lurkers-guide/ftp/GEnie/jms92-09

Babylon 5 posts on GEnie by JMS for September, 1992

This file includes a compilation of posts on GEnie by J. Michael
Straczynski in the Babylon 5 topic.  The posts are copyright by JMS
(and compilation copyright is by GEnie).  


Category 18,  Topic 22
Message 65        Tue Sep 01, 1992
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 02:57 EDT

     One nifty thing in today's dailies...I have to say that Patricia  Tallman
makes one heck of a telepath.  Wonderful.  One thing I've never liked much
about most treatments of telepaths on TV is that they've never really SOLD the
idea...meaning, made it visual and dynamic, it's usually someone putting their
hands to their head and muttering about images or feelings.  Sort of your dime
-
store psychic stuff.

     In the script, I came up with a way of making the process dynamic and
mysterious and visual, but without breaking the reality (if one could call it
that) of how the process would or should work.  Didn't know for sure if it
would work until I saw the dailies today.  Oh, man....it's lovely.  And
powerful as hell.

     Some very nice scenes today with Sinclair and his love interest, Carolyn
Sykes.  Nice grown-up adult relationship stuff.

 ______
Category 18,  Topic 22
Message 95        Thu Sep 03, 1992
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 03:07 EDT

     Hello?  Is there really a world out there?  Haven't had a chance to log
on until now.  Lots of interviews as well as production to worry about.
Broadcasting Magazine again for a follow-up, then CNN/Showbiz Today this
afternoon, on and on.  Don't know yet when some of this will be hitting the
stands or the airwaves (respectively), but will advise when I do.

     There's a lot of good stuff coming down the road, some exciting news
brewing...but as with the time when this was That Which Could Not Be Named, I
can't say anything.  Let's just say that the disparitites between the coverage
between B5 and the other series (and the reason for same) should evaporate
very soon.  In addition, promos are now being shot to air on all the TV
stations set to carry B5 which will include scenes from the movie.  These may
begin airing as soon as a month or two from now.

     Just two more days of filming left.  It's sometimes hard to believe; it
took us five years to get here, and now this part of it will be over in just
two more days.  But as is so often said in television, boys and girls, there
is more to come....

     The footage continues to look spectacular.  David Gerrold came by this
evening to pick up a few things for the Worldcon auction, and saw some of the
footage (efx and dailies).  His comment: "Every so often, the science fiction
media world undergoes a paradigm shift.  There was one with Star Trek, another
with Star Wars...and what I just saw amounts to a major paradigm shift."

     Newsletter is coming together, most of the interviews are concluded, and
I expect it to be out sometime around the end of the month, so those who've
sent postcards, watch your mailboxes around the first part of October.

                                                               jms
 ______
Category 18,  Topic 22
Message 117       Fri Sep 04, 1992
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 02:23 EDT

     The last two days, we've been shooting stuff in the observation dome,
basically the B5 command and control room, which has a huge port that looks
out into space.  (The design is kinda, but not really, reminiscent of the
Spirit window from the strip of the same name.)  Saw the dailies today, and it
looks great.  And there's something nifty about standing there in the middle
of this thing, looking out at space, black and white and the blue of a nearby
nebula, rendered outside the port so we can do some of this in-camera.  It
feels very real when you're inside.

     Last day for the pilot shoot tomorrow.  And probably one of our most
lavish sets as well.  Will log on after we've finished the last shot.  Really
tired, but we've got just about everything in the can now, and it's all 99.9%
of what I originally saw in my head, or in many cases, better.

                                                             jms
 ______
Category 18,  Topic 22
Message 188       Sun Sep 06, 1992
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 23:54 EDT

     Er, actually, any reposts of my messages should only be noted as
copyright by me.  Just a formality.

     Just returned from the San Francisco con, and about ready to drop, which
sums up pretty well my status for the last few days.

     We wrapped Friday night at 2 a.m., and there wasn't a party (we were all
too bushed) but a general well-wishing sort of thing.  Didn't get home until
nearly 3:30 a.m., or asleep until 5 a.m....and then could only grab two or so
hours sleep before having to get up and nab the plane in time for the B5
presentation in San Francisco.

     Emotions were really riding high Friday night as we got off the last shot
of the pilot.  No one really wanted to leave, despite the late hour.  They're
a good bunch.

