lurkers-guide/ftp/Usenet/jms94-08-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: 1 Aug 1994 01:58:19 -0400
Subject: Minbari = Mri?

     No, I did not use "The Faded Sun" as (to quote you) "a source when
(I) created the Minbari."
 
     That's called plagiarism.
 
     And now I'm going to vent for a moment.
 
     Why the fuck is it that every time a TV writer comes up with
something, everybody scurries to figure out what book or short story it
was swiped from?  That standard is virtually never applied to novels that
I've seen.  But it always comes to us TeeVee types.
 
     I have a brain, you know.  I'm perfectly capable of thinking up
stuff on my own.  I've published novels.  I've published short stories.
I've written plays.  I've never read ANY of Cherryh's work that I can
recall.
 
     Instead of suggesting something was cribbed, all you needed to say
was, "So, JMS, where did you get the name Minbari?"
 
     And I would've told you that a "minbar" is the name for a pulpit in
a Mosque.  The first time I heard that, I thought it would be great as a
name for an alien or an alien planet.  And the people who would live there
would be called Minbari.
 
     Not everything that comes out of TV is cribbed, okay?
 
     End of venting.
 
     If I seem a bit pissed, it's not specifically directed at you but at
the general sense that TV writers have the creative capacity of blowfish
and are incapable of creating *anything* on their own.  (And you weren't
pointing to just the name but to the whole concept and parts thereof.)  I
don't mean to flame, but I've heard it enough over the years, and I'm
getting a little tired of it.
 
     Every TV writer gets it, and almost no prose writer does, and that's
simple discrimination and stereotyping.
 
                                                                   jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 2 Aug 1994 01:29:46 -0400
Subject: Re: Minbari = Mri?

     Aaron, re: Heinlein...now that's comedy....
 
                                                                      jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 2 Aug 1994 01:34:54 -0400
Subject: JMS: What was ? "Voice 1"

     That was a replacement part for a section of the station; they were
being given final instructions on placement from C&C.
 
                                                                    jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 2 Aug 1994 01:56:26 -0400
Subject: Question

     Yes, I would think it fair to say that the Minbari have a thing for
triangles and things that come in threes.
 
                                                                        jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 2 Aug 1994 01:57:51 -0400
Subject: UK: BAMN

     Re: who is Rush Limbaugh....
 
     Leading American proctologist.
 
     Trust me.
 
                                                              jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 2 Aug 1994 01:59:14 -0400
Subject: JMS: Dirt on the Lens!!! (Mini

     My suspicion is that the shows are sent to the UK via parcel, not
via satellite, but that's only an assumption.
 
     Won't be starting production formally until August 10th.  Gearing
up now.
 
     Re: satellite...one of the more interesting stories I've heard lately
is that B5 is *very* popular via satellite...in Iran and Iraq, both of
whom lay claim of one sort or another to the original Babylon.  Apparently
that a Westerner has set a series in their well-remembered Babylon that
is NOT a negative thing but a positive thing has got both countries quite
pleasantly astonished.
 
                                                                        jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 2 Aug 1994 01:59:17 -0400
Subject: JMS: response to your Mri vent

     To nick.plummer...Nicholas...you're quite right, of course, that
ideas do not grow in a vacuum.  Everyone in SF stands on the shoulders of
those who went before.  Heinlein invented slidewalks; after that, they
were all OVER SF.  But for the most part, they're background elements, or
sort of the collective unconscious of SF; the line comes when taking a
race wholecloth and just filing off the serial numbers (or, in this case,
some vowels).
 
     We try to walk a fine line on this show, between being as original
and innovative as we can...while once in a while giving a nod of respect
and acknowledgment to those who preceded us (like the Prisoner).  My
only suggestion, in future, is that such issues (as we say in Jeapordy)
be phrased in the form of a question, rather than an allegation.
 
                                                                       jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 2 Aug 1994 01:59:19 -0400
Subject: JMS: "Free Mars" in "A Voice i

     Re: was the Free Mars movement a nod to Kim Stanley Robinson's
Mars books....
 
     I take your question as polite, and supportive, and genuinely
curious, and so I answer back: no, the thread was nowhere tied to Kim's
work.  Rather it grew out of a sense of history, looking at the tradition
of colonies to outgrow their founders, and want to strike out on their
own.  The United Kingdom being a good example of this.
 
     Having now answered politely, I return to my closet to stick very
long needles into my eyes....
 
                                                                        jms
 
     (Nothing to do with you, just the tenor of the day and messages
preceding.)

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 2 Aug 1994 02:00:43 -0400
Subject: JMS: Spoo!?!

     What is spoo?   Spoo....is.
 
     (Spoo is also Oops spelled backward.)
 
                                                                      jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 2 Aug 1994 04:21:45 -0400
Subject: JMS: Are You Going to Con

     Eric...nothing would gladden my heart more than if the B5 pilot
won a Hugo (except the series winning a Hugo, which I think is a bit
likelier, maybe).  It is the highest compliment that can be paid by the
SF community of readers and viewers.  But one must be realistic, and I
just don't see it outpulling Jurassic Park in the ballotting.  JP is the
proverbial 500 pound gorilla.  Or the 50,000 pound T-Rex.
 
     While we are only small mammals....granted we're mammals with guns
and an attitude, of course....
 
                                                                     jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 2 Aug 1994 04:21:47 -0400
Subject: JMS Re: <*> Cryptic message to

     ...or, y'all are just fucking with me....
 
                                               jm(where's my passport?)s

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 3 Aug 1994 01:26:26 -0400
Subject: Why Babylon?

     Before it fell into depravity, Babylon was a center of commerce, and
culture, and trade, and diplomacy.
 
                                                                      jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 6 Aug 1994 20:50:35 -0400
Subject: JMS:  Is this really you?

     I haven't seen the message, but that's my ID#, so that much is true.
 
                                                                   jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 8 Aug 1994 02:44:03 -0400
Subject: JMS: You're Back

     Peter Jurasik is *definitely* back as Londo for year two.  The
show continues on.  The rumor is false.
 
                                                                          jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 8 Aug 1994 03:08:45 -0400
Subject: "Babylon Squared" - Some thoug

     Re: Garibaldi in the flash-forward scene...no, it wasn't any kind of
"homage" to Aliens.  (And for the most part, I try and stay clear of any
kind of homage unless it's primarily a throwaway; I want my story to be MY
story, not a bunch of homages.)
 
