lurkers-guide/ftp/CompuServe/cs97-09

JMS CompuServe messages for September 1997.  Collected by John Hardin
<jhardin@wolfenet.com>.


Date: 01 Sep 1997 19:47:24 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: JMS on SFVortex

{original post unavailable}

      That's Harlan...that's how he is most of the time.  And yeah, I
got in my stuff earlier.  When Harlan gets a full head of steam going,
best to just get out of the way and watch with wonder.  I think it's a
couple of months old, though I don't know if this is a first or second
run of it.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 01 Sep 1997 19:47:27 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Francis Rogers <73742.1613@compuserve.com>
Subject: Claudia's Leaving?

 Francis Rogers <73742.1613@compuserve.com> asks:
> Why would she do this?
> Was it a desire for more money, to have her part beefed up, or
> what? In view of the fact her character seems to be pretty
> popular, could you give her a second chance or something, or is
> it too late?

      She asked for things that were not in our power to give, and
when they were not received, she passed on the offer to return.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 01 Sep 1997 19:47:29 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Steven K. Andeweg <72143.674@compuserve.com>
Subject: Season 5 Main Title

 Steven K. Andeweg <72143.674@compuserve.com> asks:
> Have you finished the Season Five one, or is it too early?
> Have you saved the best for last?

      No, I'm in the process of designing the S5 titles now.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 01 Sep 1997 19:47:32 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Rebecca Eschliman <76072.2345@compuserve.com>
Subject: Hemi-Demi-Semiotics

 Rebecca Eschliman <76072.2345@compuserve.com> asks:
> does a storyteller such as yourself or others you admire ever
> start from the semiotic and discover characters that can express
> it, or is it the more natural process to have the characters tell
> their stories and later find out that they have semiotic
> resonance simply because the storyteller has read enough and seen
> enough that the semiotic bit comes without thinking?

      I really don't think you can think in those terms, either way. 
You pick up the tools of the *story*, not the tools of the *analysis of
the story*, and as you begin to line them up, you may have a sense of,
"Okay, this character is something of an archetype, so I need certain
elements to come into this, but only in service of the story."  I find
that what truly makes for myth does not come from conscious effort, but
from *unconscious* effort, this is where Jung's notion of a collective
unconscious comes into play.  We may not know *why* a sword raised by a
bloodied soldier over a battlefield strewn with bodies has power with
us, it's enough to know that it *does*.  When you ride a bicycle,
you're not thinking about pressure vs. force or force = propulsion, or
how many cycles per minute equals X-speed, you're just Riding The
Bike.

      I just Write.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 01 Sep 1997 23:02:54 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: O. C. Alexander <72623.3472@compuserve.com>
Subject: Kristen Cloke on B5 ;>)

{original post had no questions}

      Actually, Carl is correct.  If you're going to be realistic, a
captain in this position would be in her late 30s or early 40s, which
definitely puts Kristen out of the running.  I don't want to do a
Wesley and stick somebody way too young into an unrealistically high
position.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 01 Sep 1997 23:02:56 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: B5 Action Figures

{original post unavailable}

      The Revell kit isn't out yet, so be careful that you're not
buying a knockoff.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 01 Sep 1997 23:02:58 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Carl Cantarella <105030.3700@compuserve.com>
Subject: Lochley=Tracy Scoggins!

{original post had no questions}

      I played a scene of Tracy's at WorldCon this weekend, and the
audience responded *very* favorably.  I think this is gonna work out
just fine.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 01 Sep 1997 23:03:01 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Lochley=Tracy Scoggins!

{original post unavailable}

      I wouldn't cast someone who was less than ideal for the role. 
If you don't find the right person, you just keep going until you *do*.
We had a goodly amount of time on this one, and we saw a LOT of very
talented people. But she rose right to the top.  We put her in
secondary auditions with our other top contenders, and she blew *them*
out.  Then we put her in a scene with Jerry Doyle, in one of their
nose-to-nose, toe-to-toe confrontational scenes, and I told her to pull
out all the stops and try to bury her...and Jerry can be a very strong
presence when he wants to be.  She held her ground and gave back as
good as she got, maybe more.  And at the end, even Jerry said, "It's
her."

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 01 Sep 1997 23:03:03 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: JMS on SFVortex

{original post had no questions}

      Actually, the Sci-Fi Channel has approached Doug and I about
maybe doing something for them as a dramatic series while the other
shows are ongoing. Will advise as (and if) that develops.

                                                                  jms


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



Date: 02 Sep 1997 16:06:08 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Paul McElligott <70007.3154@compuserve.com>
Subject: B5 Fanclub Merchandise

{original post had no questions}

       We didn't know how much demand there would be for the
stuff...now we know a little better.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 02 Sep 1997 16:11:46 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Congratulations

{original post unavailable}

       Thanks, and welcome to the party...it's okay to come late as
long as you enjoy yourself.

                                                                  jms


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



Date: 03 Sep 1997 12:35:25 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Rob Carr <73200.2754@compuserve.com>
Subject: !intense Garibaldi News

{original post had no questions}

       I've got the original Baltimore one, so I have it covered,
thanks.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 03 Sep 1997 12:35:27 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: DS9 = Babylon 5

{original post unavailable}

       I was irritable about it at first.  Very much so, since it
jeapordized B5 ever being picked up as a series.  We had a huge battle
to fight on the premise that there was room enough for two space SF
series (virtually all the studios had conceded that one), then to say
that there was room for, and the market could sustain, two *space
station* SF series, well, suffice to say it caused us a lot of hassle.

       But in the final analysis, you come down to some basic
fundamentals. First, it comes down to making a good show.  I'd rather
compete in the marketplace of free ideas; if we make a good show, it'll
succeed...if not, not, and it's a moot point.  Second, as much as I may
suspect that the development of DS9 was guided by some of the execs at
Paramount who had access to all our material, I don't *know for sure*
that it was...and if you're going to be fair you *have* to allow for
the possibility of simultaneous, independent creation.  So I'm fairly
sanguine about it, as much as can be, anyway.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 03 Sep 1997 22:16:21 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Tom Knudsen <72347.1626@compuserve.com>
Subject: Season 5 Main Title

 Tom Knudsen <72347.1626@compuserve.com> asks:
> Are you still thining of using silence during the opening
> credits?

      Playing with several options....

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 03 Sep 1997 22:41:20 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: O. C. Alexander <72623.3472@compuserve.com>
Subject: Kristen Cloke on B5 ;>)

{original post had no questions}

"But we *don't* have to follow the US Navy command structure, or
faithfully capitulate the command structure of ANY historical service. 
B5 is a fictional universe.  And I maintain that by the internal logic
of that fictional universe, a younger captain would not entirely be out
of line."

      Speaking as the guy who made up that internal logic and that
fictional universe...there is a profound difference between the
examples you were citing from the Revolutionary and Civil Wars and the
situation in B5.  To command a starship you have to have experience in
combat situations, and also in how to be level-headed enough to talk
your way out when you have to.  The average career military person may
enter at 18 years of age, or wait until finishing college or OTS
(Officer Training School) at 20-21.  You may enter respectively as an
ensign, or as a Lieutenant, and be assigned to your first unit at that 
point.  This has nothing to do with any particular country's military
scheme as simply with the math involved.