     Anyway, I'm going to go and put my feet up, try to eat around my broken
tooth, take some aspirin, and try to get better.  It's as if my body were able
to stand the strain just long enough to finish the job of the last four weeks,
and then imploded....

     Later.

                                                         jms
 ______
Category 18,  Topic 22
Message 277       Sat Sep 12, 1992
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 04:59 EDT

     It occured to me that I hadn't left a really *substantive* post since we
finished filming last Friday.  There's a certain burn-out that happens after
you finish a major project like this; you just sort of shut down for a while
and stare at the walls a lot.  So between that and catching up on M,SW
work...you understand.

     Most everyone is now taking a sorely needed rest from the grueling
schedule; Michael O'Hare and Mire Furlan have headed back to New York, and the
rest are out here, working on other stuff while we gear up for Phase Two on
B5.  The film is now being edited together, and the editor is now close to
finishing the first rough assembly.  (They've been doing some of this all
along.)  The assembly will be in-hand Tuesday, but that's for our director's
eyes only.  Right now, we're running a bit long, but the cuts, I hear, are
*very* loose, and can be trimmed quite easily.

     The editor is quite astonished at what he's seeing; the scope of the
thing, the look of it.  I share that feeling.  What happens when you make a
project like this is that you spend a whole day on one set, doing X-number of
scenes in that set.  Then the next day, you watch the dailies from that set.
And soon you lose track, a bit, of how it will all look when you cut it
together, and you're in LOTS of sets, and scenes.  It's like thinking of your
house ONLY in terms of the kitchen, or the dining room, without putting it all
together in your head into a dynamic system...a home.

     And that's what happens during editing.  I spent the first part of the
week going over ALL of the dailies, tape after tape, pulling out shots to be
used in promos.  And so for the first time saw the WHOLE movie, not
necessarily in order, but all of the scenes, all of the sets, the whole look
of the thing.  And the overwhelming sense that I get is of the sheer,
seductive feel involved, the sumptuous sets, the gritty darker stuff...thanks
to Richard and John Iacovelli and so many others, it's really a feast for the
eyes.  I honestly, truly believe that it's going to leave a lot of people
boggled.

     We're trying to continue the momentum now that we have film to show.
Watch for a big photo layout in the next STARLOG SPECTACULAR, and a *huge*
story, 20 pages or so, with lots of photos, in CINEFANTASTIQUE around
December/January.  (There'll be a smaller piece in, I believe, the next issue,
with a photo or two from the set.)  I'm pretty sure that BROADCASTING MAGAZINE
will also have a story in next week or so.

     In a way, this is the really hard part...you've *made* the film, so by
all rights this is where you should be able to relax and savor it, but there's
a lot of ground to cover, a lot of work to get out the word about the show,
lots of post-production to do...and we haven't even gotten to the sound for
the show, audio mapping,any of that.  (I hope to be able to announce a
composer in the next week or so; I think you'll all be quite pleased by who we
think we've got, pending the fine points in the deal being nailed down.)

     There's an *awful* lot of movement going on behind the scenes, all of it
wonderful, but I can't say anything about it for the time being.

     Picked up the Don McLean CD collection today, and was surprised to hear
his song "Babylon," which I'd practically forgotten.  The song triggered off
an image that just slammed into my head; it comes not from anything IN the
song per se, but the tone, the mood, and I think I'm going to work an entire
episde around that image, maybe year 3 or so.

     Meanwhile, as indicated, we're currently in the eye of the storm, the
quiet between the end of filming and the delivery of the first  real cut.
Expect to see a *lot* of activity when the eye passes and we're back in the
thick of it.

     (Final aside...in looking at the scenes, there's one in which Londo is
mourning the loss of the great Centauri empire, and talking about  how they've
gone from running everything to being just a few worlds, living on memories
and stories, selling trinkets...and I found myself wanting to tag on that line
from THE PRODUCER, "...AND I'M WEARING A CARDBOARD BELT!")

     Oh...and there *is* a blooper reel.  I've seen the first part of it.
 Very funny stuff...sick and twisted, but funny.

                                                          jms
 ______
Category 18,  Topic 22
Message 411       Sun Sep 20, 1992
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 00:57 EDT

     To the query above, yes, BABYLON 5 has a definite beginning, middle and
end.  I've always enjoyed shows like that, such as THE PRISONER, which has a
beginning (he arrives at the village) and an end (he escapes from the
village...sorta), and good stuff in between.