     The single most moving kind of story for me is the "last man on the
bridge"...the last defender who has to hold the line while others get
away, knowing he will probably not survive it.  This has great power for
me, and for many others, which is why it shows up again and again in
films, literature, TV and other venues.  The Garibaldi scene has NOTHING
to do with Aliens, and everything to do with that figure.
 
     Re: *why* it is that humans are special...has nothing to do with
sacrifice, or dedication (well, that's not quite true, it has something
to do with it), but that's not the totality of it.  There's one more
element you don't know about yet, that won't be revealed until season two,
episode one, "Points of Departure."  Once you see that episode, you'll
fully understand that there is one very particular thing about humans that
is very special indeed.
 
     And yes, we did see the Grey Council guy in "Squared" who also showed
up in "Sky."
 
                                                                 jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 8 Aug 1994 03:16:53 -0400
Subject: JMS: You BLOW my mind!!!!

     Yes, you will see the Major Conflict that leads to the situation with
Babylon 4.  We're building toward a massive conflagration here.
 
                                                                            jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 8 Aug 1994 16:37:09 -0400
Subject: Creation's False B5 info

     The speakers at Creation have a habit of running their mouths when
they don't have a clue what the facts are.  I've already had to yell at
them once in the last couple weeks, stating that Michael York had been
selected as the new Commander.  Now this.  Frankly, I wouldn't believe a
word they say about *anything*.
 
                                                                 jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 8 Aug 1994 16:37:12 -0400
Subject: Untitled

     I really don't know what the "B5 lovers" thing *is*, let alone how
to get you in touch with them.
 
                                                                  jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 8 Aug 1994 16:37:15 -0400
Subject: JMS: IS BACK! Questions!

     Sheridan wasn't on the Line.  Have several options for his middle
name, haven't decided which to use yet.  Chrysalis is still for October.
And we've got plenty of scripts on hand currently; we wanted the same as
last year, 6, in hand when we began shooting.  We've got that.
 
                                                                     jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 8 Aug 1994 16:37:17 -0400
Subject: Windows .AVI of intro

     I cannot comment on this sort of thing.
 
                                                                     jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 9 Aug 1994 03:19:40 -0400
Subject: Recent Threads: two thoughts

     Molly: assumptions right on both counts.
 
                                                                      jms


From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 9 Aug 1994 03:41:11 -0400
Subject: JMS: Babylon**2 question (spoi	[noticing similarity with "2001" suit]

     Yeah, I guess there are some similarities, aren't there?
 
                                                                       jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 9 Aug 1994 15:55:23 -0400
Subject: JMS: Will every episode be rer

     I think the majority of eps will have been rerun by "Chrysalis."  And
all that remain after "Babylon Squared" to be aired are that one, and "The
Quality of Mercy."
 
                                                                       jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 9 Aug 1994 16:28:54 -0400
Subject: Bye Bye Babylon: CANCELLATION

     Which station are you referring to in your local market?  To my
knowldge only the Cincinatti station has done this, and we're working on
them.
 
                                                                  jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 9 Aug 1994 16:28:57 -0400
Subject: JMS: Babylon^2 Question

     The triangle only manifests itself for specific reasons, at specific
times, neither of which were appropriate to that moment.  And yes, the
Triluminary is much cooler...and does something quite interesting.
 
                                                                jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 10 Aug 1994 03:14:18 -0400
Subject: JMS: et all, PSI-Corps Questio

     Re: who psi's can marry...this question is already being dealt with
in an episode tentatively titled "The Customer is Always Right."
 
                                                        (season two)
 
                                                                    jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 10 Aug 1994 03:14:20 -0400
Subject: Re: Creation's False B5 info

     It's my understanding that the "information" about O'Hare was fed to
Creation by -- big surprise -- someone associated with Paramount/ST.  You
know, they could save themselves *endless* embarrassment (particularly in
the "York is new commander" kind of situation, which caused them to send
letters/faxes to all their "hosts") if they would, oh I dunno...maybe CALL
US for information rather than taking stuff off the grapevine, particularly
from anyone with Paramount.
 
     (I've also heard just recently that allegedly Paramount is leaning on
those who've directed ST episodes, who are free agents and not under any
kind of general contract, *not* to direct B5.  We've already had one such
incident of withdrawl after we'd made arrangements and all parties had
agreed to the director doing an episode for us.)
 
                                                                        jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 10 Aug 1994 05:46:10 -0400
Subject: Re: Plaster-cast of G'Kar.

     The plaster bust of G'Kar stolen from the B5 offices right before we
began shooting Year One is still missing.  And again, if this ever shows
up at a dealer's room, know that it is stolen merchandise and there is a
police report listing it as such.
 
     Anyone buying this will be buying stolen merchandise.
 
                                                                      jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 10 Aug 1994 15:12:02 -0400
Subject: JMS: Any new sets for season 2

     We've done a lot of work on the sets; refurbished, made better, put
in windows that look out onto the Garden, expanded...and built some new
sets, including an officer's club, a Bazaar, and other sets.  We took a
blood oath: each year, bigger and better.
 
                                                                  jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 10 Aug 1994 15:12:05 -0400
Subject: ?? for Joe (B^^2 SPOILERS)      [G's flashback seeing Lise]

     The two flashbacks were designed so that they could run in any order
(something you have to consider in syndication).  You get a slightly
different "feel" from seeing them in a different order, but it still works.
 
                                                                        jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 10 Aug 1994 19:08:37 -0400
Subject: Watching others watch...

     Hey, as somebody once pointed out, we are vast, we contain
multitudes...we are a mass of contradictions.  So our characters should
be the same.
 
                                                                    jms
    (And thanks.)

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 11 Aug 1994 04:21:03 -0400
Subject: JOE AT SAN DIEGO (3) (MIN

     Neither panel was listed on my badge, and I only learned about
them later, after they were over.
 
                                                                         jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 11 Aug 1994 04:21:06 -0400
Subject: > > JMS & All:  Worldcon B5 pa

     My replies, for the panel, in brief:
 
     What works? What doesn't?  (Most things, some things.)
 
     Can B5 become another Star Trek? (God I hope not.)
 
     Succumb to second season syndrome?  (Year 2 scripts even better.)
 
     B5 reflect politics of the 90s?  (No.  I hate the politics of the 90s.)
 
     Survive its 5 year story?  (That's up to you.)
 
     How handle the inevitable B5/ST comparisons?  (They're not
inevitable.  They're inevitable only if you choose to make them so. )
 
     Action/Character/Special EFX vs. good writing.  (Action and
character are part of good writing, you don't separate them.  EFX must
be in the  service of the story.)
 
