lurkers-guide/ftp/GEnie/jms94-08-15

This file contains messages posted by J. Michael Straczynski on GEnie
from Aug 15 - Aug 31st.  Postings are copyright 1994 by J. Michael Straczynski
with compilation copyright by GEnie.

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Topic 1         Mon Oct 26, 1992
SF-MARSHALL [Dave ]          at 18:50 EST
Sub: Babylon 5 - The Series  (Non-Spoiler)

Welcome to the Babylon 5 category and main topic for the new series. Here is
the place for all general information on the series. Topic 2 is the location
for SPOILERS. And please, NO STORY IDEAS are to be posted either.
776 message(s) total.
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Category 18,  Topic 1
Message 411       Wed Aug 17, 1994
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 00:47 EDT

     Definitive answer: we approached Michael.  Not the other way around.

                                                               jms
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Category 18,  Topic 1
Message 426       Thu Aug 18, 1994
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 00:16 EDT

     Generally, Psi Corps members often have a similar "look," not quite a
uniform, but a sense of repeated lines.  Just one more little thing to make
them stand apart.

                                                                 jms
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Category 18,  Topic 1
Message 432       Fri Aug 19, 1994
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 01:58 EDT

     Well, as of now, every episode of year one has aired with the exception
of "Chrysalis," which will be a bit down the road yet.

     A quick thought.

     When this show first went on the air, I had been promising that the
series would be something different, stuff and an overall approach -- the
basic arc -- not done before on television.  After "Midnight," and to some
extent "Soul Hunter" and "Infection," a number of folks on various nets were
saying it wasn't as advertised.  I read those posts, and at times was
frustrated by them, because I knew what was coming in "Sky," and "Signs and
Portents," and "Babylon Squared" and others.

     I think that the point has been made...and the promise kept.

     I think we've done pretty good.

     I will put our first season against the first season of *any* prior SF
series.  Step back for a moment and look at what we've had just so far:

     Signs and Portents...And the Sky Full of Stars...Babylon Squared... The
Parliament of Dreams...Mind War...Deathwalker...Believers...and the rest.

     And we're *just* getting started...and "Chrysalis," the best of the
bunch, is still lurking around the corner.

     Those of you who've been around, and have seen the majority of the aired
episodes, know what we're trying to do, and where we're trying to go with
this.  In another topic, the show was described as "a meta SF saga," and I
guess that covers it as well as anything else.

     I just think it's useful, at this point, to step back from the individual
episodes -- the details -- and look at the whole first season as a whole
tapestry...and I think we've covered a LOT of new terrain, and done some
pretty nifty stuff.

     In the final analysis, I think we've made a little history with this
show...had an effect on how SF Television will be done henceforth, and brought
a "screw 'em, let's go for broke" philosophy back to the genre, which
(personal opinion) had grown, in TV, a bit on the stuffy side.  Bar fights,
main characters who lie, bad guys who do good things and good guys who do bad
things, bathrooms, fasten/zip and lessons in Centauri anatomy, we've broken
some of the taboos, and I think that's a positive thing.

     (Pound for pound, though, on reflection, I'd have to say that the X-Files
also had about as good a first season as anything I've ever seen, though
technically it's not SF...not really horror...more in the category of Really
Weird Stuff.)

     Anyway, just some thoughts at the end of the day.

                                                         jms
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Category 18,  Topic 1
Message 455       Sat Aug 20, 1994
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 01:18 EDT

     Dana...you're quite correct.  Getting a show sold is next to impossible;
getting it actually produced at *all* and finally actually on the air is even
unliklier.  With all the ten zillion elements that go into any one episode,
where any one element -- script, guest star, effects -- can kill the episode
if it goes wrong, that *anything* gets made with any quality at all is really
a case of swimming upstream.

     Re: self-sacrifice as a recurring theme...yes, and it's something that
has become kind of passe; you don't tend to see it much in TV.  It's a very,
very old-fashioned notion, but I think it's an important one.