      Promotion in EVERY military is based in large measure on combat
experience.  (Which is why women officers are fighting so hard to get
access to battlefield postings.)  Working your way up the ranks simply
takes *time*.

      There's a profound difference between an Air Force captain, who
is responsible only for his own plane, and a Captain of a large vessel
who must command a staff and be responsible for the lives of hundreds
of crew members. Before they will entrust you with that responsibility,
you have to have proven yourself over the long-haul.  This is all the
more true with something like B5, where the CO also operates as a
military governor of sorts.  With a quarter-million lives on the line,
a person in his or her 20s simply does not have the years of experience
required for the job...and there is no way to gain that experience
other than with time.  It's not strictly a question of maturity, it's a
question of experience as well, and the bureaucracy that comes with
*any* military structure that says "you must pay your way, and earn 
your stripes."

      Just because something is SF doesn't mean we must throw away
*external* logic in our attempt to make the *internal* logic into
something just because we want it to be so.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 03 Sep 1997 22:41:23 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: O. C. Alexander <72623.3472@compuserve.com>
Subject: Kristen Cloke on B5 ;>)

{original post had no questions}

      No, it isn't specifically or exclusively based on the US Navy,
no, but also bear in mind that if you're going to look outside the US
military system, you will find that promotions generally take even
*longer* than in our own system...so that may not be in the best
interests of your argument.

                                                                  jms


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



Date: 04 Sep 1997 18:14:29 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Lochley=Tracy Scoggins!

{original post unavailable}

       You're mixing up your terms.  You don't use "better" in the way
that you are using them here.  You look for the actor who most embodies
the character you're looking for.  When we were casting Cartagia, for
instance, there were several actors who you could look at and say,
"Okay, this actor has more technique than *that* actor."  But that
ain't the issue.  Wortham Krimmer is mainly noted for being an actor on
daytime soap operas, and he was competing against people trained at the
Royal Shakespeare Academy in some cases.  The latter may have been more
classically trained...but Wortham WAS Cartagia.

       And we knew it in the first five minutes.  The hard part was
then sitting through all the other auditions knowing that we had
already decided instantly on Wortham.

       The casting director's job is to winnow down the list to those
who are real prospects.  So by the time they get to me, the selection
is already very solid.  When Tracy walked in, we instantly felt, "Okay,
this is the character."  One other person came in and was also the
character, with a somewhat different take.  So we brought both of them
back and had them audition one after the other, so we could compare and
see which worked best for the character.  It was Tracy, hands down.

       The casting process was no different for this character as any
other. We knew within moments.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 04 Sep 1997 18:24:42 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: DS9 = Babylon 5

{original post unavailable}

       And of course there's the red-headed Leeta on DS9, and the
red-headed Lyta on B5....

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 04 Sep 1997 18:24:43 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: 5th season

{original post unavailable}

       Lochley is going to be anything *but* a sex kitten....

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 05 Sep 1997 03:05:45 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Ray Pelzer <70475.1263@compuserve.com>
Subject: Ghostbusters goes PC

 Ray Pelzer <70475.1263@compuserve.com> asks:
> What the heck is this?
> Why?

      Sigh....

      Oh, well, thus does the past glow brighter in memory....

                                                                  jms


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



Date: 05 Sep 1997 15:23:12 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Lochley=Tracy Scoggins!

{original post unavailable}

       No, you don't seem to understand the point.  Of course the
actors you cast have technique.  Where did you get this from? 
Especially the "some actors are just being themselves" part in this
context.  Wortham wasn't "just being himself" as Cartagia, nobody is. 
Neither is Andreas, and neither is Scoggins.  She didn't just walk into
the room and do herself, she created a character.  Lochley is nothing
like Scoggins.  Scoggins made a number of actor's choices, and when she
entered the room, she *was* Lochley.

       I don't mean to be rude, but it's hard to have this
conversation when it's clear you don't really know what's involved in
casting or acting or creating a character, and are using your
misunderstandings to justify ragging on Scoggins.  Andreas was
neck-and-neck with Morgan Shepard for the role of 
G'Kar...fundamentally, Andreas' approach was more in line with what I 
envisioned.  Tracy was the same way.  We cast the person who was right
for the role.  If the person's not right, we don't cast them.  The only
time it hasn't worked out as well as I'd've liked was when we cast Mary
Kay Adams, who was very strong in the auditions, and then made an
actor's choice to play the character very quiet, to not push against
Andreas...but you fade into the woodwork if you do that.  So it's not a
question of technique there, but of choice.  She was right in the
audition, but her choice later wasn't what we'd initially hoped for.

       And Tracy is *great* as Lochley in all the dailies.

       But basically, this is a stupid conversation.  You're obviously
hoping to get me to be defensive about her, and there's no need.  Every
sesaon the same thing happens, a cast member comes in or goes out, or
there is another change, and some people cry that the sky is
falling...and in the end, the choices have been right.  There is
nothing to defend.  Either the work succeeds, or it does not.  And that
will be borne out in the episode, not the talking.  I had to deal with
this with Bruce, Stephen, even Claudia, I would point out, from the
Takashima fans out there, which a lot of folks have conveniently
forgotten.  Lots of folks online were saying that Tamlyn was a strong
female character and that in casting Claudia we were just putting in a 
"babe," and pilloried me for it, and at the end of the day, when they
actually *saw* what she was doing, they were fine with it.

       So I'm kinda tired of playing that game.

       See what she does first, *then* we'll talk.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 05 Sep 1997 15:23:14 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: B5 on CNN Headline News

 (blocked) asks:
> They mentioned something that I did not know; that B5 is one of
> the very few (or perhaps only?

       The original ST won two years running, and just before that, TZ
won three years running.  In the 30 years or so since the original ST,
no other show has gotten 2 in a row, correct.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 05 Sep 1997 15:57:47 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Kevin P. Kenney <104102.352@compuserve.com>
Subject: Voyager: Hugo Stumping

{original post had no questions}

       No, frankly, I don't think Paramount cares about the Hugo, or
even knows what it represents.  I don't believe (though I could be
wrong) that they even *had* anyone at the Hugos in case they'd won. 
No, Paramount's concern is that the franchise shows are losing ratings,
and they're doing everything they can to bolster them and make them
more exciting.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 05 Sep 1997 15:57:48 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Vadim Naroditsky <72133.1175@compuserve.com>
Subject: SPOILER

 Vadim Naroditsky <72133.1175@compuserve.com> asks:
> Will Sheridan really become a president???

       The spoiler is not correct.

                                                                  jms


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



Date: 06 Sep 1997 17:01:46 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Phyllis Schmulenson <72447.224@compuserve.com>
Subject: Lochley=Tracy Scoggins!

 Phyllis Schmulenson <72447.224@compuserve.com> asks:
> I'm missing something- who is Tracy Scoggins and what role is she
> cast in?

      Scoggins is on board for season 5 as Captain Elizabeth Lochley,
who is going to full the void in the command structure left by Ivanova.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 06 Sep 1997 17:01:49 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Lochley=Tracy Scoggins!

{original post unavailable}

"Maybe I am naive to say that I don't think that you are 100% in
charge of your destiny on the show, naive to say that there are outside
presures that effect some of the decisions you have to make, and naive
to say that budget and time contraints effect who you cast or when you
cast them."

      Okay, you're naive.

"Maybe I just don't understand."

      A distinct possibility.

