> My God, it's a jump gate, isn't it?
> Only question is, *where* does it lead?

       Nope.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 01 Oct 1996 12:55:20 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: jms Songwriter ?

 (blocked) asks:
> Is "Walkabout" the first new episode back from the long reruns?
> I saw it on dish but wondered if new shows started the week
> before?

       No, Walkabout is the first of the final 5 held back from year
3.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 01 Oct 1996 12:55:22 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Alan Mulvie <100566.1444@compuserve.com>
Subject: Z'ha'dum - sneaky!!

 Alan Mulvie <100566.1444@compuserve.com> asks:
> Shall I sample it and upload it to the forum, incase some
> technician has been mucking about behind your back? Maybe ol'
> glowing eyes is back?

       I've checked it, and I think it was just the actor sliding a
vowel to make it clearer; "if you go to Z'ha'dum (ah) you will die."

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 01 Oct 1996 12:55:24 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Double Bluff <<Z'hadum>>

{original post unavailable}

       Wait.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 01 Oct 1996 12:55:26 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Mark Sloan <100407.3462@compuserve.com>
Subject: <<Z'ha'dum>> - a query

 Mark Sloan <100407.3462@compuserve.com> asks:
> So, who or what were piloting the Shadow vessels which were seen
> on Mars? More 'servants' (like the one seen - or rather NOT seen -
> in 'LD')? Was anyone guarding the Shadows while they slept?

       Yes, they had some of their servants and allies taking care of
things; whenever a signal was sent, and a ship found, they'd dispatch
one of the standby ships to go and pick it up, slowly regathering their
forces.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 01 Oct 1996 12:55:29 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Shadow Dancing

{original post unavailable}

       No, since it was my idea re: Melissa.  It was a scheduling
situation involving availabilities.  If it wasn't her, it would've had
to be someone else...so I figured, why not?

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 01 Oct 1996 12:55:32 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: USENET SFWA post

{original post unavailable}

       All good points...might even be true.  I have nothing to do
with 'em anymore, so it's moot in any event.

       The new season starts this week.

       There's one other aspect to this whole thing which was brought
home to me in something Ellen Datlow said on MSNBC the other week.  She
pointed out, with deadly accuracy, that once upon a time, movies tended
to mine SF novels for their stories.  Now, it's movies and TV that
drive novels, with endless ST books, books based on movies,
novelizations, the whole Star Wars Empire stuff, on and on and on. 
You'd think that an organization of SF writers would want to be more
involved in the mass media that was changing the way their field buys
books, and what they buy, since it has a direct effect on their 
livelihood.

       By working *with* the media, they would have a better chance of
helping SF film and TV producers understand what SF is, and what books
are out there they can option.  That could lead to more movies based on
books, more option money for writers, and so on.  It's a provincial
attitude that is going to continue to do them great harm in the long
run.  But SFWA, for all its SF trappings, is remarkably short-sighted
when it comes to alternate storytelling technologies.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 01 Oct 1996 20:19:22 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: NEW SIMM GROUP FOR B5

{original post unavailable}

      Send a note to ken_parks@warnerbros.com and inquire directly of
legal affairs.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 01 Oct 1996 20:19:23 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: CHEK Victoria

{original post unavailable}

      There's very little we can do about local situations such as
this; the main contract period where they have to follow the schedule
is during new episodes.  During reruns, they're often all over the map.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 01 Oct 1996 20:19:25 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Julia E. Linthicum <73114.3530@compuserve.com>
Subject: SF Vortex on SCI-FI

{original post had no questions}

      Yeah, they're all remarkably unrestrained.  Which is great.  It
makes coming to work each day a fascinating and terrifying
proposition....

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 01 Oct 1996 20:19:27 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Dr John A Purvis <100341.1147@compuserve.com>
Subject: <<Z'ha'dum>> - a query

{original post had no questions}

      I'll do that in the show, rather than blowing it out here.

      Otherwise what's the point of making the show?

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 01 Oct 1996 20:19:29 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Grey 17

{original post had no questions}

      Thanks.  I think it's about 3/4ths of a good episode.  Where it
falls down, for me, is the Zarg...I just have this constant desire to
go to everyone's house and personally apologize....

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 01 Oct 1996 20:19:32 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: S.G. Menzel <100537.1517@compuserve.com>
Subject: Missing Scene? SPOILER!

 S.G. Menzel <100537.1517@compuserve.com> asks:
> Was there a something missing inbetween these two scenes?

      He was in close quarters with a small group, and fought his way
out. This picks up right after that.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 01 Oct 1996 23:55:53 -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:
> Did the books arrive?

      Yes, and they're going back in a few days.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 01 Oct 1996 23:55:55 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Avery C. Innis <74642.3366@compuserve.com>
Subject: New Season HELP!

 Avery C. Innis <74642.3366@compuserve.com> asks:
> Thank goodness they are just as enjoyable the second time around,
> but when do I get the opportunity to view new material?

      This Thursday the new season starts on KCOP.

                                                                  jms


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



Date: 02 Oct 1996 13:26:18 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: S J NICHOLSON <76574.1663@compuserve.com>
Subject: Walkabout!

{original post had no questions}

       Thanks.  It came out pretty well; it's exceeded by Shadow
Dancing, Z'ha'dum and Rock, but it ain't bad.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 02 Oct 1996 13:26:19 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: The Plunge

{original post had no questions}

       Actually, the funny thing is, I kinda hinted at the answer a
long time ago in a message here...but so far no one's put two and two
together. So there we are.  But you only need wait a while to see it.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 02 Oct 1996 13:26:20 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Shane S. Shellenbarger <104305.3404@compuserve.com>
Subject: B5 Tapes

 Shane S. Shellenbarger <104305.3404@compuserve.com> asks:
> Joe: Have you written all of the 4th season episodes to date?

       Er...yes.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 02 Oct 1996 13:26:24 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: USENET SFWA post

{original post unavailable}

       I think your points are valid...the question, for me, is *why*
they are valid.  Yes, what you describe is what the studio folks
*think* is SF. Because they don't know any better.

       Lemme take this away from SF for a moment to make the point. 
For the last 45 years, the networks and studios thought cop shows were
all of a piece. If you really sit back and look at them objectively,
most cop shows were more adventure shoot-em-ups than anything else, the
bad guy has a plot, the good guys try and stop him...they had very
little bearing on reality. The occasional exception, like a Hill Street
Blues, was just that, an exception and not repeated.  The networks
thought that's what a cop show WAS.  Police Story and Jake and the
Fatman and Cannon and all the rest.

       Then along came a book...Homicide: Life in the Killing Streets,
which was trotted over to the networks with startling speed.  It was a
gritty, inside look at how this stuff *really* works.  And as with one
voice, the networks said, "Oh, so THAT'S how it works," and then you
instantly had the Homicide TV series, and NYPD Blue and others
fast-tracking to be real cop shows.

       They can course correct *real* fast if you know how to approach
them. Do the studio heads *really* appreciate cop stories now more than
before? No, not really, their eyes are still on the bottom line of
finances.  But they now allow these sorts of stories to be done.

       You can do the same thing with SF.  We've done a little of that
with B5, and now there are more shows coming up with long-range story
arcs, from Space Cases to Dark Skies to others now in development. 
We've done stories in aresa not usually considered covered by SF, from
religion to the death penalty to other areas.  We've educated.  Not a
lot, I'm not exaggerating our influence, but a little...and that's a
start.  More could be done if the SF publishing community got off its
butt and addressed the media rather than running from it or deriding it
or simply ignoring it, in the belief that if they close their eyes it's
not there anymore.

       SF writers, more than anyone else, should understand the
dangers of not keeping up with changes in technology in the areas in
which you work.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 02 Oct 1996 17:20:09 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Juanma Barranquero <100044.2131@compuserve.com>
Subject: Two comments

 Juanma Barranquero <100044.2131@compuserve.com> asks:
>  - Why did you use Jack the Ripper as a character?
> I mean, are you fascinated by the story of JtR (as many of us
> do), or simply you used him for dramatic effect?

       I used Jack because he was perfect for that particular job,
which was what the Vorlons had decided as well.  Simple as that.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 02 Oct 1996 17:20:10 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Shadow Dancing

{original post had no questions}

       Unfortunately, SAG rules limit your options when it comes to
actor placements.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 02 Oct 1996 17:20:11 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Hug Mr. Ellison for me

 (blocked) asks:
> PMFJI, but how *is* Harlan?

       Harlan's doing great, even better than he was before the
surgery; he has more energy, he's all over the place, he's writing more
now...it's great.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 02 Oct 1996 17:20:16 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Hug Mr. Ellison for me

 (blocked) asks:
> PMFJI, but how *is* Harlan?

       I sent your note to Harlan, and today received this message in
return. Any typos that may have crept in here are my responsibility.

jms

*****

2 October 1996 TO: Joe Straczynski FROM: Harlan Ellison Re: Posting on
B5 General topic pursuant to your fax of 1 October 96

Joe: Here's the response we discussed via telecon this morning.  If
you would post it for me, I'd be appreciative.  - he

Dear Mary Cree:

       As you likely know, I am--how shall I happily put
this?--"netless in Gaza."  That is to say, Joe Straczynski is posting
this for me.  Had I your home address, I would have hand-typed an
actual letter, and signed it with one of my lovely fountain pens, and
mailed it directly to you; and you'd have had a small, but for-real,
artifact.  Rather than this nebulous electronic simulacrum, sans human
signature...the traditional mark of establishing that the message comes
from the heart of the sender.

       Here's the long and the short of it: I have waited thirty and
more years for your letter.  I cannot, in any human tongue, express my
gratitude for your comments and encomia.

       I hint, in the introductory essay to CITY ON THE EDGE OF
FOREVER, at the circumstances that conspired to jostle, prod, and
chivvy me to the point of writing the book.  Delineating those
circumstances would take yet *another* 45,000 word essay.  I choose to
give *that* odious chore a regal pass.

       Insofar as the reality of writing the long introductory
material to CITY is concerned, I was an *extremely* reluctant virgin
brought to that nuptial bed.  Had I let the whole idea go a-bornilng, I
would probably have been just as content...and continued to live with
that ugly little feral hatred gnawing at my composure for the remaining
years of my life.  But the forces massed, and I wrote the book, and now
it's out there doing incredibly well (much to my suprirse), and I guess
it's all worth it.  Because, in some measure, I received your note.

