lurkers-guide/ftp/Usenet/jms94-07-usenet

===========================================================================
| This text is compiled from posts by J. Michael Straczynski on the Usenet
| group rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.  This document contains material Copyright
| 1994 J. Michael Straczynski.  He has given permission for his words to be
| redistributed online, as long as they are marked as being copyright JMS.
| This document, as well as other Babylon-5 related material, is available
| by anonymous FTP at ftp.hyperion.com.
===========================================================================



From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 2 Jul 1994 23:58:42 -0400
Subject: DC Comics B5?

     We are trying to keep the B5 comic part of B5 continuity and canon,k
though without the requirement that you have to read it to follow the
show, because that would be vastly unfair.  It just *fits*.  I.e., we
establish a prior relationship with a woman on Mars for Garibaldi, and she
can show up in flashbacks in the book, or in the present.  And yes, there
is complete freedome to use Sinclair in the books since he's not entirely
gone from the storyline at all, and still will carry a part.
 
                                                                      jms
From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 2 Jul 1994 23:58:45 -0400
Subject: JMS: hidden allusions and tips

     I think maybe 45-50% of our subtext and allusions have been noted
to date, which is *real* good.
 
	                                                           jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 4 Jul 1994 01:57:27 -0400
Subject: Violence-question for JMS

     No, so far the bullet-counters haven't much noticed
B5, though they will in time, I'm sure.
 
                                                                          jms
From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 4 Jul 1994 01:57:30 -0400
Subject: Londo based on Brother Theodor

     Actually, no, Londo was not based on Brother Theodore, who I only
discovered some time later on Letterman.  But Harlan and Peter David
mentioned at the panel that Brother Theodore could make a swell brother
for Londo in some episode, so this is something I may consider....
 
	                                                                  jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 4 Jul 1994 01:57:33 -0400
Subject: JMS TV 31 cutting previews & c

     Will refer this to Warner Bros. programming on Tuesday.  Thanks.
 
                                                                 jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 4 Jul 1994 04:58:33 -0400
Subject: JMS:  Do the actors know?

     Some of the actors know a bit of what will happen well down the
road; some know what will happen during any given season; some don't want
to know *anything*, just find it out during shooting.  None of them knows
the full story.  And none have asked.  I think the concern there is that
they might begin playing the *result* rather than the process, that this
prior knowledge might color their current performance, rather than making
it a clean evolution.
 
     Sometimes it gets wonky.  We filmed "Chrysalis" twelfth in shooting
order, to air twenty-second.  Part of the setup to "Chrysalis" is "Signs
and Portents," which shot 4 episodes later.  Meaning the actors had to
act familiar with elements they hadn't performed yet, and hadn't seen yet
in script form.  So in that case, I had to sit down and explain what the
various aspects of "Chrysalis" meant, and where we were going, for it all
to play.  Later, when "Signs" was published in-house, they got to see in
more detail how the setup fit in with the payoff.
 
     If asked, I would probably try to refrain from telling any of the
actors the full story.  Let me rephrase: I simply wouldn't do it.  If they
would ask where their individual character is going -- and some have --
what I do is give them the general arc, but leave out a lot of specifics.
 For instance, Peter knows *in general* that his character is going in a
darker direction, but not how he's going to get there or what it means to
the overall story.  And that, I think, is as it should be.
 
     Thus far, only three people other than myself have read the synopsis
of the full five-year arc, which is 3 people more than I'm comfortable
with.  (One of them is Larry DiTillio, whose response was simply, "You're
out of your fucking mind.  You've *got* to be out of your fucking mind to
think you can even TRY and do this on TV."  Which seemed a pretty fair
appraisal of the situation.)
 
	                                                              jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 4 Jul 1994 04:58:35 -0400
Subject: a question

     "How did Sinclair's duck thing get started?"
 
     Probably by watching an attractive woman walk across the room.
 
	                               jm(quack in residence)s

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 5 Jul 1994 05:27:44 -0400
Subject: Re: JMS: hidden allusions and

     Though you're correct about the shape of the EA symbol being a bit
reminiscent of the Star of David...that wasn't the intent going in.  We
took the letter A, stretched it out, put a stylized E over it, and got the
basic silhouette.  The rest is happenstance.
 
                                                                            jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 5 Jul 1994 05:27:46 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: Re-The Best CGI Crea

     Yeah, the Feeder is pretty cool; wrapped up Foundation's rendering
machines for the better part of a week just to pull that one off.  Alas,
I really can't give out their address, as they'd hurt me badly.
 
                                                                         jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 5 Jul 1994 05:27:48 -0400
Subject: JMS - yet another small questi

     The bays are called Cobra Bays because that's kind of the shape of
the bays from the outside as they wrap around the front, round part of the
station (narrow at one end, flaring out big at the other).  The name
refers to the look of the place, not what's stored inside.
 
     Will definitely keep on...well, spacin'....
 
                                                                       jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 5 Jul 1994 05:27:50 -0400
Subject: Q: Naranek

     Aliens with two names: Kosh Naranek (not used yet in the show, but
it's there), Londo Mollari, Vir Cotto.  Single names: Delenn, Lennier.
Composite names: Ko'Dath, Na'Toth, G'Kar.
 
                                                                         jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 5 Jul 1994 05:27:53 -0400
Subject: JMS: Queries

     No, the dominant belief system in PoD is that there IS no dominant
single belief...except our willingness to tolerate our diversity.
 
     Have never seen any Gundam, so no, no influence there.
 
                                                                         jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 6 Jul 1994 00:47:24 -0400
Subject: Info gleaned from Chicago Comi

     Minor correction: the first B5 comic issue, "In Darkness Find Me,"
is the flip side of "Points of Departure," not "Midnight."
 
                                                                        jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 6 Jul 1994 02:59:44 -0400
Subject: What makes B5 different and sp

     Patrick: a truly excellent and well-thought out presentation.
 
                                                                     jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 6 Jul 1994 02:59:46 -0400
Subject: What makes B5 different and sp

     Actually, one follow-up...one thing we've been very careful about is
that when something is referenced in episode 9 that took place in episode
3, you don't *have* to have seen episode 3 for it to make sense; the
information you need is collapsed or somehow incorporated into the dialogue
in episode 9.  Meaning that while VCRs and repeated viewings and groups
can help to *predict* stuff, you don't need to have seen ANY prior episodes
of the show to enjoy any one episode of the show.
 
     But the *more* you watch, the more you get out of it.
 
                                                                           jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 6 Jul 1994 03:10:57 -0400
Subject: points of view in B5 storyboar

     If a story takes place in present tense, we can shift POVs around a
bit; in the case of "Sky," we were *specifically* dealing with Sinclair's
memory of events, thus limiting us to his POV.
 
                                                                           jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 8 Jul 1994 00:25:50 -0400
Subject: Re: Grail SPOILERS

     Actually, no, the "forgery" story with the elderly couple didn't
hold up, because repeating the steps they took didn't replicate the
other crop circles.  The stalks are bent, never broken, a counter-
clockwise section beneath a clockwise section, the stalks continue to
grow, and the bend seems more from heat than pressure.  The forgery story
was itself a fake, and has been largely discredited.  Not to say that
there isn't some other way of doing it, but that ain't it, and thus far,
no one has been exactly capable of duplicating a proper crop circle.
 