     Comparisons with X-Files.  (See above.)
 
     TV SF's "last best hope."  (Only if you've learned that the
universe will implode in 4 years.)
 
     Why like/dislike it?  ("If you like that sort of thing, it's the
sort of thing you'll like."  Abraham Lincoln.)
 
     Plot or SFX more important?  (Neither.  Character first.  Then
plot.  Then SFX.)
 
     Why human female characters still 2-dimensional?  (Don't agree with
the premise.  They're not.  Are you still beating your wife?)
 
                                                                        jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 11 Aug 1994 04:21:08 -0400
Subject: (ATTN JMS, others) Newbies

     Dan: thanks, good points all.  And as you say, patience is key to
newbie-greeting.  Sometimes when I've been up 20 hours, it's hard, but
will work harder at it come schooltime.
 
                                                                         jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 12 Aug 1994 00:51:02 -0400
Subject: B5 Writing, following a master

     It is *all* designed to tie together.  Nothing is just tossed in
arbitrarily.  Again, the best comparison is a novel.  The few freelance
writers on the show (I wrote 12 last season) are given specific guidelines
on what to include to tie stuff together later.
 
                                                                      jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 12 Aug 1994 15:51:35 -0400
Subject: JMS:  LENN? and Comments

     Re: Delenn/Lennier...there are certain recurring composites and
word-segments that show up frequently in Minbari language (as in Rathenn,
mentioned in "Voice 1," which resonates with Delenn).  I've worked out a
system for this, though it's probably not as complex as it should be.
 
     And thanks for your kind words.
 
                                                   jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 13 Aug 1994 21:39:37 -0400
Subject: Why are the Starfury launch ba

     The outside of the bays are wrapped around and triangular, kind of
like cobra heads.
 
                                                                         jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 13 Aug 1994 21:41:03 -0400
Subject: JMS: a casting question...

     We do tend to try and stay open to gender stuff; usually there's a
reason why someone is male or female, so it's cast that way.  But as an
example...in "Quality of Mercy," the role as originally written was for a
father/daughter combination.  In the process of casting, we thought, why
not mother/daughter?  So that's how it ended up.  In "Points of Departure,"
we have one of your requests already taken care of...a part of a war
cruiser commander who could've been male or female...cast female.
 
                                                                        jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 14 Aug 1994 00:15:07 -0400
Subject: Re: <*> <*>

     I've decided youze guys are just messing with my mind.
 
     Returning the favor, so to speak.
 
     It's certainly been that kind of week...first a file vanishes on my
computer, we need to print it, and it's gone...then I can see it again,
no explanation...I get a messengered packet from Chris Franke, expecting
it contains a tape, but it's flat and soft and I peek inside and I don't
see a tape and toss it, wondering what he's up to now...the coffee machine
isn't working right...everybody's messing with me, so why not here?
 
                                                                        jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 14 Aug 1994 00:38:57 -0400
Subject: Babylon Squared --- Way to Go

     "How are you going to top this one, JMS?"
 
     Chrysalis.
 
                                                                       jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 14 Aug 1994 17:26:33 -0400
Subject: JMS: A few minor questions...

     Promoting Ivanova to running the station would not be logical, since
from a military and diplomatic standpoint she has nowhere *near* the level
of experience required.  It wouldn't be done in real life.
 
     G'Kar wasn't needed for the last few eps; he'll show up again in
"Chrysalis," and a lot next season.
 
     I think there'll be a tech manual eventually.
 
                                                                      jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 14 Aug 1994 17:58:51 -0400
Subject: <*>  Joe really need a clue

     I'm not sure I understand...if there was anything in the package,
I didn't notice it, and so just tossed the envelope.  It's gone.  Why?
Was there something I should've known?
 
                                                                       jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 15 Aug 1994 03:28:28 -0400
Subject: Re: **Spoiler: Chrysalis**

     There's a couple ships look like Earthforce 1.
 
                                                                     jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 15 Aug 1994 16:03:56 -0400
Subject: JMS:  CFPL in London, Ontario,

    Unfortunately, this sort of thing is outside my direct purview.  The
best way to deal with this is on the local level, with letters and calls.
 
                                                                    jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 15 Aug 1994 20:37:43 -0400
Subject: Babylon Squared, Part II

     Yes, you will definitely, at some point, see the flip side of the
B2 episode.
 
                                                                    jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 15 Aug 1994 20:37:46 -0400
Subject: Can JMS pull it off?

     If I didn't have a good, solid, consistent ending, I wouldn't have
started the story.  I always have the ending before I begin writing the
beginning.
 
                                                                       jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 16 Aug 1994 03:51:29 -0400
Subject: Re: <*>  Joe really need a clu

     Okay, okay, okay, hold off the frantic email...I WUZ ONLY KIDDING!
 
     I got the card from everybody, and I thank you for it.  It was a
wonderful gesture.  But I *had* to get back at y'all for the weeks of
grief leading up to it, yes?
 
     Thanks.  Really.
 
     And don't do it again.
 
                                                                      jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 16 Aug 1994 21:07:14 -0400
Subject: JMS: What to Watch for in Reru

     Scenes you should look at differently after "Chrysalis"...one that
comes to mind offhand is "Sky," in the various Garibaldi scenes (can't be
more specific than that right now).
 
                                                                        jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 16 Aug 1994 22:21:23 -0400
Subject: JMS and the net

     Best thing about the net is that it forces you to ask questions.  The
job of the writer is to come up with every possible question about your
character and your world, and answer it, giving both greater
verasimilitude.  But nobody can come up with EVERY conceivable question;
but on the nets, you get questions you never *dreamed* of.  Which helps.
 
                                                                     jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 18 Aug 1994 01:31:57 -0400
Subject: JMS: Don't do it!!!!!

     I'm trying to make the B5 novels and comics as much canon as I can.
Basically, they take place within B5 continuity, as episodes that might
have been.  The first four issues of the comic deal with issues that hit
the series, but from another point of view/location.  The novel uses B5
as background of an event that makes sense within B5 continuity, and may
be referred to in future episodes (not as a requirement, but only as
background...no different than when you have to give background on any
episode of stuff that's happened in the past, like Ironheart's escape,
for instance, which we don't have to see/read about, but knowing is nice).

     I *really* don't want these to be just throwaways media-tie-ins.  I
want them to stand on their own as good work, *and* be part of our
universe.

     Thankfully, I no longer require sleep, and have transcended to a
higher state of consciousness...ommmmmm....