       I never realized, till I got into the writing of CITY, just how
angry I was, nor even how deeply I'd been hurt by what happened.  The
writing was like crawling across the most exhausting Gobi Altai one
could imagine, only to be offered, at the oasis, not a glass of
Perrier, but a large peanut butter sandwich.  Nonetheless, I did it,
and it was done, and out there-- twice-- and I could cease ruminating
on what a crappy chapter it had been in my carer.

       I didn't realize I was waiting for your letter.  That I'd
written the book *just to get your letter*.  But now I know.

       Thank you, every so much.  Respectfully,

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

Date: 02 Oct 1996 17:20:19 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: jms Songwriter ?

 (blocked) asks:
> Is this where we get 8-9 new ones in a row?

       Yup.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 02 Oct 1996 21:11:11 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Tom Knudsen <72347.1626@compuserve.com>
Subject: B5 Tapes

{original post had no questions}

      Thanks...I'm chugging along just fine.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 02 Oct 1996 21:11:14 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Michael Beemer <71551.1670@compuserve.com>
Subject: Grey 17

 Michael Beemer <71551.1670@compuserve.com> asks:
> One has to wonder, if the Zarg was so doggone dangerous, and such
> a perfect preditor, how did they catch it and transport it to the
> station in the first place?

      There was a line about slipping the egg into the station...don't
remember now if it made it through the edit or not.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 03 Oct 1996 00:31:54 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
Subject: Hug Mr. Ellison for me

{original post unavailable}

      Nutz...this got sent to Susan instead of Mary Cree...via her
husband's account...could some kindly sysop please reroute it to the
desired destination?

                                                                  jms


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



Date: 03 Oct 1996 23:10:07 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: David DeRubeis <75221.2351@compuserve.com>
Subject: Coming of Shadows

{original post had no questions}

      Actually, B5 will be going up against ID4 next year.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 03 Oct 1996 23:39:46 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Fan Club Web Page

 (blocked) asks:
> Could you pass this info onto the web developers so they can try
> to make the site a bit more friendly?

      I don't understand how this can be, since I use Netscape 2.0 on
Windows 3.1 and the java stuff works fine.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 03 Oct 1996 23:39:49 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Dr John A Purvis <100341.1147@compuserve.com>
Subject: <<Z'ha'dum>> - a query

{original post had no questions}

      There are days it becomes a bit much...but you just take it and
move on. Overall, the experience is more positive than not.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 03 Oct 1996 23:39:52 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Catherine Becic <73414.2603@compuserve.com>
Subject: Melissa Gilbert

 Catherine Becic <73414.2603@compuserve.com> asks:
> Since you've switched to Melissa and the series will eventually
> be on TNT, do you now go back and edit Melissa into the Season 2
> episode and replace the other actress? Or will we still see the
> switch of actresses when we see it again on TNT or eventually on
> video?

      It's something we're considering; we had her do the entire
message, and shot Bruce in those sequences, so we have that option. 
Sort of a Soviet revisionism approach to television....

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 03 Oct 1996 23:39:54 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Alan Mulvie <100566.1444@compuserve.com>
Subject: Z'ha'dum - sneaky!!

{original post had no questions}

      Well, that's Vorlons for you, it's all a matter of perception,
everyone sees and hears them differently.

                                                                  jms


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



Date: 04 Oct 1996 12:42:40 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Dan T. Davis <71121.1254@compuserve.com>
Subject: Melissa Gilbert

{original post had no questions}

       True...and of course the Chrysalis situation wasn't our fault;
we delivered to WB the right pieces, but they had their satellite
facility rebuild it after they messed up the broadcsat...and used the
wrong piece for that shot, the pre-composite raw footage.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 04 Oct 1996 12:42:41 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: David DeRubeis <75221.2351@compuserve.com>
Subject: Coming of Shadows

{original post had no questions}

       Thanks...we'll see what happens.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 04 Oct 1996 12:42:42 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: USENET SFWA post

{original post unavailable}

       Again, I think we're more on the same side of the issue than
not...I'd just point out a very basic truism that does, or should,
matter.

       If producers are more aware of SF novels, and SF writers, they
will likely option more properties for film and TV.  If they're not,
they will option fewer.  That's an absolute loss of income to SF
writers.

       But it's their business, not mine.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 04 Oct 1996 12:46:17 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: George Tait <101354.3137@compuserve.com>
Subject: Nine Walkers

{original post had no questions}

       You're forgetting Boromir, who was killed by Orcs after trying
to grab the ring.  Most people forget him since he never made it
through the story...sort of the Pete Best of the heroic fantasy
genre....

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 04 Oct 1996 18:08:26 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Michael Gillman <100724.1646@compuserve.com>
Subject: Support mechanism

 Michael Gillman <100724.1646@compuserve.com> asks:
> So, which is it?
> Garibaldi or B5 itself?

       Nope, I never identified Garibaldi as the support mechanism,
only B5.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 04 Oct 1996 18:08:26 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: New Season HELP!

{original post unavailable}

       I think it starts with the first batch of season 4 episodes.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 05 Oct 1996 23:48:53 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: USENET SFWA post

{original post unavailable}

      What's the HOA?  Don't recognize the acronym...unless you mean
Homeowner's Association....

      Re: "Walkabout," thanks...of the final 5, it's not at the top,
but it ain't bad.  If you happen to be out of the house this coming
Thursday, and miss "Grey 17 is Missing," you miss a little, but not a
lot.  It's okay.  But the ones after that are just *killer*.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 05 Oct 1996 23:48:54 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: DAVID HORTON <101615.563@compuserve.com>
Subject: poetry

 DAVID HORTON <101615.563@compuserve.com> asks:
> have you ever tried writing poetry?

     "Have you ever tried writing poetry?"

      Yeah.  I stink.  It's the one form I can't do worth a damn.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 05 Oct 1996 23:48:56 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Brent Barrett <75063.3305@compuserve.com>
Subject: Walkabout's Tallman

 Brent Barrett <75063.3305@compuserve.com> asks:
> So you weren't able to go back and fix Patricia Tallman's credit
> on "Walkabout"?

         WHAT?!?!

         Are you sure?  We changed it on my copies here.....

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 05 Oct 1996 23:48:59 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Jonathan Kass <74130.443@compuserve.com>
Subject: Walkabout (No Spoiler)

 Jonathan Kass <74130.443@compuserve.com> asks:
> were you referring to the closing credits?

      Yes, the song continued over the credits, but the VO here in LA
filled up all the space until it was over.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 05 Oct 1996 23:49:00 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Sheridans survival

{original post unavailable}

      Thanks...it's a good ep.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 06 Oct 1996 12:54:27 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Shane S. Shellenbarger <104305.3404@compuserve.com>
Subject: B5 Tapes

{original post had no questions}

      Couldn't be better.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 06 Oct 1996 12:54:31 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Some questions

 (blocked) asks:
> Is the Minbari warships strong enough to go one-on-one with the
> Shadow vessels? Since the White Star is a hybrid Minbari-Vorlon
> ship, does that mean that the Vorlons are cooperating with the
> Rangers?

      The Vorlons were cooperating in the recent past, yes, and it
still takes a couple of Minbari cruisers under most circumstances to
take out an immobilized shadow vessel, though one can do it if the
firepower is concentrated and prolonged.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 06 Oct 1996 12:54:33 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Deonaha M. Conlin <102531.2627@compuserve.com>
Subject: Walkabout!

 Deonaha M. Conlin <102531.2627@compuserve.com> asks:
> Intentional?

      Thanks, and yes, I'd say this Kosh has a bit more of an edge to
him....

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 06 Oct 1996 12:54:35 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Morden on Toast

 (blocked) asks:
> So.......Is Morden toast or what?
> Was Sheridans wounds from the Shadow that he was shooting at or
> from a fight with Morden and Co afterwards?? I thought someone
> else was going to die? Did you mean Anna?
> Did you see " A Close Shave" yet?

      Yes, have seen and enjoyed "A Close Shave."

      No comment for now on the rest.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 06 Oct 1996 19:48:04 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Brent Barrett <75063.3305@compuserve.com>
Subject: Walkabout's Tallman

 Brent Barrett <75063.3305@compuserve.com> asks:
> Are you sure?

      (slow burn)

      We delivered a corrected print ages ago.

      Someone gon' DIE.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 06 Oct 1996 19:52:46 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Rebecca Eschliman <76072.2345@compuserve.com>
Subject: Walkabout Footsteps

{original post had no questions}

      Good points, and the fragmentation or fractionalizing is also
visually cued by the last shot of Franklin through the window, split
into many versions of himself.

      Re: the hand-on-shoulder gesture, from Marcus it was an
upbraiding, stop-him motion, whereas from Sheridan it was one of
congratulation.

                                                                  jms


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



Date: 07 Oct 1996 11:35:32 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: USENET SFWA post

{original post unavailable}

       No, no super stations carry B5 (except WWOR, and they tend to
black that one out for syndex).  But you may be able to catch the
uplink.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 07 Oct 1996 18:58:43 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Babylon 5

{original post unavailable}

       Thanks.  No real plans for arc stuff outside the show, though
there's a 1,000 page novel all outlined and ready to be written as soon
as I can get to it....

       Thanks again.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 07 Oct 1996 18:58:44 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Troy Starr <74752.3172@compuserve.com>
Subject: Why is B5 still around?

 Troy Starr <74752.3172@compuserve.com> asks:
> An interesting question struck me recently: Why are so many
> people still on Babylon 5?

       Well, that just might happen....

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 07 Oct 1996 18:58:45 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Hart Trevor <100705.1222@compuserve.com>
Subject: JMS on IRC

 Hart Trevor <100705.1222@compuserve.com> asks:
> Can you please tell me what is going on?

       I don't know...all I know is that while I'm at Necronomicon in
Tampa, they've got me doing an IRC on Saturday.  I'm not any more
involved than that. Don't know any of the details.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 07 Oct 1996 18:58:47 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: So Glad B5 is Back !