     All of this effort is so that we can tell A Story.  A very long and
involved story, about one person, mainly, but how that person's future can
affect the course of history.  A saga.

     The key is to do that without making it impossible for the viewers.   I
dearly loved TWIN PEAKS,  but if you missed an episode, you were screwed.
Similarly, you can't make the end of every episode a thematic or plot-
cliffhanger, leading directly into the next episode.  Each episode MUST stand
on its own, and it should be structured so that you can come into it at any
point, and be able to track what's going on, no matter what season it is.
It's very much a writer's challenge, but I love challenges.

     (Now, of course, the saga continues in my own head long after the end of
the five-year storyline, because they're real people to me, and their lives
and the lives of those they touch continue, but at this point that's more than
I even want to think about.  Let's get this puppy on the air first, then we'll
see if we even last two years, let alone five.)

     On Monday afternoon, I'll be seeing a good cut of the BABYLON 5 pilot.
Will let you know if it lives up to expectations.

                                                           jms
 ______
Category 18,  Topic 22
Message 430       Mon Sep 21, 1992
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 04:09 EDT

     What are you missing?  The stuff about the story that only I know.

     Re: the 10 years and 1-4 Babylon stations.  Remember, first, that they
were not completed.  In one case only the superstructure was completed, in
another inferior materials were used (deliberately), and so on.  So it's not
like they built 5 fully operational stations.  Only B4 actually made it to
operational status.  B5 was/is intended to be the last effort.  If this one
doesn't make it...screw it.

     Applying the resources from the full EA was deemed vital because, as
stated, we as a race were almost wiped out in the Earth/Minbari War.  We might
BE wiped out by a technologically superior race next time it happens...IF we
allow it to happen.  B5 is the first line of self defense, and from our close
call, everybody knows it.

     Re: shipping materials, I posted somewhere upline how the jump points
work.  In brief, large ships (cruiser and above) can generate their own entry
points to hyperspace; gates are used mainly for smaller ships without their
own field generators, and larger ships that want to conserve power.  So all
that was required was to drop 1 jump point when they started building B1, and
that was it.  There was no long supply line.  (To clarify, the larger ships,
Explorer class, leave behind 3 or 4 jump gates at pre-arranged points as they
move through space.)

     As for Sinclair's status as both commander and ambassador...that is
something we're going to deal with in the series.  By all rights, he shouldn't
even BE there.  EA tried to stick an Admiral or some other high-ranking
officer there.  The first race to sign onto the station, the Minbari, had
approval over who was sent to that post.  They rejected everyone suggested,
right down the line, until Sinclair.  EA Officials are still wondering why HE
was selected.  (There is a reason.)

     That post was previously designed to either include representing Earth as
an ambassador (to avoid in-station conflicts) or as an adjunct to one.  And at
one point, an ambassador will arrive, and they will hash this out once and for
all.

     Your question proceeds from the assumption, "How can everyone agree that
this is the right thing to do?", which is understandable, given how monolithic
some shows make the future.  But in the case of this show, there is constant
disagreement, and there are a LOT of people in the Earth Alliance who think
that this is NOT the right thing to do,and will try to take action to
"correct" it....some for understandable reasons, some out of another agenda
entirely.

     What you have picked up on are not flaws, but story points in the
making...areas that will be explored down the road.  These questions WILL be
answered.  It would have been very easy to make him Admiral or Ambassador
Sinclair.  He was given this lower rank for a reason...and there are an awful
lot of people who look at this, and wonder if  Sinclair isn't just a *tad* too
cozy with their former enemies in the war, and just where ARE his loyalties,
*really*?

     I've always taken pride in the fact that my stories are generally
airtight.  I hate loose ends and unanswered questions and inconsistencies.  So
feel free to poke and prod.  It'll either be something I've deliberately built
into the show, or something that I should attend to.

     As for the question above about how long this access will continue, only
time will tell.

                                                                 jms
 ______
Category 18,  Topic 22
Message 451       Tue Sep 22, 1992
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 02:23 EDT

     Well, I saw the first cut today.  Overall...not bad.  The one drawback to
doing a screening like this is that you can't just sit back and enjoy/watch
the show.  You have to look for problems, have to keep reminding yourself not
to get sucked into it and lose objectivity.  You don't go to have a good time,
you go to find ways to give yourself grief.

