lurkers-guide/ftp/Usenet/jms95-02-usenet

Subject: ATTN JMS - Convention in Md/Va
Date: 1 Feb 1995 00:28:55 -0500

      There are no plans that I'm aware of, but some cast members may
have plans I don't know about.
 
                                                                  jms

Subject: Re: B5 & E2 in "Sci Fi Univers
Date: 1 Feb 1995 03:13:50 -0500

     Here's a great example of how critics don't have a clue about the
genre or its roots, or what springs from what.  There's a review in
today's Daily Variety (Tuesday) of John Carpenter's new film "In the Mouth
of Madness," which on every level is an H. P. Lovecraft pastiche, from
the structure, the characters, the locales, the names, everything.  So
what does the reviewer call it 3-4 times?  A tribute to Stephen King.
 
                                                                jms

Subject: ATTN JMS: B5 Q's
Date: 1 Feb 1995 03:23:41 -0500

     I'm generally trying to avoid pets; they get in the way of the story.
 
     The dead are either buried in space, or if their family can afford
it, sent home.
 
	                                                                 jms

Subject: Attn JMS: Religion in B5 Qusti
Date: 1 Feb 1995 03:23:20 -0500

     "Why did you choose to make religion a part of B5 when all othert
science fiction shows avoid it?"
 
     Well, there's one good answer right there.
 
     Second answer: why not?
 
     Third answer: if one is honest as a writer, then even an atheist
such as myself must acknowledge that it'll be around in 250 years.  It
hasn't vanished in the last 6,000 years after all.
 
	                                                              jms

Subject: Reactions to "Race" (SPOILERS)
Date: 2 Feb 1995 04:57:09 -0500

     The Lurker didn't say "Jason cracked."  If it was captioned that
way, I'm as surprised as anybody else.  There was another name there,
the name of the man who was being interrogated back at Mars Colony.
 
     EST = Earth Standar Time, not East Coast time.  Greenwich Mean Time,
basically.  (Above should read Standard.)  There's Local Time, and EST;
ordinary official business is usually timed to match EST.
 
     No, Garibaldi's authority doesn't exceed Sheridan's.  But when
Sheridan's superiors give Garibaldi a direct order to have the quarters
locked out, that they are illegally occupied...Garibaldi must comply.
That is standard legal military procedure.  (Funnily enough, I've gotten
a couple of notes from folks in the military -- one Navy, and one
Marine -- citing similar petty stuff happening to their COs.)
 
     At five miles long, with hundreds of miles of piping, leaks are
going to happen.  Some are more serious than others.  At that moment,
Sheridan was concerned about psis, not leaks.  He's trying to be
inconspicuous; he wouldn't stop in the midst of all this and order a
repair team.  He'd probably do it later.  ("Come alone," he was told.
So now a maintainance team shows up....)
 
     Just some thoughts on the comments.
 
	                                                                 jms

Subject: Attn JMS: Will we see Zathras
Date: 2 Feb 1995 05:20:49 -0500

     Of course we will see Zathras again at some point.
 
                                                                    jms

Subject: attn jms: Dragoncon/NASFIC
Date: 2 Feb 1995 00:51:11 -0500

     No plans for Atlanta, and we're booked on stories.
 
                                                                   jms

Subject: ATTN JMS: Sheridan spoiled?
Date: 2 Feb 1995 04:20:54 -0500

     Certainly, for the last couple of years, Sheridan has commanded an
Earth Alliance Starship where when he asked for someone to do something,
they jumped to do it.  On B5, nobody jumps except onto your back.  This
will take some getting used to....
 
	                                                                 jms

Subject: Re: Space Opera
Date: 2 Feb 1995 06:56:38 -0500

     BTW, and just so this is clear to everyone...the request to avoid
discussion was just for the satellite people; now that the show has
begun to air regionally, all bets are off, though as always messages
with spoilers should be noted as such.
 
	                                                                jms

Subject: *** The Coming Of Shadows ***
Date: 2 Feb 1995 16:32:08 -0500

     Noted elsewhere: it's cool to discuss details now that it's begun
airing, with appropriate spoiler notices.
 
                                                               jms

Subject: The Coming Of Shadows - **SPOI
Date: 2 Feb 1995 16:36:51 -0500

     Re: the name Rangers...hey, when you grow up watching The Lone
Ranger, and spend lots of time researching the Texas Rangers when you
work (briefly) on Walker...certain names spring unbidden.
 
                                                            jms

Subject: JMS Shadows: Almost a 10!
Date: 4 Feb 1995 05:24:33 -0500

     Sinclair didn't send the same letter.  Same greeting, to keep the
recipient secret.
 
     Only the Ranger knew who got what.
 
                                                                  jms

Subject: Attn JMS: Ultraviolet Clearanc
Date: 4 Feb 1995 04:51:22 -0500

     Ultraviolet Clearance is a term that I think either Larry or I
started using a long time ago on other projects.  Insofar as I recall,
it has nothing to do with Paranoia.  We just got tired of seeing Red
Alert, and figured, okay, what's above red in the spectrum?
 
`                                                                 jms

Subject: Re: Londo's Dream <TCoS SPOILE
Date: 4 Feb 1995 04:51:29 -0500

     Actually, G'Kar has seen a shadow fighter, not a shadow cruiser; no
one who sees one of those tends to survive the experience.
 
	                                                                jms

Subject: CoS - Sherridan's bluff  - (sp
Date: 4 Feb 1995 05:21:55 -0500

     Londo would *never* send the shadows against Earth, at least not at
this time.  That would galvanize everybody against the Centauri, while
G'Kar will have a very hard time getting any support since they've pissed
off so many people and burned so many bridges.  And remember, bluffs work
when the other person's more scared of what you might be doing than what
he thinks he can do in response.
 
	                                                                 jms

Subject: ATTN: JMS  -  Sinclair & Billi
Date: 4 Feb 1995 05:30:22 -0500

     Description of the credit given in the show is determined under SAG
rules by amount of screen-time/dialogue.
 
	                                                                  jms

Subject: JMS: TCoS direction (quasi-spo
Date: 4 Feb 1995 05:32:41 -0500

     The emperor falling scene, as with those around it, were shot as
written, down to the slow-motion notation, the close on his head hitting
the floor, the women clutching one another...all in the script.  But it
takes someone as skilled as Janet to take what somebody else might screw
up and elevate it into something truly nifty.
 
                                                                   jms

Subject: Best lines from The Coming of
Date: 4 Feb 1995 05:33:39 -0500

     You left out my favorite quote from the show, from the Emperor:  "The
past tempts us, the present confuses us, and the future frightens us...and
our lives slip away, moment by moment, lost in that vast, terrible
in-between."
 
                                                                   jms

Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: Mistake on COS
Date: 4 Feb 1995 05:33:43 -0500

      The Narn just brushed past them, and would not have heard what they
were saying.
 
	                                                                jms

Subject: Re: ATTN:JMS Alien Ships don't
Date: 4 Feb 1995 05:33:48 -0500

     The Hyperion definitely did NOT have artificial gravity; the captain
was strapped in at all times.
 
                                                               jms

Subject: Re: THE COMING OF SHADOWS -- *
Date: 4 Feb 1995 04:51:15 -0500

     "What was with G'Kar's left eye?"
 
     Plucked out.
 
	                                                              jms

Subject: ATTN: JMS CoShadows Question.
Date: 4 Feb 1995 21:18:14 -0500

     The centauri veiled telepaths are mainly wired into one another.
 
                                                                jms

Subject: Damn you, jms, DAAAMMMNNN YYYO
Date: 4 Feb 1995 21:20:04 -0500

     "DAAAMMMMMNNNN YYYOOOOUUUUUUU!"
 
     It is a small price to pay for immortality.
 
                                                                   jms

Subject: ATTN JMS: Mistake on COS
Date: 4 Feb 1995 21:16:12 -0500

     The Narn was just passing quickly through scene, in a hurry, and
couldn't have heard what Londo and Refa were quietly discussing.
 
                                                           jms

Subject: ATTN JMS: Distribution Q's
Date: 4 Feb 1995 21:57:06 -0500

     The local station situation is beyond my comprehension, alas.
 
                                                                 jms

Subject: B5 CD
Date: 4 Feb 1995 21:57:20 -0500

     I've now hear the 4th suite in the B5 CD, the new one that will be
added to the general release CD.  Just gorgous.  Christopher asked which
pieces I'd like included, and there's the Garibaldi-cralwing-to-the-tube
music from "Chrysalis," the killing-zone music from "Signs," and some
other just gorgeous stuff.  I think it adds something like 10-12 minutes
to the CD.  I figure it'll probably be set to go out by the end of the
month or shortly thereafter.
 
                                                                   jms

Subject: Attn JMS: When do you consider
Date: 4 Feb 1995 21:57:32 -0500

     I don't think I ever can quite view an episode as complete; I always
can think of one thing or another that could've been done.  And sometimes
even the broadcast version isn't the end.  In occasional episodes there
have been small, but noticeable (to me, anyway) CGI glitches which, even
though we've seen the footage a zillion times, we don't see until the day
it airs.  And when possible I ask that the scene be re-rendered, dropped
into the master, and re-satellited.  We've altered the main title about
five times since episode one, just trying to make it look or sound
better.
 