"If I am naive, then when it comes down to it,everything that is less
than brilliant on the show is your responsibility:  everything."

      I'll accept that only if by the same token I am responsible for
everything that is *more* than brilliant on the show.  Otherwise it's
lopsided.  And both statements are inaccurate.  If an actor blows a
line on the set, if a director doesn't get his coverage, if a prop
breaks seconds before it was supposed to be used, if a lens doesn't
show up from Panavision in time for a particular shot...no, I'm not
responsible for those things.

      For those things that are done deliberately, by choice, by me,
on the show, I will take full responsibility, whether they work or not,
except insofar as that may result in stealing thunder from any of our
actors or crew, in which case the good stuff was their responsibility.

"But then maybe you do think the show is perfect, that when you say
that there is still room for improvement you don't really mean it..."

      Nope.  That I think your statement is flawed does not mean that
I think my show is not flawed.  Two vastly different issues.  If it
were perfect, I would not be struggling every year to make the show
better than the previous year.  We learn by doing.

      As you just did.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 06 Sep 1997 17:01:52 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Rob Carr <73200.2754@compuserve.com>
Subject: Ghostbusters goes PC

 Rob Carr <73200.2754@compuserve.com> asks:
> YOU wrote for The Real Ghostbusters?

      Wrote for it, heck, I story edited the first network season and
the syndicated season *simultaneously*, for a total of 78 episodes, and
wrote 22 episodes (5 of which came after that first season) including
the Halloween ABC special for which I wrote a couple of songs.  It was
a great deal of fun to work on, until they messed up Janine, which is
why I left.  Later, when they realized that had been an error, they
asked me to write some more with her pretty much as she had been, and
then to fix the continuity error in an episode called "Janine, You've
Changed."

      Some of the ones I wrote were Xmas Marks the Spot, Mr. Sandman
Dream Me a Dream, Citizen Ghost, Ragnarok and Roll, The Thing in Mrs.
Faversham's Attic, No One Comes to Lupusville, Chicken He Clucked,
Doctor Doctor, and a bunch of others.

      TRGBs is now playing on syndication again, in the Amazing
Adventures package...uncut, as far as I can tell.  (I think it airs
Sundays at 2:30 here in LA.)  It was a hoot, and it's one of the things
I'm still very proud of.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 06 Sep 1997 17:01:55 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Ronald Legro <75136.2066@compuserve.com>
Subject: B5 on CNN Headline News

 Ronald Legro <75136.2066@compuserve.com> asks:
> Is winning a Hugo news?

      Actually, CNN aired the Hugo news last year as well, before TNT
got into the picture.  That's because a lot of the folks over at CNN
are big B5 fans.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 06 Sep 1997 17:08:11 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Rob Carr <73200.2754@compuserve.com>
Subject: Ghostbusters goes PC

 Rob Carr <73200.2754@compuserve.com> asks:
> YOU wrote for The Real Ghostbusters?

      BTW, when they did the second season without me, they introduced
the odious "Junior Ghostbusters," and at one point asked me if I'd be
willing to write a script using them.

      "Only if I get to drive a truck over them," I replied.

      They never asked me again.

                                                                  jms


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



Date: 07 Sep 1997 17:45:36 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: colin heaps <100622.3610@compuserve.com>
Subject: Lochley=Tracy Scoggins!

 colin heaps <100622.3610@compuserve.com> asks:
> At that time Claudia *seemed* to be in for S5, now that's not the
> case, do you intend to shift the ability as another part of a
> different character, or will it be one of life's little
> mysteries? (You know - like why is there always 1 spoon left in
> the bowl after washing up? On another issue, (sorry if you've been
> over this before), but I just read in SFX that you won't be
> attending anymore Wolf conventions due to "queueing?" and
> "treatment of the fans" ?
>  - Could I ask if that was for sure, or could we all persuade you
> that you are worth lining up for? Anyways, in parting, can I just
> say, season 4 is "doing my head in" as we say hereabouts, you
> don't believe in static characterization do you?
>  - Anyone asked about yur reaction to Diana's death yet?

      The stuff Ivanova would've done this season will be shifted in
part to another, but not Lochley.

      Re: Wolf...no, I won't be doing any further Wolfs due to my
ongoing concerns with the way they are being run, the way that the fans
are being treated, the unreasonable lines, and other genuine concerns I
have with Brian and the organization.  They promised that all illegal
good would be kept out; the dealer's room was *chockablock* with
unlicensed, pirated stuff, forcing me to have to go and police the
thing, which was not what I was there for, and put me in some difficult
situations...they promised that the lines would be dealt with fairly,
and they were not...I had yelled before at Brian for showing 4th season
material, as yet unaired in the UK, at conventions, he said he would
not do so, and yet the music videos were full of this footage (he says
he only promised not to show full episodes, so that isn't the same
thing, which is nonsense...he says that he got the videos from others
so they're not his fault, which is also nonsense)...I have asked him,
repeatedly, to follow through on his offer to let us inspect the
records of the charitable donations made by the convention, because I
have heard that a goodly amount the money never reached its proper
destination, and I would like to know the facts one way or the other,
but thus far he has consistently refused to do so, even after having
said at first that they were available for inspection...I've heard
enough times that he has been muscling other conventions by telling 
people he has a lock on our cast that I'm concerned... and so on.

      I have an obligation to associate myself and this program only
where I feel things are being done properly.  My concern here is that
they are not, and thus I cannot and will not involve myself or
Babylonian Productions with any further Wolf conventions.  My cast are
free agents, and can do what they wish, but there will be no further
cooperation with Babylonian Productions until these areas are addressed
and fixed.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 07 Sep 1997 17:45:40 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Ghostbusters goes PC

{original post unavailable}

      Thanks...yeah, wrote two other books, OtherSyde (novel) and an
anthology, Tales from the New Twilight Zone, as well as short stories
appearing in Pulphouse, Amazing Stories, Midnight Grafitti, Shadows 6,
and a brand new (and rather long) story coming out next Spring in the
Death Out West anthology edited by Martin Harry Greenberg
(mystery/crime stories), called "We Killed Them in the Ratings."

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 07 Sep 1997 17:45:42 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Stuart C. Hellinger <70402.1371@compuserve.com>
Subject: B5 on CNN Headline News

{original post had no questions}

      Thanks...it's enlightening to have all that put into
perspective.  Most interesting.  Thanks again.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 07 Sep 1997 17:45:45 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: B5 Books

{original post had no questions}

      Del Rey has signed a deal with WB to do the B5 novels
henceforth, and as part of that will be doing a series of three, 3-book
arcs (for a total of 9 in addition to stand-alone B5 novels) which will
feature an overall story that I'll assign to the writers involved.  The
goal is to keep them within canon, but allow the writers some degree of
freedom, and to fill in some of the corners in the B5 universe.  For
instance, one 3-book arc may be the story of the fall of Centauri
Prime; another might be the history of the Psi Corps and what made
Bester what he is; and the third set strongly on the B5 station itself.