{original post unavailable}

       Valen only knew what Sinclair would've known.  Zathras wasn't
speaking from what Sinclair had told him, but on the basis of things
he'd figured out on his own.

       Re: the new Kosh...yeah, the look is intentional.  I worked
with Optic Nerve to get the new lines right, messed with their sketches
until I had what I wanted.  It's very effective in some lights, less so
in others, but the sense comes across.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 07 Oct 1996 18:58:50 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Richard M. Perry <76461.2737@compuserve.com>
Subject: Fighting staff

{original post had no questions}

       Really?  Wow...I gotta get me one of those.

                                                                  jms


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



Date: 09 Oct 1996 17:01:35 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Netter comments

 (blocked) asks:
> Can you give us any other info?

       WB has asked for a treatment on a sequel, and TNT is interested
in doing two original B5 movies set during the B5 main story arc, with
one of them a prequel.  We'll see....

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 09 Oct 1996 17:01:37 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: USENET SFWA post

 (blocked) asks:
> As Program Manager, shouldn't she *know* this stuff whether she
> watches the show or not?

                               ...sigh....

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 09 Oct 1996 22:29:51 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Brent Barrett <75063.3305@compuserve.com>
Subject: Say it ain't so, Joe!

{original post had no questions}

      Obviously there's a lot I can't say...obviously the fact that
PTEN as a functioning entity really no longer exists is a
factor...obviously no show ever gets more than one season's commitment
at a time, unless you're a Spielberg or the like...and there's a lot
that I just can't say because of the position of WB, and because,
frankly, I just don't know anything for certain.

      All I can say is this:

      That at the time of renewal, a number of parties at WB assumed
that this would be our final year, in large measure because PTEN was
vanishing, and you simply don't continue to pay out money on an
enterprise that no longer exists; you cash out the assets, stop
spending money, and start making profit.  I know that many people there
operated under that assumption.

      Then the later ratings started to come in...and people at WB
began to notice that our reruns were now doing what our first-runs used
to do...and gradually those same people began to say much the opposite.
I can say that, as recently as last week, WB was asking about a fifth
year, and what we would do.  As of 24 hours ago, we've been in
considerable negotiations for 2 two hour original movies for TNT set
during the arc, and WB is looking at the possibility of a
sequel...which would, in theory, be set up in part during a fifth year.

      So you've got some who say there won't be a fifth year, some who
say there might be a fifth year, and some who say there *will* be a
fifth year.

      Through all this, I am constructing and honing the story to
ensure that it will get through to its conclusion.

      The assumption in all this is that anybody knows ANYdamnthing
out here. But as William Goldman noted, nobody knows *anything*.  That
somehow I have *THE ANSWER* to the question, and am simply declining to
answer.  WB doesn't know, and I don't know, and anybody who says they
*do* know is either woefully misinformed or deliberately lying.

      "Saying, I would know.  Do not know, so cannot say."  -- Zathras

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 09 Oct 1996 22:29:54 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Walkabout!

{original post had no questions}

      Actuallyk, we never showed what the Minbari telepaths were
looking at; for all you could tell, there could've been viewers or
other ports above their beds.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 09 Oct 1996 22:56:28 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: All 
Subject: jms in tampa/book out

      A couple of quick notices:

      1) I'll be in Tampa, Florida this weekend for Necronomicon, held
at the Chamberly Plaza Hotel and thereabouts.  I'll be bringing
bloopers, clips from upcoming shows, and other Cool Stuph.

      2) My "Complete Book of Scriptwriting" is now hitting the
bookstores, in a totally rewritten/updated and expanded version.  It's
$21.99 from Writer's Digest Books.  Some interesting B5 stuff there....

                                                                  jms


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



Date: 15 Oct 1996 12:55:47 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Richard M. Perry <76461.2737@compuserve.com>
Subject: Fighting staff

{original post had no questions}

       Thanks again for the staff; I didn't have time or circumstance
to thank you properly at the time (or voice).

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 15 Oct 1996 12:55:48 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Another convert....

{original post unavailable}

       Thanks, and yes, that's a definite part of the Ranger oath.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 15 Oct 1996 12:55:50 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: USENET SFWA post

{original post unavailable}

       There's a time bomb built into B5; instead of the usual 7 year
options, we only took 5, building a hedge against our own greed.  If
this show as it stands now were to go past 5, everyone would be able to
renegotiate...actors, subcontractors, suppliers, everybody.  At which
point it would be too expensive to produce anymore.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 15 Oct 1996 12:55:52 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Kevin P. Kenney <104102.352@compuserve.com>
Subject: Trailer Congrats

 Kevin P. Kenney <104102.352@compuserve.com> asks:
> BTW - how are the effects coming along?
> Was the transition reasonably smooth?

       The new CGI effects are stellar (as it were).  I defy *anybody*
who doesn't know the difference just from knowing what's gone before to
tell the older shots from the new ones.  (We've always reused some
shots, usually establishers and the like.)  I sure can't tell them
apart.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 15 Oct 1996 12:55:55 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Daniel F. Evan <104377.1433@compuserve.com>
Subject: Say it ain't so, Joe!

 Daniel F. Evan <104377.1433@compuserve.com> asks:
> Is TNT a prospective outlet for that show?

       Thanks, we'll try.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 15 Oct 1996 12:55:58 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Dr. Franklins Soul

 (blocked) asks:
> Is there a hidden meaning in this image or am I just reading way
> too much into this?

       It's imagery, yes, of his still being fractured, still looking
to find himself, as it were.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 15 Oct 1996 12:56:00 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Scott Baker <76072.1744@compuserve.com>
Subject: Say it ain't so, Joe!

 Scott Baker <76072.1744@compuserve.com> asks:
> 1) Do you *want* to do a sequel?
> 2) Or has your mind changed since the lurker guide posting?
> 3) And more importantly, what is it that *YOU* want?

       I've always kept a separate B5 project in a different
pocket...yes, I'd love to do a B5 sequel if the story could be made
sufficiently worth doing. And the treatment that's been turned in could
well be that.  So we'll see.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 15 Oct 1996 12:56:02 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Londo and Yueh

 (blocked) asks:
> Was this your influence for Londo?

       No.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 15 Oct 1996 12:56:03 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: B5 in St. Louis, MO

{original post unavailable}

       That's good news.  Here in LA, our local channel has returned
the Saturday 11 p.m. rerun of the show, which will be a big help.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 15 Oct 1996 12:56:05 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Carl Cantarella <105030.3700@compuserve.com>
Subject: Fighting staff

 Carl Cantarella <105030.3700@compuserve.com> asks:
> Hey Joe, any chance of your ever doing an appearance on the East
> coast?

       Tampa is on the east coast.  That's the only one scheduled.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 15 Oct 1996 12:56:08 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Shuttle launches

 (blocked) asks:
> Have you ever seen a live shuttle launch?

       Nope, hope to someday.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 15 Oct 1996 12:56:10 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Jonathan Kass <74130.443@compuserve.com>
Subject: Grey 17

 Jonathan Kass <74130.443@compuserve.com> asks:
> which leads me to ask - is "The One" literally Ranger One?
> Or more figuratively the "Sole Leader" of the Minbari?
> And then Valen was "The One" who was, Delenn (has now become/is
> becoming) The One who is, and somehow we are to assume Sheridan
> will someday become Ranger One?

       Entil-Zha, whoever that is at the time, is for all intents and
purposes the One for the Rangers.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 15 Oct 1996 12:56:11 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Grey 17

 (blocked) asks:
> Since Sinclair knew that the Warrior caste would refuse to get
> involved in the current war, and have problems with having humans
> in the order, why didn't he leave control of the Rangers to the
> religious caste?

       Because *at the time* the Warrior Caste *was* involved, and it
would've been a slap to them to do so.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 15 Oct 1996 12:56:13 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Chad Underkoffler <102512.1310@compuserve.com>
Subject: Rage's Thots: G17iM

 Chad Underkoffler <102512.1310@compuserve.com> asks:
> How does Susan find him, anyway?
> Yet, has she ever *been* Down Below before?
> Where did Jerimiah go wrong?
> *So what happened to the cult at the end of the ep?
> Did Garibaldi run them all in?
> And hey, Johnny, we effectively just added a whole UNUSED level
> to your station-- quarters for the Rangers? More Hydroponics
> sections for coffee? Chicken coops?
> Teep boot camp?
> Rental units?
> *What was that on Marcus' wall?
> So is it a Ranger thing?
> A Minbari thing?
> Lares and penates?
> Mezuzah?
> *Oh, and is Stephen's hidden file named after Harriet the spy, or
> am I being far too cute?

       It's Harriet for Harriet Tubman, who ran the slave underground
railroad around the time of the Civil War.

       And no matter how much Ivanvoa trains, she'll never be much
past a P1, and that's more or less useless to them.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 15 Oct 1996 12:56:15 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Larry Rosenblum <72122.1555@compuserve.com>
Subject: Sheridan/Z'Ha'Dum

{original post had no questions}

       Yep.  I wanted everybody to fall for that "oh, he's a standard
good guy, hero model type" approach...then yank their blankets, and
deeply intensify the character.

       Glad it worked.

       "I had no idea you meant that literally!"

       And sometimes, I'm being far more straightforward than it would
appear. Because I know everyone overlooks the most obvious stuff.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 15 Oct 1996 12:56:18 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Joe Salemi [ZD Net] <72631.23@compuserve.com>
Subject: AbFab & Rosanne...

 Joe Salemi [ZD Net] <72631.23@compuserve.com> asks:
> I know you're a fan of AbFab -- have you heard that Jennifer
> Sanders and JoAnne Lumley <sp?> are going to be on Rosanne?

       Really?  Great, I'll watch it.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 15 Oct 1996 12:56:21 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Nina K. Berg <102461.2104@compuserve.com>
Subject: WWE questions

 Nina K. Berg <102461.2104@compuserve.com> asks:
> When did Delenn first know that Sinclair was Valen?
> Does anyone besides those who were on the White Star know that
> Sinclair was Valen?

       She had suspicions starting from the Battle of the Line; we'll
have more on that later.