     When eventually we do the transfers to tape and laserdisk, I'll
probably go in there and futz around some more...little things that very
likely nobody will ever notice, but to me they're important.
 
     Someone once said, "No work of art is ever finished, only
abandoned."
 
                                                                 jms

Subject: JMS: background video glitch i
Date: 4 Feb 1995 21:57:45 -0500

     The Stellarcom logo cycles through; it comes up and down to meet in
the middle, holds for a while, and then vanishes to starfield...then comes
in again.
 
                                                                  jms

Subject: Why Are Shadows Still a Secret
Date: 4 Feb 1995 22:02:46 -0500

     "Why might the Minbari not be spreading the word?"
 
     A very good question, that will be answered within the next nine
episodes (that should be broad enough).  Suffice to say there is a very
logical, and very obvious reason.
 
                                                                   jms

Subject: Julian May's Contribution
Date: 4 Feb 1995 22:34:31 -0500

     Julian May is not involved with B5, and I'm embarrassed to say that
I've never read any of his work.
 
                                                                   jms

Subject: JMS: Centauri hanshake
Date: 5 Feb 1995 02:50:39 -0500

     Because to some extent the roman civilization is one of the sources
for constructing the Centauri, I adapted their handshake (checking for
knives) as their greeting; "I offer the hands of friendship."
 
                                                                  jms

Subject: Re: B5 CD
Date: 5 Feb 1995 04:18:03 -0500

     Re: typos...sometimes the carpal tunnel gets worse than at other
times, and the thought of going back and retyping sentences to correct
typos is just too much.
 
                                                            jms

Subject: JMS: Thank you!!!!!
Date: 5 Feb 1995 04:55:22 -0500

     No, thank *you* for being there for us.
 
	                                                    jms

Subject: Re: "Is Babylon 5 that good?".
Date: 5 Feb 1995 04:55:30 -0500

     The hard part is getting fans of ST to step back and look objectively
at the show, and realize that AS fans of ST, they should allow it its
chance.  ST began as one person's original vision, which is now in its
third distillation of that original vision.  B5 is an original vision, the
first since ST to try something on this scale.
 
     And there are many parallels between the histories of the two shows.
 
     B5 and ST both had to overcome vehement fans and critics who much
preferred a prior SF show (ST and Lost in Space, respectively).
 
     B5 and ST both worked for a long time to get on the air, and both
ended up in making casting changes in the commanding officer and the
first officer.  (Kirk followed Pike, and Spock followed Number One, as
Sheridan followed Sinclair, and Ivanova followed Takashima.)
 
     B5 and ST were primarily the product of one person's vision and
creative control.
 
     B5 and ST both extrapolated the future of Earth and space travel using
the best contemporary science, both created whole species and set up
vast interplanetary politics and languages.
 
     I just have this hunch that a number of "screw-B5" ST fans are going
to end up in a few years like the "screw-Star Trek" Lost in Space fans
who thought ST was crap trying to steal LiS's audience and place in the
TV landscape.
 
                                                                    jms

Subject: JMS: The Transparency of Shado
Date: 5 Feb 1995 06:35:13 -0500

     In "Chrysalis," they are distortions visible in the air when they
wish to be...and not when they don't.
 
	                                                                jms

Subject: JMS: GROPOS: all CGI??(spoiler
Date: 6 Feb 1995 00:16:28 -0500

     Can I comment on this later?
 
                                                          jms

Subject: How many comparisons between B
Date: 6 Feb 1995 01:56:56 -0500

     P.S.   Any attempt to make this story track along LoTR is going to
fall pretty fast.  Every so often, people try to attach a template to the
story...it's tracking the history of old Babylon (it is, somewhat), it's
based on the Kennedy/Vietnam parallel, it's LoTR, it's Dune, it's
Foundation, it's Childhood's End...truth is it ain't ANY of them.  And I
wouldn't spend a grand total of 10 years of my life getting, and making
this show just to do LoTR with the serial numbers filed off.
 
                                                                  jms

Subject: How many comparisons between B
Date: 6 Feb 1995 01:56:40 -0500

     Some stations still haven't adjusted the audio channel feeds on the
satellite downlink; you may want to notify your station if the audio
problems continue.  (The downlink was changed a couple weeks ago.)
 
                                                                jms

Subject: acting - plots - etc
Date: 6 Feb 1995 02:30:38 -0500

     Gabriel: have read your analysis of the characters and dynamics on
this show, message headed above.
 
     Marry me.
 
                                                                  jms

Subject: Coming of Shadows *SPOILERS*
Date: 6 Feb 1995 04:20:47 -0500

     Your feelings about the war starting are exactly what they should be,
and what I wanted to achieve with "Shadows."  In SF TV, very often, as
you state, it's "Yeah, let's get a war on!  Blow stuff up!"  But to hear
of a *real* war...it's very, very sobering.  When we hear that Gulf troops
were being sent into the Mideast, when we heard of soviet troops sent into
Prague...your heart stops for a moment.  When Kennedy put American ships in
a Cuban blockade and the world held its breath...THAT is what it feels like
to step into possible or real war.  All you can think of is, "How the HELL
did we get into this, and how the hell do we get OUT of it?"  And that was
at the emotional core of "Shadows."
 
                                                                      jms

Subject: The Coming of Spoilers (Season
Date: 6 Feb 1995 04:20:57 -0500

     Michael: you may want to check your original posting here; several
sections seemed to have dropped out altogether.
 
                                                                    jms

Subject: Re: Londo's Dream <TCoS SPOILE
Date: 6 Feb 1995 04:20:37 -0500

     As it happens, the Royal Theme is on the new section Chris just
finished for the final suite of the B5 cd.  I've listened to it, and
it's *quite* nice indeed.
 
                                                               jms

Subject: ATTN JMS: TCoS Costuming ?
Date: 6 Feb 1995 07:12:01 -0500

     The broach worn by the Rangers was designed by me and Ann Bruice,
our costumer.  I sketched (dopily and badly) what I had in mind, which
was a stylized human and minbari on either side of a gemstone, both wokred
(worked) into the same metal, and holding the gemstone.
 
     She then took this drawing that looked like it had been drawn by a
drunk five year old and translated it into a striking piece.
 
                                                                    jms

Subject: JMS: A question... (SPOILERS f
Date: 6 Feb 1995 17:53:05 -0500

     "How are you going to top this?  And when?"
 
     I think there are several coming episodes that in segments go past
"Shadows," though I'm not sure if they'll have the same cumulative effect
- so much HAPPENS in this one....
 
                                                              jms

Subject: JMS: I think there'll be a rio
Date: 6 Feb 1995 18:27:39 -0500

     This is very upsetting; they knew ages ago that I wouldn't be able to
attend.
 
                                                                   jms

Subject: JMS: I want REVENGE!
Date: 6 Feb 1995 18:31:25 -0500

     Figures...we just can't get a break....
 
                                                         jms

Subject: JMS: Thank you for a great job
Date: 7 Feb 1995 02:09:40 -0500

     A very humble thank you....
 
                                                          jms

Subject: ATTN: JMS: B5 on any cable-onl
Date: 7 Feb 1995 06:34:41 -0500

      Alas, no cable only stations are carrying it that I know of.
 
                                                                   jms

Subject: ATT JMS: StellarCom
Date: 7 Feb 1995 06:34:50 -0500

     BabCom is still used for intrastation messaging; StellarCom is for
messaging elsewhere.
 
	                                                    jms

Article 57031 of rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5:
Subject: Off Topic?
Date: 27 Jan 1995 03:52:05 -0500

     Sci-Fi Channel has indicated many times that they would like t
acquire Captain Power, but (in what I must say I think is a doofy move)
the producer won't release the show unless SFC agrees to finance new eps.
Cart before the horse, if you ask me.  Get the show on first, create the
need, THEN do more.
 
     Doofy, I tell you.  Doofy, doofy, doofy.  Maybe even doofiest.
 
	                                                                jms

Subject: ATTN JMS: Iowa State cancelled
Date: 7 Feb 1995 19:27:27 -0500

     I had been invited to, and agreed to come to the Technologies
conference at the university, but had to cancel some time ago due to B5
commitments.  John Iacovelli will be speaking there in my absence, on the
technology of entertainment.
 
                                                             jms

Subject: Babylon5 is lousy!!!
Date: 7 Feb 1995 22:08:59 -0500

     Very nice.  Now finsh your cauliflower or you can't stay up and
watch Gilligan's Island.
 
                                                                  jms

Subject: JMS: About Babcom again....
Date: 8 Feb 1995 01:24:13 -0500

     I specifically didn't want to see that particular logo/screen ever
again; the name is okay, appropriately dopey, but the on-screen display
sucked bigtime.
 
	                                                                  jms

Subject: JMS: What did you tell Jurasik
Date: 8 Feb 1995 02:18:05 -0500

     I ended up giving Peter info on "Signs" prior to shooting "Chrysalis"
last season; that was the biggie there.  For "CoS" in order for the scene
to match what's going to happen several years down the road in the series,
I had to kinda give him the context of the dream, and what was really
happening in that scene, and what caused it, and how he got to that place
with G'Kar's hands around his throat.
 