     We've now finished shooting episode number one of season two, and today
began filming on episode two, "Revelations."  The first episode is just
*gorgeous*.  John Iacovelli, our production designer, absolutely knocked
himself out improving the look and feel of the sets, making it all look
bigger, better, more *real*...and Bruce has been doing a bang-up job.  (No
major guest stars in the first episode, "Points of Departure," just our
regulars and Bruce.  Guest in "Revelations" is Beverly Leech, playing
Elizabeth Sheridan, John Sheridan's sister.)

                                                                 jms
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Category 18,  Topic 1
Message 458       Sat Aug 20, 1994
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 04:02 EDT

     I imagine the pilot will air again eventually, though I don't know when;
and as for the end of the story...the only way I was able to get this far is
to focus on only one reality: that the show would get sold, the pilot would
get made, the series would begin and run five years, to  the end.  If I ever
allowed any other possibility to enter my fevered brain, it never would've
come about.  So I can't even *consider* that question, well-meaning as it is.


                                                                 jms
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Category 18,  Topic 1
Message 555       Wed Aug 24, 1994
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 03:24 EDT

     Since this just hit the wire services, I figured I'd mention it here.

     The release went out from Classics International, owner of First Comics.
A deal has been concluded between CIE and Rattlesnake Prods. (owned by my
partner on Babylon 5 Doug Netter) to form a separate entity to produce a
feature film based on the Grimjack books by John Ostrander.

     The movie is budgeted for $30 million, and I've been asked, and have
agreed, to write the screenplay.  (My job, as I see it, is to Leave The Damned
Thing Alone and *adapt* the book, rather than throw stuff out and make it all
up.  I loved the book when it was out, and read it regularly.  My hope is to
do as faithful a transition to film as possible.  I've met with John
Ostrander, and our feelings on which cycle of the Grimjack story to base the
feature film on are absolutely the same.)

     The plan is to have the script finished by late fall, probably around
November/December, and shoot the thing in early or mid-1995.

     (In addition, this Fall we're currently slated to begin production on a
two-hour pilot for a new contemporary science fiction series which I've
created and written for first-run syndication.  Current plans are to film the
pilot in either Vancouver or Portland, with Doug and I serving again as
Executive Producers, as with Babylon 5.  I can't reveal the title at this time
-- it's nothing you'd recognize, it's an original concept, but it's a cool
title and I'd hate to lose it -- but I hope to have more on this over the next
few months.  Also, there are still one or two more hurdles before we can start
production, even though we've been unofficially greenlighted, so I'll hold
back just a bit for now until the ink dries officially.)

     The series that would come out of the pilot would also be exec produced
by me and Doug, but not with the same degree of direct day to day involvement
as Babylon 5, which remains our first priority.  We would get a dedicated, SF-
informed writer/producer to head up the other show, under our direct
supervision.

                                                                 jms
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Category 18,  Topic 1
Message 560       Wed Aug 24, 1994
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 14:41 EDT

      Yeah, the main cycle I've selected for the script is the Demon
Blood/Demon Wars storyline.  All hell breaks loose....

                                                                 jms
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Category 18,  Topic 1
Message 573       Thu Aug 25, 1994
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 03:36 EDT

     Allen...all the rights have been checked, and John is very happy with the
arrangements.  Everything's copacetic.

                                                                jms
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Category 18,  Topic 1
Message 575       Thu Aug 25, 1994
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 04:20 EDT

     BTW...just thought I'd mention this...over the weekend, Claudia Christian
was running in her backyard, and broke her foot in three places.  Which led to
a frenzy of rewriting (by me) of the next couple of episodes to work around
it.  Was rather complicated by some active things she had to do, but it's all
worked out.  Turned in the last draft of a biggie for her, and the stories all
still track.  A gentle reminder that actors are people.  Claudia actually made
it into the studio today, for one brief scene, with her foot concealed, and
carried on like a real trooper, keeping everyone else's spirits up, since we
were concerned about her.  (That's always the way, it seems; you worry more
about the person who got hurt than the person herself does.)