       Yes, the Grey Council knows, but the general Minbari population
does not know.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 15 Oct 1996 12:56:22 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Thomas Rackers <72047.1207@compuserve.com>
Subject: ATTN JMS: Mail to you

{original post had no questions}

       Unfortunately, we have *zero* influence on local scheduling;
only local fans can do anything about it.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 15 Oct 1996 22:31:00 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Thomas Rackers <72047.1207@compuserve.com>
Subject: ATTN JMS: Mail to you

{original post had no questions}

      Just sent a private reply on this....

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 15 Oct 1996 22:31:05 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Ron Stadelman <102623.700@compuserve.com>
Subject: Vorlon Home World

{original post had no questions}

      There are no plans at present to show the Vorlon homeworld.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 15 Oct 1996 22:31:07 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Tom Knudsen <72347.1626@compuserve.com>
Subject: Rage's Thots: G17iM

 Tom Knudsen <72347.1626@compuserve.com> asks:
> Are you saying that Susan's psi powers won't really be a factor
> in the story?? Wouldn't that tend to go against the gun over the
> mantle rule??

      Only if one assumes everything applies only to the Shadow war.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 15 Oct 1996 22:31:09 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Glitch in "The Rock"?

{original post unavailable}

      Nope.  Refa had a flashlight, not a gun.

                                                                  jms


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



Date: 16 Oct 1996 11:57:32 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Michael Beemer <71551.1670@compuserve.com>
Subject: Scripts available?

 Michael Beemer <71551.1670@compuserve.com> asks:
> Are you involved in making this decision?
> If not, who are you to say?

       It's a moot point...yes, you can scan in a script, but a) only
if you have access to it, and b) you still have to go through massive
amounts of work making sure it's all properly spaced and laid out.

       As of now, "The Coming of Shadows" script is available in the
new edition of my scriptwriting book, so that's a start.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 16 Oct 1996 11:57:35 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Views of Possible Univ`

{original post had no questions}

       You mention how ST brought people into the SF fold who
nominally hadn't been there before...I've been noticing much the same
phenomenon at the conventions I've been attending.  Even at the most
recent Necronomicon, the number of people over what the convention
normally gets (there were about 700 over their normal attendence) was
almost exactly equal to the number of people who came there strictly
for the B5 stuff...and the majority of them, from what we could
determine, had never been to a convention before, and for the most part
weren't into other SF shows...many didn't watch much TV at ALL except
for B5 and a couple others.

       You can see the new group sort of sliding itself into the
larger "melting pot" of fandom.

       Interesting to see the pattern repeating.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 16 Oct 1996 12:27:01 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Hugh Kennedy <70042.710@compuserve.com>
Subject: Summary Episode?

{original post had no questions}

       Can't be done.  It's been discussed, turned down.  Fox as a
network can program whatever it wants, and the stations air it; PTEN is
syndicated, and each item has to be sold separately, and they won't
sell that.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 16 Oct 1996 12:27:05 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Glitch in "The Rock"?

{original post unavailable}

       Okay, you're nitpicky.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 16 Oct 1996 21:16:34 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Michael Beemer <71551.1670@compuserve.com>
Subject: Scripts available?

{original post had no questions}

      What might be interesting, next time you pick up the book, is to
fire up a copy of "The Coming of Shadows" and go through it with the
script in hand...it's a good way of seeing how you lay out a show
shot-for-shot.  And since there's stuff there that was cut from the
episode, you can also judge on what was left out, and why, and whether
it hurt or helped.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 16 Oct 1996 21:16:38 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Robin L. Small <76640.2012@compuserve.com>
Subject: delenn forgot?

 Robin L. Small <76640.2012@compuserve.com> asks:
> yes??
> That wouldn't happen to be a piece of a vorlon or being "with
> child" would it???

      No, that replied to his promise to come see Delenn...which in
the flurry of events he forgot until she was already in the chrysalis.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 16 Oct 1996 21:16:41 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Valeria & G'lan

{original post unavailable}

      ....!....

      Unfortunately, I can't even *start* to get into such an
elaborate backgrounding in a message.  It would require a lengthy
article; the answers are fairly complex.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 16 Oct 1996 21:16:44 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: <Rock> thoughts

{original post unavailable}

      Yeah, Vir has to be *very* careful...he's on the razor's edge
these days.  The higher up you go, the more you know, the higher the
stakes and the greater the risk of choosing badly.

      Re: "funny yet chilling," those are the scenes I love most...the
ones where you're utterly conflicted, it's grotesque or frightening on
the one hand, and comic or absurd on the other.  It leaves you
uncertain which way to jump emotionally, and I love that
feeling...caught betwixt and between.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 17 Oct 1996 03:39:54 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: All 
Subject: URGENT! HELP! from jms

HELP!  I got zapped tonight!  Someone sent me what they SAID was a
picture his kid made of a Starfury, said it'd be great if I could say
an encouraging word or two about it.  So I downloaded the file, and it
turned out to be a booby trap.  (No, I can't trace back the user, it's
off the internet, and the address was an anon...didn't write it down.)

Anyway, it DELETED MY DOS DIRECTORY and started to delete my Windows
directory as well before I caught it at the last moment.  (Yes, it was
a com file, and I stupidly didn't look to check before activating it
with the newsreader's program.)  I've managed to restore nearly all the
Windows directory (except for win.exe which is utterly gone).  I used
Norton to do that part...but Norton Unerase only seems to work in a
directory that's still there.  The DOS directory is completely *gone*. 
Is there any way I can restore it?  I can try moving the DOS directory
from my work computer to the home one (they're the same systems, and
arrived within days of one another, so they should be nearly the same),
but I'm obviously leery.

When it runs through my autoexec.bat file, I get the following errors:

Bad or missing C:\DOS\SETVER.EXE

Bad or missing C:\DOS\HIMEM.SYS

(I figure those'll come back after DOS is restored, but I'm less sure
about the other ones following:)

HMA not available; loading DOS low

Bad or missing COMMAND interpreter Bad command or file name Bad
command or file name

(I'm not altogether sure that's from autoexec. or the config.sys file,
by the way...could be either.)

This isn't the sort of thing I've ever had to deal with before, and
will take ANY advice from someone knowledgeable.  I have scripts to
write, and this is a major problem for me right now.

jms


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



Date: 17 Oct 1996 18:11:34 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: URGENT! HELP! from jms

{original post unavailable}

       Thanks for the info; I was up until 5 a.m. restoring the
Windows directory.  Thank goodness it didn't get much further than
that.  My reflexes are pretty good.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 17 Oct 1996 18:11:36 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Richard Hohm <72247.3623@compuserve.com>
Subject: URGENT! HELP! from jms

{original post had no questions}

       I'm going to take the command.com file off one of my rescue
disks that I made for this computer (alas, they can't restore the dos)
and my hope is that that'll be clean.

       And now the kicker.

       There's also a text file in that directory that wasn't there
before. It contains 3 words.  STAR TREK RULES!

       Fortunately, I caught it before too much damage was done.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 17 Oct 1996 18:11:41 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: URGENT! HELP! from jms

{original post had no questions}

       I have the most current version of Norton for win3.1, but I
couldn't see how to make it restore directories, only *sub*directories.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 17 Oct 1996 18:11:42 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Brian Prothero <76711.663@compuserve.com>
Subject: URGENT! HELP! from jms

 Brian Prothero <76711.663@compuserve.com> asks:
> There is a command line argument that you can give it to clean
> the virus from the hard drive (check the readme file or type
> SCAN/?

       Nope, wasn't a virus, it was a com file.

       Thanks for the info.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 17 Oct 1996 18:19:36 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Michael Beemer <71551.1670@compuserve.com>
Subject: Scripts available?

 Michael Beemer <71551.1670@compuserve.com> asks:
> The question is - why are points on net *still* being offered?
> Are there enough rubes who go for it to make it worth a try for
> the studios? Are they largely ignored if the other provisions of
> the contract are sufficient? Is there a "prestige" factor to being
> offered 5% of nothing as opposed to 2% of nothing?

       Yep, they're still offered...and taken...because it's important
to at least keep the *concept* of profit alive, however bastardized the
form.

       Fr'instance...I don't have a gross profit percentage of B5.  I
have a small *net* profit.  Which, as we all know, means I'll never see
a *dime* out of it.  The only part where I have a piece is an (even
smaller) percentage of the gross is in...merchandising, the one area in
which I've dragged my feet from day one.

       My accountant thinks I've got it in for him....

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 17 Oct 1996 18:19:37 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: URGENT! HELP! from jms

{original post unavailable}

       Thanks to all for the advice...I'll be heading home in an hour
or so, and will see what works.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 18 Oct 1996 00:44:40 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: All 
Subject: A Funny Thought

      It's a funny thing...just to show you how sometimes even jms can
be just a LEEETLE bit slow on the uptake....

      I've known, at some level, for four years that we're a
syndicated show, that we don't have the usual network censors to deal
with.

      Then, this season, it finally hit me..."waitaminnit...we don't
have CENSORS!  As long as it doesn't use the words you absolutely can't
say on TeeVee, as long as it doesn't directly involve nudity or blood
and guts, I can take things *CONCEPTUALLY* as far as I want."

      Heh.

      Heh-heh-heh....

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 18 Oct 1996 01:02:22 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Marte Brengle <76703.4242@compuserve.com>
Subject: URGENT! HELP! from jms

 Marte Brengle <76703.4242@compuserve.com> asks:
> No backup?

      Thanks.  Alas, some of my backup was on a Zip drive, but I
couldn't use the Zip without Dos being present, so I was basically
screwed.  At this point I've got the Dos directory restored (using the
files from the twin computer at work), and so far it *seems* to be
okay...but it also screwed up all the files in the windows system
directory, and now I've got to go through, restore and rename all of
them, and since I don't know offhand what they all are, it's going to
be a slow process.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 18 Oct 1996 01:02:24 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Colin Glassey <104224.2227@compuserve.com>
Subject: Rock: Lord Refa?

 Colin Glassey <104224.2227@compuserve.com> asks:
> 1) Why won't Lord Refa bring his own people?
> Is he over confident?
> Is he actually weak on man power?
> They also are letting the last member of the Ka'Ree escape from
> Narn? But here, these Centauri guards, are going to just walk away
> and let Refa be killed by NARNS?!? The sort of character that
> doesn't show up often (fortunetly) but without great vilians,
> what chance is there for great heroism?