     He seemed quite...astonished.
 
                                                                 jms

Subject: Attn JMS:  Writing "The Coming
Date: 8 Feb 1995 02:19:57 -0500

     Yeah, on several levels, writing "The Coming of Shadows" was hard;
there were times I felt as though I'd just jumped onto the back of a
runaway dynamite truck.  Halfway through that story you can feel the arc
kinda moving underneath you, like some huge, dark fish about to break
surface.
 
     The only way to make a viewer feel a character's pain is if you feel
it in the writing, and a lot of that came through.  I live with these
characters running around in my head 24 hours a day...and when I'd finally
finished "Shadows," it was as if they all sorta stopped and looked at
each other, and at me, and said, "Gee, thank you EVER so fucking much,
jeezus, why don't you just go pluck somebody's eye out while you're at it?"
 
     To which the only reply is, "Now that you mention it...."
 
                                                                   jms

Subject: 3 questions...not just for JMS
Date: 8 Feb 1995 02:29:29 -0500

     Re: Kosh suddenly showing up at council meetings...remember that
observation for the next few weeks.
 
	                                                               jms

Subject: ATTN JMS: TCoS & my Computer A
Date: 8 Feb 1995 02:31:26 -0500

     You don't require my permission to show it in class; by all means,
proceed.
 
                                                                  jms

Subject: Re: ATT: JMS Fan ads for _B5_
Date: 8 Feb 1995 04:37:53 -0500

     We will happily and gratefully take any venue by which word of the
show is spread further.
 
                                                           jms

Subject: Re: Thank You
Date: 8 Feb 1995 05:08:31 -0500

     Just an observation on the serial discussion...you're talking apples
and oranges.  You can't compare a film serial from the 30s or 40s with
TV; they're not the same thing.  Yes, serial stories were done then; but
in American TV, they haven't been done in this fashion (I'm exempting
soap operas which sorta redefine themselves moment by moment).
 
     As an aside...serials in the early days of movies didn't start out
for the purpose of telling one story as its expressed goal.  (And, in
fact, if you watch some of them straight through, what you find is a VERY
simple story/structure, along the lines of "Stop them from stealing the
very famous Star of Rhodesia Diamond" which is broken up into barely
connected individual pieces.  Very often, the studio would have a vague
idea about where it would end, and just filled in the middle with car
crashes and fist fights and dynamite explosions.
 
     The reason for that continuing structure lay with 1) the fact that
at that time, and in the years before, most of the magazines of the time
serialized books a chapter at a time, a technique that goes straight back
to Charles Dickens.  So that was the template at the time.  And 2) most
or all movies in those early days consisted of one-reelers, or at most
two-reelers, since it was felt then that audiences probably wouldn't sit
still for two hours for a movie.
 
     Consequently, you'd go down to the local Rialto, and you'd get a
traveling tab show...local live performers, a singer, some piano, a short
animated cartoon, a Chaplin or Laurel and Hardy one-reeler, then work
your way up to maybe a half-hour movie, or a two-reeler.  Gradually, as
movies got longer, the serials also got longer, in many cases ending up
as full-length features themselves.  Or they were phased out.
 
     So it wasn't that the studios were looking to tell a story over five
years; it was that they felt the market couldn't sustain more than bite
sized stories.
 
     Proving again that a little knowledge of history is a dangerous
thing....
 
                                                             jms

Subject: B5's Story Arc = No Free Will
Date: 8 Feb 1995 05:10:21 -0500

     One problem, of course, is that your message about predestination
being a drag is that you think you know where it's going.  When we first
went on the air, I saw many messages from people saying "Boy, this is
gonna get real boring, everybody's part is already laid out in order for
this to be a five-year story, Londo's the funny guy, G'Kar's the bad
guy, they're locked into their roles...."
 
     Well, now...I think we see the flaw in that particular approach.
 
     On the notion that "plots are less than organic," plots are by
definition not organic.  Plots are artificialities which we graft onto
a sequence of events in order to give them meaning.  As someone noted,
"The king died, and the queen died" is not a plot or a story; "The king
died, and the queen died of grief" IS a story, IS a plot; there is
connective tissue.
 
     There is always a guiding hand behind the story, otherwise you'd
just have the characters sitting around and having random things happen
to them.
 
     And not all foreshadowing is real foreshadowing; some is planted as
red herrings.  Some foreshadows don't mean what you THINK they mean.  I
have planted no end of turns, twists, surprises, reverses, double
reveals, backtracks, ironies and revelations all along the path.
 
     I have always considered the Babylon 5 story to be, in essence,
future history.  "Babylon 5 WAS the last of the Babylon stations.  It WAS
our last, best hope for peace."  Past tense.  If I write a novel about
the incidents of World War II, then I'm dealing in history.  The events
are set...but where the characters go is another question.  You can read
all the information about how we got a thousand clues and foreshadows to
what was going to happen at Pearl Harbor...but it happened anyway.  The
guiding hand of Fate...or a crucial bobble at the wrong moment?  One can
look back at it now and argue both sides.
 
     Finally, any time a writer writes a novel, the characters are all
going somewhere under the guiding hand of the author.  That's what a
novel IS.  Scrooge is GOING to be visited by three ghosts, and he's GOING
to reform, and that's the end of the discussion.  Unless you're willing to
throw long-form novel writing out the door as an artform because it's not
appropriate that the characters should be on a specific and crafted
journey....
 
                                                                  jms

Subject: Attn JMS :  Thanks
Date: 8 Feb 1995 15:10:06 -0500

     Thanks; I think I like the four-dimensional analogy....
 
                                                             jms

Subject: JMS: inspiration question
Date: 8 Feb 1995 15:10:25 -0500

     Yeah, I know from Cerebus, I'm a big fan of the book.  I'd rather
there was more book in the book and fewer lettes/less filler, but there
you are....
 
                                                                  jms

Subject: Coming of Shadow spoilers
Date: 8 Feb 1995 15:10:49 -0500

     The alien healing device was specifically used in treatment of
illness; the Emperor suffered massive damage to his heart and othe
internal organs, which simply restoring some life energy wouldn't help.
 
                                                           jms

Subject: Gropos (spoilers)
Date: 8 Feb 1995 15:09:48 -0500

     Where does it say in the episode that the B5 defense grid is "strong
enough to stand against the likes of the shadows?"
 
     It doesn't.  And it wouldn't.  Not for five seconds.
 
     You don't have to find something hard to believe if it was never said.
 
                                                                  jms

Subject: (Attention JMS) Ivanova's Mono
Date: 8 Feb 1995 15:11:17 -0500

     To the question "Who thinks up these things," there are only two
answers: me, or the writer whose name appears on the script when it's
not me.  Occasionally me or Larry adding to the other person's script.
That's it, no big committee.  Generally, all you have to do is check
the writing credit.
 
                                                                jms

Subject: JMS: Products on-screen
Date: 8 Feb 1995 15:38:23 -0500

     Correct; all sponsors advertising on a TV series (different from the
ET situation) would generally like their product shown.  For kicks we
did it with Zima and Kawasaki, and for that, yes, we did have to get their
permission.  The fun wore out, and we haven't done it since.  I'd love to
have someone pay us to show their product; it'd mean we were being held in
esteem in the public eye.  And would help the budget.  We'll see.
 
                                                            jms

Subject: JMS: Franklin's Patients (SM &
Date: 8 Feb 1995 15:49:58 -0500

     Not a contradiction.  I don't believe in omniscient or all powerful
devices that function like literal deus ex machinas and heal everybody all
the time.  It was stated *plainly and clearly* that the device was used
in healing terminally ill patients.  They cannot undo physical damage from
gunshots (the regen packs and other devices were used to heal Garibaldi's
wound, and the alien device was used to raise his life energy level enough
to bring him out of the coma).  The emperor suffered a massive attack that
destroyed parts of his heart.  Can't be fixed by this device.
 
                                                                 jms

Subject: ATT JMS: B5 Flaws
Date: 8 Feb 1995 18:06:55 -0500

     Re: "fixing" the "guy with the bozo hair," I don't see this as
something that needs to be fixed.  The problem is with some people's
provincialism and rapidity with stereotyping and the like.  It's also
in large measure an American fixation with hair; the show is playing in
MANY european markets, and this tends not to be a problem there.  I find
it interesting that some people can accept red eyes, reptilian features,
pouches, six-set genitalia, jump gates, headbones, shadowships, but fall
apart because of somebody's hair.  Americans are fixated on this stuff;
an entire generation was pegged, stereotyped and ridiculed because of
their hair; you can go down to parts of LA and see hair styles that make
Londo look like a protestant minister by comparison.
 
     There is a notion that one must "fix" something if a few people have
a problem that stems from their perception.  This is what leads to lowest
common denominator programming.  I don't do that.
 
     (Not directed at you, but the report.)
 