                                                             jms
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Category 18,  Topic 1
Message 622       Sun Aug 28, 1994
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 01:53 EDT

     Requested, we deliver...just uploaded cruiser.gif to the B5 library
(#1260), which is a shot of a Minbari war cruiser.

     Main obstacle to uploading more is that even though I'm free flagged, the
GEnie access numbers don't allow 9600 baud for such flags, and I have to log
on at 2400 baud, which means it takes 15 minutes or so to upload a single
file, as opposed to about 3 minutes on other systems.

                                                              jms
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Category 18,  Topic 1
Message 627       Sun Aug 28, 1994
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 03:57 EDT

     A bit of an update....

     Early last week, we got the director's cut of our first episode of the
second season, "Points of Departure."  We went in Friday to do our producer's
cut (me and John Copeland, whom I've dubbed Mister Action, since he's very
good at action sequences), and that's now finished.  All the CGI is in, absent
three virtual set shots, so otherwise only music and sound effects are
missing.  We'll get to those next week.

     The episode is *very* nice.  In some ways, it's almost a whole new
series.  Right off the bat, what you'll notice is how much better (and bigger)
many of the sets seem.  We've also modified the lighting just a tick; I like
it dark, but over the course of the season it was apparent  that it was *so*
dark in places that you really couldn't see or fully appreciate a lot of the
details in costume, sets and other areas, so we lightened it just a notch, but
counterbalanced by greater use of  shadows (no play on words intended) and
color and textures, so that the show on one level looks moodier, but is more
accessible.  A shadow on black can't be seen; a shadow that's visible carries
more impact.

     We've built all new EA uniforms, and added a few small touches to make
them better; a bit of red piping along the collar and leather to make the
dividing line pop slightly; a better grade of letter and fabric so that the
uniforms look and wear better; slight modifications to the cuffs so they'll
end clean without gathering in a blousy kind of way; shirts of better fabric
with military tailoring so they wear better.

     Ron's effects continue to get better, both here and in what I've seen of
the CGI in "Revelations."  There's one particular shot in "Revelations" of a
Narn ship, very close-up, that I think has finally cracked the line between
models and CGI...it looks absolutely *solid*.

     As I said, we're doing more with virtual sets and digital effects, and
we'll be seeing some two-story sets in many places.

     Ivanova is all through the story, in practically every scene (and being
driven thoroughly nuts by various situations), with Sheridan also coming into
a very difficult situation.  Both are absolutely excellent in the role.  Bruce
brings a strength, and a vulnerability, to the role that is very nice to
watch.  Sheridan and Ivanova play very well together, and I think you'll be
very pleased.

     Though deliberately not as intense as "Chrysalis" or "Revelations," which
sandwich it on either side, it's got a lot of twists and turns and surprises
in it.  It's very much a character driven story, with several arc elements,
where the other two are very strong arc episodes.

      In any event...I'm extremely pleased.  When you start changing elements,
you never really know how things will turn out, despite your best intentions.
In this case, I think this is a great episode, and it actually seems to be
coming together wonderfully.

     I am profoundly relieved.

     And given what I'm seeing in "Revelations" (we have one more day of
filming on Monday) in dailies...this is gonna be one hell of a season.

                                                                jms
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Category 18,  Topic 1
Message 644       Sun Aug 28, 1994
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 22:15 EDT

     I'd rather let the virtual sets be more of a surprise.

     An address where you can reach the friendly folks at B5: 14431 Ventura
Boulevard, Suite 260, Sherman Oaks, CA 91423.

                                                               jms
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Category 18,  Topic 1
Message 672       Tue Aug 30, 1994
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 00:28 EDT

     For those who watch "Points of Departure" when it airs, keep a sharp ear
out...our friend Mr. Jarvis gets plinked.