                                                                        jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 8 Jul 1994 00:46:14 -0400
Subject: Spioilers for "Quality of Merc

     ...awwwkkk...don't ever do that to me again...awwwkkkk!
 
                                                                 jm(thud!)s

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 8 Jul 1994 00:47:40 -0400
Subject: Transport MARY CELESTE ?!

     Yeah, it was a bit of *really* perverse humor...Jinxo survives all
five Babylon stations, and leaves thinking all is well...on a ship named
the Marie Celeste?
 
     We're a sick bunch, but we're fun.
 
                                                                         jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 8 Jul 1994 03:38:54 -0400
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: Re-The Best CGI

     Does someone get shot in something other than the shoulder?
 
     Oh, yes...most definitely....
 
                                                                        jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 8 Jul 1994 03:38:57 -0400
Subject: Re: Info gleaned from Chicago

     The comics series is free to bop forward and backward in time, all
over the B5 universe, wherever the writer wants to take it.
 
                                                                        jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 8 Jul 1994 04:01:50 -0400
Subject: Re: What makes B5 different an

     Correct; the title of "The War Prayer" is a nod to Twain's piece of
the same name, which should be ready by *everyone*.  Given the growing
problems with illiteracy, I try to refer not to pop society so much, as
to literature...Tennyson, Twain, even writers whose last names don't
begin with T.
 
                                                                     jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 8 Jul 1994 17:49:51 -0400
Subject: Femme Fatales Article Cancelle

       Your information is behind the times; Femme Fatales magazine ran
a piece on the Women of Babylon 5 quite some time ago.
 
                                                                     jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 8 Jul 1994 17:49:53 -0400
Subject: jms: TRG songs?

     Yeah, I wrote all the lyrics for the songs in "The Halloween Door,"
including Egon's piece, and the lyrical (without music) goodbye to Poe,
Bradbury and the rest.  I've written a few songs here and there, a couple
of which have actually been recorded, but I won't tell you where.
 
                                                                         jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 8 Jul 1994 17:49:56 -0400
Subject: JMS: D.C. Fontana? (+ a flame)

     Dorothy is not exclusive to any other project, so there is every
reason to expect to see more B5 from her next season (and, in fact, she
is writing one now).
 
                                                                        jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 8 Jul 1994 17:49:58 -0400
Subject: Re: DiTillo at Westercon 4/2

     I've conveyed as much of this discussion as I can, never having seen
the original posting for some reason, to Larry DiTillio, and he is very
upset about it, feeling that many of his comments have not been represented
accurately or have been taken out of context.  As far as the stations are
concerned...it's the stations that are in partnership with Warners to form
PTEN.  PTEN "guidance" comes from the Executive Committee, which is a few
representatives of that group.
 
     Every network show ever produced must have casting of regulars
approved by the network.  Ditto with the company that creates a
syndicated show (usually the studio).  It is the simple process of
running the name or names past someone, for their approval, which is
almost always assured unless the person is *very* controversial or just
not right for the part.  Every show ever produced goes through this
process, and it is exactly the same with B5.  We proposed the names for
our cast, and they were approved.  It's as basic as that.  If Larry
grumped a bit, it was because he was in the process of trying to pass a
kidney stone at the time, which always makes him cranky.
 
                                                                   jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 9 Jul 1994 02:11:46 -0400
Subject: JMS:  Voting Procedure of Coun

     We didn't have the League of Non-Aligned Worlds up and running for
the pilot.  They get one vote, determined by majority decision.  EAch
mamber of the main Advisory Council gets one vote, equal to that.
 
     In "Deathwalker," you had one abstention (Kosh), two to try her
(EA and League), and three against the trial (Narns, Centauri and
Minbari).  Abstentions don't count either way in such a vote; it's the
negatives vs. the positives, and there were more no's than yes's.
 
                                                                     jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 9 Jul 1994 04:06:14 -0400
Subject: Re: DiTillo at Westercon 4/2

     Once again, some of this is getting distorted.  We are looking for
the best person to play this new role.  Once we decide who it is we want,
we will run this past PTEN for their approval.  It is nothing more or
less than this.  Bostwick, who I personally very much wanted to work with,
was NOT -- repeat, *not* -- turned down by PTEN.  We courted him for a
bit, but in the final analysis he decided that he didn't want to do a
syndicated series.  We have only this week, for the first time, formally
presented the name of a prospective actor to PTEN.
 
     As stated, Larry was in considerable discomfort due to a kidney
stone, and has been more or less out of the loop, due to working on his
first script and not formally beginning his term yet as story editor for
this season.  As one example of this...the line that Sinclair will not be
seen until *after* the second season is also incorrect.  We have already
shot a sequence with Sinclair, which is slated for the second season.
 
 
     Larry is very bothered about how this is being distorted, and he told me
to remind certain people that he specifically said that if any of this
turned up on the nets, he would find the person responsible, go to their
home and kill them.  Granted, he was on painkillers at the time, but *I*
certainly wouldn't push it.
 
                                                                        jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 9 Jul 1994 04:06:17 -0400
Subject: JMS: Minbari Worrior Casts

     Well, we'll be learning more about the warrior caste, that most
definitely...as for the worrior castes...they're really a bunch of
downers.  "Look, the economy, it's in trouble again...Earthers, hoo boy,
what a pain they're going to be, we don't want they should move in next
door, you see how they make noise...is there something on my nose?"
 
                                                                         jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 9 Jul 1994 23:53:54 -0400
Subject: JMS:  opening sequence changes

     I will be better able to comment on changes in the opening montage
after we have made them.
 
                                                                     jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 9 Jul 1994 23:53:56 -0400
Subject: EYES <possibly spoilers>

     As story editor, Larry's job is to get it right as much as possible,
and keep the dialogue natural to the characters once created.  He's good
at this, which is why I work with him.
 
     And yes, Janet is a *great* director, and will probably do the first
episode of year two for us.  We think she's nifty.
 
                                                                        jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 11 Jul 1994 15:27:34 -0400
Subject: Reflections on "Grail"

     John Flinn, who is our DP, has at various times also been an actor,
and so we used him to play Mr. Flinn in the episode as well.  A cameo by
yet another member of our talented and multifaceted production team.
 
                                                                         jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 11 Jul 1994 15:35:46 -0400
Subject: A problem with S&P

     I hate to burst your bubble, but the Raider ship *was* rotating.
Look at it again.  It's most visible when the ship is being photographed
from behind with B5 in the background.  You can see the round part of the
ship rotating (with the docking bay at center).
 
                                                                jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 11 Jul 1994 19:27:53 -0400
Subject: B5 Ratings

     Just a couple points on the ratings cited...the reruns which were
being broadcast at that time (and reruns get lower numbers anyway) were
being killed by the NBA playoffs and finals, which were going on in the
same timeslot.  (Actually, throughout June, everybody was getting hit to
some degree; we got it worse because we were at 8 in many markets opposite
the NBA, but it ain't that much of a difference.)
 