     Fortunately, it all seems to hang together nicely.  There were a few
scenes and partial scenes that need to be cut, that're fun but don't advance
the plot.  (It's a tad long, so we could use the cuts.)  And a few shots need
to be restructured for clarity.  But overall...it's good.   (It's also one of
those situations where you've now seen something 15 or 20 times, and you lose
all sense of perspective.)

     I imagine we'll have the revised cut in by week's end.  Tomorrow our
tentative composer views the cut.  Will advise as soon as I know how this
finally works out.

     In the interim, some scenes were dubbed with bits of music, whatever they
had on hand...and it's amazing how much music adds to a scene.  Just makes the
whole thing come alive.

     Once we have the next cut in hand, I think I'm going to show it to a few
selective people, all of whom are very critical of my work, and invite them to
beat the crap out of it.  The tougher we make it, the better the odds of
survival out in the world....

 ______
Category 18,  Topic 22
Message 475       Wed Sep 23, 1992
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 19:21 EDT

     I am trying very, very, *very* hard not to lose it at this moment.

     Someone put the copy of the current ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY in my hands,
with the DS9 cover story, and said "I think you should see this."  And I saw
some full-head makeup prosthetics that look an *awful* lot like ours.   But
worse yet...the sets.  The Promenade looks amazingly like our bazaar; their
casino/bar looks a lot like our casino/bar, on and on and on....

     This is getting just a *little* out of hand.  The visual aspect comes on
top of the story aspect...that both shows are about a space station that
functions as a port of call for businessmen, smugglers, diplomats and others,
located near a jump-point/worm-hole, has an open marketplace, a casino, a bar,
hookers, original draft screenplays in which a shape changer played a
substantial role, a female second in command, a head of the station with the
same initials (J.S.) both with the rank of Commander, and an attack scene near
the end with the female second in command being in charge of the defense...oh,
yeah, and both commanders carrying a trauma from a recent war or battle.

     And there are more points of similarity, those are just the ones that
spring immediately to mind.  And now they will even have much the same look,
similar sets, similar makeups....

     I'm calm.  I'm quiet and collected.  How that desk got tossed out the
window is anybody's guess.

     Well, at least there's some good news.  We screened the rough cut of B5
for the composer we'd like to work with, and he seemed to go for it.
 Now we just have to see how our mutual schedules mesh.  (This is a very
special composer, and so there's a fair amount of courtship going on.)

                                                               jms
 ______
Category 18,  Topic 22
Message 478       Wed Sep 23, 1992
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 19:42 EDT

     (Entering calm, philosophic mood....)

     Personal involvement aside, I'd say that B5 looks *better*.  And I just
got the news this afternoon, now that the final production report is in (minus
what's set for post).  We've come in UNDER budget.

     Hey, Paramount!   Phthpfttttt!

                                                                jms
 ______
Category 18,  Topic 22
Message 491       Thu Sep 24, 1992
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 01:36 EDT

     Television is like a train; once it leaves, you then know how long it
will take to get from A to B.  We could've still made the November airdate if
we'd gotten the go when originally discussed.  That didn't happen.  Given when
we started, it's simple math to determine when we can air.  (And remember, we
aren't all by ourselves here; Warners has to consider many factors, like the
rest of the network, and where we fit in in that area.)

     We will have a pretty solid cut in about 2 weeks.  A fine-cut by the end
of October.  We start spotting (looking for music cue locations) November 3rd.
Scoring will take place around December 14th.  We'll deliver shortly before
Christmas.  Nothing can happen then until January or February.  And the Prime
Time Network goes on line in February, and they want B5 to air during the
February sweeps, where it will get the most attention and exposure.

     Sweeps also puts us up against the MOST deadly competition; that's when
the networks, syndicators and cable outfits pull out their big guns in stunts
and high-profile programs to kill off everything else in sight.
 So we're very much walking right into the lion's den, with everything in the
world stacked up against us.

     Seems like fair odds to me....

     And it wouldn't be the first time.

                                                                jms
 ______
Category 18,  Topic 22
Message 516       Fri Sep 25, 1992
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 01:30 EDT

                        *** YES! ***

     The composer we've wanted, who we've been courting, has seen the rough
assembly and likes what he sees!  He wants to do it!  Insofar as I know,
there's only one deal point remaining to be resolved.  Once that's done, and
Warners has approved, I can probably make some sort of announcement, all
things being equalized.