      Bear in mind that all of Refa's people were *back on Centauri
Prime*. He didn't bring them with him; to send word to Centauri Prime
to bring them all the way out here, then on to Narn, would double the
time required to get there, and by then the "rescue" would've been
over.  That was part of Londo's scheme...he wouldn't have much time, he
had to get in and get out.  Refa only brought a few with him, and they
were needed to watch Londo and guard Vir.

      As for the Centauri back home...you proceed from the assumption
that all Centauri act as one.  I'm basing this somewhat on the early
Roman civilization and government, where one side would sell out the
other, arrange for deaths and murders, turn people over to their hated
enemies as long as it advanced their position, or if they were allied
with persons of power on a particular side.  Why did the Roman guards
escorting Tiberius (a much less worthy emperor) kill the heir to the
throne in "I, Claudius" (a much better leader, and well liked among the
military)?  Because they were told to do so.

      SF in TV has the tendency to portray aliens as monolithic...they
put the good of their species as a whole above everything else.  Some
do that; some do not.  Just as with humans.

                                                                  jms


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



Date: 18 Oct 1996 14:12:12 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Rock: Lord Refa?

{original post unavailable}

       No, I wouldn't say they hate one another any less now than
before; and yes, he would've sent word to G'Kar and arranged a private
meeting, just the two of them.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 18 Oct 1996 14:12:14 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: stoney truett <71623.2377@compuserve.com>
Subject: HAMILTON B5 PLATES

 stoney truett <71623.2377@compuserve.com> asks:
> Is this something you were reviewing before it is made available
> to the public?

       The designs are just now being finalized; I think they're on
track to be released by Christmas.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 18 Oct 1996 14:12:16 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Book?

 (blocked) asks:
> What is it, and will it be available in the UK?
> Also, when you are writing B5, are you, in a sense, reporting
> what you see in your mind (so that B5 continues when you are not
> looking, so to speak!), or are you each of the characters in
> turn?

       "The Complete Book of Scriptwriting" is out, yes, and can be
ordered from the UK via Writer's Digest Books, or www.amazon.com.

       And yes, the characters do somewhat live in my head, and I
check in with where they are at various points, and write it down. 
It's very weird.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 18 Oct 1996 14:17:31 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Richard Hohm <72247.3623@compuserve.com>
Subject: URGENT! HELP! from jms

{original post had no questions}

       To know how to rename all the hundreds of files in my
windows\system directory, is there any way to save to a file all of the
file names in my directory, so I can bring that one file home with all
their names?  (I know, I should do a print screen, but the printer here
at the office is broken, and I'd have to hook up another one from
another office, which is a pain.)

       Also, how does one uncompile a .com file?  I think I caught the
Trojan Horse before it did anything else, but I kinda want to open it
up and look inside in case it did anything else I should know about. 
Don't want to go through all this and get another surprise in a few
days.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 18 Oct 1996 18:11:09 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Richard Hohm <72247.3623@compuserve.com>
Subject: URGENT! HELP! from jms

{original post had no questions}

       I'll definitely scan the drive, thanks.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 18 Oct 1996 18:11:10 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Richard Hohm <72247.3623@compuserve.com>
Subject: URGENT! HELP! from jms

{original post had no questions}

       Many thanks...it's appreciated.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 18 Oct 1996 18:11:11 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Carl Cantarella <105030.3700@compuserve.com>
Subject: HAMILTON B5 PLATES

{original post had no questions}

       The only full-color one I've seen so far is Sheridan, and it's
gorgeous.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 18 Oct 1996 18:11:12 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Richard M. Perry <76461.2737@compuserve.com>
Subject: Fighting staff

 Richard M. Perry <76461.2737@compuserve.com> asks:
> So, how did you like you first trip to Fla?

       Florida was fine...except that the on-and-off laryngitis I came
down with while there morphed into an upper respiratory infection which
I'm fighting off as best I can...on top of everything else that's been
going on.

                                                                  jms


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



Date: 19 Oct 1996 19:41:05 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: URGENT! HELP! from jms

{original post unavailable}

      At this point (note to all who've emailed...there were so many
not everyone could possibly get a response), the system itself is up
and running again, having transplanted the DOS directory from my work
computer (an identical system) to the one at home.  I then used unerase
to restore the Windows and windows/system files.

      Alas, the only way to unerase is to give the deleted files a new
first letter or number...and I didn't know what they might be offhand
(there are something like 200-350 of them altogether in the windows and
windows/system directories), so I kinda had to rename them randomly,
just temporarily.  Now I have a list of the proper names of what the
files *should* be, and now I'm going through the long process of
matching them up and renaming them all.

      My virus scanners are all windows based, so once it's up again,
I'll be able to go looking around a bit more.

      Thanks to all who've helped.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 19 Oct 1996 19:41:08 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Carl Cantarella <105030.3700@compuserve.com>
Subject: URGENT! HELP! from jms

{original post had no questions}

      Yeah, I'm still on 3.1...who has time for the win95 learning
curve?

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 19 Oct 1996 19:41:10 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Daniel F. Evan <104377.1433@compuserve.com>
Subject: URGENT! HELP! from jms

 Daniel F. Evan <104377.1433@compuserve.com> asks:
> Do all your peripherals still work?

      So far, everything's checking out....I hope this can all end
soon.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 19 Oct 1996 19:41:12 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Terrill L. Burlison <73631.275@compuserve.com>
Subject: URGENT! HELP! from jms

 Terrill L. Burlison <73631.275@compuserve.com> asks:
> Do you mean you downloaded it from a Newsgroup?

      Unfortunately, I didn't write down the information, the poster
said his address was on the jpg, so I didn't bother...and when it
activated, the whole system went kablooey...it's my own stupidity,
that's all.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 19 Oct 1996 19:41:15 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Arline Williams <102551.2346@compuserve.com>
Subject: A Funny Thought

 Arline Williams <102551.2346@compuserve.com> asks:
> BTW, when did you get this revelation?
> Before or After your computer was attacked?

      I figured it out before I started writing season 4.  Look for
some interesting stuff....

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 19 Oct 1996 19:41:17 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Carl Cantarella <105030.3700@compuserve.com>
Subject: Trailer Congrats

{original post had no questions}

      There's no perceptible difference between the establishers from
before and after, except that the newer ones are somewhat more
detailed.  This increase has always been there each season, but we've
often used stock from prior seasons in non-critical shots...it blends
seamlessly.

      And yes, I feel *very* fortunate to work with the people here.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 19 Oct 1996 19:41:20 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: WWE questions

{original post unavailable}

      That person was Grey Council, and they were concerned that a)
Sinclair was not really who they thought, and b) if he went public with
it, upon remembering, it would be devastating to their culture.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 19 Oct 1996 19:41:22 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: HAMILTON B5 PLATES

{original post unavailable}

      Dunno...I know it can be done mail order...I'll try to post the
info when it becomes available.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 19 Oct 1996 19:41:24 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Mark McGehee <75720.2420@compuserve.com>
Subject: TP's From Ship of Tears

 Mark McGehee <75720.2420@compuserve.com> asks:
> Now that Sheridan is openly searching for Telepaths, will we find
> out in a future episode what happened to the 100 Telepaths who
> were rescued in "Ship of Tears?"

      Yup.  Basically, they're still in cryo as Franklin keeps
working.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 19 Oct 1996 20:08:30 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: John L. Creigh <75270.423@compuserve.com>
Subject: URGENT! HELP! from jms

{original post had no questions}

      Exactly.  I don't have time for a learning curve right now; I'm
staying with what I've got until what I've got no longer does what I
want.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 19 Oct 1996 20:08:31 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Rock: Lord Refa?

{original post unavailable}

      Exactly.  These two characters, Londo and G'Kar, are linked at
the hips. That is their beauty and their tragedy.  And you will see
some new colors to this in the first part of season 4.  This story is
as much about them as anyone else.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 19 Oct 1996 20:08:35 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: colin heaps <100622.3610@compuserve.com>
Subject: >Z< - damned?? >spoiler<

 colin heaps <100622.3610@compuserve.com> asks:
> Having watched Z a few times now, I find myself thinking the
> unthinkable, has JMS lost the plot??? While I'm playing devil's
> advocate, what about Anna??

      It seems to me that the problems you cite are really ones you've
put onto it, frankly.  They don't really have anything to do with
what's being *done*, only with what you're projecting *might* be done. 
And in some cases, your information is simply incorrect.

"While I'm playing devil's advocate, what about Anna??  I thought
shadow ships only worked with telepaths, you telling me that Psi Cops
didn't spot Anna was telepathic - I don't think so!!"

      Incorrect.  Ivanova even says, "Delenn never said that was
required." A shadow vessel can use *any* body and brain of sufficiently
evolved form as its CPU...the whole purpose of picking up teeps was to
start putting together ships that could withstand telepathic jamming. 
That was the whole *point* of "Ship of Tears."

"I have a fundemental problem with this, namely, that unless JMS pulls
something absolutely extrodinary out of the bag, we are going to end
up with a quick and dirty fix, not what I think B5 is known for."

      Translation: you haven't figured out yet how I'm going to pull
this off, so you're making an assumption based on what you can't figure
out.  Why not wait and actually *see* what happens before judging?

"Another failing, the shadow ship with Mr G's ship in, historically
speaking we know that the shadow ships take people in, they are "wired"
into it, that suggests a centre of operations.  For a Starfury to fit
inside a shadow ship, it's gonna loose an awful lot of itself, I don't
see it - sorry!"

      Again, you're not paying sufficient attention, and citing it as
a problem in the show.  Not everything it encounters is or has to be
wired into it.  Remember "Shadow Dancing"?  You see Anna's ship being
released by a shadow vessel and flying off.  It wasn't in the *center*
of operations, it was held in the skin of the thing.  Look at how *big*
these things are. They're huge.  (Compare the size of the Narn attack
ships and the shadow vessels in "Coming of Shadows" for a good
perspective.)  They can function almost like an aircraft carrier,
holding ships within their skin as they fly through hyperspace, then
releasing them on at a time, or by separating a piece of that skin and
firing them as a group (as also seen in the show).