     From the overnights on "Grail," we're pretty much back where we
were prior to reruns, a definite jump upward...an increase of about two
ratings points.
 
     Cost-wise, btw, we're about the same price as "Kung Fu," so there
isn't much difference in that respect.
 
                                                                       jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 12 Jul 1994 00:32:11 -0400
Subject: Update to Babylon 5 Dictionary

     Re: no entry for the O...Ombuds.
 
                                                              jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 12 Jul 1994 00:51:10 -0400
Subject: JMS:Re: Second Vorlon

     If you ever *do* see a group of Vorlons on this show...run like hell.
 
                                                                            jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 12 Jul 1994 01:09:21 -0400
Subject: JMS:  Please, NOOOOOOO!

     This is getting vastly misrepresented.  What we're doing, which is
something I noted here a long time ago, is trying to balance stuff a
little.  We did a *great* job, I think, creating the alien characters; so
much so that our human characters kinda got short shrift over the course
of the first season.  Year Two will show us a bit more of the humans on
the station; that is NOT the same as downplaying the aliens, and we're
most emphatically NOT doing that.  In point of fact, *all* of the major
alien characters will be appearing (by contract) in more episodes than
was the case last year.  Even the diplomatic attaches like Vir and Lennier
go from 6-7 episodes last year to 13 this coming year.
 
                                                              jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 12 Jul 1994 01:10:48 -0400
Subject: Attn: JMS  What do you want?

     We'll continue to work at intensifying the relationships across
the coming episodes.  "Eyes" does a lot, as do several more upcoming
episodes.
 
     As for "What do you want?" Morden...yes, he is a very significant
character, and yes, you will be seeing him again.
 
                                                                          jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 12 Jul 1994 01:12:13 -0400
Subject: Babylon 5 Filk Singers to Hono

     Elena...with all due respect...you were a Nazi in a previous life,
weren't you?
 
                                                                         jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 12 Jul 1994 02:16:16 -0400
Subject: Who founded the Babylon Projec

    David...what an absolutely wonderful, wonderful, wonderful, wonderful
question.
 
    I think I'll answer this in an episode next season.
 
    It's something that I've known, and just filed away, but yeah, this
should be dealt with.  And I'll do so.  (Though now you have to wait to
see it on TeeVee.)
 
                                                                      jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 12 Jul 1994 18:05:59 -0400
Subject: Uniforms

      Your initial appraisal of the uniforms seems correct.
 
                                                                  jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 12 Jul 1994 21:47:44 -0400
Subject: Misinformed

     The way to defuse your potted pal is as follows:
 
     1) DS9 is a direct spinoff of TNG, which is owned by Paramount.
No one could pitch a ST spinoff elsewhere.
 
     2) DS9 was created by Berman/Pillar, who were under contract to
Paramount working on TNG, and thus would not have pitched it to Warner
Bros. at any time.
 
     3) B5 dates back to 1987.  If he would like to see some sneaky
references to it in print, tell him to go check out a copy of OtherSyde,
my second novel, published in around 1990, which contains a reference to
Babylon 5.  Also, if he has a bunch of old Starlogs, if he wants to check
in around 1988, he will find an interview with me in which one of the
things mentioned is that I'm working to sell a show called Babylon 5.  A
final reference to B5 is in an episode of Captain Power called "Final
Stand," which I slipped in for funsies.
 
     Your potted (to use your phrase) pal's obstinate opinions are
irrelevant; the facts, in hard print, speak for themselves.  He's got
things in reverse; B5 was pitched to Paramount in 1989; DS9 was never
pitched to Warners.
 
                                                                     jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 12 Jul 1994 21:47:47 -0400
Subject: Re: JMS' Real Ghostbusters

     I believe the episode in question (yes, one of mine) was entitled
"Take Two," and ended with actual footage of the movie.
 
     The wonderful part about that episode of TRGBs -- and this is
something I kinda aimed at while writing it -- is that there are now
whole bunches of kids out there who are absolutely *convinced* that the
animated series came first, THEN the movie based on it.
 
     The only thing better than messing with somebody's sense of reality
is messing with a whole LOTTA people's sense of reality....
 
                                                                       jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 13 Jul 1994 01:11:07 -0400
Subject: Question about Sinclairs statu

     Is it a conflict of interest...yes and no.  Sinclair functions much
as a military governor in, for instance, California's past.  Someone in
this position may speak on behalf of his government with neighboring
countrires, and represent others.  Does it sometimes lead into a conflict
of interest?  Yes.  Is it sometimes unfair?  Yes.  Which is kinda like
life, and that's why I rather like putting him in an awkward position.
 
                                                                      jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 13 Jul 1994 04:09:38 -0400
Subject: Thanks and praise!

     jeremy: thanks.
 
                                                                        jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 13 Jul 1994 04:17:45 -0400
Subject: JMS: .plan files

     Email between folks is the best way to discuss story ideas; I think
someone here put together a big list of folks doing it.
 
                                                                      jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 13 Jul 1994 04:30:23 -0400
Subject: Re: Religion

     Kevin is correct, I'm an atheist.  I'm also a human.  Part of my
job (such as it is) is to try to come up with aliens that are at least
fairly realistic, and treat them with respect.  How then is it any
different for an atheist to treat religion with respect?  Particularly
when that is all that most atheists request from religionists...that we
be treated with respect (as opposed to our good old pal George Bush, who
at a Chicago airport news conference, said in answer to a question that
he didn't think atheists could really be considered patriots since this
is supposed to be one nation under god).
 
     Many people seem to have commented here on the notion that it is
remarkable to see an atheist treating religion as much as it gets treated
here, and as well as it gets treated here.  As Kevin originally pointed
out in his note, we deal with the issue a *lot*, generally in positive
ways.  I don't think it's remarkable at all.  A writer's job is to be
honest, and try to avoid skewing stories to meet some personal agenda.
Religion has been with us for thousands of years, and it ain't going
away tomorrow or the day after or in the next 250 years.  Individual
religions may come and go, but the totality of it...no.  Won't happen.
 
     In addition, on one level it must be respected, if I chose privately
to disagree with it: it is one more reflection of humanity's desire, its
need to understand the universe around us.  Early man was stunned by the
sheer wonder of the world around us, stumbled for some way to explain it
...and, not being able to lay one's hand on a microscope, or an atom
smasher, or a copy of the Origin of Species, turned to the only tools
around at the time.  The instinct, to explain stuff, is exactly the same
instinct that drives any scientist or rationalist; only the methodology
and means of codification vary.  The religious explanation remains
carved in stone (or tablets), where the scientific explanation is in a
constant state of re-examination and flux.  But the intent behind both
is the same.
 
     I do not tolerate religious extremists.  Neither do I tolerate
atheist extremists.  This nation was forged in the fires of diversity,
and it is in a multitude of voices that you can hear the true sound of
this nation.  Or, put slightly differently....do unto others as you would
have them do unto you.
 
                                                                        jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 13 Jul 1994 05:49:42 -0400
Subject: Re: ATT: JMS - Happy Birthday!