                                                              jms
 ______
Category 18,  Topic 22
Message 539       Fri Sep 25, 1992
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 23:46 EDT

     As I write this, we are starting to come out of the lull between storms.
First there was the production itself, then things quiet down while the
editors and our director assemble their cut, which is now ongoing.  The closer
the cut comes to being finished, the more things begin to pick up speed.

     We're starting to pick up a *little* on the PR stuff.  Gave some
interviews to different magazines, and remember, the E! channel 30 minute
Making Of documentary should be hitting the air in the next few weeks to a
month.  Now that we have something to show people, it's a bit easier to get
their attention.

     On Tuesday I'll be seeing one of the four-minute promos for the show.
The fellow handling that aspect over at Warners is *very* excited by the look
of the thing, and commented today that the task we'd had was to make a TV
movie as a pilot.  What we ended up with, in his view, is a Motion Picture
that just happens to have been made for television.  "The best I can describe
it is, imagine if someone had made STAR WARS just the way it was made, but for
television," he said.

     That's one of the problems with working on a project for so long; after a
certain point, you're no longer capable of really viewing it or evaluating it
objectively.  To some degree, you don't even SEE it anymore, there's no
surprise after you've seen each take 5-10 times at least.  So we all kind of
take it for granted; it's only when someone sees the whole thing for the first
time that we can even begin to gauge the film.

     We're getting absolutely amazing support from Warners, which is just in
love with the project and really smells something special.  And that's nice.
They're still amazed that we came in under budget (the precise figure: $1,190
under), given that a certain OTHER show, with fewer sets, fewer EFX, a wealth
of standing sets (the ship-board stuff), established uniforms and some
prosthetic precedents, has apparently, as George Martin mentions above, gone
WAY over budget even at having been budgeted at something between $9-12
million, which is hideous even to start with.

     The key to that, frankly, is something where we have a definite edge:
planning.  We weren't rushed, we had the script a long time in advance, and
were able to schedule our set construction and other areas to control the
costs.  And this will apply to the series as well; we know roughly what half
the stories will be about, so we can spread out the construction, start in on
the required EFX well in advance, so that they look good, and aren't
rushed...simple, basic planning.

     At the core of that is something that occured to me today, the one thing
that no one can take from us, and which no one can touch: the other show is
about a space station at which stories take place; ours is a show about one
particular story, one saga, which happens to take place on a space station.
If there is any one thing that distinguishes B5 from everything else, that's
probably it.

                                                                   jms
 ______
Category 18,  Topic 22
Message 600       Mon Sep 28, 1992
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 01:26 EDT


     An aside, hopefully the last one for a while on the Other Show, only
because I know it's being discussed elsewhere, along with the question of why
it SHOULD be discussed...so I thought I'd take a moment to deal with it here.
Some of it appeared in the now-deleted message, but presented here in calmer
terms.

     There's always disagreement between genre fans regarding shows; some like
TNG over TOS, some vice-versa, some like STAR WARS but not TREK...and there
will doubtless be that same discussion between B5 and DS9.  Which is all fine
and good, and had nothing much to do with the topic at hand.

     What it comes down to, really, is history and context.

     BABYLON 5 is the culmination of five years of work, five years of my
life, and that of many others.  Five years of meetings, of pitches, of return
meetings, of second pitches, of raised hopes and bitter disappointments.  It
would have been very easy, at any point, to just pack it in.  I cannot even
begin to convey to you the grief and hte heartbreak when the deal seemed
absolutely solid...only to fall apart at the very last second.  The long
nights of frustration, of people (wiser than I) saying, "Look, let it go, it's
not going to happen, it's consumed four years of your life, you could probably
sell another show a lot easier...give it up."

     But we refused.  I refused.  And in between pitches and meetings and
deals in the offing, I stole hours from other work, from desperately needed
sleep, to write out character descriptions, to write down the five year story
arc, the history of the BABYLON 5 universe, two hundred single spaced pages
and more, because I *believed* in this project, because I had a story to tell.

     To see that five years of work jeapordized or threatened....

     Let me put it in terms that might clarify the situation.

     Let's say that, the same month that the original STAR TREK went on the
air, some other network debuted SPACE TREK, about a starship on a five year
mission...a starship with a tubular hull connected to a saucer section at one
end, and two nacelles at the other...commanded by a Captain Clerque, and his
alien first officer Smock....