                                                               jms

Subject: ATTN JMS: === Actors reactions
Date: 8 Feb 1995 18:11:18 -0500

     There's always a rush to find out what's in the new script.  In
ageneral, first drafts only go to PTEN and the various department heads
in order to get them on line for the episode requirements.  The final
draft is released to full distribution a few days to a week later.  But
invariably, within hours of releasing the first draft, it's floating
around on stage, going from hand to hand, as people find out what's going
to happen next.  There's always a real sense of enthusiasm and genuine
curiosity.
 
                                                            jms

Subject: What do the Shadows want?
Date: 8 Feb 1995 18:11:48 -0500

     This is the main question that hasn't been asked much.  If one takes
as read the notion that B5 doesn't go in for the stereotypical "let's
destroy everything" bad guys, that there's more going on...then what is
the agenda of the shadows?  Okay, you win a war, now you own it all,
what do you do (besides visit Disneyland)?  There has to be more to the
answer of "why" than what appears on first blush.
 
                                                                   jms

Subject: GROPOS - SPOILERS AND QUESTION
Date: 8 Feb 1995 18:12:20 -0500

     While it's true I don't mind dark endings, I would note that the
episode was written by Larry.
 
                                                                 jms

Subject: Where are the Vorlons?
Date: 8 Feb 1995 18:12:54 -0500

     ^You'll see a lot more of Kosh starting in three eps.
 
                                            jms

Subject: ATTN JMS: === Production check
Date: 8 Feb 1995 18:13:21 -0500

     Script being filmed: "Knives" by L.D.  Script in prep: "In the
Shadow of Z'ha'dum."  Script just going final: "Confessions and
Lamentations."  Script in editing: "There All the Honor Lies."  Final
post production/efx on "Hunter/Prey" and "And Now For a Word."  New
script, not titled yet, being written.
 
                                                            jms

Article 60961 of rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5:
Subject: Re: Thank You
Date: 8 Feb 1995 05:08:31 -0500

     Just an observation on the serial discussion...you're talking apples
and oranges.  You can't compare a film serial from the 30s or 40s with
TV; they're not the same thing.  Yes, serial stories were done then; but
in American TV, they haven't been done in this fashion (I'm exempting
soap operas which sorta redefine themselves moment by moment).
 
     As an aside...serials in the early days of movies didn't start out
for the purpose of telling one story as its expressed goal.  (And, in
fact, if you watch some of them straight through, what you find is a VERY
simple story/structure, along the lines of "Stop them from stealing the
very famous Star of Rhodesia Diamond" which is broken up into barely
connected individual pieces.  Very often, the studio would have a vague
idea about where it would end, and just filled in the middle with car
crashes and fist fights and dynamite explosions.
 
     The reason for that continuing structure lay with 1) the fact that
at that time, and in the years before, most of the magazines of the time
serialized books a chapter at a time, a technique that goes straight back
to Charles Dickens.  So that was the template at the time.  And 2) most
or all movies in those early days consisted of one-reelers, or at most
two-reelers, since it was felt then that audiences probably wouldn't sit
still for two hours for a movie.
 
     Consequently, you'd go down to the local Rialto, and you'd get a
traveling tab show...local live performers, a singer, some piano, a short
animated cartoon, a Chaplin or Laurel and Hardy one-reeler, then work
your way up to maybe a half-hour movie, or a two-reeler.  Gradually, as
movies got longer, the serials also got longer, in many cases ending up
as full-length features themselves.  Or they were phased out.
 
     So it wasn't that the studios were looking to tell a story over five
years; it was that they felt the market couldn't sustain more than bite
sized stories.
 
     Proving again that a little knowledge of history is a dangerous
thing....
 
                                                             jms

Subject: ATTN JMS: Do ALL dreams come t
Date: 9 Feb 1995 19:47:27 -0500

     Not all Centauri dreams come true; however, the ones in which they
see their deaths tend to be pretty accurate.
 
                           jms

Subject: ATTN JMS: Names
Date: 9 Feb 1995 20:14:13 -0500

     Delenn's flyer is called Zhalen.
 
                                                            jms

Subject: ATTN: JMS - Thoughts on CoS an
Date: 9 Feb 1995 20:13:41 -0500

     I'd say Londo has a long way to go yet before he hits bottom.
 
     Added the new B5 symbol 'cause it's cool.
 
                                                               jms

Subject: ATTN JMS: I want to know more!
Date: 9 Feb 1995 20:27:25 -0500

      No plan for now to make scripts for B5 into books, though we may
eventually release some of the scripts themselves.  I think the tapes
should be out by summer sometime.
 
                                                                jms

Subject: ATTN:JMS...Episode titles
Date: 9 Feb 1995 20:38:37 -0500

     I always have to have a title before I begin writing, since the
title always influences the feel of the show.  I try to design one that
is literary, or refers to a literary influence; it should have a certain
rhythm, and avoid coming at the subject of the episode too dead-on.  For
instance, one could call the recent Psi Cop episode with Bester,
"Capture" or "Chase."  But I wanted it to be evocative, to conjure up
the image of people slipping through the shadows, pursued by others, and
to continue this season's trend toward titles that indicate a coming
night.  Hence, "A Race Through Dark Places."
 
                                                               jms

Subject: 3 x "And so it begins..." CoS
Date: 9 Feb 1995 20:41:03 -0500

     Actually, Londo does not say, "And so it begins."  He looks at his
clock, to see if the time of the attack has come, and says, "It has
begun."  Somewhat different, and very specific to that situation.
 
                                                                   jms

Subject: Re: B5's Story Arc = No Free W
Date: 9 Feb 1995 20:40:40 -0500

     But there's "some guy out there who controls your life with his
word processor" in ALL television, ALL fiction.  Even if it's a one
hour script, for another series, what happens to that character has
been determined by the writer.  THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS FREE WILL IN
A FICTIONAL CHARACTER'S LIFE.
 
     As for working within the B5 universe itself, as Ladira said, her
visions are of things that MIGHT be.  The whole POINT is that people
make choices in this show.  Yes, they're the choices the writer provides
them...but what other choice is there?  If you can materialize Ivanova in
a real Babylon 5 and let her do as she chooses, I'm all for it.  Until
then, somebody has to make up the story, and the universe, and the
situations.
 
     And, once again, you're assuming that you know where fate is going
to take any given person on this show.  And you're almost certainly
wrong at one level or another.
 
     This kind of reminds me of conversations I find at conventions, when
I appear with the actors.  The actors get questions like, "How do you go
about creating the character?" and I get, "What will the stories be?" as
though I was walking down the street one day, stumbled across these
independently-existing characters, and shoved them into this storyline.
You cannot, in any conceivable fashion, minimize the contribution of the
cast, which is superlative.  But I created Ivanova, and Sheridan, and
Sinclair, and Garibaldi, and Kosh, and Londo, and G'Kar, and the Earth
Alliance, and the Vorlons, and the Psi Corps, and I write the words they
say, the rooms they're in, the changes in their lives.  Just like every
novelist you've ever seen.
 
     There's no such thing as a character having free will within the
structure of a story.  Certainly they can seem to come alive in the
writing process, but that's not the same thing.
 
                                                                  jms

Subject: A just system ? (was Run Thru
Date: 9 Feb 1995 20:59:03 -0500

     Correct, the Earth Alliance is not necessarily a just system.  Quite
correct.  Thus I'm not sure where I see the problem.  Has humanity ever
had a 100% just and equitable system?
 
                                                                   jms

Subject: The Start of The War
Date: 9 Feb 1995 21:06:23 -0500

     "I'd love to know what you have planned next...."
 
     Prolonged torture, revelations, surprises, a whole new spin on the
direction of the show, conspiracies of light and dark, weird sex, the
turning of hunters, accusations, bigger revelations, and the death of
two billion people just to get the ball rolling.
 
                                                               jms
 
     (and that's just the next 8 episodes)

Subject: ATTN JMS: Q on the casting of
Date: 10 Feb 1995 02:43:44 -0500

     Turhan originally came in to audition for Elric in "Geometry;" we
wanted someone with more menace (Ansara), but we were all just blown away
by how wonderful and sweet and nice a person he was, and as he left, I
told John Copeland, "I'm gonna write a part just for him."
 
     So I did, and we cast him, and everyone on the set loved him...to
the point that, at the end of the shoot, they were saying, "You BASTARD,
how could you bring this WONDERFUL man in here and then KILL HIM OFF SO
WE CAN'T HAVE HIM BACK?!"
 
                                                                      jms

Subject: ATTN JMS: "Long Night" and "So
Date: 10 Feb 1995 03:11:06 -0500

     These two stories have been indefinitely shelved.
 
                                                          jms

Subject: Stuph From jms
Date: 10 Feb 1995 03:11:25 -0500

     General and sundry to whoever might be interested....
 
     1) Next Thursday evening (the 16th), I'll be at Planet Hollywood in
Chicago along with Claudia Christian, Mira Furlan, and Michael O'Hare
to do a PR appearance in part for the show, in part for the convention
there in June, and for some various non-story-related announcements.  The
plan is to watch the episode there that night, do Q&A and generally hang
out.  Though this is usually a closed deal for publicity (ET and CNN and
other media will be there), a limited number (I think 150) tickets have
been allocated for fans of the show in the area, I think $30 apiece.
Contact the same folks running the Chicago Big Bang Convention ahead of
time to order tickets; these will probably sell out quickly.
 