                      ...bah, humbug....
 
                                                                      jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 14 Jul 1994 01:25:05 -0400
Subject: Question for JMS, Re: Mind War

     Some of the events in "Mind War" are significant indeed.
 
                                                                     jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 14 Jul 1994 03:43:32 -0400
Subject: Who is JMS?

     I often find myself wondering the same thing sometimes....
 
                                                                      jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 14 Jul 1994 03:43:35 -0400
Subject: Re: Light Brigade

     My original thought there was Tennyson, but I was also aware of the
song, which I like as well.
 
                                                                       jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 14 Jul 1994 16:16:15 -0400
Subject: "Voice"...

     The preview seen for next week is not for "Voice," but for
"Legacies," which airs just prior to "Voice."
 
                                                               jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 14 Jul 1994 16:16:20 -0400
Subject: JMS: A Starfury Question

     I believe they are used to control the thrust coming out of the
engines.
 
                                                                    jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 14 Jul 1994 16:47:56 -0400
Subject: JMS: "Eyes" Nods and Questions

     Will have to ask Larry about Interweb, but it could easily have been
a reference.
 
     The masks were the basic (though somewhat modified) tragedy and
comedy masks, associated with theater.  And a couple of times, Ivanova's
mother does use the Russian nickname for her as well as the English
version.  Susan was taught and raised to a large extent overseas, and
they always tried to keep her in both worlds.
 
                                                                     jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 14 Jul 1994 16:56:08 -0400
Subject: Re: *REALLY* Bad Previews

     Warners sometimes feels the need to "enhance" the shows through the
promos...and sometimes they enhance them right into an alternate
dimension....
 
                                                                    jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 14 Jul 1994 16:56:11 -0400
Subject: Reflections on "Eyes" (SPOILER

     Yes, Psi Corps members must wear the Psi symbol at all times when
in public.  (Though since Grey was there undercover, that briefly went
by the boards.)
 
     And we've rebuilt the forced perspective in the central corridor for
year two, using a 3D construction rather than a matte, and it looks a
hell of a lot better.
 
                                                                       jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 15 Jul 1994 00:46:44 -0400
Subject: Eyes--maybe a 5. JMS a child o

     Sorry, but I don't agree with you about the characters being one
dimensional.  (Big surprise.)  Londo...sometimes comic figure, sometimes
tragic figure, in later episodes sometimes hero, and later still,
something much darker.  G'Kar...much the same, but never at the same
time.
 
     As far as government types go...in the episode you cite, we show a
Psi Corp rep who was *not* an evil type or an asshole.  In "Survivors" we
showed a government agent -- the head of presidential security -- who was
in fact not a baddie at all.  Had some issues, but was at heart okay.
 
     I could point to the Soul Hunter, who was doing what he believed was
right, which others believed was a horror.  I could point to "Believers,"
which was nothing BUT shades of grey.
 
     How can you say that the show demonstrates all government employees
as being evil or stupid when, after all, our main human characters are
themselves employees of the government?
 
     I could go on and on and on...but don't really see much point to it.
 
                                                                     jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 15 Jul 1994 00:46:48 -0400
Subject: JMS: Grey's Psi rating?

     Mr. Grey would've been a P10.  PsiCops are P12s.
 
     PsiCorps administrators at the upper reaches are P11 or better.
 
                                                                     jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 16 Jul 1994 00:10:03 -0400
Subject: JMS - Credits: An idle questio

     Credits are negotiated by agents.  Starring is basically that, your
main stars appearing in every episode; also starring are recurring cast
members; with refers to recurring cast who are pointed to specifically.
 
                                                                      jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 16 Jul 1994 03:40:06 -0400
Subject: Ed Wasser

     Guerra was one of the dome techs, who worked down in the pit during
the Vorlon attack, and during the explosion sequence.
 
                                                                        jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 16 Jul 1994 03:46:58 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS:  The Ride

     Yes, in season two, we'll be seeing a lot of the jumpgates from up
close, and straight through.
 
                                                                       jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 16 Jul 1994 19:15:13 -0400
Subject: JMS: Speculation

     It's happened a few times, when someone's speculated too close to a
coming story, and for reasons of concern over lawsuit, I've dropped it.
So far it's only involved smaller B stories, but it has its moments of
inconvenience, yes.
 
                                                                     jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 16 Jul 1994 19:48:49 -0400
Subject: Re: Drumhead parallels

     Brett has already uploaded some of my comments from elsewhere on this
topic.  Let me only emphasize some stuff here.  As stated, Larry never
SAW the Drumhead.  We generally make it a point NOT to watch what's done
on ST to avoid being influenced.  Second, the basic ending which you feel
is strictly ST's can be seen in the Caine Mutiny, A Few Good Men and
others.  "Eyes" was a direct consequence of all that preceded it in our
first season.  It came about because Larry suggested that with all that
Sinclair has done, sooner or later somebody's going to take notice back
on Earth.  There would have to be some kind of investigation.  Because
we are doing some very specific things with the Psi Corps this year and
next, which I wanted to foreshadow, a PC telepath was inserted into the
story, to show that they are starting to get a foothold into the military,
with new laws concerning scans.
 
     We knocked the story back and forth for some time, and it went through
many different permutations.  We also figured that the episode should be
kind of a Cliff's Notes guide to season one, hitting the high points for
those who joined the series later than those who were here at the
beginning.  The ending also went through various changes, but what made the
most logical sense was to get the Colonel to admit bias in some fashion or
another...and the only way to do this really was to get him so angry, so
furious, that he'd incriminate himself enough, or open the door enough for
Mr. Grey to verify the bias.
 
     That was how the structure was arrived at.  I was there.  It had
nothing -- *nothing* -- whatsoever to do with the Drumhead, which I have
a vague memory was written by Jeri Taylor, who is a friend of mine, and
further invalidates the very idea.
 
                                                                  jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 16 Jul 1994 19:48:50 -0400
Subject: Ninja likely *not* paid for

     Correct; Kawasaki did not pay us a dime to use the bike in the show.
We called around, to see who would loan us a bike, with the understanding
that we'd be tearing it apart.  Because Kawasaki does advertise with some
of the PTEN shows, someone there had a relationship with the company, and
gave us a name.  After we tried a couple of other companies, we tried
Kawasaki, and they agreed...not a donated bike, just a loaner.  And
that's what we used.
 
                                                                          jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 16 Jul 1994 22:16:35 -0400
Subject: JMS KBVO Fox 42 does voice ove

     Alas, it ain't no violation....
 
                                                                        jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 17 Jul 1994 00:37:14 -0400
Subject: CD information

     I'm sure that once the CD rom is out, this info will get distilled
into various ftp sites.
 
                                                                    jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 17 Jul 1994 00:50:45 -0400
Subject: JMS: Laserdisks

      I don't at this point know when the series will be out on disk; my
guess it that it won't happen until a third year, when there will be
enough at one time to make the transfer process from standard-screen to
original-format widescreen more financially reasonable; do it all in
bulk.
 
     Ironheart blew out the Omega starfuries.
 