      These stories are still being determined, natch, so this ain't
final.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 07 Sep 1997 17:45:46 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Rachel McPhaden <101751.474@compuserve.com>
Subject: scoggins as lochley

{original post had no questions}

      Thanks...we always try to get better each season, no matter
what.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 07 Sep 1997 23:48:56 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Tom Knudsen <72347.1626@compuserve.com>
Subject: 5th season

{original post had no questions}

      The article re: Andrea is essentially correct.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 07 Sep 1997 23:54:58 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: SysOp Dupa T Parrot <70040.104@compuserve.com>
Subject: Ghostbusters goes PC

 SysOp Dupa T Parrot <70040.104@compuserve.com> asks:
> That was one of yours, wasn't it?

      Yeah, "Dream Me a Life" was one of my TZs and as it happens one
of the TZs I'm most proud of, followed by "The Mind of Simon Foster,"
"Our Selena is Dying" and "Rendezvous in a Dark Place."  Eddie Albert
did a terrific job in "Dream."

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 07 Sep 1997 23:55:00 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Phyllis Schmulenson <72447.224@compuserve.com>
Subject: Lochley=Tracy Scoggins!

 Phyllis Schmulenson <72447.224@compuserve.com> asks:
> Is captain lochley supposed to be the captain of one of the earth
> force ships that defect? Who is Diana?
> What about her death?

      No, Lochley's ship did not defect.

      And the Diana of whom others are speaking is Princess Di.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 07 Sep 1997 23:55:02 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Congratulations

 (blocked) asks:
> BTW, is this the first consecutive winning award or did TOS or
> TNG do this before? What episode will you propose when you go for
> the threepeat? G Give MEmphis Tennessee What the heck is a
> Tennessee Oiler? Does anybody really care?

      Classic Trek won twice in a row, the original TZ did three in a
row.

                                                                  jms


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



Date: 08 Sep 1997 13:59:43 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: John F Davis <73455.43@compuserve.com>
Subject: Lochley=Tracy Scoggins!

{original post had no questions}

       I'd mainly rather look at them myself at this stage, and I want
to emphasize here that I'm not saying they've done anything *wrong,*
rather that very little has been done *right* in some very crucial
areas.  The distinction is an important one.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 08 Sep 1997 13:59:44 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Vadim Naroditsky <72133.1175@compuserve.com>
Subject: SPOILER

 Vadim Naroditsky <72133.1175@compuserve.com> asks:
> isn't it a standard in american movies/shows that "bad guy"
> always dies at the hand of a "good guy" and doesn't public always
> know that it would happen?

       Please refrain from story suggestions in future.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 08 Sep 1997 13:59:45 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: T.P. Chai <104674.3064@compuserve.com>
Subject: casting

 T.P. Chai <104674.3064@compuserve.com> asks:
> the physical presence of the actor tells you she's the one?
> or do you mean as soon as the actor opens her mouth to speak as
> herself, or as soon as she goes into the audition routine as the
> character?

       The funny thing is, you usually know within, oh, 25-30 seconds
of the actor actually starting the audition if this is the wrong person
or not. And in that same amount of time, someone else can either nail
it completely, or end up on the short-list for callbacks.  It's totally
subjective and intuitive.

                                                                  jms


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



Date: 09 Sep 1997 14:30:55 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Vadim Naroditsky <72133.1175@compuserve.com>
Subject: SPOILER

 Vadim Naroditsky <72133.1175@compuserve.com> asks:
> (Is that a sufficient disclaimer?

       Actually, no, it's not.  Disclaimers don't work.  If they
appear too much when I'm around I'll have to leave.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 09 Sep 1997 14:31:00 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Kevin P. Kenney <104102.352@compuserve.com>
Subject: Writing Wish List

{original post had no questions}

       We have two different views of what the characters should do
and who they are.  We agree to disagree.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 09 Sep 1997 21:35:57 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Tom Knudsen <72347.1626@compuserve.com>
Subject: Ghostbusters goes PC

 Tom Knudsen <72347.1626@compuserve.com> asks:
> Is one of those the one that Rod Serling started and you
> finished?

      "Selena" is the one I wrote based on Rod's outline.

                                                                  jms


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



Date: 10 Sep 1997 17:25:52 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Ghostbusters goes PC

 (blocked) asks:
> Shane just asked about you collecting your own short stories?
> In the same vein, would you consider (after year 5) authorizing
> an anthology of fan fiction about B5?

       I'm open to all sorts of fiction prospects down the road, once
the show is out of production.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 10 Sep 1997 17:25:53 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: T.P. Chai <104674.3064@compuserve.com>
Subject: Delenn's voice

 T.P. Chai <104674.3064@compuserve.com> asks:
> Was that the proposed process to be used on Delenn's voice?
> And also did Mira's contralto voice give her an edge to be cast
> for Delenn?

       No, the process on the Minbari voice wasn't the same as the one
we were going to use on Delenn...and Mira's voice was secondary to her
overall performance in casting her.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 10 Sep 1997 17:25:53 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Abandon Ship

{original post unavailable}

       Thanks, and I'll see you on the net....

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 10 Sep 1997 17:25:55 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Lochley=Tracy Scoggins!

 (blocked) asks:
> That begs the question does B5 need a professionally run
> convention? What do we fans get if we don't get Wolf 359 type
> conventions?

       I've always preferred the fan-run convention format to the
other sort, so there has to be a way to maintain that structure, and
I'm looking into that.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 10 Sep 1997 17:32:43 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: John Ordover-Trek Editor <72674.1362@compuserve.com>
Subject: DS9 IS A COPY !

{original post had no questions}

       That's correct...but it's a matter of a space station, with a
female in command, that is a trading outpost, with a religious leader
in the midst of it, next to a gateway, with a shapeshifter in its
pilot, with a name followed by a number...well, one could go on...it's
the specifics, not the generality, that is of interest.

       BTW, you apparently announced over on AOL with some enjoyment
that B5's fifth year had been canceled and was not going to happen.  In
future you might refrain from prognostication until properly qualified
by the gypsy of your choice.

                                                                  jms


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



Date: 10 Sep 1997 22:37:45 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Shane S. Shellenbarger <104305.3404@compuserve.com>
Subject: Ghostbusters goes PC

 Shane S. Shellenbarger <104305.3404@compuserve.com> asks:
> Any chance that you'll be collecting the short stories?

      Collecting which short stories?  Mine?  Eventually...when there
are enough of them for a collection.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 10 Sep 1997 22:37:47 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: 5th season

{original post unavailable}

"It's surprising that anyone would ever think of a five-year story arc
 - keeping it moving forward despite changes in the cast must be almost
as hard as putting it together in the first place. It must have been
one of those things you realise nobody can do after you've done it."

      Boy, you got that right....

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 11 Sep 1997 02:25:27 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
Subject: DS9 IS A COPY !

      I meant to say female *second-in-command*, both were in command
though during the attack on the station in both pilots.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 11 Sep 1997 02:25:29 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Richard P. Manny <70762.141@compuserve.com>
Subject: ST:Voyager

{original post had no questions}

      Didn't see it, so can't comment.

                                                                  jms


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



Date: 11 Sep 1997 20:27:36 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Lochley=Tracy Scoggins!

 (blocked) asks:
> Can the producers of shows run fan events as well?
> What if fans' reactions do not agree with the official line?
> How many hats can you comfortably wear?

"Can the producers of shows run fan events as well?"