     2) Chris Franke has finalized the revised CD soundtrack; the new
suite, entitled "The Geometry of Shadows," adds about 12-14 minutes to
the CD, which now weighs in at about 55-56 minutes.  The new suite
includes the second season main theme, selections from "Chrysalis" and
"Survivors" and "Signs and Portents" and "The Coming of Shadows," as
well as an extended version of "Requiem For the Line."  The first 2,000
copies have already been booked and will be sent to fill orders hanging
fire from the UK, with broader distribution starting in March.  This is
from Sonic Images, which because it isn't *as* large a company as Warner
Records or others, but is still good sized, will be fighting to meet all
the orders that have come in and are coming in.
 
     Thus, I suggest that if you want to a) get the soundtrack, and b)
not wait for back orders, you contact your local record store or discount
distributer service and order the CD right off, which will help assure
getting them as they come off the line, and help Sonic Images best plan
their run.  The CD also comes with an expanded booklet, with more
pictures from the show (including a 3-shot of me with fellow producers
Doug Netter and John Copeland...but hey, buy it anyway).  It's a wonder
to behold.
 
     3) At this point, I've confirmed that I'll be in the UK twice this
year, once at the Horizons Convention in Birmingham come April, and then
in September at the Wolf 359/Gathering convention in Manchester.
 
                                                                jms

Subject: Advertisers
Date: 10 Feb 1995 05:36:46 -0500

      Yes, the advertisers are coming from a better grade, and I'm told
all the ads are sold out through the second quarter, well in advance.
 
                                                                  jms

Subject: Re: Best lines from The Coming
Date: 10 Feb 1995 05:37:03 -0500

     "That was indeed a great line.  Who wrote it?"  (Re: the Emperor's
speech to Sheridan.)
 
      >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>jms

Subject: JMS: UK opinions
Date: 12 Feb 1995 02:19:46 -0500

     Opinions always matter.  It's sometimes hard to put my brain back
where it was X-months ago, but of course I'd love to hear all the UK
reactions.  And in a way, it might be fun for those who've seen this a
while ago to see others going through the same thing now.
 
                                                                  jms

Subject: Quickie L.A/jms/Harlan Alert
Date: 12 Feb 1995 03:00:53 -0500

     Tomorrow, Sunday, 2-4 p.m., Harlan Ellison will be signing his new
comic DREAM CORRIDOR (and maybe other stuff, though I don't know that
for sure) at Golden Apple Bookstore in Los Angeles.  I'm also planning
to tag along and spend more money than I should on this stuff....
 
                                                               jms

Subject: "What" is jms?
Date: 12 Feb 1995 04:03:40 -0500

     Some have suggested the Old Fart of the Galaxy.
 
     Some have suggested the Big S.  (I look upon this with suspicion.)
 
     Or the Old Crank of the Galaxy.  Or Great Maker.
 
     I dunno...maybe just Joe...?
 
                                                                      jms

Subject: JMS: The Future?
Date: 12 Feb 1995 04:14:27 -0500

     We don't know what the future holds for PTEN; we can only hope to
keep B5 sufficiently successful that it will have a berth somewhere no
matter what.  We'll see....
 
                                                          jms

Subject: ATTN JMS: Which Hubble image?
Date: 12 Feb 1995 04:14:35 -0500

     I'll have to go back and ask which Hubble shot was used as bg in the
Narn colony shot.  The recognition problem becomes when you take the 2D
image and extend it in 3D for purposes of movement.  But I'll get it
in any event.
 
                                                                      jms

Subject: ATTN:JMS - B5 WAV or MOD files
Date: 12 Feb 1995 04:03:46 -0500

     Actually, the rights to B5 audio clips/screen saver/wallpaper have
been sold to the same company that did the Terminator 2 package, and may
be out by summer/fall.
 
                                                                  jms

Subject: ATTN JMS: Your lucid dream...
Date: 12 Feb 1995 04:14:41 -0500

     Not that much going on, I'm afraid to say.  Upper floor renovations
are about finished, and now they're doing some foundation work.  A couple
of new stores opened downtown.  Spent a couple of dreamtime nights over at
the local college, doing Q&As about writing.  Went past an accident on the
main road the other night, car half-in and half-out of the water.  Folks
seemed okay.
 
     That's about it.
 
     (For those looking on, to explain...I know this is weird...but for as
long as I can remember, most of my dreams have taken place in the same
sort of dream town that's gradually built slowly over the years.  I have
a house there, know where the stores are, the theaters...it has no
correlation to anything real, it's all contemporaneous with the present,
and generally just a flip-side.  Fairly dull, actually.  I think the
reason my brain generated this was that we moved from house to house and
town to town every six months to a year when I was growing up, and this
is/was my brain's attempt to form solidity by *creating* a home town from
bits and pieces of the others.  So at night, I leave *here* and go
_there_.)
 
     Oh!  Wait, we *did* have a bus strike recently, so that's at least
something interesting.  Haven't heard how it turned out, though.
 
                                                                  jms

Subject: JMS: Any word on a third seaso
Date: 12 Feb 1995 04:34:36 -0500

     We should get definitive word come April.  Right now, I'd venture
that it's about 65/35 or 70/30 that we'll get picked up.  Basically, a
bit better than 50/50, which is where we were this time last season.
 
                                                                jms

Subject: JMS: GROPOS: all CGI?? NOW??
Date: 12 Feb 1995 04:36:14 -0500

     Everything in the battle sequence at the end of Gropos is CGI; no
models, despite the shadows.  Real fire was sampled for the flames, though.
 
                                                                   jms

Subject: jms: Line in Cos (minor spoile
Date: 12 Feb 1995 04:46:57 -0500

     "A word or two in the right ear...."
 
                                                               jms

Subject: ATTN JMS: Change of commanders
Date: 14 Feb 1995 18:58:48 -0500

     The story arc proceeds very much as planned; the change of COs allows
us to do all we had in mind originally, plus some more on top of it.
In addition, there are trap doors for every character in case there's ever
a problem.  As in a WW II movie, characters may come and go, but the story
of the war is the story of the war.
 
                                                                     jms

Subject: Re: "What" is jms?
Date: 14 Feb 1995 18:59:22 -0500

     Someone over on another service suggest Joe'quan.
 
     Currently in process of hunting him down.
 
     "Hand me my chainsaw, mother, I'm going out to catch dinner."
 
                                                                  jms

Subject: ATTN JMS:  Demon Night and Oth
Date: 15 Feb 1995 00:28:13 -0500

     I'd have to go back and reread either my notes, or the book, but my
general *sense* is that the reason they didn't use explosives to close up
the door centuries ago was that they didn't have such explosives to use.
 
     Certainly not among the native american population of the time.
 
     Actually, hardcover or soft, the book is out of print, and thus I
no longer get royalties on the book.
 
     There are, as you say, certain themes in my work that tend to recur,
because I'm still trying to get a handle on them...why do we do the thigns
(things) that we do?  What are the hairline fractures in our personalities
that cause one person to become a Mother Theresa and another to become a
serial killer?  What are the choices between here and there?  Basically,
the fundamental questions of who are we, what are we doing here, why are
we doing what we're doing, where are we going, and what shall we do when
we get there?
 
	                                                                jms

Subject: JMS: "Stribers:" am I right???
Date: 15 Feb 1995 00:30:12 -0500

     Streibs, actually.  Just for accuracy.
 
 
                                                                      jms

Subject: ATTN JMS: Exhibiting Babylon 5
Date: 15 Feb 1995 01:14:16 -0500

      If the showings are free, then insofar as I know, no permission
is required.
 
                                                                     jms

Subject: ATTN: JMS Vorlon shown in teas
Date: 15 Feb 1995 01:58:06 -0500

     I have no idea what was in the teaser, but since we haven't provided
anyone with images of Kosh absent his encounter suit, it wasn't that.
 
	                                                                 jms

Subject: JMS:Do you enjoy talking to us
Date: 15 Feb 1995 00:51:24 -0500

     I don't know enough about how these informal RPG groups function, so
really can't comment.
 
     Do I enjoy it?  For the most part, yes.  The other frustrations are
pretty much the same ones faced by anyone else on the net; the occasional
offhand insults or dismissals, the trolls and flames, the person who says
"If this had been a ST episode, I would've given it a 10, but since I
expect more from B5 I'm only giving it a 2"  rather than judging it simply
on its own merits, the person who feels he has to find SOMETHING negative
to say or he feels he's not participating properly....
 
     I've been riding the nets for over 10 years.  So after a while, you
come to know what to expect.  And the majority of it is nothing less than
swell.  Whether the analysis is positive or negative, often it comes with
thought and consideration and cogent, perceptive commentaries, and one
can't help but learn and be impressed.
 
     Most of the other folks I know who work in SF TV think I'm insane to
be here, to this extent, every single day.  Because there's often a kind
of love/hate relationship between SF TV people and viewers.
 