     And more money for Caitlin wasn't the problem.  She wants to do
more feature films as a leading lady, rather than being a face behind a
mask.  It's that simple.
 
                                                                        jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 17 Jul 1994 04:33:16 -0400
Subject: JMS: Explain the Eyes trailer?

     I have nothing to do with the trailers, except to sit in awe and
astonishment, trying to recognize my episode in the trailer, which is a
chancy business at best.
 
                                                                     jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 17 Jul 1994 18:21:26 -0400
Subject: "Eyes" too much like TNG

     You may want to reconsider your message after you see "Chrysalis."
 
                                                                         jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 17 Jul 1994 18:21:29 -0400
Subject: JMS: Speculation and Copyright

     I guess the point where the line gets crossed is where it goes from
speculation in the form of a question, to speculation in the form of a
full-blown story suggestion.  "Maybe what this means is that in a future
episode, Sinclair will be changed into a large pink fez, which G'Kar
finds and sells to Londo, who....."  You get the idea.
 
                                                                          jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 17 Jul 1994 21:39:08 -0400
Subject: Re: JMS' Real Ghostbusters

     Yeah, I knew Lorenzo Music while we were doing the show, but not
afterward; we never really hung out or anything.  He's a roundish,
friendly kind of guy.  We always had to separate him from Frank Welker
and Maurice LeMarche in the sound studio, because if they were *ever* in
close proximity, all kinds of hell would break out.  One day they got into
a competition to do celebrity farts...little Doris Day squibs, a George
C. Scott roller...we managed to keep it together until Frank let fly with
his version of a William Conrad thunderer...which went on and on and on...
windows blew out...buttons flew off shirts...and when it finally came to
its conclusion, *no one* was able to do *anything* for about twenty
minutes.  Shut *everything* down.  No one could keep a straight face or
get a line out.  And Frank just sat there, smiling innocently.
 
                                                                        jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 18 Jul 1994 00:36:32 -0400
Subject: Re: "Eyes" too much like TNG

     Re: Sinclair/Garibaldi/Ivanova basically liking each other; this will
tend to stay, for many reasons.  One of the things that grates on mhy
nerves about some dramatic TV is that they invent phony tensions and
reasons for the main characters to bitch at each other, that generally
don't mean a lot.  Also, we see a lot of conflict in other shows, but not
a whole lot of what *friendship* means.  And loyalty.  These three are
friends, as well as co-officers; they will go to bat for one another, will
if necessary die for one another.  I find that a lovely emotion.  There are
plenty of others who argue with them, and plenty of other shows in which
the main characters yell at each other all the time; why not explore the
other end of the spectrum?
 
     I will grant you that this is one of the more idosyncratic parts of
the show; I have always placed a very high premium on friendship...my
friends know that they can call me at midnight, and even if they're on the
other side of the country, or the planet, I'll be there on the first
plane if they're in trouble.  And I know I can do the same with them.  For
some reason friendship, and loyalty, have become kind of passe in TV, and
movies, and many other areas, as I think of it.  So for me, this becomes
something worth communicating.
 
     Bear in mind, though, that after this season, Sinclair goes elsewhere,
and suddenly there's a new dynamic introduced into the show, which no one
is entirely sure how to deal with.  It disrupts them, and that is for the
good, I think, as they try and work it out and decide whether or not they
can trust one another.
 
                                                                         jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 18 Jul 1994 16:15:30 -0400
Subject: JMS: There he goes again <*>

     Hey, a man's gotta have *some* fun....
 
                                                                   jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 18 Jul 1994 16:15:33 -0400
Subject: General question on writing fo

     I have never seen *any* scriptwriting seminar that was worth $400 for
a couple days.  You would be best advised to take that money and buy $400
worth of scripts, the best-written scripts you can find.  Read every one of
them three times.  By the time you have done that, you will have learned
far more than you could have *ever* learned in any seminar.
 
     And I have my own problems with McKee's school of thought as well,
but that's another story.
 
                                                                  jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 18 Jul 1994 16:45:15 -0400
Subject: JMS: WLFLTV 22 Struck by Light

     Boy, those Paramount guys'll stop at nothing, y'know...?
 
                                                                  jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 19 Jul 1994 00:21:16 -0400
Subject: Attn: JMS: Local TV Stations

     We do what we can with the stations, which ain't much.  Regarding
future stuff...any time information is needed from prior episodes in a
current episode, that information is *always* restated somewhere in the
current episode, so it doesn't matter really if you miss a prior episode,
you can follow it just fine.
 
                                                                         jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 24 Jul 1994 21:39:32 -0400
Subject: I want to see some B5 stuff so

     We kinda sat on merchandising for the first year; now there's a bit
coming out.  Shirts, mugs and stuff from Creation (and others, whose
names escape me at the moment), a CDROM in the winter from Compton's, a
CD soundtrack around November, a comic from DC and some original novels
from Dell (first one by John Vornholt).  Trying to keep it manageable to
maintain quality control over the stuff.
 
                                                                        jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 24 Jul 1994 21:51:43 -0400
Subject: Re: Strong women's roles in "L

     Funny, I kinda thought that Dr. Maya Hernandez in "Believers" was an
average (in the sense of not being a beauty queen) type person.
 
                                                                        jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 24 Jul 1994 21:53:08 -0400
Subject: EA/Babylon 5 Uniforms

     Sinclair and other officers are pure EA military, so they get the
EA pins on the chest.  (Also the techs wear them in the dome, and others
in charge of various divisions.)  Security is under the jurisdiction of
EA, but are a separate component, staffed under B5 financing.  These, and
medical, and scientific and environmental and other areas have their own
symbol, which is worn on their chest and shoulder.  You can tell who works
for EA because they have the EA also on their shoulder, whereas those who
are employed directly by B5 have the B5 symbol on their shoulder.
 
     The patches connote specialization: command is a starburst, lines that
radiate into every area; security is a gunsight/targeting symbol; medical
is a stylized medicine symbol, and so on.
 
     Sinclair and Ivanova wear their officer's bars on their epaulets; not
the triangular part per se, but the bars at the very far end of the
epaulet, below the triangles.
 
                                                                        jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 24 Jul 1994 21:53:11 -0400
Subject: Re: SURROUND Sound.....Oh yeah

     Just for clarification, while Chris does a great job on the music,
the sound mix is done in the studio with our regular sound guys, who do
the surround mix.  We spend a *lot* of time getting the mix to sound
just right, to take full advantage of the surround channels.  A lot of the
credit here goes to George Johnsen, our co-producer, who is an absolute
perfectionist about this stuff.
 
                                                                         jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 24 Jul 1994 23:33:48 -0400
Subject: A thought about psi talents...

     Interesting, innit, how they suddenly blossomed like that...?
 
                                                                  jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 24 Jul 1994 23:33:51 -0400
Subject: Misinformed

     Yes, you're exactly right about the references in Writer's Digest;
I'd totally forgotten about them.
 
                                                                           jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 24 Jul 1994 23:44:54 -0400
Subject: Babylon 5 Frequently Asked Que

     What does it do to the grand scheme?  Not much, really...except it
allows us to broaden out the story and expand the scope of things.  It all
still proceeds on track.
 