     With maybe one or two exceptions, all *I* get are gif images, since those
are quickest to make and get off Ron's system.  (John Copeland and I download
images comprising the top and bottom frames of EFX shots for approval...I've
got something like 80 megabytes of the stuff.)

                                                                   jms
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Topic 2         Wed Nov 20, 1991
STARR [Arne]                 at 19:41 EST
Sub: Babylon 5 -- The Series!! >>SPOILERS<<

Babylon 5 offically became a series on May 28 '93. There will be 22 hour eps
for season one (in addition to the pilot). Airs Wednesdays at 8PM in most
places starting Jan. 26 '94.  This is the SPOILER topic where anything goes.

586 message(s) total.
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Category 18,  Topic 2
Message 374       Wed Aug 17, 1994
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 00:57 EDT

     Correction: I did *not* write the outline for the B5 novel that John is
doing.  I approved it, but he thunk it up all on his own.

     Last day of shooting on "Points" is Thursday.  We shoot seven days, NOT
counting weekends.  So far shooting is going astonishingly well; Bruce is
fitting beautifully into the company.  Some great and very funny
scenes...balanced with some major revelations throughout.  We're doing some
terrific new sets, including the Earthforce lounge (when I've christened
"Earhart's," after Amelia Earhart, and a two-story Bazaar that is *very* cool
indeed.  Janet Greek is directing "Points."  Second up, starting Friday, is
"Revelations," being directed by Jim Johnston.

     We always have several meetings with the director to make sure we're on
the same wavelength, culminating in a final tone meeting where we go through
page by page, scene by scene (done again in a major production meeting later
with all our crew).  There are no tabled read throughs, though the director
rehearses as much as required before each scene.  Generally speaking, there
isn't much rewriting done on many of our scripts once they hit second draft; I
don't like directors or actors rewriting on set, and won't allow it.  If
there's a required change, the person involved has to get it approved by me
or, if I'm absent, Larry.   So far, of the six or so scripts we have in final
shape, none has gone past pink pages (in order, it's white pages (final draft,
published to all departments), blue pages (1st revision) and pink pages (2nd
rev.).   Many shows have a whole rainbow of colors in scripts, through 8-10
revisions.  We don't do that.

                                                            jms
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Category 18,  Topic 2
Message 376       Wed Aug 17, 1994
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 20:17 EDT

     B5 novel #1, figure late November/early December.  For the CDRom, figure
January.

     On the comic, the artists will change with each 4-issue cycle; initially,
they're using Michael Netzer and Rob Leigh.  The first issue is a JMS script;
2-4 is a JMS premise translated into script by Mark Moretti.

                                                   jms
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Category 18,  Topic 2
Message 382       Thu Aug 18, 1994
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 00:20 EDT

     The jury system has *not* been abolished.  Several things to bear in
mind...first, even now, choice can dictate a jury vs. judge trial (it is often
in the plaintiff's court, so to speak, to choose which one is preferred in
civil trials).  Second, if you look back at the history of the US, even in
jury trial days, you had Circuit Court Judges who traveled through rural
areas, frontier and unconsolidated regions, and held court by themselves.

     Babylon 5 is a unique environment.  There are only two basic types of
people (speaking only of humans for now) around: those employed by EA or the
station (conflict of interest), or travelers, who won't be around long enough
for a prolonged trial.  So in that kind of situation, the Ombuds arose...a
2258 version of a Circuit Court Judge.

     It's absolutely in line with what's been done in our own country.

                                                                jms
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Category 18,  Topic 2
Message 436       Thu Aug 25, 1994
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 01:32 EDT

     Kwicker..."What if Joe wrote a story in which a "memory-challenged"
person DISCOVERED records of who or what he was?"

     I was in the process of developing that as a b-story in an upcoming
episode.

     Because of that comment, I now have to scuttle the story.