     Here's an example (and please, this is NOT a case of "the author
speaking through an imaginary third person").  This is a writer/producer
who's worked on a number of SF series (or in one case, a contemporary
fantasy series), who no longer works in the genre, instead seeing out work
in non-SF/fantasy venues.  I ran into him at a local newsstand here in
Sherman Oaks a while back, and I asked him about his decision.  This,
though a paraphrase from memory, is what he said:
 
     "The viewers drove me out of it.  I just got tired of it.  While
some of them are okay, the majority of them are just damned ungrateful.
You bust your ass making a show, 12-16 hours a day.  You put it out there,
and all they ever want to do is nitpick.  They crab, they bitch, they
moan, they pick things apart until there's nothing left.  Then when you're
finally canceled, they scream at you asking why you're not on the air.
Well, if you'd *supported* the show when it was on the air instead of
bitching about it all the time, maybe it *would* be on the air.  In two
years on [insert name of a high-visibilty police-type series] I haven't
had any of that.  Same with the other non-SF shows I've done.  They turn
on the show, and either they like it, or they don't like it, they don't
tear it to shreds in front of your eyes, call you names, insult you or
bitch at you.  [Name and Name] feel the same way about it that I do, and
they're looking to get off [series name] for the same reason.  They're
just going crazy with it.  It's got nothing to do with not wanting to
hear negative opinions, just the way they do it."
 
     Now, obviously, I have some very real disagreements with some of the
sentiments expressed here.  Part of it, I think, is that I do come out of
the world of being a fan, and I think I better understand the situation,
that it comes out of being invovled with a show and the ideas behind it
in a very visceral fashion.  Also, I think that if you're not on the nets
or out among the fans regularly, all you'll here ARE the negative things,
because those are the ones who tend to write...those who're pissed off.
People who like a show don't often write in to say so.  But on the nets,
or at conventions, you're more apt to encounter them.  Absent that, it's
easy to see how someone might come away with the notion that it's all
just negative.
 
     Are there, from time to time, unfair or ill-considered criticisms of
this or any other show?  Of course there are.  That goes with the
territory.  Are they disproportionately outweighed by the thoughtful and
insightful criticisms?  Definitely.  As for how you're treated...I feel
that if you treat fans with respect, they will treat you with respect, and
as a consequence, while there have been some occasional hiccups here and
there, I'd have to say that yes, I do enjoy the exchange, it is both
entertaining and rewarding, and I'm happy to continue it.
 
     Even if some of my associates *do* think I'm nuts.
 
                                                                  jms

Subject: ATTN JMS: Dou you read non-ATT
Date: 18 Feb 1995 04:40:16 -0500

     Because I get so much mail, I scan first for ATT:JMS messages that
are first-timers; when I've gone through those, I then try to make time
for initial replies from others to that starter-thread.  After a thread
has been around for a while, I often phase out in order to deal with the
new ones that need replies.
 
	                                                               jms

Subject: Question: What did Delenn ask
Date: 18 Feb 1995 05:19:51 -0500

     Delenn's question to Kosh in "Chrysalis" was never stated, but it
will be revealed before this season is out.
 
                                                                 jms

Subject: JMS: "We" versus "I" (AAitN Sp
Date: 18 Feb 1995 05:25:30 -0500

     Re: we/I...yes, it's interesting, isn't it?  You'd almost think it
was contradictory or something.
 
     You may tell your friend that the city hit in "CoS" was CGI, not
a model.
 
	                                                             jms

Subject: JMS : Revelations CGI question
Date: 18 Feb 1995 06:02:22 -0500

     Correct; the Narn bridge is CGI.  Re: the explosion...we shot a
lot of live pyrotechnics for Ron's use; but don't recall offhand which
was used here, live or CGI.
 
                                                                     jms

Subject: B5's story structure (was an i
Date: 18 Feb 1995 06:01:56 -0500

     Another comparison somebody made about B5 recently was to Bradbury's
Martian Chronicles books; independent, but they add up at the end.
 
     To follow up on your (Dianne's) other point...yes, from time to time,
as we push ourselves to the limit, we're going to crash and burn.  That's
part of the risk if you really want to try and do something different.  We
push the envelope...and sometimes get a papercut.  I had, for instance,
MUCH more in mind for the EFX in the final confrontation in "The Long
Dark."  But we were, alas, about this > < much ahead of the technology to
pull off what I wanted.
 
     The pattern is, write an episode that goes a little further than the
last time.  See if you can do it.  Find which aspects of that worked, and
push it *again*.  If we can do a stationary base and mine field with one
batch of ships in "Midnight," can we do a larger base and *two* competing
groups of ships (three if you count the shadows and centauri) in "Coming
of Shadows")?
 
     As Paul Bryant says at Foundation, we try to ride the bleeding edge
of storytelling and technology.  Or to quote an old SAS pin I own, "Who
Dares, Wins."
 
                                                                        jms

Subject: ATTN JMS:  A User Plugs B5
Date: 18 Feb 1995 06:07:34 -0500

     Many thanks; your efforts are very much appreciated.
 
                                                                jms

Subject: B5 on Cover of April '95 Starl
Date: 18 Feb 1995 06:07:53 -0500

     Yeah, I'd heard about the cover.  I know that the editor there swore
to all and sundry that he would *never* give a cover story to B5, but it
appears the requests from viewers became so much, and their deliberate
omission so obvious, that something had to be done.  (I no longer
cooperate with any interviews for them, though I can't by all rights ask
my cast to do the same.  Whenever I give interviews for other magazines
where the writer also works for Starlog, I specifically request that it
not be used there.)
 
	                                                               jms

Subject: haunting images....
Date: 18 Feb 1995 03:56:49 -0500

     For what it's worth, I have the same situation...images from the
various episodes stay with me long after they should go.  We've worked
hard to create a sense of, "Here's some extrapolation, one possible
future" and keep it as rigorous as possible.  It *is* a very weird
feeling at times.
 
                                                                     jms

Subject: JMS: Tractor beams?! TRACTOR B
Date: 19 Feb 1995 06:04:03 -0500

     It has never been stated that other worlds or species or
civilizations don't have the technology to use gravity, magnetic or other
forces to move objects.  It was used in "Sky Full of Stars" when the
Minbari cruiser pulled in Sinclair's ship.  *We* don't have that tech
yet, and must work around it, but a few others do.  As with the other
note I left on another topic, I don't see the problem here.  This seems
perfectly within the realm of probability for any reasonably advanced
species; it's just that we haven't reached that point yet.
 
                                                               jms

Subject: ATTN JMS:  Glad to see charact
Date: 19 Feb 1995 06:04:15 -0500

     By the way, in addition to the re-appearance of Neroon, you may
have noticed that the first Grey Council member Delenn addresses is the
same one we saw in "Points of Departure."
 
                                                                    jms

Subject: 'All Alone in the Dark' used a
Date: 19 Feb 1995 06:04:28 -0500

     Sheridan and the other fighters flew at a slight angle right past
the window in C&C.  I don't see where the problem is in this.  The window
wasn't used as a monitor, it was used as a window.  The starfuries came
out of the cobra bays as the station rotated them planet-side, they banked,
and headed toward the gate, passing C&C.
 
	                                                              jms

Subject: Coverage in STARLOG
Date: 19 Feb 1995 20:43:24 -0500

     Clarifications and elaborations upon your note.
 
     I wasn't addressing articles "on spec," which I know they don't much
buy over there.  But there are many, many article writers who use the
same interview for different magazines, sometimes avoiding competing
marketplaces, sometimes in different countries.  There are some writers
working out of the UK who interview me, and the material ends up in
Starburst or TV Zone or other magazines there.  A writer may be on an
assignment from Sci-Fi Universe or Cinefantastique, and may also write
for Starlog.  My request to those writers is that you can use any interview
with me for any of those publications except Starlog.
 
     While I know that Starlog has, from time to time, done articles on
other shows, or the rare insightful piece, it remains almost primarily a
Star Trek/Paramount flack.  At the moment, I'm holding the current issue
in my hands.  It has *18 pages* of Star Trek related ads; Patrick Stewart
wall plaques; Patrick Stewart Photo Book; Star Trek Collector's Chess Set;
Deep Space Nine Magazine; Star Trek mouse pads; Picard figures; Seatrek
95; Cruise Trek; Star Trek pins; Star Trek conventions; Star Trek
soundtracks; Brent Spiner records; TNG magazine; TNG holographic t-shirts;
Star Trek posters; more Star Trek t-shirts; Star Trek Collector's
Portfolio; Star Trek blueprints; more Star Trek posters; the Voyager
magazine...all this in just ONE issue.
 
     Is there anything WRONG with any of this?  Absolutely not.  But it
does tell us a little about what they are.  And what they're not.
 
     STARLOG is not a magazine covering the science fiction media scene.
It is a Paramount/Star Trek flack publication that INCLUDES some limited
coverage of other stuff, at its whim.  Other series come on the air, and
the attitude is "Well, let's see what happens after they've been on the
air for a long time before we give them any coverage."  VOYAGER is
announced and the coverage is almost ORGASMIC...cover stories, one feature
article after another after another, in many cases before the show even
hits the airwaves.
 