"Maybe JMS should take 5 and step back from the problem a bit."

      And maybe you should wait to see what I do first, then decide. 
Because what you're pointing to as problems have *nothing* to do with
what I'm planning to do with the show.

                                                                  jms


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



Date: 19 Oct 1996 19:41:05 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: URGENT! HELP! from jms

{original post unavailable}

      At this point (note to all who've emailed...there were so many
not everyone could possibly get a response), the system itself is up
and running again, having transplanted the DOS directory from my work
computer (an identical system) to the one at home.  I then used unerase
to restore the Windows and windows/system files.

      Alas, the only way to unerase is to give the deleted files a new
first letter or number...and I didn't know what they might be offhand
(there are something like 200-350 of them altogether in the windows and
windows/system directories), so I kinda had to rename them randomly,
just temporarily.  Now I have a list of the proper names of what the
files *should* be, and now I'm going through the long process of
matching them up and renaming them all.

      My virus scanners are all windows based, so once it's up again,
I'll be able to go looking around a bit more.

      Thanks to all who've helped.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 19 Oct 1996 19:41:08 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Carl Cantarella <105030.3700@compuserve.com>
Subject: URGENT! HELP! from jms

{original post had no questions}

      Yeah, I'm still on 3.1...who has time for the win95 learning
curve?

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 19 Oct 1996 19:41:10 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Daniel F. Evan <104377.1433@compuserve.com>
Subject: URGENT! HELP! from jms

 Daniel F. Evan <104377.1433@compuserve.com> asks:
> Do all your peripherals still work?

      So far, everything's checking out....I hope this can all end
soon.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 19 Oct 1996 19:41:12 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Terrill L. Burlison <73631.275@compuserve.com>
Subject: URGENT! HELP! from jms

 Terrill L. Burlison <73631.275@compuserve.com> asks:
> Do you mean you downloaded it from a Newsgroup?

      Unfortunately, I didn't write down the information, the poster
said his address was on the jpg, so I didn't bother...and when it
activated, the whole system went kablooey...it's my own stupidity,
that's all.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 19 Oct 1996 19:41:15 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Arline Williams <102551.2346@compuserve.com>
Subject: A Funny Thought

 Arline Williams <102551.2346@compuserve.com> asks:
> BTW, when did you get this revelation?
> Before or After your computer was attacked?

      I figured it out before I started writing season 4.  Look for
some interesting stuff....

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 19 Oct 1996 19:41:17 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Carl Cantarella <105030.3700@compuserve.com>
Subject: Trailer Congrats

{original post had no questions}

      There's no perceptible difference between the establishers from
before and after, except that the newer ones are somewhat more
detailed.  This increase has always been there each season, but we've
often used stock from prior seasons in non-critical shots...it blends
seamlessly.

      And yes, I feel *very* fortunate to work with the people here.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 19 Oct 1996 19:41:20 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: WWE questions

{original post unavailable}

      That person was Grey Council, and they were concerned that a)
Sinclair was not really who they thought, and b) if he went public with
it, upon remembering, it would be devastating to their culture.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 19 Oct 1996 19:41:22 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: HAMILTON B5 PLATES

{original post unavailable}

      Dunno...I know it can be done mail order...I'll try to post the
info when it becomes available.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 19 Oct 1996 19:41:24 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Mark McGehee <75720.2420@compuserve.com>
Subject: TP's From Ship of Tears

 Mark McGehee <75720.2420@compuserve.com> asks:
> Now that Sheridan is openly searching for Telepaths, will we find
> out in a future episode what happened to the 100 Telepaths who
> were rescued in "Ship of Tears?"

      Yup.  Basically, they're still in cryo as Franklin keeps
working.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 19 Oct 1996 20:08:30 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: John L. Creigh <75270.423@compuserve.com>
Subject: URGENT! HELP! from jms

{original post had no questions}

      Exactly.  I don't have time for a learning curve right now; I'm
staying with what I've got until what I've got no longer does what I
want.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 19 Oct 1996 20:08:31 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Rock: Lord Refa?

{original post unavailable}

      Exactly.  These two characters, Londo and G'Kar, are linked at
the hips. That is their beauty and their tragedy.  And you will see
some new colors to this in the first part of season 4.  This story is
as much about them as anyone else.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 19 Oct 1996 20:08:35 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: colin heaps <100622.3610@compuserve.com>
Subject: >Z< - damned?? >spoiler<

 colin heaps <100622.3610@compuserve.com> asks:
> Having watched Z a few times now, I find myself thinking the
> unthinkable, has JMS lost the plot??? While I'm playing devil's
> advocate, what about Anna??

      It seems to me that the problems you cite are really ones you've
put onto it, frankly.  They don't really have anything to do with
what's being *done*, only with what you're projecting *might* be done. 
And in some cases, your information is simply incorrect.

"While I'm playing devil's advocate, what about Anna??  I thought
shadow ships only worked with telepaths, you telling me that Psi Cops
didn't spot Anna was telepathic - I don't think so!!"

      Incorrect.  Ivanova even says, "Delenn never said that was
required." A shadow vessel can use *any* body and brain of sufficiently
evolved form as its CPU...the whole purpose of picking up teeps was to
start putting together ships that could withstand telepathic jamming. 
That was the whole *point* of "Ship of Tears."

"I have a fundemental problem with this, namely, that unless JMS pulls
something absolutely extrodinary out of the bag, we are going to end
up with a quick and dirty fix, not what I think B5 is known for."

      Translation: you haven't figured out yet how I'm going to pull
this off, so you're making an assumption based on what you can't figure
out.  Why not wait and actually *see* what happens before judging?

"Another failing, the shadow ship with Mr G's ship in, historically
speaking we know that the shadow ships take people in, they are "wired"
into it, that suggests a centre of operations.  For a Starfury to fit
inside a shadow ship, it's gonna loose an awful lot of itself, I don't
see it - sorry!"

      Again, you're not paying sufficient attention, and citing it as
a problem in the show.  Not everything it encounters is or has to be
wired into it.  Remember "Shadow Dancing"?  You see Anna's ship being
released by a shadow vessel and flying off.  It wasn't in the *center*
of operations, it was held in the skin of the thing.  Look at how *big*
these things are. They're huge.  (Compare the size of the Narn attack
ships and the shadow vessels in "Coming of Shadows" for a good
perspective.)  They can function almost like an aircraft carrier,
holding ships within their skin as they fly through hyperspace, then
releasing them on at a time, or by separating a piece of that skin and
firing them as a group (as also seen in the show).

"Maybe JMS should take 5 and step back from the problem a bit."

      And maybe you should wait to see what I do first, then decide. 
Because what you're pointing to as problems have *nothing* to do with
what I'm planning to do with the show.

                                                                  jms


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



Date: 21 Oct 1996 13:43:54 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: BABYLON 5 SEASON FINALE

{original post had no questions}

       Here's how to work this out, for the earliest possible start
date for S4 in the UK.  This may not be what actually works out, I'm
not committing C4 to anything here, only indicating the *earliest* it
could theoretically be done.

       We finish shooting May 5th.  It takes about 52 days to finish
post production on a given episode.  Figure 2 months, round it off. 
That's July 5th for delivery on 422.  Maybe add a week or two just to
allow for glitches. So now July 19th.  We have to allow C4 to go
through the episodes for censor purposes, and that takes about another
couple/three weeks, so now we're at the end of July/first week of
August.  That becomes now the earliest you can conceivably air 422.

       So now you just do the math: 22 weeks from the first week of
August would mean that March 10th or 17th would be the absolute
earliest that the show could debut.  If they wanted to build in a
cushion to prevent any possible conflicts, then the ideal date would be
around the first week of April.

       But, again, I don't speak for C4, or their prior scheduling
committments, I'm just backtracking to when it would be feasible from
a production standpoint.

jms

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

Date: 21 Oct 1996 18:40:44 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Brent Barrett <75063.3305@compuserve.com>
Subject: Speaking of Season Four

 Brent Barrett <75063.3305@compuserve.com> asks:
> Speaking of the new season, what episode is filming currently?
> And which one(s) are you finishing up post work on these days?
> Do you still feel good about all of them?
> Do they still have that "film" quality of which you spoke
> earlier?

       Yeah, feel great about the new eps.  We're currently shooting
#6, and we have scripts in hand through #10.  We've delivered 1 and 2,
and will finish the audio mix on 3 next week.  John and I go in to edit
3 on Wednesday.  The feel of it is quite extraordinary.

                                                                  jms


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



Date: 22 Oct 1996 14:43:25 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: And the rock...

{original post unavailable}

       Yes, it was real; and Londo points out that he could easily
have killed Refa elsewhere...as he says, the point was to do it on Narn
so that he could dishonor his house back home.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 22 Oct 1996 14:43:26 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: URGENT! HELP! from jms

{original post unavailable}

       I'll definitely do that, thanks!

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 22 Oct 1996 14:43:27 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Speaking of Season Four

{original post unavailable}

       All jms scripts so far.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 22 Oct 1996 14:43:30 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: O. C. Alexander <72623.3472@compuserve.com>
Subject: Rock Cried Out

{original post had no questions}

       Thanks, generally, everything is scripted.  (See the "Coming"
script in my writing book for an example.)  But the director adds a lot
in framing and pacing and camera movement and other areas.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 22 Oct 1996 14:43:30 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: S J NICHOLSON <76574.1663@compuserve.com>
Subject: Shadow Dancing

{original post had no questions}

       Thanks...we try.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 22 Oct 1996 14:43:31 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Alan Mulvie <100566.1444@compuserve.com>
Subject: BABYLON 5 SEASON FINALE

 Alan Mulvie <100566.1444@compuserve.com> asks:
> From a producer/writers POV due you prefer the US half a dozen
> then Rerun or the UK whole season in one go?

       I'd love to go straight through.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 23 Oct 1996 01:13:07 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Enjoying B5

{original post unavailable}

      Thanks...and I don't allow my own personal beliefs (or lack
thereof) to redirect or influence the show; then it becomes propaganda,
and I have no interest in that.