      No, nor was that the intent of my message.  We've talked about
doing just one, a one-off convention, here in LA at some point in the
future, but that's all, we can't and wouldn't want to get beyond that. 
No, my only point was that maybe something can be done to make the
profit conventions hew more closely to the rules by which the fan run
conventions operate, and perhaps we can try to influence that in
future.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 12 Sep 1997 00:06:47 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Ron Chusid <74756.3150@compuserve.com>
Subject: DS9 = Babylon 5

{original post had no questions}

"I am looking forward to this season's arc on retaking DS9."

      From a conversation I had the other day with a DS9 actor, this
thread is resolved by episode 6, so it won't go a season, but duration
is not the issue, the quality of approach is what matters.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 12 Sep 1997 00:06:49 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Lochley=Tracy Scoggins!

{original post unavailable}

      Speaking of which...John Copeland and I just did the producer's
cut on 502, the first S5 episode...and Tracy it *terrific*.  I think
she's going to to over like gangbusters.  It's a solid episode, and her
presence adds a great deal to the show.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 12 Sep 1997 00:06:52 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Lochley=Tracy Scoggins!

{original post had no questions}

"What does concern me is the future of the fan convention which, I
understand, is particularly strong in the Uk compared to the US which
is mainly professionally run conventions ( Correct me if I have
misunderstood the situation in the States.)"

      That's definitely, 100% incorrect.  The professional conventions
are only a very small percentage of the overall conventions that take
place in the US.  Most are local, fan-run conventions, and a large
number of regional or state conventions, and those covering several
states.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 12 Sep 1997 00:06:55 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Grand Theft, drama!

{original post unavailable}

"I completely disagree. B5's Mindwar was HARDLY an original concept
and was, in fact, ripping off other material. Akira for instance."

      In 43 years, I have never seen more than 5 seconds of Akira, and
generally have no idea what the story is about.  Anime is one of those
things that does nothing for me.

      To rip off is to steal intentionally.  I suggest you use that
term sparingly in future.

                                                                  jms


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



Date: 12 Sep 1997 17:32:12 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Roseann M. Caputo <103510.1542@compuserve.com>
Subject: ST:Voyager

 Roseann M. Caputo <103510.1542@compuserve.com> asks:
> I know that Jeri Taylor is a friend of yours, but who the heck
> has control and is making these aweful decisions?

       I'd seen the 5-minute South Park pilot, and last week's episode
was the first one I'd watched through.

       Sick and twisted and funny....

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 12 Sep 1997 17:32:13 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Leesons Learned

{original post unavailable}

       I think what I learned was, never ever do this again....

       It's hard to pin it all down, really.  Since no one's ever
really done this sort of thing before, you have to make up the rules as
you go. Every day is a new decision, a different fork in the road...I'm
not even sure how I'd pin it down to any one thing in specific.  It's
like saying "what did you learn different going from an automatic
transmission to a manual?"  It's just different ways of thinking and
working.

       And it was the EAS Furies.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 12 Sep 1997 17:32:16 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Can you check something

{original post unavailable}

       Last I heard he was still planning to be there, but that was a
bit ago. He's left for the day, will try to remember to ask when I see
him next week.

                                                                  jms


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



Date: 14 Sep 1997 02:07:56 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Lochley=Tracy Scoggins!

 (blocked) asks:
> So you think you can run a BIG fan convention well enough to
> satisfy gusets and attendees on purely voluntary labour?

"So you think you can run a BIG fan convention well enough to satisfy
gusets and attendees on purely voluntary labour?"

      Happens all the time.  About a month or two ago, I was at
Westercon in Seattle, about 3,000 people showed up...and it was one of
the most efficiently run conventions I'd ever attended...all on
voluntary work by those involved (who were comp'd into the convention).

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 14 Sep 1997 02:07:59 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: B5 on CNN Headline News

{original post unavailable}

      Weird thing is, about next year's Hugo possibilities, I keep
forgetting No Surrender, No Retreat, possibly one of our best eps from
this season.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 14 Sep 1997 02:08:00 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: David DeRubeis <75221.2351@compuserve.com>
Subject: B5 on CNN Headline News

{original post had no questions}

      Much as I like IiRT, I agree that it ain't Hugo stuff.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 14 Sep 1997 02:08:03 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: David DeRubeis <75221.2351@compuserve.com>
Subject: Convention Concerns

{original post had no questions}

"Actors usually charge a much higher appearance fee than a fan
convention can shell out."

      Actually, a lot of our cast do fan run conventions...Jerry and
Richard were at Shoreleave and a cruise, Rick has been to Marcon, a
slew of other local fan-run conventions as well as others overseas,
Stephen was at Rebelcon a few weeks ago, Pat does an assortment of fan
conventions, so this ain't as true as might be assumed.

                                                                  jms


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



Date: 14 Sep 1997 15:14:45 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Convention Concerns

{original post had no questions}

      Thanks.  My main concern at these things is always with the
fans.  My belief is that these people came a long way, and paid a fair
amount of money, and they deserve to get what they paid for with the
least amount of inconvenience.  I tend to be very hands-on when my name
is attached to ANY convention.  At my first Wolf, for instance, I made
it a point to check out the area where we'd be doing our main
presentations the night before, and found that a number of the chairs
had been set up behind pillers and supports so that their view would
be, essentially, blocked.  When I talked to one of the people doing the
arranging, and was told that no, that was the way it had to be ("that's
why we've got some monitors back there, so they can watch it on 
TeeVee," I was told, which was a completely unacceptable response), I
(and Kathryn) got in there and personally began rearranging the chairs,
spending a fair amount of time doing so until we found a configuration
that would let people see the stage.  (We drew quite a few startled
glances from some fans who happened to wander in at one point.)

      Having been (and still being) a fan for most of my life, I can't
condone anything which, in my view, ends up with the fans getting
shafted. If that means being a pain in the ass on occasion, them's the
breaks.  But I'd rather do that than something that violated my
conscience.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 14 Sep 1997 15:14:48 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: David DeRubeis <75221.2351@compuserve.com>
Subject: Convention Concerns

{original post had no questions}

      Yeah, Pat and Bill are, I think, our only cast members who had
any real convention experience prior to B5, which is why I've taken
pains to try and help them understand the whole fan scene...which is
where the "nobody gets cut off the autograph line" notion came from,
for instance.  By helping them understand the venue, they're more
comfortable with it, and thus spend time not just hiding in their rooms
as is often the case with other shows, but instead go down to the bar,
the lounge, the room parties, and hang out with the fans.  (The tales
of Richard Biggs dancing on tables at Marcon, Bill Mumy at the parties
in the UK, others...they go on and on.)

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 14 Sep 1997 20:29:57 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: DS9 IS A COPY !

{original post unavailable}

"And as for B5 being the number one Sci-Fi show, does it really come
any close to the worldwide popularity of The X Files?"

      Oddly enough, the show tends to do much better overseas than it
does here.  Well, not oddly, actually, since overseas it tends to end
up on actual networks, which give it a regular time period, whereas
here you have to have a hunting dog and a Ouija board to find the
darned thing.  The videotapes are invariably in the top-10
sell-throughs overseas, in fan polls it comes out ahead of X-Files
(having just won the SFX Magazine poll for best SF series of all time),
and the ratings are comparable.  If anything, X-Files has gotten a bit
soft lately, while B5 has been improving.  Most of the B5 licensing to 
date has been overseas, with a huge line of books in the UK, along
with a monthly magazine.