     But that's different, because that's the company that buys 80% o
their advertising space.  Which, again, is fine...just don't pretend to be
something other, because the editorial policy follows the line of the
money for the ads.  Which isn't immoral, it simply is.  STARLOG has no
motivation to be responsible, or even-handed, or even accurate, when it
comes to covering non-Star Trek shows; it doesn't have to since the bulk
of its money comes from Star Trek and Paramount.  So it can operate under
the whim, or pique, of its editors more so than a more general-interest SF
magazine.
 
     I stopped cooperating with Starlog because I got tired of their
inaccuracies in interviews I participated in, tired of screwed up credits
and pictures; especially tired of cheap-shot articles that bitched about
how the last Twilight Zone series was being done so that MGM would have
enough to syndicate so they wouldn't lose their shirts, totally eliminating
the possibility that the stories told there could have ANY merit when
the financing was for profit (like Star Trek is being made by Paramount
out of their concern for the commonweal and to cure cancer)...tired of the
obvious editorial bias.  I received direct word from Starlog reporters that
there would never be a B5 cover because of the editor's pique, obviously
hoping that if such was withheld, maybe the show would die and the problem
would be obviated.  Well, we didn't go away, and now the pressure and the
obviousness of their omission has forced them into doing a B5 cover.
 
     I'm sorry, but I've worked as a journalist for publications like the
Los Angeles Times, TIME Incorporated, the Los Angeles Herald Examiner, and
I've *seen* how editors should run their bureaus.  STARLOG ain't run that
way.  It is, purely and simply, a Star Trek magazine with pretensions of
being something other.  Now, if all you want really is Star Trek coverage,
and maybe to keep informed of other stuff...that's nothing less than
spiffy.  But please don't try to convince me of anything else, because it
simply ain't so.  And the conflict of interest is so thick you could cut
it with a spoon; they know they can't piss off Paramount because if
Paramount pulled their ads on Monday, on Tuesday STARLOG would be out of
business, as opposed to magazines that may have a more general, and thus
less controlling, slate of advertisers.
 
     After my last communication with STARLOG, I'd nominally decided to
withhold ALL cooperation with the magazine, including my cast, directors,
everyone.  Subsequently, I realized that this would be unfair to those
people, who deserve some recognition for their work and publicity for
their careers.  Unlike STARLOG's editors, I don't impose my personal
pique upon my work situation.  I will withhold any personal interviews,
however.  Which probably suits them just fine anyway.
 
     So in the end...everyone's happy.
 
                                                                   jms

Subject: Some de-briefing!  --AAINT Spo
Date: 19 Feb 1995 20:08:24 -0500

     If you trust Sheridan, there's no need for a lengthy report; plus,
a written report, no matter how well encrypted, can be broken or fall into
the wrong hands.  The best record of a secret meeting that could get you
fired or killed is no record at ALL.
 
                                                                 jms

Subject: ATTN JMS: Acts of Sacrifice SP
Date: 20 Feb 1995 03:25:05 -0500

     As it happens, I made it a point to be on-set the day we shot what we
ended up calling "the Ivanova dance."  Wanted to make sure it was done
correctly.  We only had to shoot it about three times, only in the master,
no coverage.  The crew was absolutely breathless after the first take,
from keeping from laughing.  It was very funny.
 
                                                                  jms

Subject: Saw "B5" Promo at WB Studio St
Date: 21 Feb 1995 05:07:37 -0500

     Really?  They're running promos?  That's very cool.....
 
	                                                                jms

Subject: ATTN JMS: Your Family
Date: 21 Feb 1995 04:48:20 -0500

     There's fairly little I'd want to say about my family on this forum
(or any).  Not in something that'll be archived.  Suffice to say that it
wasn't terrific; we probably could've been a poster family for
Dysfunctional Post-Nuclear Families.  The question's fine, but this is
something that I'll talk about at cons, or in person, but not on-line.
 
                                                                    jms


Subject: ATT JMS:Changed story on GoS
Date: 21 Feb 1995 19:08:26 -0500

     Mainly it was written with Ivanova solving her problem on her own,
without Garibaldi being there.
 
                                                          jms

Subject: ATT JMS: From Worst to First!
Date: 21 Feb 1995 22:36:13 -0500

     Well, that's welcome news, and I look forward to their next report.
 
                                                               jms

Subject: Whose dream? (no spoilers)
Date: 22 Feb 1995 06:23:42 -0500

     And of course there's the story of the man who dreamed he was a
butterfly, and when he awoke, wondered if he was actually a human
who dreamed he had been a butterfly, or a butterfly who was dreaming he
was a human....
 
	                                                                jms

Subject: All Alone in the Night - Anayl
Date: 23 Feb 1995 05:23:45 -0500

      Ejecting would not have purchased Ramirez's life because when the
system came back on line with its analysis, it announced that the
radiation was "already at terminal levels."  From the instant he heard
that, he was a dead man waiting to stop moving.  He could've sent the
ship back, risking a faulty autopilot...and might've died for nothing if
it encountered the *slightest* glitch en route.
 
                                                                     jms

Subject: Thoughts on Sheriden's Dream (
Date: 23 Feb 1995 05:24:01 -0500

     Without commenting much on the rest of this message, there is an
element of what you say in Sheridan's look up to see himself in the
dream.  In a way, there are several Sheridans in that dream, signifying
changes currently in the works, changes yet to come, messages
forthcoming or unrecognized.  It's a very reflective dream, which will
grow clearer the deeper one gets into the show.
 
     Certainly there are some archetypes that always creep into a work
of this sort; for all we all not Jung at heart...?
 
	                                                            jms

Subject: Question About Acts of Sacrifi
Date: 23 Feb 1995 05:24:17 -0500

     Nope; the Lumati aren't the same species as Zathras.
 
	                                                                   jms

Subject: ATTN JMS: Your Family
Date: 23 Feb 1995 05:49:39 -0500

     Will not be at NasFic; will try to be at Worldcon, duties permitting.
 
                                                                   jms

Subject: ATTN JMS; Repeat quote please.
Date: 23 Feb 1995 05:49:56 -0500

     Alas, I don't recall specifically what I wrote; but I'm sure it
 in ONE of the archives.
 
                                                              jms

Subject: ATTN: JMS  Stop it! Stop it! S
Date: 23 Feb 1995 05:54:47 -0500

      "When I look in my coffee cup at 3 a.m....I see a brilliant but
EVIL author at his computer."
 
      Hmmm....it's only 2:37 a.m. as I read this...so clearly this must
be referring to someone other than me.
 
      "Behind him, tentacles are waving in the shadows."
 
      Yes, definitely someone elAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!
 
                                                               jms

Subject: JMS: Bravo on the Ramirez Sequ
Date: 23 Feb 1995 05:55:05 -0500

     One of the themes in this show is how you face life...and how you
face death.  Ramirez faced his honorably.  In the end, honor and dignity
are all we have left.
 
	                                                                 jms

Subject: Re: Acts of Sacrifice <SPOILER
Date: 23 Feb 1995 06:17:59 -0500

      Actually, not to split hairs, the idea of sex sealing deals goes
back a heck of a lot longer than Larry Niven.  It's been part of treaty
signing and stuff going back to ancient Egypt, other parts of the middle
east, even parts of medeival europe.
 
                                                              jms

Subject: JMS: Earthforce oath?
Date: 23 Feb 1995 06:18:15 -0500

      The Earthforce Oath: "Wow, look at all those ships, there must be
THOUSANDS of them coming this wa

Subject: JMS: Acts of Sacrifice (OW! TH
Date: 23 Feb 1995 06:25:12 -0500

      The greatest accomplishment a writer can attain is to make his
reader or viewer feel the pain he feels from his characters, and the joy,
and all the other emotions.  If they were painful to watch, they were
painful to write.  So I guess this writing stuff may work out.
 
     (And if you think THIS is an emotional roller coaster, wait a bit.)
 
	                                                                  jms

Subject: ATT JMS:Can We See More on Non
Date: 23 Feb 1995 06:28:03 -0500

     I think you'll see a lot more of one of our non-aligned worlds, the
Marcab, very shortly.
 
	                                                                 jms

Subject: ATTN JMS:  USENET in credits?
Date: 23 Feb 1995 06:28:16 -0500

     Unfortunately there are strict rules on what can and can't be
included in credits; this ain't one of them.
 
                                                                  jms

Subject: Attn: JMS :  Newsweek blurb
Date: 23 Feb 1995 06:28:29 -0500

     Yeah, well, this and two bucks will get me a cup of coffee at the
Fame is Fleeting Cafe.
 
     "Rome Eternal, High and Palmy
     Home of Caesar and Salami
     Power fades and glory tumbles
     At'sa the way the pizza crumbles."   --  Victor Buono
 
                                                                      jms

Subject: ATTN JMS: Warner / Pictures
Date: 24 Feb 1995 04:51:23 -0500

      A coffeetable book is a great idea, which we've discussed, but have
had no bites yet.  As for the publicity...with luck, we may get a bit more
soon (having carried on a bit about it).
 