                                                                     jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 18 Aug 1994 01:48:13 -0400
Subject: Question for JMS

     Fasten, button.

     Levi's Jeans forever!

                                                                          jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 18 Aug 1994 01:48:19 -0400
Subject: JMS lying? (was Re: Voyager Ca

     If Sinclair was simply to be *gone*, we had *plenty* of time to
edit OUT the scene in B4 that you saw and refer to.  It was self-contained,
occupied only about 30 seconds, and could've been easily deleted (we ran
long on that episode, and cut a shot of Delenn leaving the Minbari
cruiser setting course for B5, which could easily have been put into
the show in that scene's absence).  We only delivered that episode a few
weeks before airdate, and the news re: Sinclair was announced MONTHS
before that, while we were still in the process of editing it.  (And we
can make changes literally up to a week or so before delivery.)

     We could've deleted it, and left it a mystery, just as with Sigma
957.  We're not afraid to do that.

     In addition, the first four issues of the B5 comic will NOT be about
the new Captain, they will be about *Sinclair*, and where he is, and where
he's gone, and what he's doing.  Since at this point it would be
hideously expensive to show that in the series, we're doing it in the
comic.  And will continue to do it from time to time in the comic, AND in
occasional shots in the series.

     This is NOT what you do when the network comes to you and says, "We
want this guy GONE."  When that happens, he's *gone*, period.

     No, people should not believe everything they are told.

     Nor should you assume that everyone is lying all the time.

                                                                       jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 18 Aug 1994 17:42:15 -0400
Subject: JMS:Mephisto in Space?

     While the TP themes in "Quality" go back through the history of SF,
including the Demolished Man, among others, the basic storyline (re:
Talia) came out of the pilot.  At the time, I was asked -- frequently --
"Why didn't Lyta scan Sinclair to determine if he had tried to kill
Kosh?"  My answer then -- which is in some of the archives -- was that
it would violate the right to due process, that a defendant cannot be
scanned to determine guilt or innocence (in fact, I recall a rather
heated debate about that here a while back).  I promised that this would
be elaborated upon down the road, and mentally logged in to do a show
with that premise...and I'd already decided about the death penalty, and
the use of telepaths in it.  So "Quality" came out of that, long before
"Mephisto" was even written.  At one point, knowing that there were some
common story areas, I called Harlan to tell him the "Quality" story, so
that if there were any problems, I could revise it, but he said he saw
no problem.

                                                                        jms

Date: 8 Aug 1994 03:08:45 -0400
From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 19 Aug 1994 16:06:12 -0400
Subject: "Mercy" -- SPOILERS of course

     They cannot carry out the original sentence because the body is
now dead, which would tend to diminish its social acceptability.

     Dr. Franklin did not know that Mueller had yet found Rosen, or even
knew of it.  There are no Babcom systems in DownBelow quarters.  To send
a security team, when they're out searching, without cause, is neither
realistic nor sensible.  He did the correct thing: to go and warn her,
while at the same time making sure that security knew where he was going,
and if they didn't hear anything, to send in a team.

                                                                      jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 19 Aug 1994 16:06:22 -0400
Subject: JMS: Give us a chance!

I think participants of this usenet group should be given a chance to
come to your house, Paul,and tell you how to make love as a group project.

                                                                       jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 19 Aug 1994 20:11:19 -0400
Subject: JMS: Lose the Hyperion. Bad De

     That design will never be seen again.

                                                                      jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 20 Aug 1994 04:37:49 -0400
Subject: What if a crucial actor/actres

     No, that sort of thing can't be done on an episodic TV budget; when
time comes to do the flip side of Bsquared, we'll integrate the first
season footage, but the second part hasn't yet been shot.

                                                                       jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 20 Aug 1994 04:43:21 -0400
Subject: JMS: Na'Toth casting?

     The woman who will be playing Na'Toth next season is Mary Kay Adams;
we're introducing a character who will be a Squad Leader for Zeta
Squadron (the one that arrived in "Survivors"), Warren Keffer, which will
be portrayed by Robert Russler.  (Many people noted that logically you
would have a regular squad leader as well as in some situations the
Commander going out, and most times it's the Squad Leader who's out there
doing this kind of stuff.  And they're correct.)

                                                                 jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 21 Aug 1994 04:10:25 -0400
Subject: A message to jms

     Thanks.  All of us involved in Babylon 5 work very hard at it, and
your words of encouragement are a great help.

     As an aside...the first season isn't *quite* over.  Our final
episode, "Chrysalis," will be aired the week before the second season
proper begins, figure the last Wednesday or so in October.

     I think you'll find it most intriguing....

                                                                          jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 23 Aug 1994 06:16:36 -0400
Subject: [B5] Liar liar pants on fire..

     Normally, this thread wouldn't even be worth my time to respond,
moreso since I missed the original message, and can only see the replies.
But that said...maybe because I've been up nearly 30 hours breaking my
back on this show, to try and provide an occasional hour's entertainment,
and I'm cranky, I figured I'd just say a few quick things.
 
     Unlike Mr. Glover, who I believe is the same person who's been
spreading this "JMS is lying about everything" crap on various nets,
including Fidonet, every post that I have written about Babylon 5 for
the last *three years* has been archived, organized, filed, and indexed
for easy reference.  I would suggest that in three years of his own posts,
you would probably find lots of contradictions in Mr. Glover's posts.  He
is free from this kind of scrutiny.  I am not.
 
     That said...if I were running around fibbing left, right and center,
as he implies, because there *is* that vast pool of material, it would've
been caught out *ages* ago.  I know that everything I write gets saved, and
thus it behooves me to be as *abolutely* correct in what I write as I
humanly can be.  From time to time, as the story has progressed, I've
refined a small character point or two, but overall I've been pretty
damned consistent.
 
     And I have been *particularly* consistent in what I have said about
Michael O'Hare.  I have said that it was mutual and amicable.  I said that
we came to him first.  Those are not, as Mr. Glover would suggest, mutually
contradictory statements.  Someone has to go first.
 
     And let me just toss a note in Mr. Glover's direction...what the fuck
is it to you what happens between Michael O'Hare and his employer in the
privacy of their offices?  Suppose for the moment he quit because he saw
me courting his pet chicken...what the fuck is it to you?  Who says you're
entitled to ANY information?  How'd you like it if we went digging out
information on how your employer treats you?  On why you were fired from
your last job?  What business is it of mine?  None.  What business is this
of yours?  None.  Except that you have no apparent life but that which you
obtain through what you see on TeeVee, in the belief that somehow, by
virtue of certain phosphor-dots resting on your corneas for a few seconds,
we owe you *anything*.  We don't.  Bugger off.
 