                                                                  jms


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



Date: 23 Oct 1996 18:20:45 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Brian Kornfeld <75703.1340@compuserve.com>
Subject: Rock Cried question

 Brian Kornfeld <75703.1340@compuserve.com> asks:
> Why would G'Kar even attend this meeting, given his hatred of
> Londo and his mistrust of all Centauri? Why would G'Kar trust
> Londo, even for a second?

       I think that if Londo sent word via the Babcom unit that he
wanted a one-to-one with G'Kar, and that thousands of Narn lives were
on the line, he would come.  G'Kar has nothing to fear from Londo as
long as he's on B5...and if anything, I think he'd be amused if Londo
did try anything.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 23 Oct 1996 22:59:15 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Rebecca Eschliman <76072.2345@compuserve.com>
Subject: Wildfire Threat?

 Rebecca Eschliman <76072.2345@compuserve.com> asks:
> Were any of the people involved in B5 or the studio itself
> threatened by the current spate of wildfires?

      No, it was a long, long ways from here.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 24 Oct 1996 20:49:45 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: SysOp Dupa T Parrot <70040.104@compuserve.com>
Subject: Sun-Times B5 kudos

{original post had no questions}

      Yeah, I'd love to get it, thanks!

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 24 Oct 1996 20:54:23 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: B5 Roleplaying Scenario?

{original post unavailable}

      Be advised that this sim group is not authorized, involves
paying members, and will be shut down by WB, which has shut down
others.  If you're using CIS, you will get them into trouble.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 24 Oct 1996 20:54:24 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: !!B5 SIM GROUP MEETING!!

{original post unavailable}

      See my prior note to you.  WB has shut down other unauthorized
sims, which are violations of copyright.  If you want them to come
after CIS, go right ahead.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 24 Oct 1996 20:54:26 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: ZHD Spoiler

{original post had no questions}

      Nope, the White Star blowed up real good, so it couldn't save
Sheridan.

                                                                  jms


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



Date: 24 Oct 1996 23:12:59 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: foundation on voyager?

 (blocked) asks:
> Is this true?

      Correct, Foundation is now doing EFX for Voyager.  I wonder how
some ST fans who put down B5's effects, saying ST's never-go-CGI
approach made them a better show, will react to this.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 25 Oct 1996 00:44:57 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Colin Glassey <104224.2227@compuserve.com>
Subject: Shadow Dance - Nits

 Colin Glassey <104224.2227@compuserve.com> asks:
> 1) Why did "The White Star" have to hang around in normal space?
> I realize there are good dramatic reasons for putting Ivanova and
> Marcus in harm's way, but are there good logical reasons? Couldn't
> this have been pushed into a different episode? And what do we
> see? I know you are pressed for time in this epsidoe, but really,
> relationship building? romance?

      Okay, a couple of responses....

      "Seems to me the strategy is: wait in hyperspace "near" the
flock of refugee ships, and when they signal for help (as they will
when the Shadow fleet appears), pop out of hyperspace and engage the
Shadow fleet.  The point is, the Shadow fleet is going after a known
target (or so Sheridan guesses), if you hang around near the target,
they will tell you when the attackers appear.  No need to for your
ships, even a scout, to sit in normal space, the refugee ships are all
"scout ships" in a sense."

      Massive logic problem.  If you wait until they're right on top
of the refugee ships, or very near, they'll just dive into the midst of
the refugee ships and there's no way you can have a clean battle
without resulting in *MASSIVE* amounts of civilian casualties.  What
you suggest would all but insure that the refugee ships would be
destroyed (defeating the purpose of the mission) and the piles of
civilian ships running for cover in every direction would hinder our
side, but not the other side, and we'd lose even MORE of our own ships.

      "2) Delenn and Sheridan spend the night together and we get to
watch... comercials. Talk about giving "short shrift" to a rather
interesting event. Couldn't this have been pushed into a different
episode?  I mean, here they are, alone together, in a "ostensibly"
romantic situation, lots for them to talk about I should think.  Well,
I'd like to know what was said... And what do we see?  Sheridan is
already asleep!"

      It's not a matter of being pressed for time.  The whole point of
the ritual was to watch him sleeping.  We had that nice moment right
before they took off with the fleet, and bunches of others, including
the big kiss, right in the previous episode and throughout the whole
thing.

      "3) I think the battle could have been done with a bit more of
an "umph" to it.  Perhaps the use of intercutting between the two plots
was distracting in this case.  It was a good battle, just not quite as
effective as "Severed Dreams" or "Long Twilight Struggle" (which did
have effective intercutting)."

      That's because there was more emotional content to the other two
battles you mention; the bombing of the Narn homeworld, and EA fighting
EA in SD.  Not all battles are created equal, it's a matter of context.
You can't expect to get exactly the same reaction to all of them.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 25 Oct 1996 11:29:07 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Mark D. Smith <70254.107@compuserve.com>
Subject: Enjoying B5 -Rock

{original post had no questions}

       Yeah, that's been pointed out to me...well, y'know, they said
only Nixon could go to China....

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 25 Oct 1996 11:29:08 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Al Lipscomb <75204.2225@compuserve.com>
Subject: URGENT! HELP! from jms

{original post had no questions}

       What an interesting notion...thanks.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 25 Oct 1996 11:29:11 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: colin heaps <100622.3610@compuserve.com>
Subject: >Z< - damned?? >spoiler<

{original post had no questions}

       Okay, got it, thanks for the clarification.

                                                                  jms


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



Date: 26 Oct 1996 21:10:23 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: !!B5 SIM GROUP MEETING!!

{original post unavailable}

      I cannot give authorization, it's not mine to give, it has to
come from Warner Bros., as part of a license.  And while you are not
getting paid for it, the users *are* paying for access to CIS for the
game, and that is a large part of where you're getting into trouble.

      I understand that your error is one of enthusiasm, nothing else,
and I appreciate the enthusiasm...but understand that when I say WB
will get upset about this, they *will*.  They've done it before, and
shut down at least one other sim group, maybe more.  I'm basically
trying to steer you clear of trouble, and there's no way to do this
without a license.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 26 Oct 1996 21:10:25 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Rebecca Eschliman <76072.2345@compuserve.com>
Subject: Encouraging Attitude

{original post had no questions}

      That's great, thanks for passing that along.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 26 Oct 1996 21:10:27 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Shadow Dance - Nits

{original post unavailable}

      No, no Lumati.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 27 Oct 1996 00:25:10 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: The CARDS are Here!

{original post unavailable}

      "Zathras won't talk to press.  Tabloids always misquote
Zathras."

      Hmmm...I didn't know Zathras worked for the Dole campaign...but
it does explain a lot....

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 27 Oct 1996 00:25:11 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: The CARDS are Here!

{original post had no questions}

      Maybe, for those you don't like, you can stick up the Nightwatch
posters over their cubicles....

                                                                  jms


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



Date: 27 Oct 1996 15:17:36 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Trailer Congrats

{original post had no questions}

      Thanks....

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 27 Oct 1996 15:17:44 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Larry Rosenblum <72122.1555@compuserve.com>
Subject: VP is a fan

{original post had no questions}

      Well, if he ever wants to invest some of that $600 million in a
TV series, he knows where to find me....

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 27 Oct 1996 15:17:45 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: >>Shadow Dancing<<

 (blocked) asks:
> Why didn't they just jump in right on top of their targets and
> started blasting away?

      So they could drive any other ships toward the center, into the
killing zone.  If they come in into the center, everybody splits in
every possible direction, and that makes running 'em all down harder.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 27 Oct 1996 15:51:26 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: The CARDS are Here!

{original post unavailable}

      Actually, the more I think about it, the more I like the idea of
Zathras as a political speechwriter or candidate.

      "Zathras look at budget deficit, says, not good.  Stop spending.
But no one ever listen to Zathras.  But one day, everybody listen. 
Then, Zathras elected.  Zathras will be great president.  Someday even
have face printed on money.  Then, everybody have Zathras face in
pants.  It is good to be president."

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 27 Oct 1996 15:51:31 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Mike Robison/ WA & FL <71361.1440@compuserve.com>
Subject: Deeper meanings in work?

 Mike Robison/ WA & FL <71361.1440@compuserve.com> asks:
> Joe, Reading some of the other messages in this section,(some
> quite old, by now) concerning academic interpertations of a
> writers' work, I was wondering if any of "us" out here in
> cyberspace have read anything into your works that were not
> intended to be there when you wrote them, but, upon being pointed
> out to you, you can now see that it does, in fact, have the
> meaning that was "discovered"? IOW, are there deeper meanings in
> your work that even you don't see at times?

      Nothing at all insulting in the question.  It's a hard one to
address, but I'll give it a shot.

      Harlan says, when someone comes up to you and says, "Listen,
when I read your story, I saw you had structured the whole thing around
the Jungian notion of inner conflict vs. external conflict, and...." 
that the proper response is, "Absolutely, and you're the first person
to figure that out," whether it's true or not.  Let them think you're
an utter genius.  (This was, obviously, somewhat tongue in cheek, but
there's some truth there, I think.)

      Generally, some of the "deeper meanings" attached to the work
are less a product of what's written, as what's perceived and how it's
perceived; it's a function of what you, the viewer, bring to the table.
In that respect, a good story is like a Rohrscarch test (and I think I
just hideously misspelled that).

      Some of the hidden meanings or subtext (the more proper term, I
think) are deliberately set in place during the writing process.

      And there are some that slip past me, when I get ambushed by my
own subsconscious.  Often I'm working something through myself at the
time, or going through something, and when I'm not looking, the writing
part of my brain shoots it out onto the page.  Then, afterward,
sometimes minutes later or months later, I'll look at it and suddenly
realize what was going through my mind at the time, and realize I've
given away more of myself than I had intended.  It's an awkward
feeling...like coming home from a party and discovering that your fly
was undone the whole time.  There are times I'd like nothing more than
to take my subsconscious out and give it a *really* good thwacking when
it does this to me.

      Sometimes those meanings are very personal ones, sometimes more
general in nature, trying to figure out stuff.  The only way to stop it
is to ride herd on the part of your brain that does the writing, making
sure nothing slips past you...but then it becomes a more mechanical
process.  As a writer, you learn to listen to the small, tiny voice in
the back of your head and trust it, that it knows where it's going even
if the logical part of your brain does not.  You have to get rid of the
gatekeeping, get rid of what you were taught writing is supposed to be,
get rid of what you think others want to hear from you, get rid of
*everything* that gets in the way and overpowers that small voice.