     I understand that this proceeds from enthusiasm on everyone's part, but
let me repeat this as forcefully as I can: NO STORY IDEAS.  No matter what
anyone says, what disclaimers are put up, if I see a story idea that is
something we're doing or contemplating doing...I have to scuttle it to protect
the series.

     This has just torpedoed what would've been a very compelling little b-
story.

     Everyone, please, be *very* careful about this...the only other  option I
have, if it begins happening too much, is to dive out of the discussion, and
I'd *really* rather not have to do that.

                                                                jms
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Category 18,  Topic 2
Message 438       Thu Aug 25, 1994
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 03:37 EDT

     Nonetheless, it was a *specific* story idea, presented in the B5 area,
where I saw it.  This is how it has to be handled.
                                                                jms
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Category 18,  Topic 2
Message 444       Thu Aug 25, 1994
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 21:23 EDT

     K.Wicker...there's a difference between saying, "Will we see a huge
carrier vessel this year?" and sketching out a story idea.  I've tried to
drive home this point many times.  As for the speculation on the arc
topic...I'm keeping my eye on it, and if it starts to get too specific, with
too many concrete suggestions, I'm going to have to have it closed down.  So
far, it's okay, though it's dancing a careful dance.

     This isn't news to anyone.  This has always been the situation.  This is
the fifth time that I've had to scuttle a story (thankfully none of them vital
arc stuff) because someone suggested the thing on-line; one here, one on CIS,
and three on Internet (which is more rowdy and with a lot more message
traffic).  On the up side, that this has only happened five times is a good
thing...on the other hand, five stories is one fourth of a season....

     I can't budge from this position.  I've said it before.  I have an
obligation to protect my show.  Sometimes we need reminders, I guess.

                                                                   jms
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Category 18,  Topic 2
Message 452       Fri Aug 26, 1994
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 01:39 EDT

     Bruce...no, that doesn't count.  Speculation, discussion...it's when it
is phrased as a story idea, and/or comes replete with beginning, middle and
end, that a problem occurs.

                                                              jms
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Category 18,  Topic 2
Message 465       Sat Aug 27, 1994
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 01:17 EDT

     Fanzines (specifically published fan fiction) is a problem for many
writers; Marion Zimmer Bradley had a book torpedoed by the publishing company -
- killing a year's work -- because the story was too similar to a fanzine
story, and they were concerned the person might sue.

                                                              jms
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Category 18,  Topic 2
Message 480       Sat Aug 27, 1994
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 21:47 EDT

     Linda...let me explain how this might work, also for the benefit of
others.

     Let's start with the assumption that every person currently here on line
is honest, intelligent, trustworthy and not suit-happy.  (Fill in your own
punchline.)

     Tomorrow, Billy Ray Marzipan signs onto the B5 conference.  He's big on
the show, wants to be in the discussion.  We're cool so far.  One day, BRM
writes, "Hey, Joe, how about an episode where Sheridan is swallowed by a giant
space whale, discovers an ancient Shadowman text, and escapes."

     Now, it just so happens that let's say we're doing such a story already.
I can choose to say nothing.  Then, six months down the road, "In Harm's
Esophagus" airs, and becomes one of the all-time favorite B5 episodes.  BRM is
sure that I stole his story...he broods over it, gets more and more
agitated...and one day finally decides to sue.

     Or, I can choose to say, at the time, "Hey, we're doing a story like
that, just so you know," and do it anyway...but BRM has no objective way of
knowing *for sure* if I was doing it already...so six months later... same
result.

     We are a litigious, lawsuit-happy society.  And not everyone out there is
as sane and reasonable as the people currently here on line.  So the only
thing I can do, short of signing off every BBS I'm on, is to make it as clear
as possible that we cannot have story suggestions.  If one is made, I have to
be sure to either not do it, or if we're doing it...kill it.

     Further, on-line disclaimers are meaningless.  You can't prove that the
phosphor-dot "signature" was really made by the person.  Further, it can be
argued that since the agreement not to post story ideas was  required for
admission, one can say that any such offer of disclaimer was made "under
duress," and thus not binding.