     As for Larry DiTillio...I showed him what was posted on this net
from his apperance at LosCon, and he was *very* upset by the quotes, in
his sense that they misrepresented what he had said.
 
     I have yet to see the alleged quotes where I changed my story on
something.  I don't think they exist.
 
     I think that by describing the majority of viewers here as
"sycophants" who "hang on (my) every word)", Mr. Glover attempts right off
the bat to discredit anyone who might disagree with him.  He insults every
member of this discussion in so doing, and I take great exception to that.
 Anyone who disagrees with Mr. Glover is either a liar, or a sycophant.
 
     Sod off, Mr. Glover.
 
     And Mr. Glover also over-estimates not only his own importance, but
the importance of this system in terms of ratings.  If you added up every
single person who reads this forum, and all those on GEnie, Compuserve,
(AOL and Prodigy on bounce-back), NVN, Bix and all the rest...it wouldn't
be even a *blip* on the ratings.  Wouldn't even show up.  I'm here only
because I want to be, and because -- despite the occasional Gloverite who
trudges his way in here to sneer at people -- it's fun to hang out.
 
      And I am not "A SALESMAN."  I am a writer.  I'm not here to sell
anybody anything.  The people who come here are those who watch the show
to begin with; those who watch Baywatch and have no interest in B5 don't
come in here.  There's no point in singing to the choir.  Many of those
here are those who've already decided they like the show...and others are
certainly more than free with their criticism.
 
     On another system, the indefatigable Mr. Glover commented that I
MUST be lying about O'Hare, because after all if I ever admitted that
someone walked off the show on their own, I'd be in trouble with Warner
Bros, and I was thus protecting my ass.  And I think it was about a week
later that I mentioned, on my own, that Caitlin Brown was going off the
show, on her own, because she wants to do feature-film starring roles.
Boy, I must be some kinda feeb to admit that in public, because I gots to
protect my ass....
 
     I said it because it was true.
 
     One of the primary reasons I'm here is to try and educate people
about how TV is done.  When I did the series of articles on the new TZ
series for Twilight Zone magazine, I made it a point to include the good
and the bad and the ugly, otherwise it has no worth.  I've come on here
and said which episodes of B5 were great, and which I wouldn't mind if
all copies of the negative fell off a pier; I've stated when actors have
left on their own, and when we've changed our minds about them, and when
deals have fallen through; I've been as hard on the show as anyone else.
 
     But for Eugene Glover, whose own life is notably sheltered from
public view, this is insufficient, and his own prejudices and internal
bile levels, as indicated by the quotes from him, pursuade him that I am
a liar.
 
     Piss off, Eugene.  You're a mean, vindictive little guttersnipe who
has nothing better to do than piss in other people's punchbowls, absent of
any perceptible life, overwhelmed with your own feelings of self
importance and righteousness, when in reality you simply suffer from
delusions of adequacy.  I rarely use this kind of term, due to its basic
offensiveness to SF/ST fans...but Eugene...get a life, get a grip, get a
clue, but most of all...get away.
 
	                                                                   jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 23 Aug 1994 15:12:45 -0400
Subject: JMS:Are you about to LOSE the

     I really don't know the ins and outs of the Detroit situation; I'll
try and find out a bit more.
 
	                                                                   jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 24 Aug 1994 03:53:49 -0400
Subject: JMS: Set suggestion

     The end of the central corridor was a painting; correct.  And I never
liked it.  So over the break, we *built* another 15 or so feet to the
end of the corridor, going up, so now it's quite real, and we can put
stuff in there.  Much improved.
 
	                                                                     jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 25 Aug 1994 02:22:39 -0400
Subject: Thoughts on a close rewatch of

     One lovely thing about "Signs and Portents," which you picked up on,
is something I like to play with; implying one thing while saying the
opposite.  Look at all the shadow's main representative, Morden, does: he
asks people what they want; he gets tossed out of Delenn's quarters; he
is pleasant in his demeanor at all times, never yells, always smiles, and
is courteous; he takes an action which saves one of our main characters,
Londo, from disgrace and resignation, and helps in the process of scragging
the bad guys in the episode.
 
     And yet everyone walks away thinking that the shadows are bad.  Which
was of course the intent...by the way in which they did "good."
 
     Kosh prevents humanity from achieving immortality, scares the hell out
of Talia, never gives anyone a straight answer, doesn't seem to mind it if
people fear him...and we walk away with the presumption that he is good,
by virtue of the way in which he did things that were "bad."
 
     In "The Quality of Mercy," I play a similar subtle game; the first
time you hear about the alien device, you're told that it takes the life
force from one person, killing them in the process, and gives it to
someone suffering a terminal disease to restore them.  And everybody goes
"yuck, that's awful."  But that is *exactly* what happens at the end, and
the general reaction is, "That's good."
 
     This is something I do a lot in my scripts, which I don't generally
see a lot of other people doing.  You *really* have to construct the
script very carefully to pull something like this off...a little game
between me and the audience.
 
	                                                        jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 25 Aug 1994 02:27:02 -0400
Subject: JMS! Episode Titles

     I think the double-titles would screw up the methods by which the
residuals are tracked for writers/directors/actors.
 
	                                                                   jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 25 Aug 1994 02:32:45 -0400
Subject: Re: [B5] Liar liar pants on fi

     Ah, so Glover's message was originally posted in the alt section,
where I wouldn't/couldn't see it, and wouldn't have known about it at all
had there not been the reply here that somehow bounced.
 
     Well, isn't that convenient....
 
	                                                           jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 25 Aug 1994 04:14:33 -0400
Subject: JMS:  Liars and Flames

     Thanks; I'm not sure sometimes if this is a good skill or not.  Not
only had I been up about 30 hours, but because of the way my GEnie news
reader/mailbox is set up, I can only reply *on-line*, I can't go off,
compose off-line, then upload it...it all has to be written on the fly.
 
     (Maybe it comes from being a Jersey street kid, basically; we used to
hang out on street corners, ranking each other for *hours*, each one
according to the rules having to build upon the one preceding, until they
got amazingly elaborate.  Or maybe I'm just a pain in the ass.)
 
     That said, I try very hard *not* to do that.  I don't think it's a
good thing in the long run.  I see a *lot* of abusive posts, and most of
them I let slide simply because it seems the wiser path.  But every once
in a while, somebody'll poke the bear, and it'll be late, and they'll be
completely out of line...and something snaps and next thing I know I'm
110 lines deep into something and my monitor is imploding.
 