      If you do that correctly, then you are *always* surprised by
what comes out, which is necessary; if you cannot surprise yourself,
you have no chance of surprising an audience.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 27 Oct 1996 15:51:35 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Shadow Dancing Battle

{original post unavailable}

      Good question.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 27 Oct 1996 15:51:37 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Dana Wright <72627.531@compuserve.com>
Subject: First Ones

 Dana Wright <72627.531@compuserve.com> asks:
> Why or when will B5 feel the need for the other First Ones?
> Will there be a resolution among the Minibari casts?

      Re: the First Ones...be patient.  They'll show up soon.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 27 Oct 1996 15:51:42 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Shadow Dance - Nits

{original post unavailable}

      Yes, but that tactic works only if you know you're going to be
under attack.  If the shadows were to materialize in the midst of the
refugee ships, they'd just scatter in every direction.  The purpose is
to wipe out all those ships quickly and efficiently...so you start at
the outer fringe, drive everyone inward, and then wipe them all out. 
To jump into the middle of them makes it very hard to do this...it's
like herding kittens.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 27 Oct 1996 15:51:44 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: >>Shadow Dancing<<

 (blocked) asks:
> Why didn't they just jump in right on top of their targets and
> started blasting away?

      See my other note on this.  And, again, it isn't a settlement,
it's a gathering of ships.  The other note explains in more detail.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 27 Oct 1996 20:24:37 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Did you always know?

{original post unavailable}

      This was all planned out from the beginning.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 28 Oct 1996 02:59:47 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Rebecca Eschliman <76072.2345@compuserve.com>
Subject: Dancing in the Dark

{original post had no questions}

      It's a great ep...thanks.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 28 Oct 1996 18:16:50 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Martin Shaw <101642.505@compuserve.com>
Subject: Season 4 Title

 Martin Shaw <101642.505@compuserve.com> asks:
> I was wondering if you have decided on a title for series 4 yet?
> Have you released the details of the opening narration yet?
> Or are you planning on leaving this to the conference next
> weekend? in the UK?

       The main title will reveal itself soon enough; and yes, I have
a title for the season.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 28 Oct 1996 18:16:50 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Religion on <The Rock>

{original post unavailable}

       Thanks....

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 28 Oct 1996 18:21:47 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Shadow Dancing

{original post unavailable}

       Well, certainly Kosh was accessing that which he could, in part
to prove he knew what he knew, in part to set things up.  Although who
knows, there may be more to it...that that's what they came up with
doesn't necessarily mean that is the full extent of it.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 28 Oct 1996 18:21:48 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Shadow Dance - Nits

{original post unavailable}

       Actually, no, most refugee ships are NOT jump capable. 
Remember, it takes a LOT of power...you've got the heavy cruisers, and
long range exploratory vessels, and not much else.  That's what makes
the White Star so special, that it can be as small as it is and still
generate a jump point. The Asimov class passenger liners, for instance,
can't jump, and have to rely on gates.  The smaller ships the refugees
would've been using would have had to get to their local gate, and then
line up to go through it in small groups. Which means 85% of them
would've been trapped there, ducks in a shooting gallery.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 28 Oct 1996 19:48:15 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Mike Robison/ WA & FL <71361.1440@compuserve.com>
Subject: Deeper meanings in work?

 Mike Robison/ WA & FL <71361.1440@compuserve.com> asks:
> From what you said, I infer that writing is a similar
> "relaxing/unconscious" process for you, when you are *on*...OTOH,
> are there still days when writing seems similar to staring at the
> keyboard until drops of blood appear on your brow?

      It never gets easy...it just gets difficult in different areas.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 28 Oct 1996 19:48:16 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Boris -pH7- Molodyi <70322.624@compuserve.com>
Subject: Shadow Dance - Nits

 Boris -pH7- Molodyi <70322.624@compuserve.com> asks:
> Which makes me wonder: why didn't Shadows surface right in the
> middle of refugee ships, and do their job, rather than coming out
> at what seems to be considerable distance, and thus opening
> themselves to attack by the Army of Light?

      Just answered this twice in another thread...would hate to take
up the space repeating it a third time....

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 28 Oct 1996 19:57:37 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Second B5 CD

 (blocked) asks:
> Is the second music CD still scheduled for release at the same
> time as season 4, or has it been pushed back again?

      It's being released in November, but I hear they won't sell it
to you because they say you're too loud.

      Me, I don't get involved in these things.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 28 Oct 1996 19:57:38 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: SysOp Lee Whiteside <76711.2660@compuserve.com>
Subject: Second B5 CD

{original post had no questions}

      Nope.  I just got the liner notes to them last week, which they
needed by Wednesday latest because they were going to press this week.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 29 Oct 1996 01:28:34 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Darran Williams <101656.2143@compuserve.com>
Subject: Second B5 CD

{original post had no questions}

      I've heard the first 20 minutes or so, and it's great stuff.  I
should get the balance soon.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 29 Oct 1996 01:28:35 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Stern cheers B5

{original post unavailable}

      I'm constantly delighted to hear about Howard.  We'd love to
have him on the show someday.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 29 Oct 1996 01:28:38 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Brent Barrett <75063.3305@compuserve.com>
Subject: Season 4 Title

 Brent Barrett <75063.3305@compuserve.com> asks:
> Okay, Joe (aka Kosh), I'll bite: What *is* the title for the new
> season?

      That would be telling.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 29 Oct 1996 01:28:40 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Shadow Dancing Battle

{original post had no questions}

"If this were live, you could be implanting strange dreams in my
head."

      Hmmm...guess you just haven't noticed 'em yet.

                                                                  jms


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



Date: 29 Oct 1996 11:54:29 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Michael Gillman <100724.1646@compuserve.com>
Subject: Z'Ha'Dum

{original post had no questions}

       This is from memory, but I think it's "nuzen fallani, en allis
mi dron."

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 29 Oct 1996 12:19:30 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Shadow Dance - Nits

{original post unavailable}

       For as long as required by the script.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 29 Oct 1996 12:19:31 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: T.P. Chai <104674.3064@compuserve.com>
Subject: gloves for CTS

 T.P. Chai <104674.3064@compuserve.com> asks:
> Have you heard of SoftFlex, which are fingerless gloves that help
> to alluviate CTS?

       I just ordered them as I saw your message, thanks.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 29 Oct 1996 17:32:25 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Season 4 Title

{original post unavailable}

       Oh, be assured, the interesting times for Londo haven't even
*started* yet.

       But they will, real soon.

                                                                  jms


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



Date: 30 Oct 1996 13:34:00 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Scott Baker <76072.1744@compuserve.com>
Subject: Shadow Dance - Nits

 Scott Baker <76072.1744@compuserve.com> asks:
> I have to ask, what nigtmare did these things come from?
> Also, where did you come up with the strategy, was that your own,
> or did you get some suggestions or did you look into history?

       I dunno...I just thunk it up as efficient and ruthless.  I
guess it comes naturally when you're a producer.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 30 Oct 1996 13:34:01 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Deeper meanings in work?

{original post unavailable}

       I can't answer that, because the two elements are always the
same to me.  It's like asking a centipede which leg goes first.  I
don't know how I do what I do, I just kinda do it.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 30 Oct 1996 17:38:00 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Scott Baker <76072.1744@compuserve.com>
Subject: Shadow Dance - Nits

 Scott Baker <76072.1744@compuserve.com> asks:
> But you thought up B5 before you were a producer, so what deep
> dark part of your soul is bleeding out to make these Shadows?

       I don't know, but I suspect it's best left unidentified...and
undisturbed.

                                                                  jms


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



Date: 31 Oct 1996 12:21:11 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: David Schirmer <76774.3310@compuserve.com>
Subject: B5 Hamilton Plate Series

 David Schirmer <76774.3310@compuserve.com> asks:
> Do you know who the Artist will be?
> And do you know how many plates there will be in the series?

       Can't remember the artists offhand, but the plates will feature
each of our major characters in turn; Sheridan is first, then Delenn,
then I think we've got Ivanova, Londo, G'Kar, others.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 31 Oct 1996 12:21:13 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: David Kuhn <73532.741@compuserve.com>
Subject: Shadow Dance - Nits

 David Kuhn <73532.741@compuserve.com> asks:
> Who are running around in the flying sausers (which by the way
> seemd awfull potent)?

       Them's is Vree.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 31 Oct 1996 12:21:14 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Scott Baker <76072.1744@compuserve.com>
Subject: Shadow Dance - Nits

{original post had no questions}

       Thanks.  A writer's job is to stay vulnerable, and explore
everything in the writing...the drama, the tragedy, the comedy, the
weirdness...it's all part of the package.  I just sometimes put a
little too much out there, I think.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 31 Oct 1996 12:21:15 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Marcon in Columbus, Ohio

{original post unavailable}

       No one's yet extended a formal invitation, so we'll have to
see.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 31 Oct 1996 20:43:42 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Z'Ha'Dum x2

{original post had no questions}

      Thanks...and yeah, we'll try to deal with the retcon if we can.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 31 Oct 1996 20:43:44 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Al Lipscomb <75204.2225@compuserve.com>
Subject: <<Za'ha'dume

 Al Lipscomb <75204.2225@compuserve.com> asks:
> 5) Why were the Shadows and the Vorlon left behind by the first
> ones? Punishment?
> A desire by the two races to prove a point?
> Something in their nature that made them want to stay?

      Well, most of that is on track....

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 31 Oct 1996 23:11:58 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Rebecca Eschliman <76072.2345@compuserve.com>
Subject: Shadow Dance - Nits

 Rebecca Eschliman <76072.2345@compuserve.com> asks:
> I'm going to make an assumption here, but you put a little too
> much (of yourself) out there for your own comfort? As far as
> storytelling, which is why we're here, can you put too much out
> there of pain, joy, fear, yearning, resentment, relief, etc.? 
> Stripped of those elements, doesn't the story become antiseptic
> and liable to lead to indifference in the viewer/reader?

      Yeah, it's primarily a personal comfort issue.  It's kinda like
standing naked in front of ten million of your best friends....

                                                                  jms