                                                                  jms

Subject: Babylon 5 - A Homeric Tale
Date: 24 Feb 1995 05:19:26 -0500

     As someone who has a great fondness for Homer's work, I think you
have just paid me the highest compliment conceivable.  Thank you.
 
	                                                            jms

Subject: Lumati- Did You all forget?!
Date: 24 Feb 1995 02:43:59 -0500

     Zathras is not part of the Lumati species.
 
                                                                 jms

Subject: JMS:  "AoS" and Life on the B5
Date: 24 Feb 1995 03:23:04 -0500

     Suffice to say just about everyone thought the scene was a hoot,and
everyone wanted to be there when it was done.
 
                                                                   jms

Subject: ATTN JMS:  Please confirm what
Date: 24 Feb 1995 23:22:27 -0500

     It was a dove, yes.
 
                                                                 jms

Subject: Attn: JMS - AoS Emotional
Date: 24 Feb 1995 23:45:29 -0500

     Thanks.  For me, emotions are the *point* of drama, to elicit some
feeling from the audience; or what's the point?
 
                                                                jms

Subject: ATTN JMS: character writing
Date: 24 Feb 1995 23:53:24 -0500

     Without mistake, I do draw upon a lot of my own background and
personality and experiences in relationships and other areas for my
work; it's hard, sometimes, because you've dealt with something in your
heart and nominally closed it...then you not only open it up, and write
it down, you watch other actors doing it.  Certain parts of the Sakai -
Sheridan axis, particularly their first meeting, and throughout that
episode, are almost verbatim.
 
     I don't think that using it in any way invalidates it for future use;
by exploring it once, you learn something about your feelings that you
may not have known before.  With time, and age, and experience, and
reflection, events take on different perspectives.  It's like the
difference in writing about your parents when you're 16 vs. when you're
50.  Same subject, different perspective.
 
                                                               jms

Subject: Re: Babylon 5 Fans
Date: 25 Feb 1995 01:50:27 -0500

     I will only say that I was as surprised by those fans as anyone
else (I was in editing all day when that was shot).
 
     Well, we're always saying around here, the more fans the better....
 
                                                                   jms

Subject: B% them used in ST:TNG/Taco Be
Date: 25 Feb 1995 03:33:15 -0500

      Is there any way you could get me a copy of that commercial, at
14431 Ventura Boulevard, Suite 260, Sherman Oaks, CA 91423?  Would be
much appreciated.
 
                                                              jms

Subject: Attn JMS: Lafayette Escadrille
Date: 25 Feb 1995 03:39:56 -0500

     Re: the Flying Tigers...I don't know if anyone noticed it, but
the symbol on Sheridan's helmet is the Flying Tigers symbol, used by
permission.
 
	                                                        jms

Subject: JMS: When will we understand t
Date: 25 Feb 1995 03:38:11 -0500

     You'll see at least one piece of Sheridan's vision decoded before
season's end.
 
                                                                jms

Subject: Re: JMS: Bravo on the Ramirez
Date: 25 Feb 1995 03:41:43 -0500

     "There needs to be some with god, or else what you build your life on
will collapse."
 
     Nope.  Start with many of the Founding Fathers, many of whom were
deists or freethinkers or non-believers.  Go back to pre-christianity, to
the great works of literature and art and architecture that survive to
this day.  You cannot stand in the shadow of the Pyramids, or in the
massive burial mound in New Grange (the oldest standing structure on the
planet, pre-bronze age), and not feel awe and respect for what has been
done.
 
     (Nuts, I left out the word "relationship" in the first sentence,
after "some."  Pretend you read it there.)
 
     Lots of people pretend to, or offer lip service to, or may even in
their view have "some relationship with god."  But not damned nearly
enough of them have some relationship with the suffering of their fellow
human beings.  There was our good old buddy James Watt, who said that we
don't need to preserve the forests because soon Christ will return and
eliminate the problem.
 
     Understand clearly and do not misrepresent in any reply: I have NO
problem whatsoever with believers of any stripe.  My problem emerges when
someone tells me that if I don't think as they do, my life is without
meaning or foundation.  No one is entitled to make that determination but
me.
 
     I'm an atheist.  Straight up.  I believe in the stubborn nobility of
the human being singular, the dignity and grace of our art and our
intellect and our heart.  I believe that a race which can write a sonnet,
split the atom, and walk on the moon has *nothing* to apologize for.
I believe that because we are only here for the duration of our life, and
that there is nothing after, that therefore *each* life is as precious
and valuable a resource as diamonds, and far rarer.  The Mona Lisa is of
note because there's only one.  There is only one of each of us.  To quote
from Lost Horizon, I believe there can be no greater or nobler creed than
the simplicity of, "Be *kind* to one another."  I believe that we are
stewards of our planet and brothers and sisters to the entirety of its
population.  I believe in the power of common men and women who, despite
pain and loss and overwhelming odds, can come together in common cause
and walk together into the future.  I look to World War II, where ordinary
people, starting out outgunned and unprepared for war and hit by
depression and surprise attack, shrugged off their coats, straightened
their spines, and walked off to beat the mightiest military force the
world had ever known; David facing a black-uniformed Goliath that stood
astride the planet on legs of fire and steel.  *That's* what we can do
when we make up our minds to do it.
 
     As Delenn said, we are better than we think and nobler than we
know, and at the end of the day, when we face that black, implacable
wall of death, for my money what matters is being able to look back at
one's life the way one looks at the end of a long day; did we fight our
own battles, were we as kind as we could be, did we move the future a
little closer, did we uplift and ennoble and enrich?
 
     It says in the Bible, "no greater love hath a man than that he lay
down his life for his brother."  In the case of Ramirez, or the crew of
the Narn cruiser in "Acts of Sacrifice," it's true regardless of whether
the person is an atheist or an alien race.
 
     Your question is framed around the premise of "who serves god?" but
my concern is "who serves humanity?"  One may be a monk and remain in
a monestary, and speak once in a dozen years, and serve god through the
daily effort and daily prayers that are the beginning and end of his
days.  One may be an atheist who gives to charity, helps build homes for
the homeless, and helps his fellows where possible.  The former serves
only himself; the latter serves humanity.  Both may approach their bed
at night with a clear conscience within the dictates of their beliefs.
(And yes, obviously those are two extreme examples, I'm not trying to
describe one camp or the other in such all-encompassing terms.)
 
     That which I choose to build my life upon will not "collapse"
because it has met the criteria I set for it.  I've told my stories,
touched other people; daily I receive letters from people who say that
my show has inspired them to begin careers in the sciences, or helped
them to deal with the death of a parent, or were moved by the sacrifices
portrayed in this show to give a little of themselves and switch to major
in social sciences or social work, or to become involved in charities.
The good work of this series will continue long after I am gone, and that
cannot be taken away, cannot collapse.  It is already done.
 
     And in the end, yes, all we have is the question of whether we go
with dignity and honor, knowing that we have lived our lives with passoin
(passion) and compassion in equal measure.  For me, that knowledge is
enough to sustain me when the game is finally called on account of
darkness.
 
     You do not have to believe as I do.  I do not consider your choice
a vain or foolish one, or attempt to invalidate it, or suggest that it
will collapse of its own weight.  All I ask is the same in response.
 
     Do not consider this a flame, for it is not meant as such; only as
a most...vigorous response.
 
                                                                    jms

Subject: jms: Ivonova's Mating Habits..
Date: 26 Feb 1995 03:47:54 -0500

     Thanks.  We only shot 3 takes of that scene.  She nailed it.
 
	                                                             jms

Subject: Help!  What's The Sanctuary?
Date: 26 Feb 1995 03:52:06 -0500

     The Sanctuary is where Sheridan and the Emperor had their lengthy
conversation; it's *all* a virtual set except the floor.
 
	                                                            jms

Subject: ATTN JMS: Ivanonva's Age ?
Date: 26 Feb 1995 03:51:49 -0500

     I'd say Ivanova is in her mid-thirties, thereabouts.
 
                                                               jms

Subject: Attn JMS: Season Two Architect
Date: 27 Feb 1995 03:10:16 -0500

     My sense is that B5 is constantly being fixed, and improved, and made
more liveable, so there will be changes in quarters, new areas opening up,
and the like (which covers Earhart's).  Though if we ever have a B5 Grand
Opening for a Wall-Mart, I'm leaving....
 
                                                                     jms

Subject: 1994 Hugo Nominations
Date: 27 Feb 1995 03:43:13 -0500

     Reminder to everyone...the more nominations are spread around between
lots of different episodes, the less the chance of any one of them getting
nominated or winning the thing.  If this is really something y'all want to,
do...think hard.
 
	                                                                   jms

Subject: ATTN:JMS: terrific writing & a
Date: 27 Feb 1995 03:38:22 -0500

     Thanks, and I will convey your good wishes to Mira.
 
                                                                jms

Subject: I find it strange that
Date: 27 Feb 1995 14:36:19 -0500

     Re: sneakers or the equivilent...this is a good point, and may need to
be addressed.
 
                                                                     jms