      That's expected to change when the show hits TNT, with a regular
schedule, starting in January.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 14 Sep 1997 20:30:00 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Hero Games (Sue) <75162.372@compuserve.com>
Subject: Grand Theft, drama!

{original post had no questions}

"Either (a) it's right or (b) it's wrong to make such
accusations....you can't have it both ways. <shrug>"

      Incorrect.  It's right if it's true, and wrong if it's not.  The
statement itself is neither wrong nor right.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 15 Sep 1997 01:31:44 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: When TNT reruns...

{original post unavailable}

      That's an interesting question.  When I sat down to write In the
Beginning, my feeling was that I should look at the long term.  Would
the hole in Sinclair's mind be the same mystery it was in season one,
or would it be kind of known thereafter?  If so, then do you want to
play with the mystery, or set up what actually happened?  I figured,
okay, let's go for the latter...let's let the audience know (which will
mostly know by now anyway), and set up the background, with the
characters not knowing the first season. I took basic greek tragedy as
my model, with ItB functioning more or less as a Greek chorus that sets
things up.

      If you want to play it as a strict mystery, then no, probably
don't go near ItB...but frankly, if I were going to start someone off
on B5, I'd definitely want to start with ItB, which sort of skims in
and out of the overall storyline in a beautiful fashion.

                                                                  jms


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



Date: 15 Sep 1997 21:17:18 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Lyta inconsistency

{original post unavailable}

      Yes, it's an inconsistency; because humans are inconsistent. 
But it's only an inconsistency subject to Lyta's
rationalizations...which are quite reasonable.

      She didn't know the Centauri; she knew Garibaldi...they knew
beyond a shadow of a doubt that Brother Edward's *life* was in
jeapordy, and that this person may hold the key to saving his life and
every instant they waited meant he could be dying, whereas there is no
such crisis in the Garibaldi situation...they were able to hide her
identity from the Centauri whereas they would not be able to do so with
her and Garibaldi....

      The decision to scan or not to scan is essentially a moral or
ethical decision.  When someone's life is on the line, that raises one
ethical concern, as opposed to Zack just having a vague suspicion about
Garibaldi's character and asking her to engage in a fishing expedition.
There is a quantum difference between the two of them.

      Would a physician give someone the tools necessary to end his
life? No. Would he do so if the person were chronically ill and in
constant, terrible pain?  Very possibly.  It's the *context*.  You
can't expect people to act the same in every situation regardless of
context, context is everything.

      People are not robots, they rationalize, they are inconsistent,
but they generally have *reasons* for it that they can justify.  As
somebody once said, rationalizations are more important than sex,
because you can *go* a day without sex....

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 15 Sep 1997 21:17:21 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: ST:Voyager

 (blocked) asks:
> If the studio is holding back the writing on Voyager, why aren't
> they doing the same for DS9?

      I think Paramount is now more concerned with Voyager than DS9
because DS9 is a syndicated show whereas Voyager is the linchpin of
their network. The more visible you are, the more they want to..."help"
you.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 15 Sep 1997 21:17:23 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Hero Games (Sue) <75162.372@compuserve.com>
Subject: Grand Theft, drama!

{original post had no questions}

      You keep saying proof, but what sort of proof do you require? 
The fact is that you say "proof" in such a way that no such proof can
be supplied outside of a courtroom.  What constitutes proof?  If you've
said this is what you want, then you must now define it otherwise it's
unfair.  And it has to be reasonable proof...bearing in mind that there
are no smoking guns, no videotapes, no bloody gloves here.

      What can be suggested, in the case of B5, is to provide certain
facts, which are next door neighbors to truth.  It is a *fact* that
Paramount was given the B5 bible, treatment, sample screenplay, and
artwork.  This is not open to dispute; we have the paperwork from the
Paramount development execs.

      It is a *fact* that Paramount and WB were both trying to launch
networks at the same time, UPN and PTEN, and that there is a *fierce*
competition between them that has been well and widely documented,
enough so that Paramount would have a vested interest in attempting to
co-opt anything that Warner Bros. was doing.  One way to do this (enter
supposition stage left) would be to put out their *own* space station
series, under the ST banner, which would hopefully undercut the other
show and drive it (and PTEN) out of the marketplace.

      It is a *fact* that the development of ANY TV show for a studio
is guided by that studio's development execs.

      It is a *fact* that the two pilots for DS9 and B5 are extremely
similar on major, non-generic points.  It is also a fact that the two
diverge quite a bit therafter, showing that the writers there were
capable of doing their own stuff, putting us back again at the studio
level.

      It is a *fact* that I have never, at any time, implied, stated
or said that either of the individuals who created DS9 had ever seen
the B5 material, or consciously took it.  I think that if asked to do
so, they would have declined.  What I have always questioned, or
strongly suspected, was the degree to which the development or
inception of that show was guided by the Paramount development execs. 
So I have NOT accused either of them of "ripping off" B5, and thus
don't fall prey to your accusation of being unfair, whereas Joel's
comment about Mindwar *was* a statement about a story being ripped
off, hence my reaction.  There is not a contradiction there.

     From day one, Paramount has done everything conceivable to
subvert, sabotage, and drive this show out of the market short of
firing a LAWS rocket into the middle of stage A.  They hate us over
there, because they want to have the exclusive lock on space SF.  So
yeah, I'm quite willing to believe that they could've decided to co-opt
our format...and it almost worked, too, when WB wondered if the market
could sustain two space station series, and we came within an inch of
losing the show before we'd even shot a frame of film...but I've never
accused either of the two folks who created DS9 of deliberately ripping
us off because I don't believe they did so.  I have no reason to
believe they are anything other than honorable, stand-up men.  My area
of concern has always been in the area of corporate influence and
intent.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 15 Sep 1997 23:36:03 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Original "Final Four"???

 (blocked) asks:
> Do you know if they are planning to broadcast the "original"
> final four episodes that were done before Season 5 was renewed? Do
> they have a special deal or are they just confused?

      No, they'll be showing "Deconstruction" as the last S4
episode...the rest is just silliness.

                                                                  jms


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



Date: 16 Sep 1997 11:19:59 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: When TNT reruns...

{original post unavailable}

       It's mainly the war, doesn't get into the shadow stuff.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 16 Sep 1997 17:41:32 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: New B5 Calendars

{original post unavailable}

       Dunno, that's done by WB and I never see 'em until they're put
out.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 16 Sep 1997 17:41:35 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Darran Williams <101656.2143@compuserve.com>
Subject: Severed Dreams DVD

 Darran Williams <101656.2143@compuserve.com> asks:
> Was that just idle gossip as I've seen nothing on it since ?

       The release of SD on DVD is still not confirmed, though we're
still in discussions and it looks good.  There was talk about a
widescreen version of WWE on tape but I don't know what the current
status of that is.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 17 Sep 1997 01:19:24 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Phil Herscher <73107.3470@compuserve.com>
Subject: Severed Dreams DVD

{original post had no questions}

      I just recently got DVD, and I have to say I'm very impressed. 
I'd thought that it would be a marginal difference...but it's actually
a quite substantial difference.  The resolution on-screen is amazing. 
When I'm watching a laserdisk, I'm still aware of this being a film of
the thing; here, it's just the thing...like watching a glossy photo
that moves.  It has more features, better quality, killer audio, more
flexibility, and costs less than LDs.  I'm sold.