     It is not a sane or reasonable position to put people in, and I am fully
aware of that.  But society for the most part is itself neither sane nor
reasonable, and in the interests of my show I have to put safeguards in place
that I may neither like nor want.

     On the issue of fanzines...I don't see them, and generally instruct
people, "don't ask, don't tell."

                                                               jms
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Category 18,  Topic 2
Message 503       Sun Aug 28, 1994
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 22:17 EDT

     Torville...fine...except left unmonitored, there would be *hundreds* of
these coming out on a weekly basis...and I think that my time and the time of
my staff are better served making the series than tracking down hundreds of
errant story ideas and mailing out releases.

                                                             jms
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Category 18,  Topic 2
Message 519       Tue Aug 30, 1994
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 00:33 EDT

     The pages that I've seen are quite nice.  (Kaluta is doing the cover.)  I
really enjoy writing comics, though I haven't done as many as I'd like, and
may contribute one of the arcs down the road (the arc that immediately follows
my one-shot is by Mark Moretti, based on a premise by jms).

     Here's a spoiler for "Chrysalis," just for fun.

     Something mysterious happens; then something ominous happens; then
something wonderful happens; then something astonishing happens; then
something even more mysterious happens; then something *terrible* happens;
then *another* terrible thing happens; then three more mysterious and ominous
things happen.

                                                                jms
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Category 18,  Topic 2
Message 541       Wed Aug 31, 1994
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 02:13 EDT

     Tom: by all means, keep the statement.  I did it more or less in order
within the story.

                                                           jms
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Topic 4         Tue Nov 03, 1992
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 03:12 EST
Sub: Babylon 5 - Cast & Characters      

For discussion of the actors who will be bringing BABYLON 5 to life with their
performances...for information before, and discussion after the airing of "The
Gathering" pilot.
420 message(s) total.
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Category 18,  Topic 4
Message 334       Wed Aug 17, 1994
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 00:57 EDT

     Hell, I was just suprised that Shawn Cassidy could *read*.

                                                               jms
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Category 18,  Topic 4
Message 346       Thu Aug 25, 1994
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 21:23 EDT

     How about Michael Ansara, for one?  Just cast him in "The Geometry of
Shadows."

                                                                jms
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Category 18,  Topic 4
Message 350       Fri Aug 26, 1994
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 01:40 EDT

     New Na'Toth is Mary Kay Adams.  New character, Warren Keffer, a squadron
pilot (later a squad leader) is played by Robert Russler, in about 8 episodes.

                                                                  jms
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Category 18,  Topic 4
Message 380       Wed Aug 31, 1994
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 02:15 EDT

     ...and add Russ Tamblyn in episode #4, "A Distant Star."

                                                                 jms
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Topic 6         Tue Nov 03, 1992
T.ORTH [Mr. Rico]            at 06:43 EST
Sub: Where is Babylon 5? TV stations... 

Babylon 5 is a cornerstone of Warner's new Prime Time Entertainment Network.
Here is where one can find and post station information.

383 message(s) total.
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Category 18,  Topic 6
Message 376       Tue Aug 30, 1994
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 00:34 EDT

     There's nothing I can do about stations at the local level; it's up to
local residents to bug the stations.

                                                               jms
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Topic 11        Sat Nov 14, 1992
J.SHEEN1 [Leviathan]         at 18:09 EST
Sub: B5 Adrift!                         

 BABYLON 5 Topic Drift
 If you feel like talking about it, but it doesn't fit anywhere else... If its
only connection to B-5 is that you thought of it in this CAT...
 This is where to come and get it out.
383 message(s) total.
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Category 18,  Topic 11
Message 359       Thu Aug 25, 1994
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 01:33 EDT

     If you pursue this further, it could lead to the box being retracted; the
Neilsen company is *very* sensitive about this, and they hear everything....