                                                                         jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 25 Jul 1994 01:50:50 -0400
Subject: Re: babylon 5 w/o sinclair?

     Re: Patrick McGoohan...this was a thought I had as well at one point,
but we forget sometimes about the passing of time; #6 is ageless, but
Patrick is now in his late 60s/early 70s.
 
                                                                     jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 25 Jul 1994 01:50:54 -0400
Subject: Season 2 name?

     Overall title for season two: "The Coming of Shadows."
 
                                                                         jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 26 Jul 1994 00:53:27 -0400
Subject: Re: I want to see some B5 stuf

     No model contracts as yet; there have been some inquiries, but I
don't believe anything's been finalized yet.
 
                                                                   jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 26 Jul 1994 00:55:55 -0400
Subject: Points of Departure.

     The idea of a Chrysalis II went by the boards once I really got into
the script, and realized that C1 had tipped over too many tables to even
HOPE to resolve them in one follow-up episode.  So the threads yanked
in C1 will be paid off over several episodes, hence no C2; the first
episode of year two is "Points of Departure."
 
                                                                       jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 26 Jul 1994 00:56:00 -0400
Subject: Re: Voices in the Wilderniss.

     Stuff like wearing gloves is only enforced if you're a member of Psi
Corps; Allysa wasn't.  In addition, though she had P10 *potential*, the
talent was sporadic, came and went.
 
                                                                       jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 27 Jul 1994 00:33:38 -0400
Subject: Is there an Executive Producer

     My GEnie/Internet gateway was down for the better part of a week;
all back now.
 
                                                                    jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 27 Jul 1994 00:33:41 -0400
Subject: Mars & Psi Corps

     Actually, the Psi Corp rep did mention that the Free Mars movement
has been growing over the years, but that no one knew that they were quite
this well organized, or well-armed, the sign of a good resistance; not
that they "didn't know anything about the revolt."  Just a clarification.
 
                                                                       jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 27 Jul 1994 00:33:44 -0400
Subject: **JMS: Telepaths (was Voices i

     Yes, the abilities are often discrete; a TK may not be able to
scan anyone's thoughts.
 
                                                                      jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 27 Jul 1994 03:11:00 -0400
Subject: JMS: B5 Editorial: Lamentable

     So in other words 2001 and Blade Runner don't qualify as decent SF?
 
     I put this in the "get a life" category.  If seeing a name of a
product on the back of a wall "consumes the great potential of the
series," if that's all the person can see...I'm sorry, but that's that
person's problem, not mine.
 
     B5 takes place in the real universe, as much as we can make it such.
We use language and cultural references that go back hundreds of years.
One element was for a story point, the other was nominally a gag...deal
with it.  That's part of our culture too.
 
     Basically, for somebody to shitcan an entire series because he
didn't like a sign he saw in the back of a room...hey, stop watching.
 
     You're right; "Star Trek does not do this."  Which is as much
incentive as anything else to DO it.
 
     Yessir...we've certainly seen how Blade Runner and 2001 and the
Terminator and Alien Nation and Enemy Mine have been ruined for all time
by such things.
 
     And let me add one other thing: we didn't make a dime off that stuff,
no one paid Babylonian Productions to include it.  How ANYONE can turn to
me and say with a straight face that this kind of commercialism (done
twice in one year) will ruin B5 and use STAR TREK -- STAR frigging TREK,
the single most merchandised, licensed property in the history of
television -- as an example of SF purity is out of his mind.  It was STAR
TREK, as noted in Engel's book, and Shatner's as well I believe, that
stuck an IDIC symbol in in order to merchandise it; it's STAR TREK that
changed Federation costumes between TNG and DS9 specifically so they would
have another whole set of costumes to merchandise.
 
     On our behalf, we have resisted over-licensing, doing only a little,
if we can exert quality control.  I have deliberately fought against this
show becoming a "franchise."
 
     We have *nothing* to apologize for.  And I suggest to this person,
as he sits wearing his Star Trek uniform, and his Star Trek communicator
pin and his Star Trek phaser, and his Star Trek PJs, beside his collection
of Star Trek pins, shirts, iron-ons, glow-in-the-dark Kirks and Spocks,
Enterprise models, books and cutouts...as they say in the bible, take the
log out of your own eye before you try to remove the splinter from your
neighbor's eye.  To hold up Star Trek: The Franchise as the model of
untouched non-commercial purity is the most laughable thing I have heard
in *years*.
 
     "B5 has brought the whole ediface crashing down by the blatant
inclusion of advertising for commercial products."
 
     What the hell do you think Star Trek *IS*?  (Leaving aside the story
aspects for the moment, as he does for us.)  All the stuff you see on ST
is for SALE.  Phasers, costumes, enterprises, pointy ears...they are ALL
"commercial products."  Which makes the show, on one level, one MASSIVE
advertisement.
 
     Look...I got nothing against ST, or against ST licensing it's brains
out.  I think it's terrific.  But for somebody, ANYbody, to use ST in
this way as wonderful and free of commercial considerations, and hit US
in this regard...give me a break.
 
                                                                  jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 27 Jul 1994 03:11:03 -0400
Subject: Re: JMS: B5 Editorial: Lamenta

     RE: Coke being more "reasonable" in Blade Runner because it's
closer...that doesn't seem to be the point of the original post.  It's
ANY "commercial product" in a show that ruins it.  Extrapolation doesn't6
seem to enter into it.  Which is what makes it, in my view, a doofus note.
 
                                                                  jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 27 Jul 1994 03:12:27 -0400
Subject: JMS: B5 Editorial: Lamentable

     And just let me underline this again, on the "the sole motivation
of this is money" (like Paramount produces ST because they think it'll
cure cancer)....
 
     The Babylon 5 production company received no money from either of
these companies.  Okay?
 
     If your "reviewer" is going to start making charges like that, he had
better learn to get his facts straight.
 
     Second, on the notion that current companies won't be around 200
years from now...there are companies here in the US that go back to the
1700s; there are companies overseas that go back 500 years or more.
 
     This is as absurd as saying, in the 1800s, that by gosh, that
Guiness company in Dublin won't last past the end of the century....
 
                                                                       jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 27 Jul 1994 04:17:26 -0400
Subject: B5 in Australia, Infection, S&

     "Infection" is definitely not indicative of the season overall; that
is, in my view, one of our weaker, possibly weakest episodes.
 
                                                                          jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 27 Jul 1994 16:26:23 -0400
Subject: JMS: Recasting Na'Toth Rumour

     Actually, no, it's not a rumor; I'd mentioned this some time ago, but
apparently some didn't see it....
 
     So to repeat: we'd had to replace Mary Woronov with virtually no
notice after we found that she really had a hard time with the narn
prosthetics (wouldn't wear the contacts, and other stuff).  In a panic,
our casting director called in a favor from Caitlin Brown, who is mainly
a leading-lady type actor.  She came in and, in fact, for the first
episode (shooting almost immediately afterward) wore a variation of the
Ko'Dath makeup, because there wasn't time to make one specific to her.
 