                                                                  jms


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



Date: 17 Sep 1997 12:15:19 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: DS9 = Babylon5 So what?

{original post unavailable}

       Here's the "so what" part of it....

       If we allow for the moment, just the moment and no more, that
perhaps it did happen as I and others think it might have
happened...that Paramount influenced the development of DS9 to co-opt
B5....

       Imagine that you have just spent five years building a custom
car. And before you can even take it out of the garage, someone nabs
it.  And every day thereafter, they drive it up and down your street,
and everyone talks about what a great car it is, and how the other car
you still have is okay, and should't we be happy that the neighborhood
has *both* cars to look at?

       And if you commented on it, and someone told you, "so what?" I
wonder what your reaction would be.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 17 Sep 1997 17:58:17 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Severed Dreams DVD

{original post unavailable}

       Well, eventually...but when that will be is anyone's guess.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 17 Sep 1997 17:58:19 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: O. C. Alexander <72623.3472@compuserve.com>
Subject: Severed Dreams DVD

 O. C. Alexander <72623.3472@compuserve.com> asks:
> Does DVD have reverse and forward still frame and reverse and
> forward slo-mo?

       It has 2x and 8x forward and backward, with perfect clarity of
picture, and perfect still frame.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 17 Sep 1997 18:06:31 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Atonement

 (blocked) asks:
> HOW did they do so much damage?

       They targeted visually, it was close enough to do so.

       A hit with full guns of a major destroyer and accompanying
ships will kill damn near any single ship that does not have some kind
of defensive screen going (fighers or counter-lasers or missiles or the
like).

       The fightes wer launched in main while on approach.

       Franklin and Marcus *were* strapped in, which if you look more
closely you can see.

                                                               jms

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

Date: 17 Sep 1997 22:55:51 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Ron Chusid <74756.3150@compuserve.com>
Subject: DS9 = Babylon5 So what?

 Ron Chusid <74756.3150@compuserve.com> asks:
> Do you think Paramount's development of DS9, as opposed to airing
> B5, hurt you financially--would you have better distribution,
> ratings, and/or profits if not competing with DS9 for stations?

      Well, I have a piece of the net of B5, which means that there
will never BE any profits to me from the show itself, except the
standard writers guild residuals and a little merchandising.  (In TV
and often movies, the studios make sure that, on paper at least, no
show EVER shows a profit, so they never need to pay out anything.)

      The two shows being side by side didn't help us, I think, only
hurt us. Yes, there was some press about two such shows at the same
time, but it's kind of like having lots of articles about how you were
partially eaten by a shark...all things considered, you'd rather have
avoided the situation in the first place.  It hurt us because they
rushed their show out onto the air first, so that a lot of people
assumed *we* were copying *them* when in fact we'd been around for five
years preceding, trying to sell the show.  It hurt us because some
stations felt they had to choose between us, and there were a number of
reporters who came to us with stories of stations being told by 
Paramount that they had to choose between B5 and DS9, advertisers
being told that our show was going to be crappy with lousy EFX and that
they shouldn't buy commercials on our show, editors being told that if
they covered B5 that DS9 interviews would be withheld...the first two
years were just nonstop trench warfare by Paramount, which seemed
determined to drive us into the sea so that they'd have a monopoly on
this area.  Finally, by year three, they seemed to grudgingly accept
that we were here, and we weren't going anywhere.

      One producer working on another SF project with Paramount called
John Copeland after a meeting with one of the top execs at the studio,
to relay what happened when -- after having some problems with the EFX
on the project they were working on -- he suggested maybe using the
same EFX company that B5 used.  The exec reportedly went on a five
minute rampage about B5, quite profane, saying "It took us 25 years to
build up this franchise, and those (expletives deleted) are screwing it
up!  Nobody who works on that show will EVER work for Paramount."

      So yeah, it's been tough...at the corporate level, even though I
know a number of people who are associated with both ST shows on a
creative level, and we get along fine.  All the problems have emanated
from the corporate brass, not the creative people.  We were at ground
zero for a long, long time...but we're still here, in spite of it all.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 17 Sep 1997 22:55:55 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Ray Pelzer <70475.1263@compuserve.com>
Subject: Silly Question

 Ray Pelzer <70475.1263@compuserve.com> asks:
> Say Joe, do you know if there will be a September Windows
> wallpaper calendar or not?

      Dunno...I think they've kind of let us fall between the cracks
here with the shift over to TNT, and some turnover in the WB online
division.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 17 Sep 1997 22:55:56 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: All 
Subject: jms in Tulsa

      For those in the vicinity of Tulsa, Oklahoma, I'll be at DefCon
this weekend, to be held in the vicinity of the Adams Mark Hotel.  Will
be bringing clips from the final batch of episodes, plus clips from the
two movies, a bit of Tracy Scoggins stuff from S5, bloopers and other
fun stuff. The main presentation is 1:00 Saturday, with another on
Sunday.

                                                                  jms


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



Date: 18 Sep 1997 12:52:57 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Roseann M. Caputo <103510.1542@compuserve.com>
Subject: Severed Dreams DVD

 Roseann M. Caputo <103510.1542@compuserve.com> asks:
> Do you know will it just be SD on the DVD or will it be packaged
> with a second episode? Do you know what background info, if any,
> will be included? Are you involved at all in the decision making
> process on this?

       I don't know...all our discussions to date have just concerned
SD, so we'll see.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 18 Sep 1997 12:52:58 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Lord Helmchen <113137.22@compuserve.com>
Subject: DS9 = Babylon5 So what?

{original post had no questions}

       You should not apologize when you have done nothing to
apologize *for*. We're talking here, and we learn by doing.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 18 Sep 1997 12:52:59 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Severed Dreams DVD

{original post unavailable}

       Trying to remember, I'm at the office...I think I got the
Toshiba. There isn't really that much difference between the various
models.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 18 Sep 1997 23:33:09 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: DS9 = Babylon5 So what?

{original post unavailable}

      Yes, issue 2 is out just now, in fact...it's coming out monthly.

                                                                  jms


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



Date: 22 Sep 1997 22:44:46 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Rebecca Eschliman <76072.2345@compuserve.com>
Subject: Del Rey B5 Trilogies

 Rebecca Eschliman <76072.2345@compuserve.com> asks:
> What has me curious is will each trilogy be penned by the same
> author (which seems the natural thing to me) or will each book of
> the trilogies have a different author (which seems strange, but
> something I can imagine due to the increasing oddities of the
> publishing business)?

      Each three-book arc will be written by one author, yes.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 22 Sep 1997 22:44:48 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: John M. Graham <74166.3727@compuserve.com>
Subject: Captain Power

{original post had no questions}

      It's news to me...I have nothing to do with it.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 22 Sep 1997 22:44:50 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: robert simmons <101671.630@compuserve.com>
Subject: Congrats

 robert simmons <101671.630@compuserve.com> asks:
> PS Approx how long before series 4 is released on video?

      Thanks...don't know yet when S4 will be released to video....

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 22 Sep 1997 22:44:52 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: O. C. Alexander <72623.3472@compuserve.com>
Subject: DVD tech talk

 O. C. Alexander <72623.3472@compuserve.com> asks:
> Which brand and model is this, may I ask?

      I believe I got the Toshiba, baseline model, on the theory that
they'll upgrade soon, and went for a mimimum investment for the moment.