                                                                jms
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Topic 17        Tue Jan 19, 1993
C.STOBBE [Colin]             at 21:02 EST
Sub: Babylon 5 - Merchandising          

A place to discuss all the neat Babylon 5 merchandising coming out (hopefully)
soon
483 message(s) total.
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Category 18,  Topic 17
Message 448       Sat Aug 20, 1994
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 01:28 EDT

      Start with the end of the story.  Then the beginning.

      The end of the story finds jms sitting at his desk, elbows on
 desktop, hands covering face...as from somewhere behind those hands comes
 a high-pitched, keening, mournful sound audible only to dachsunds and
 banshee-groupies.

      The beginning of the story?

      John Copeland, our producer, shows me something that John Iacovelli
 came into the office bearing...a B5 cap.  It's a very nice Babylon 5 cap.
  Stitching's a little off, though, I notice...not bad, but noticeable.
 I learn it's commercially available.  Well, still and all, not a bad
 thing, I decide, trying to figure out why John's smiling at me in this
 really weird fashion.  People have been asking for B5 caps, and now they
 can buy them through, it seems, Creation Entertainment, as this was
 bought at a Creation store in Glendale (Sci-Fi Universe), and it's a
 Creation produced item, under their license....

      Then the tag hanging from the back of the cap slips out into my
 hand, dangling from that little white-plastic-string-thingie they stick
 through labels.

      And what does the label on that white-plastic-string-thingie say?

      OFFICIAL LICENSED PRODUCT, PARAMOUNT TELEVISION.

      We never get a break...never...ever...the horror...the horror....

                                    ..eeeeeeeEEEEEEEEEeeeee........
                                                                      jms
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Topic 24        Fri Jun 04, 1993
J.ROY18 [Jonathan]           at 21:11 EDT
Sub: Babylon 5 - Weapons and Warfare!   

For discussion about the weapons, counter weapons, armor, shielding, tactics,
logistics, and so forth, of small combat and large scale war in the Babylon 5
universe.
419 message(s) total.
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Category 18,  Topic 24
Message 353       Wed Aug 17, 1994
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 20:20 EDT

     The B5 flak jackets which disperse energy would be a kind of Starlite
material.  (Are we ahead of our time or what?)

                                                       jms
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Category 18,  Topic 24
Message 374       Thu Aug 25, 1994
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 01:35 EDT

     Mike...that's not far off the mark.

                                                                jms
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Category 18,  Topic 24
Message 393       Tue Aug 30, 1994
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 00:39 EDT

     Just to reinforce the preceding...B5 is not a battlefield, and its
internal (personnel) defense systems are more basic.  Security guards simply
don't go into combat, and if they were fully outfitted, they would destroy the
station in its first engagement.

     We really haven't seen any EA ground soldiers yet (though there is a
story in the works about them, tentatively called "Gropos," for ground
pounders).

                                                                     jms
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Topic 29        Thu Jun 30, 1994
B.SHERRIS [Brett]            at 00:03 EDT
Sub: The Master Plan                    

WARNING!  THIS TOPIC MAY CONTAIN INFORMATION THAT IS VITAL TO THE FIVE YEAR
 STORY ARC OF BABYLON 5.  DO NOT READ THIS TOPIC IF YOU DO NOT WISH TO
 POSSIBLY DISCOVER THE PURPOSE OF THE FIVE YEAR STORY ARC!
109 message(s) total.
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Category 18,  Topic 29
Message 83        Wed Aug 17, 1994
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 00:59 EDT

     The Hyperion is not typical; it's one of the ships that survived the War.
Not many did.  There are niftier, newer ships built in the last eleven years
that you'll be seeing eventually.

                                                       jms
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Category 18,  Topic 29
Message 85        Wed Aug 17, 1994
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 20:21 EDT

     Weapons are *recessed* into the body, and covered to protect them from
micrometeorites and other bits of debris, and from enemy assault.   When
prepared for use, the ports are opened, revealing the weapons inside.