     As for *why* I was up 30 hours straight...Claudia Christian broke
her foot over the weekend.  Broke it in *three places*, no less, while
running in her back yard.  She had a lot of action in the next couple of
scripts, and was in the midst of filming an episode currently.  So the
scripts had to be revised to work around this, and as stated, we were
shooting one, and about to shoot another, and it *all* had to be done in
zero time.  By me.  Basically, we're talking about rewriting two full
scripts in a couple of days, after which I was half blind and staggering.
 
     So I was just a bit cranky that night....
 
	                                                                  jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 25 Aug 1994 04:14:47 -0400
Subject: Re: [B5] Liar liar pants on fi

     Morgan...there is a quantum difference between being called a liar,
and receiving criticism on a story.  If you cannot see that, that is your
problem, not mine.
 
     "If it wasn't worth your time, then why did you respond?"
 
     Because I felt like it.  However, to the rest of your points, which
are specious and irrelevant, I don't feel like it tonight.  I will instead
go along with your question, "why respond?"
 
     Good suggestion.
 
     Particularly when applied to your message.
 
	                                                                    jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 25 Aug 1994 04:38:26 -0400
Subject: Re: [B5] Liar liar pants on fi

     Jim...re: your reply to Morgan...there is a curious neticism that
I've seen all the years I've been riding the nets, and it's nothing new.
 
     It's this: Person A writes something awful/scandalous/abusive about
person B.  Person C says nothing.  Person B writes a heated reply.  Person
C *now* speaks up to say what bad form it is to go after this poor person
who was just exercising his right to speak, and suddenly person B is the
bad guy.
 
     It's okay to impugne someone's career, or life, or honesty, or any
other aspect...but to call the person out for it...no, no, we can't have
that.  Nonsense.  There is nothing in my agreement with any service that
says I must be a non-responsive, unmoving target.  A bully is a bully, and
needs to get responded to.  And character attacks must be responded to,
whether or not some people (who had no problem with the original
accusation) find it polite conversation.
 
     Say what you want about somebody...but god forbid the person should
speak up...an intersting philosophy, to say the least.
 
	                                                             jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 25 Aug 1994 04:38:35 -0400
Subject: Change in Rerun of Believers

     There were no changes in dialogue made in "Believers" subsequent to
the first airing.
 
	                                                               jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 25 Aug 1994 22:10:26 -0400
Subject: JMS: 2nd season writing proces

     It's impossible not to have the characters change to varying degrees
once you cast actors to play them.  Gradually, Mira's personality has
grown into Delenn, Andreas has added a lot to G'Kar, Garibaldi IS Doyle,
and Boxleitner is bringing a lot to Sheridan.  You get to hear the
characters' voices more the deeper you go, season-wise, and that's great.
 
	                                                                 jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 26 Aug 1994 05:28:32 -0400
Subject: JMS: Musical Themes?

     We've done a lot with themes over the season, and plan to do more,
developing themes for all our characters.  I like interpolating bits and
pieces of the B5 theme into parts of the show; the lower-key version at
the end of "Signs" has always struck me as very effective.
 
	                                                                jms
(meant to type "minor key."

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 27 Aug 1994 02:02:16 -0400
Subject: Re: [B5] Liar liar pants on fi

     Michael Heser...I don't just respond to flame-bait.  I respond to
something on the order of 100 messages a day, out of the 500 per day that
I get.  In this one pass on Internet via my GEnie mailbox, I've just
written about 15 so far, and I've got a bunch more to go through.  (And
not one was a flame.)  This is an aberration, nothing more, and I do
reserve the right to plink somebody upside the nose if he gets
obnoxious.  The occasional aberration is good for you (now if only I could
convince my wife of that...).
 
	                                                                 jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 27 Aug 1994 02:02:29 -0400
Subject: JMS: new movie?

     Correct, I will be writing the screenplay for the GRIMJACK movie,
which will draw heavily on John Ostrander's story for the Demon Blood and
Demon Wars stories.  Whether or not new books are coming I don't know.
 
	                                                                    jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 27 Aug 1994 02:19:54 -0400
Subject: Parallelism in TKO (Possible S

     Yes, there are many subtle parallels between the two story elements,
as you note.  At its core, is the use of tradition, and respect, as a
means for greater understanding.
 
	                                                              jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 27 Aug 1994 21:51:10 -0400
Subject: JMS: Conventions

     At this point, beyond the Dallas con, and LosCon, nothing much is
planned....
 
	                                                                jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 28 Aug 1994 01:05:48 -0400
Subject: JMS: Some comments on your "no

     Actually, there are varying religions within the alien species as
well; G'Kar is a follower of G'Quan, while Na'Toth's father followed
G'Lan, and Na'Toth herself doesn't really believe in anything (this as
noted in "By Any Means Necessary").  So that diversity isn't strictly or
exclusively human.
 
	                                                            jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 28 Aug 1994 04:19:38 -0400
Subject: JMS: Warners' Wishlist

     I don't recall ever mentioning any memo from PTEN "suggesting that
something be done with the commander or year two, even if just a bunch of
commander-centered episodes."  Warners/PTEN said that they would like to
see a bit more character-oriented stories, which was jake by me because
that's what we were aiming for anyway.  By virtue of being at least
nominally an action/adventure show, there was always some sense that we
had to have a lot of running around; now they're giving us the freedom to
have more latitude, which by me is terrific.  They've given us no other
notes.
 
	                                                            jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 28 Aug 1994 04:34:36 -0400
Subject: JMS: Some questions...

     You will see the healing machine from "Quality" once more.  Part of
the reason for that story was to set up something within the B5 universe
that will come in handy a long time later (but I'm *not* going to have it
lying around indefinitely; it would cause lots of long-term complications).
 
     (Some TV shows foreshadow/set-up stuff an act or two ahead of time;
we do setups a full *year* ahead....)
 
     Never saw "Star Blazers," so the Valen name has no relation there.
 
     No idea on coming laserdisk prices.
 
     When Zathras shows up in time, it'll definitely be recognizeable as
Zathras.
 
	                                                                 jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 28 Aug 1994 04:40:08 -0400
Subject: JMS:B5/LSH Parallels Follow-Up

     Re: the now-mandatory Psi badge in LSH...yeah, I noticed that too.
If it is indeed a nod in our direction -- and spontaneous duplication is
also always a possibility -- it's actually fun, from my POV.
 