                                                                  jms


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



Date: 24 Sep 1997 13:44:22 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: CC Situation

 (blocked) asks:
> She claims there was no offer for 18 episodes made to her --
> maybe her agent didn't pass such an offer along? Jeff Sigh Corps -
> Pat Tallman Division Great Maker huh?

       "She claims there was no offer for 18 episodes made to her."

       That's correct, and not correct.  What was relayed to her was
that if she wanted to be in just 18, and wanted to be paid for just
those 18, then that was fine...her people insisted that she be paid for
the rest of the episodes, constituting a per-episode pay increase,
which couldn't be done without violating the contracts of all the other
cast.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 24 Sep 1997 21:38:52 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: Franklin Closure

 (blocked) asks:
> Im not saying Paul Winfield's guest starring specifically, but
> any dialogue??? Have you gotten similar feedback from fans?
> Was that creature everyone killed a shadow?
> Plan on comming to Ny, NJ, or PA anytime soon?

      I'm still leaving General Franklin's line open for the moment;
the creature with Amis was a shadow servant...and I'll be in Baltimore
and Taunton, Mass next spring for conventions.

                                                                  jms


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



Date: 26 Sep 1997 23:24:55 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Arthur Stoppe <73710.2014@compuserve.com>
Subject: CC Situation

{original post had no questions}

      She was definitely not booted.

      There was absolutely no reason for ANYone to boot her.  No one
has yet provided one plausible reason why anyone at this side would
want her gone.  I certainly didn't want the character to go away, WB
didn't want the character to go away...she left when we couldn't give
her what she wanted.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 26 Sep 1997 23:24:57 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Mark Derrick <72317.3662@compuserve.com>
Subject: From Babylon 5 Magazine

 Mark Derrick <72317.3662@compuserve.com> asks:
> Is it true that the serialized comics in the back will soon
> feature new stories? If so, I wonder if they will be published in
> the US?

      The new B5 comic to be serialized in the B5 UK magazine will be
gathered in a graphic novel and published in the US by DC in January.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 26 Sep 1997 23:24:58 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: All 
Subject: jms absent a bit

      Just to let you know...I haven't been online at all in the last
2 days, and may not be on for a bit over the next day or so, or at most
sporadically. I threw my back out badly last Sunday, and didn't know
how much damage I'd done until it reached the point of nearly
incapacitating me by Wednesday.  So what little time I can put in
behind the keyboard over the next few days, until the medication can do
its job, will mainly be spent on writing episodes. It's just a muscle
thing (fortunately) and I have all the right drugs I need, so it's
simply a matter of time and healing.

      What apparently complicated matters was that it happened about
90 minutes before I was scheduled to do my second presentation at a
convention in Tulsa (I slipped in the shower) and refused to cancel the
presentation or the 90 minute autograph session following, knowing that
some folks had come as far as 5 hours drive-time to be there.  Ah,
well...live and learn.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 26 Sep 1997 23:50:44 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: CC Situation

 (blocked) asks:
> Jeff Sigh Corps - Pat Tallman Division Great Maker huh?

"Sounds just like I figured it was.... her agent(s) screwed her by not
passing the offer along to Claudia.  <sigh>"

      Nope again.  I was there, in Blackpool, with her and the other
cast members, and I sat across from her in the hotel pub at midnight
and told her that unless we got a yes or no by the next day, after all
that had gone in during the preceding days, the offer put out to her by
WB would be withdrawn.

      She had all the information.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 27 Sep 1997 00:02:43 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Hero Games (Sue) <75162.372@compuserve.com>
Subject: Whatever Happened to B5?

{original post had no questions}

"Yeah, I've been waiting for the 'you're just a trekkie with nothing
better to do than bash B-5' or 'Oh, look!  Another drive-by flamer'
comments. But as you said, Martin did outline his points quite nicely!"

      So in other words, you object to the sort of person who
uncritically goes after someone for giving a negative opinion.

      Okay, that's fair.

      I would also point out, however, that in all the time I have
seen your posts here, it seems like the only time you come out of the
woodwork is to uncritically support someone who says somethilng
negative about the show. Doesn't matter if they say it's too fast, or
too slow...you're right up there the instant it's posted cheering it
on.  Not the positive reactions, ONLY the negative ones, insofar as I
have ever seen, and on every possible issue.

      I would say that the one uncritical kneejerk response is just as
wrongheaded as the latter...wouldn't you?

                                                                  jms


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



Date: 27 Sep 1997 15:54:43 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Hero Games (Sue) <75162.372@compuserve.com>
Subject: Whatever Happened to B5?

{original post had no questions}

"Because I believe first in foremost in the right of everyone's
opinions to be considered equally.  That *is* my opinion."

      I disagree.  It is the right of everyone's *informed* opinion. 
If someone were to come in here saying that all (pick an ethnic group)
were slovenly, lazy and genetically inferior to (pick an ethnic group),
I suggest that you would object, because it's bigotry and not an
informed opinion.

      The B5 forum has its share of strafers...people who buzz in,
drop an inflammatory message, and zoom back out again, letting the
bombs crash and the arguments that follow...and have no interest in any
kind of discussion. Often they never even come back, as was the case
with the person who said the show was boring.  I notice that none of
the replies to his messages had the (X) that says it was received by
him.

      So the quote above is untrue on the face of it.  Also, it does
sound as if you're saying it's good to be negative, but to be negative
*about* the negative statement, that needs to be fought back
uncritically, regardless of the validity of the original statement. 
The result is that you sign a blank check on your conscience and
credibility.

                                                                  jms


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



Date: 29 Sep 1997 11:37:40 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: John F Davis <73455.43@compuserve.com>
Subject: CC Situation

{original post had no questions}

       Yeah, there are reasons someone can fall into disfavor, but
this was not the case with Claudia...if it were, everyone here, myself
included, would not have been so upset by her leaving, or tried to hard
to persuade her to stay.

                                                                  jms


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



Date: 29 Sep 1997 17:36:35 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: Philip Hornsey <74053.2101@compuserve.com>
Subject: jms absent a bit

{original post had no questions}

       Believe me, I fully understand....

                                                                  jms


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



Date: 30 Sep 1997 11:32:07 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: (blocked)
Subject: 1998 Calander

{original post had no questions}

       There will be two calendars coming out shortly for 1998, one
from Slowdazzle, the other from Antioch...and if you forced me to say
which was better, I'd say it was the Antioch calendar, which from a
design point of view is just absolutely spectacular, probably one of
the best pieces of licensing done yet in the pubishing area.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 30 Sep 1997 11:32:07 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: John F Davis <73455.43@compuserve.com>
Subject: CC Situation

{original post had no questions}

       I guess it's fair to say you don't know which to buy...I'd just
note that in 5 years of being online and talking about the show, good,
bad and indifferent...in thousands of postings over five long years...I
have never yet been caught out in a contradiction or a fabrication.

                                                                  jms

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

Date: 30 Sep 1997 11:32:08 -0700
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
To: PAUL SHEWARD <100256.1563@compuserve.com>
Subject: JMS to get royalties ???

 PAUL SHEWARD <100256.1563@compuserve.com> asks:
> So Joe, are you gonna get hefty royalties for Voyager Season 4
> then ?? Where is Gerry's hair going ?

       "Where is Jerry's hair going?"

       Same place as mine...beyond the rim....

                                                                  jms


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