     She came in without being under the 5-year option that generally
exists in these situations.  Did one year, about 9 episodes, as Na'Toth.
And had to turn down a couple of leading-female parts.  During the hiatus,
she did a romantic lead character in a film with Jack Nicholson and
Meryl Streep.  And had to ask the hard question: do I continue to grow as
a romantic lead actor in feature films, or play Na'Toth?  She is a VERY
gorgeous woman, and felt awkward hiding behind the mask and cutting
herself out of leading female parts in feature films to do it.
 
     We went 'round and 'round about this for some time, it was a very
difficult decision for her because she likes the show and everyone here,
but finally opted out.  On one level it's a pain in the butt, but we
respect her decision.  And it *is* her call, not ours.
 
     (Quick aside...pfffttthhpplttt to those who, in their theory that
Sinclair/O'Hare quit, said that I'd naturally say it was mutual because I
could never say it was the actors choice because somehow I'd get in
trouble.  No, I *would* say it if O'Hare had opted out on his own.  And
in this case, that's exactly what happened.)
 
     We didn't recast Sinclair because that character is going somewhere
from whence he may (and will) return, and because that serves the story;
in this case, we are recasting Na'Toth.  By the end of season one, Na'Toth
knows stuff that I need that character, G'Kar's aide, to know.  (Though I
was briefly tempted to do the Murphy Brown Secretary line, with G'Kar
getting a new aide every so often due to terrible airlock accidents...but
I went to lay down for a while and the notion passed.)
 
     So no, it's not a rumor, it's quite true.  In fact, we just finished
up a casting session and found someone who's very right for the part;
and though we weren't confined to this, is actually about the same height,
same build, same attitude as Caitlin, and whose voice is very similar.  I
don't think much difference will be noted in the long run, really.
 
                                                                      jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 27 Jul 1994 16:26:26 -0400
Subject: Re: JMS: B5 Editorial: Lamenta

     Yes, you're absolutely right; we have maybe half Trek's budget.  If
someone said, as you posit, "Here...stick this futuristic Pepsi can in
the background of one of your episodes, as was done with Enemy Mine, and
you'll get five hundred thousand dollars you can use to make a better
show," I'd do it in a hot second.  Absolutely.  Because it would let us
do bigger, and better, and spiffier episodes, tell even grander stories,
hire REALLY big-name actors for guest spots...yeah, I'd do it.
 
     It's just that it didn't happen *here*.
 
                                                             jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 27 Jul 1994 16:57:28 -0400
Subject: Re: JMS: B5 Editorial: Lamenta

     Actually, the idea of Zima lasting even into 1995 is hysterical.  I
keep fighting the urge to have some guy show up on B5, "Zo then I zays to
him, nize ztation"...and five Narns just jump on him and beat the shit
out of him, WHAMWHAMWHAMWHAMWHAM!
 
                                                                       jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 28 Jul 1994 00:25:13 -0400
Subject: Legacies Dune refer?

     No, the name was not the same; his title was the Shai Alyt, his name
was Branmer.
 
                                                                        jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 28 Jul 1994 04:45:09 -0400
Subject: Cliffhanger city!  (A Voice in

     I don't recall Ivanova ever telling Sinclair not to go exploring a
planet; could you give me a reference on that one re: the about-face?
 
     Re: showing nothing and thus pondering nothing...hey, it's zen!
 
                                                                      jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 28 Jul 1994 04:45:11 -0400
Subject: Cry ... Spoiler warning, some

     As you will discover in part two, the system on the planet is
breaking down, malfunctioning; there wasn't a concerted, organized
attack, it was some automatic systems going on their own.  The alien
WANTED to get found, that's why his image appeared, beckoning them, and
asked them for help.  You're composing the problem in terms of an all-out
offensive; it wasn't.  It was one segment of a system that is breaking
down.
 
     (In general, it's a good idea to check out both parts of a two-part
episode before making story conclusions; some people have already missed
the boat bigtime on a few things.)
 
     A First Contact situation is one unlike any other: you don't want
junior officers around to screw it up.  Remember, the Earth/Minbari WAr
began when a First Contact situation got screwed up.  EA's policy is that
it's better to risk two people than a full war, and those two people have
got to be command-level personnel.  Soldiers get killed; it happens.  And
yeah, you can leave a backup person at the shuttle...but what if *he's*
the one to make actual first contact?  You're screwed.  Ivanova and
Sinclair have been trained in this; in "Soul Hunter," Sinclair makes
reference to the rules of First Contact Protocol.  If you like, I'll
elaborate on this in some future episode.
 
                                                                         jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 28 Jul 1994 04:45:13 -0400
Subject: Re: JMS: B5 Editorial: Lamenta

     Do not twist my words around.  I don't like it.
 
     When I said that Zima making it to 1995 was "hysterical," I was not
making fun of people or kids who are or become alcoholics.  I grew up in
an alcoholic family, and there is *nothing* whatsoever funny in that, nor
was that intended in my message.  It was strictly a comment about the
product probably not making it past 1994.  Period.  Don't go off on
tirades against my message that have nothing to do with what i wrote, and
then try and blame it on me.  That's not what I said, not what I wrote,
not what was meant.
 
                                                                       jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 29 Jul 1994 00:34:14 -0400
Subject: "Voice in Wilderness" forbiden

     Re: the commander and Ivanova going...remember, this is a First
Contact situation, and that requires the presence of at minimum one
command officer under EA regs.  Two is preferred.  You don't want junior
officers hanging around or taking hostile stances which might provoke
a fight.  Remember that the last major First Contact situation was with
the Minbari, which went afoul and gave us the Earth/Minbari War.  EA
would rather lose two replaceable officers than start another war via
misunderstanding or a fouled move.  This is a part of their First Contact
Protocol, referenced in "Soul Hunter."  (I should probably expand upon
this a bit in future episodes.)
 
                                                                       jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 29 Jul 1994 00:34:15 -0400
Subject: Re: "Voice in Wilderness" forb

     RE: the big bridge shot...the storyboard artist came up with 3 shots
we could use.  One of them was a wide shot across a crystalline ground
like area, through which a path can be seen at ground level, but it
was narrow and still really didn't convey the scale of what I wanted.  One
other was not much different.  The third was a downshot designed to pull
back, and though I knew it would make folks say "Krell!", I knwe that it
was the right shot for that scene, so chose that one and decided to live
with it.
 
                                                                        jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 29 Jul 1994 03:38:49 -0400
Subject: Reflections on "Voice" (part 1

     Actually, this was not the first B5 or Sinclair had heard about the
escalating problem on Mars; remember, that was the main reason that Ben
Zayn had been sent to B5 in "Eyes," smoking out sympathisers with the
Free Mars movement.
 
     Also, the fissure wasn't created by the quakes; Tasaki mentions it
was artificial, but nudged open by the tremors.
 
                                                                 jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 29 Jul 1994 03:40:14 -0400
Subject: Was "Voice" the Season Finale?

     Nope, you've got a few more to go.
 