	                                                                jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 28 Aug 1994 04:44:22 -0400
Subject: Re: JMS: LSH/B5 parallel post-

     This one to Kurt Bose...
 
     "We heard about how everything and its mother was derived in some
manner from the ideas this hack was pitching around Hollywood."
 
     So now I'm a hack.  Tell me, Kurt, what have *you* done with your
life?  I won't post my feelings about my work because that's subjective;
but the nominations for Writers Guild, Bram Stoker, Ace and Gemini Awards
over there on the wall might have a thing or two to say about this...or
the Emmy for Best Animated Series the year I story edited The REal
Ghostbusters...or the Inkpot Achievement Award from the San Diego Comic
Convention...or the recent award from the Space Frontier Foundation for
Best Vision of the Future...shall I go on?
 
     To the point of what your screed said in this part...no, I have never
said what you pillory me for saying.  I have certain very strong feelings
about an incident with another series, but that's just the one.  You say
"We heard about how everything and its mother was derived in some manner"
from my work...please cite me where I have said this about anything else.
Or I can save you the time...you won't find any, because they aren't
there.
 
     This is trait #1 of the net-bully...come up with an outrageous
statement that someone never made, and then assault them for it.  Seen it.
 
     "We heard all about how in HIS show, they weren't going to simply
make all the aliens look like actors in funny makeup.  Well suprise, all
the aliens look like humans in funny makeup."
 
     Error #1: once again, I never said it.  I said we were going to work
to avoid the funny-forehead scenario with full-head prosthetics.  This we
have done.
 
     Second, as earth-shattering to your perspective as this may be, there
are currently no real aliens that we know of living on Earth.  No matter
HOW elaborate the makeup, you're going to have an actor in makup (unless
you're doing puppets, as a rule, and this isn't a puppet show).  Show me
any movie or series where the main alien characters have been other than
puppets or actors in makup, funny or otherwise.
 
     Third...we are the *first* TV SF series to introduce a computer
graphic alien, in "Grail," and we plan to do more of this next season.
 
     "We were treated to comments from JMS like "Sinclair should really go
over well with the ladies."  (This in reference to being cast on sex
appeal.)  I'm sorry, but this comment is so boneheaded and contradictory
and illogical that I can't even begin to respond.
 
     Re: "no cute kids or robots," I was referring specifically to regular
cast members.  We do not have cute kids as regular cast members.  And we
de-emphasize kids in guest-casting.  In our entire first season we have
had two, one in a B-story, and the other we killed off.  I don't see the
problem which is making you so apoplectic in this.
 
     "If JMS is really saying these things, doing these things, then he's
insane."
 
     And, of course, I didn't, and haven't been.  You're seeing them only
in whatever alternate universe you're experiencing through prolonged
exposure to your computer monitor's EMF.
 
     "What I've heard about here and elsewhere makes me feel that his
'pariah' routine of the put-upon genius whose work is shamelessly copied
makes me wonder if there are REASONS for the role he's adopted."
 
     First, see response #1.  Never said it.  What "you've heard" has no
bearing whatsoever on objective reality.  Nor am I responsible for what
may or may not have been posted on other nets by people other than me.  I
am only responsible for what I say.  And what I say is generally archived
somewhere, so actually checking the *facts* (I know, another foreign
concept) is extraordinarily easy to do.  This you didn't do.
 
     Second: never adopted a pariah attitude; never felt like one; never
said any such thing.  Are you feeling okay?  Are things all right at
home?  Do you hear spirit voices at night whispering into your ears the
things that you'd have *liked* me to have said?  A helpful suggestion: if
these voices ever tell you to go save France...don't do it.  I've seen
that movie, you wouldn't like the ending.
 
     Finally, what are these REASONS you're wondering about?  Nothing like
a little vague innuendo and then zoom-flash out the back door.  Speak
plainly.  You got something to say, say it.
 
     (And in a note prior, when someone noticed the LSH telepath pin, I
commented that it was probably spontaneous duplication/simultaneous
creation.  My first impulse, despite your willingness to attribute to me
some fanatical attitude, is that it wasn't a lift.  My second reaction, as
written, is that if it was inspired by the Psi Corps, that it's really
kinda cool...SF literature builds on itself, as with Heinlein coming up
with slidewalks, which were then used by others.  I think it'd be cool if
Psi Corps style badges started showing up in LSH; it'd mean that I added
something to the genre.)
 
     Okay..now let's see...I read through all the notes, responded in a
manner without profanity, and ....oh, dear.
 
     No profanity.
 
     Can't have that.  So really, Kurt, and I say this with the love of
Jesus in my heart...go fuck yourself.
 
     And next time you want to go around calling someone a "hack," be
prepared to let us all examine *your* work, okay?
 
	                                                           jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 28 Aug 1994 05:14:03 -0400
Subject: Send not thine tales for death

     It does seem unfortunate that we seem to have to go through this
fire drill every few months.  Look...the reality is, we manage to go
through 500 or so messages a day (well, *I* go through them), and very
rarely, in ALL the discussion and speculation, does anything come close
to being a story idea.  As I commented on GEnie, at 500 messages a day,
seven days a week (3500 messages a week, counting all the various
services I'm on), this has only become a problem *five times*.
 
     But five times is five times, and it never hurts to put out a
reminder...because it's due to those reminders that it HAS been only five
times.  Absent those reminders, it would've been more, that you can count
on.
 
     No one is here begruding the rights of people to speculate and
discuss, least of all me.  You don't generally see me out here pounding
down on people...the discussions here are very freewheeling, which is as
it should be.  This is the one little area that I ask be set aside, and
I just don't see it as a problem.
 
     And I *do* wish that people wouldn't get bogged down in the legalities
of all this.  On one level, while that's the core reason I made the
request in the first place, what it comes down to is just courtesy.  I am
here for hours each day, unlike any other TV producer, every day, and all
I ask, as a courtesy, is no story ideas being posted.  When did we as a
culture hit a point where a request as a courtesy was no longer valid,
and everything had to be accompanied by legalistic wrangling and court
orders?
 
     I ask this one thing as a favor, in return for the hours spent here.
Is this really so great a burden?  If people want to discuss story ideas,
or come up with their own stories, all they have to do is set up a
private mailing list to which I don't have access, and they can do so to
their heart's content.  All I ask is that you don't do it where I can see
it.
 
                                                             jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 28 Aug 1994 05:14:12 -0400
Subject: JMS: Season two episode order?

     Episode 1 - Prod. #201 - "Points of Departure," written by jms,
directed by Janet Greek.
 