                                                             jms
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Category 18,  Topic 29
Message 89        Thu Aug 18, 1994
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 00:24 EDT

     I kinda have to be here, in case the discussions come too close to story
ideas, in which event I'll have to toss a bucket of cold water in here.  It's
treading a fine line as it is, but so far hasn't quite crossed it.

                                                                jms
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Topic 30        Mon Jul 04, 1994
D.KAUFFMAN5 [CyberDad]       at 13:14 EDT
Sub: Nods, In-Jokes, and References     

Post any nods, in-jokes, or references you have seen here.  For example,
Babylon 5 refers to the Babylon of ancient Earth; the location of B5 is at
Grid Epsilon 470/18/22, the location of the original B5 topic on GEnie.
181 message(s) total.
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Category 18,  Topic 30
Message 123       Fri Aug 19, 1994
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 01:41 EDT

     Minbari use base 11, not base 10, so twelve would be eleventy-first
year, and so on.

                                                                 jms
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Category 18,  Topic 30
Message 126       Fri Aug 19, 1994
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 15:05 EDT

     Minbari base eleven includes fingers and head, from which the principle
of mathematics comes.

                                                            jms
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Category 18,  Topic 30
Message 141       Sun Aug 21, 1994
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 19:10 EDT

     You're also looking at this from a strictly English-speaking perspective;
in German, for instance, 21 is "Ein und Zwanzig" (pardon any misspellings in
there, it's been a while) which is exactly the same structure, albeit
reversed, used for Minbari counting (and, in fact, is more or less what I
based his "statement" on).

                                                                 jms
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Category 18,  Topic 30
Message 144       Sun Aug 21, 1994
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 21:04 EDT

     Have there been any good "how many X's to screw in a light bulb?" jokes
in this topic?

                                                         jms
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Category 18,  Topic 30
Message 162       Tue Aug 23, 1994
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 03:32 EDT

     Needed it for a script, but came up with one of my own: How many Minbari
does it take to screw in a light bulb?  None...they always surrender just
before finishing the job, but won't tell you why.

                                                                  jms
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Category 18,  Topic 30
Message 174       Sun Aug 28, 1994
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 04:01 EDT

     Eleventy-seven = Eighteen base ten.

                                                               jms

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Topic 18        Sun Apr 17, 1994
STARR [Arne]                 at 23:47 EDT
Sub: #117 - "The Quality Of Mercy"      

by JMS.  Directed by Janet Greek.  Co-Starring June Lockhart.
94 message(s) total.
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Category 19,  Topic 18
Message 16        Thu Aug 18, 1994
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 00:28 EDT

     Centauri females, btw, have six narrow...ummm...slots on their backs,
three on either side of the spine, right around the base of the spine.

     The awful thing is that the two women in props -- who were having  FAR
too much fun with this -- kept bringing me the tentacle to verify the shape,
size, consistency, do we see veins or not....

     I tell you here and now: our staff meetings are something else.

                                                               jms
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Category 19,  Topic 18
Message 45        Fri Aug 19, 1994
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 14:59 EDT

     Side-note...Londo baring his teeth had nothing to do with Delenn's vote
in "The Gathering."  That was gas.

                                                               jms
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Category 19,  Topic 18
Message 48        Fri Aug 19, 1994
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 19:36 EDT

     Fax...means she is participating in the death of a mind.

        jms
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Topic 24        Sun Apr 17, 1994
STARR [Arne]                 at 23:58 EDT
Sub: #118 - "Babylon Squared"           

by JMS.   Directed by Jim Johnston.
196 message(s) total.
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Category 19,  Topic 24
Message 122       Tue Aug 16, 1994
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 19:53 EDT

     Actually, I never said that the Minbari all go through changes from male
to female or vice versa; that became a bit of accepted story because people
kept repeating it, going from speculation to being "sure" I said it.  Didn't.

                                                                jms
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