                                                                  jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 29 Jul 1994 03:47:01 -0400
Subject: JMS: Re: B-4 and Sinclair

     No commander had yet been assigned to B4; the highest ranking
command personnel there was Major Krantz, whose job it was to supervise
construction.  It was barely operational for 48 hours when it blipped out.
 
                                                                      jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 29 Jul 1994 05:00:54 -0400
Subject: Re: "Voice" (pt 1) quibble (sp

     Re: your suspenders of disbelief becoming unhitched....
 
     You will learn how the alien knows English in the next part of the
two parter.  (Hint: after all, he's been there for a long while, in a
high-tech machine...you'd think maybe he could monitor transmissions.)
 
     I don't think the Sinclair or Ivanova did automatically believe him;
but they also had no real reason *not* to believe him.  And granted the
place was going to hell, quakes and danger.  He wasn't armed, he seems
rather sick, had to be helped away, almost carried...they won't turn the
station over to him, they'll keep him isolated on the station, but there
was no reason *not* to try and help him.
 
     How do you know he's a good guy?  You don't.  But he wasn't exactly
imprisoned in that thing; it was a support, more than anything else, as
was shown by the fact that they were able to get him out fairly easily.
 
     (And yes, your first guess was correct, it is a life support gizmo.)
 
     Regards to your suspenders.
 
                                                                          jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 30 Jul 1994 01:32:45 -0400
Subject: Interesting lines in "Voice"

     It seems to me that every generation thinks that things are
changing, usually for the worse.  In some cases, they may be right.  The
B5 story is set at a point in time where things are very much in a state
of flux.  Every so often, the wheel turns.  Everybody's feeling a sense
of growing uncertainty, of the chairs being moved around.  They're right.
 
                                                                       jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 30 Jul 1994 03:57:30 -0400
Subject: JMS: Naming Babylon 5?

     Started with the notion of prior stations which hadn't worked out,
made up a rough timeline, and settled on this being the last attempt, at
#5.
 
                                                                 jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 30 Jul 1994 04:22:44 -0400
Subject: JMS:Writing "Voice"

     It was always intended to be a two-parter, and was written that
way.  Background: the B5 2-hour pilot has done VERY well overseas in
cassette form.  Many of the prejudices in the american press that caused
us problems don't exist overseas (it's done *extremely* well in Japan on
laserdisk, in Germany, and England, among others).  So they asked if we
could do a two-parter that could be sold as a two-hour episode overseas.
By all means, sez I.  So I structured it accordingly.
 
     Bit of B5 trivia: during the dead of winter last year, I got hit by
the flu as badly as I've ever been hit.  Temperature so high that I was
near delerious at times, but refused to go to the hospital (I don't like
doctors, and I was under deadline and couldn't afford the potential time
away.)  We're talking mondo sicko here.  It was during this time that I
wrote "The Quality of Mercy," a script which I have *no* memory of ever
writing.  I know it's here, and I know I wrote it on an intellectual
level, but the process...gone in the fever.
 
     It was also around this time -- either at the top or bottom of the
flu, I can't remember now -- that I wrote the "Voice" two parter.  And
here's the trivia part...this isn't the original two-parter that I wrote.
My brain already deteriorating, I wrote something that even I could see
wasn't up to par.  Wrote the entire two-hour script.  Printed it up, and
gave it to Doug and John.  Before they could even respond, I looked at it
and decided it had to go.  So I trashed the entire script.  By now we
were getting very close to pre-production, and I was getting sicker and
sicker...but I more or less locked myself in my office, swallowed down
massive amounts of vitamins (as much as my stomach could handle), kept
forcing down coffee, and wrote 12 hours a day for about six days, after
which the original draft was finished.  Turned it in; did some mild
polishes thereafter, but what was filmed was essentially what I turned
in in first-draft stage.  In this case I do remember some of the process
because the only way I could focus was to keep the stereo up full blast;
in the writing of "Quality," it didn't help...I was beyond recall.
 
                                                                   jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 30 Jul 1994 04:22:47 -0400
Subject: <*> Cryptic message to JMS  8)

     Honest to god, people, I don't know *what* the woman is talking
about...she's speaking in tongues again....
 
                                                                   jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 30 Jul 1994 04:22:49 -0400
Subject: Voice in the Wilderness CGI

     The CGI are definitely getting better.  Year One was more or less
getting used to the software and learning what was capable.  They've now
gotten more sophisticated in their use of the equipment, more artistic
in some ways...and the preliminary renderings I've seen for stuff in the
beginning of year two is *very* cool.  It has even more of a sense of
mass, and weight, and solidity.
 
                                                                     jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 30 Jul 1994 19:49:22 -0400
Subject: Regarding the Voices 2 GIF fil

     And what, pray tell, is the nature of this unusual gif?
 
                                                                       jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 30 Jul 1994 20:16:45 -0400
Subject: JMS: San Diego ComicCon Appear

      Thank you for putting this note up; I wanted to post one myself, but
am still unsure how to send an original message (not a reply) from GEnie
to Internet.  That said....
 
     In addition to whatever panels I'll be on, I will be doing *two*
Babylon 5 presentations at the San Diego Comic Con this coming weekend
(August 7-10).  The first will be that Friday, from 2-4 p.m.  The second
will be the next day, Saturday, from 11-1.
 
     At this point, the only cast member who may or may not be able to
show up at either panel is Bill Mumy.  No others are planned.  So it may
be just me at both.  The presentations will be a bit different on the
two days, but I think the one Saturday may be more interesting if you can
only attend one.  Will probably show the blooper reel (two, actually, one
on each day), and a previously unseen episode will be debuted.
 
     One advisory: at just about every con I've attended and done this
kind of presentation, the B5 items tends to wind up as either the most
heavily attended event, or close to it.  So if anyone's going, you may want
to show up a bit early to make sure you get a decent seat.  Also, I tend
to show up a bit early myself, to make sure the video equipment and stuff
is working correctly, and hang out; sometimes I say stuff I can't say in
front of a larger group.  (Those who were at the Chicago ComicCon on the
first day can verify this one.)
 
                                                              jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 30 Jul 1994 20:18:09 -0400
Subject: JMS:questions, queries, posers

     The Psi question I can't answer at this point in time.
 
     Jumpgate travel usually requires a few days within hyperspace,
if you're going a LONG distance (say, Earth to B5).  Only a few minutes
if you're going to a local gate.  That's time outside hyperspace; the
span seems less when you're inside hyperspace.
 
                                                                     jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 31 Jul 1994 02:14:59 -0400
Subject: Re: Regarding the Voices 2 GIF

     It's a duck.  Yes, why, of course it's a ducky.  Why would I think
anything else?  What a silly question.
 
     It's a duck.  A texture mapped metallic duck coming out of a
jumpgate.
 
     A duck.  Of course.  A duck.
 
     *
 
     AAAAUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
 
     *
 
     (I wanna see it...and I wanna see it now.)
 
                                                                        jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 31 Jul 1994 17:50:01 -0400
Subject: > >  JMS: Are You Going to Con

     No plans currently to go to WorldCon because a) we'll be in the
midst of filming, and b) we haven't got a chance against Jurassic Park
anyway.
 
                                                                           jms