     Episode 2 - Prod. #202 - "Revelations," written by jms, directed by
Jim Johnston.
 
     Episode 3 - Prod. #203 - "The Geometry of Shadows," written by jms,
directed by Mike Vejar.
 
     Episode 4 - Produ. #204 - "A Distant Star," written by D.C. Fontana,
directed by Jim Johnston.
 
     Episode 5 - Prod. #205 - "The Long Dark," written by Scott Frost,
director TBA.
 
     Episode 6 - Prod. #206 - "A Spider in the Web," written by Lawrence
G. DiTillio, director TBA.
 
     The first six will be aired in production order.
 
	                                                              jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 28 Aug 1994 05:15:43 -0400
Subject: Careful with those story ideas

     One clarification: the problem on GEnie wasn't speculation per se,
but a statement, "How about if Joe does a story about...."  That in
particular turned it (unintentionally, but there it is) into a pitch of a
story idea.
 
	                                                               jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 28 Aug 1994 23:02:48 -0400
Subject: Who all should get letters pra

     Letters can be sent to B5 staff and routed to Warners/PTEN through:
14431 Ventura Boulevard, Suite 260, Sherman Oaks, CA 91423.
 
	                                                             jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 28 Aug 1994 23:04:19 -0400
Subject: How important to the Arc is Sh

     How critical was Aragorn to the storyline of Lord of the Rings?
 
                                                                jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 28 Aug 1994 23:04:28 -0400
Subject: JMS: How many eps?

     This is from memory, but after we broke down the stories for the
second season, and determined who we'd need for what stories, I think it
came out to 22 each for Sheridan, Ivanova, Garibaldi, Delenn and
Franklin; 13 for Na'Toth, Vir, Talia, G'Kar and Londo; and 8 for our new
squadron leader.  (Oops, forgot 13 also for Lennier.)  Now these are the
minimum contracted for, we can use them for more as they're needed.
 
	                                                              jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 28 Aug 1994 23:04:37 -0400
Subject: JMS: Her.?

     The line, "If I knew who God was, I'd thank her," was as written in
the script.  We generally don't allow much improvisation on stage.
 
     Many thanks.
 
	                                                                  jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 29 Aug 1994 03:35:16 -0400
Subject: Syndication Question

     Okay, I'll try to make this coherent and brief, two concepts that
don't necessarily relate.
 
     Here's how it works with B5, which is how virtually all syndicated
shows work.
 
     I created B5.  Went to Doug Netter, made a handshake deal to make the
series.  Five years pass.  Finally we hook up with PTEN.  PTEN buys the
rights to B5, and owns it.  They then finance the production of the series
through Babylonian Productions, which I and Doug own.  But the copyright
to B5 belongs to PTEN, as Star Trek has always belonged to Paramount, not
Gene R.  Rights don't revert to anyone; the rights belong to PTEN unless
PTEN should cancel the series, after which I believe there's a period of
about two years, after which it *then* comes back to me.
 
     As long as PTEN exists, and the show is broadcast, it belongs to
PTEN, regardless of how many times it's shown.  I don't know, or pretend
to know, what would happen if PTEN ceased to exist, though I'm sure that
procedures have been set up such that the revenue stream would continue to
the original parties in PTEN, and the corporation itself would continue as
a means of funnelling those funds.
 
     Warners doesn't own PTEN per se; PTEN is a consortium of a core group
of TV stations in association with Warners, and this executive committee
votes funding on the show.
 
     We are in some ways an unusual situation in that we're not a studio
in-house production, like KUNG FU and TIME TRAX, which were created from
within the Warners corporate structure.
 
	                                                                jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 29 Aug 1994 03:36:47 -0400
Subject: Old Red Eyes

     He'll be back soon enough....
 
	                                                           jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 29 Aug 1994 18:54:06 -0400
Subject: JMS: 'What do you want?' - nod

     Actually, the origin of "What do you want?" comes from encounter
groups I've run, and from other kinds of group psychotherapy, such as the
original Synanon games; you ask, "Who are you?" over and over, refusing
to take the same answer twice, to peel away the fabric of what the
person is.  It's a slight jump to "What do you want?"  (I knew that
degree in Psychology would come in handy one of these days.)
 
     As for the B5 reference in "OtherSyde," I always knew it would be a
series, because I've never allowed any other consideration.
 
     (I think B5 hits Australia later in the fall.)
 
	                                                             jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 29 Aug 1994 19:13:08 -0400
Subject: JMS: What is this .

     It came from the prop people at Warners/PTEN, who seem to be
watching an alternate-universe version of the series....
 
	                                                           jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 29 Aug 1994 20:07:06 -0400
Subject: Sheridan

     Yes, Sheridan is descended from Gen. Philip John Sheridan of the
Union Army.
 
	                                                            jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 30 Aug 1994 02:16:39 -0400
Subject: JMS: Speaking of First Comics.

     I would *love* to do American Flagg! as a movie; I think it was
probably Howard's best moment.  I've read a lot of his stuff, but somehow
after AF! it never did it for me as much as that one did.  (And he
certainly went...well, let's say where no comic has gone before...in Black
Kiss.)  I think the rights might be tied up, however.
 
	                                                               jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 30 Aug 1994 02:22:18 -0400
Subject: JMS: Arcane story twists et al

     If you look at my scripts, you'll find that generally I write very
tight, I don't leave a lot of threads hanging as a rule.  Same with the
planned series.  No important threads will be left hanging by the end of
it all.  And generally any really significant thread will be wrapped within
a year of being introduced.
 
	                                                                  jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 30 Aug 1994 21:54:13 -0400
Subject: JMS: Question????????????

     Medlab is the smaller facility exclusively for Dr. Franklin, as
Chief of Staff.  There are larger medical facilities, more like proper
hospitals, elsewhere on the station.
 
	                                                          jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 30 Aug 1994 22:01:11 -0400
Subject: A note regarding "V" to jms

     I guess my attitude toward "V" the series (as distinguished from
the miniseries, which was great) is colored by the rather contemptuous
attitude of the producers toward SF, and SF fans, leading to their
decision to bring on soap opera writers.  I think they took a wonderful
concept and just trashed it.
 
	                                                            jms

From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 31 Aug 1994 03:02:09 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: A few questions

     The script called for Garibaldi to take up the Big Massive Gun and
fire, with a primal YELL that went on forever.  Any dialogue at that
point which replaced the yell came from the actor.  The "you're already
dead" was only relevant to the scene, not T2.
 
	                                                                 jms