     How would you have felt?  Perhaps more to the point, how would
Roddenberry have felt?

     And that, really, is the context in which this discussion has to be
framed.  It's not competition, it's not sniping, it's a serious issue that has
to be confronted.  With one last aspect to be considered:

     One of the reasons that this show was so hard to get going was that it
was so unique, so challenging to television, so different in many ways, some
of which you will only begin to see in the series.  And I know full well that
even if the Warners PR machine got working 24 hours a day on this, half of all
viewers will see this show, coming out after DS9, and think it's just a last-
minute knockoff or ripoff of DS9.

     And for a *writer*, any writer, especially if you take any degree of
pride in the originality of your work, that appearance is hurtful in the
extreme.

     Anyway, that's really all I have to say about this whole issue at this
time.  There's much going on (the hints to which the previously referenced
sysopatrix alluded to), and there's all kinds of news coming down the pike.
All of it good.

     As stated before, the post-production lull is just about over....

                                                             jms
 ______
Category 18,  Topic 22
Message 607       Mon Sep 28, 1992
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 16:39 EDT

     One can but hope.

     Incidentally, and not entirely as an aside, I spoke to Michael O'Hare
today, who's in New York at the moment.  (Michael, you'll all remember, is our
lead, Commander Jeffrey Sinclair.)  Basically called to bring him up to speed
on a few things, and we got to talking about heroes.  And how much he wants to
bring out that aspect, for his own kid, and for others.  One thing that
Michael and I have in common is that we both resolutely and stubbornly
continue to believe in heroes, and the need for same.  Not bluff-and-bluster
heroes, but ordinary people who are placed in extraordinary circumstances, and
rise above what they believe are the limits of their endurance.

     Someone said recently of HILL STREET something rather profound, I thought
at the time.  That it was about the redefinition of heroes; the hero as
bureaucrat (Furillo), the hero as ordinary man (Hill and Renko), the hero as
psycho (Belker), the hero as sleazebag (Buntz), and that genuinely struck me
as the core of that show...that heroes aren't always what we think they're
supposed to be, and that there is that spark that can be found in the
unlikeliest of places.

     Anyway, just your Thought For Today....

                                                            jms
 ______
Category 18,  Topic 22
Message 661       Wed Sep 30, 1992
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 03:42 EDT

      If it were only a matter of set design, you wouldn't hear
 a peep from me.  For what I hope will be the last time, here's
 how it lays down:

              BABYLON 5                       DEEP SPACE 9
 Commander Sinclair                        Commander Sisko
 Casino                                    Casino
 Bar                                       Bar
 Female second in command                  Female second in command
 Shapechanger in original script           Shapechanger in pilot script
 Located near a jump-point (warp)          Located near wormhole (warp)
 Number-designated space station           Number-designated space station
 Hookers                                   Hookers
 Similar prosthetics                       Similar prosthetics
 Similar sets                              Similar sets
 Female 2nd fending off attack at end      Female 2nd fending off attack
 Bazaar                                    Promenade
 Cmdr. haunted by recent war               Cmdr. haunted by recent battle
 Cmdr. is unmarried                        Cmdr. is (now) unmarried
 Freeport/port of call                     Freeport/port of call
 Travelers/diplomats/smugglers             Travelers/diplomats/smugglers

      Those are the highlights.  There's more, but this point has
 been belabored far more than is reasonable at this point.  With
 one bit of new information...I've heard that Majel Barrett-Roddenberry
 has been quoted as saying that B5 has borrowed from DS9...now I
 can't personally confirm this, I wasn't there, but if those who
 sent me private mail testifying to this want to come forward, they're
 welcome to do so (though no onus is attached if they don't).

      Can such things happen by accident?  That's more a question for
 others.

      Now, again, I don't want to go on about this in extremis.  The
 only reason I replied was because you asked, and seemed to think that
 the only similarity was in the set design.  As has been stated
 (repeatedly), they will be very different shows, in many ways, in
 terms of the stories and the characters and the fact that we just
 operate in a completely different fictional universe.

      So that said...let's move on.  In future, if anyone wants to
 get the details, they should be referred to this message.  There's
 going to be a lot to discuss, and a lot of new stuff coming down
 the road in terms of B5, and I'd hate for this topic to end up
 just a constant rehashing of point-by-point similarities.  Best to
 talk of B5 in terms of B5, not via comparison to others.

                                                                  jms
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