This file contains messages posted by J. Michael Straczynski on GEnie from Aug 1 - Aug 15th. Postings are copyright 1994 by J. Michael Straczynski with compilation copyright by GEnie. ************ Topic 1 Mon Oct 26, 1992 SF-MARSHALL [Dave ] at 18:50 EST Sub: Babylon 5 - The Series (Non-Spoiler) Welcome to the Babylon 5 category and main topic for the new series. Here is the place for all general information on the series. Topic 2 is the location for SPOILERS. And please, NO STORY IDEAS are to be posted either. 406 message(s) total. ************ ------------ Category 18, Topic 1 Message 148 Tue Aug 02, 1994 STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 20:39 EDT **** Announcement **** Since this information has now been released to the press, and will already begin showing up on the news wires by the time I write this, I can now make the following announcement. The new Commanding Officer for Babylon 5 will be Captain John Sheridan, former commanding officer of the Agamemmnon, a deep space Earthforce military cruiser, where he was stationed for the last two years. During the Earth/Minbari war, he scored arguably the only real victory in that war, the destruction of the Minbar War Cruiser Black Star, and several accompanying vessels, through slightly unconventional means. He has been appointed to B5 over the strongly-voiced objections of the Minbari Government, which still holds a considerable grudge over the Black Star incident. But the President feels strongly that the Minbari have had too much influence in B5, and that this has to be reined in. Captain John Sheridan will be portrayed by the highly-regarded actor Bruce Boxleitner, who starred in "Scarecrow and Mrs. King," such miniseries as "East of Eden," "Till We Meet Again," "From the Dead of Night," "The Gambler V," and has appeared in such feature films as "The Babe." Bruce is also a long-time SF fan, both in media and print. He is excited about joining the Babylon 5 team, and we're equally excited to have him. Bruce begins filming with our first episode, "Points of Departure," starting August 10th. jms ------------ Category 18, Topic 1 Message 194 Thu Aug 04, 1994 STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 00:39 EDT (sigh...internet gateway always goes down when I want to hear some reactiosn to stuff....) (Er, reactions.) Re: Ivanova lines...how about Susanalia? jms ------------ Category 18, Topic 1 Message 205 Thu Aug 04, 1994 STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 04:01 EDT Lynn: of course we're going to tie it together. Right in the first episode. The story is still tracking. jms ------------ Category 18, Topic 1 Message 245 Sat Aug 06, 1994 STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 02:27 EDT Well, while here in San Diego for ComicCon (logging in via laptop) I was surprised to receive an Inkpot Award at the SDCC banquet for the body (and presumably the soul) of my work to date on various shows including B5. jms ------------ Category 18, Topic 1 Message 284 Tue Aug 09, 1994 STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 02:38 EDT Well, the "Danger Zone" tape that I played was courtesy of J.Hudgens (Fenn), so you may want to ask him about it. jms ------------ Category 18, Topic 1 Message 290 Wed Aug 10, 1994 STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 03:01 EDT Well, tomorrow, at 8 a.m., filming for Season Two of BABYLON 5 begins in earnest (minus one establisher the Monday preceding, and a shot we got a couple months ago). Today I saw a camera test of Bruce in his Captain's uniform, standing in the Bazaar (a new set). Looks great. He has rather reddish hair, which contrasts well with the blue (okay, teal) uniform. The uniform was still being sewed, and had the tailor's marks, and loose threads, and was still being modified (we're making some small tailoring changes to make the uniforms fit better and read better on camera, and to start introducing some almost subliminal changes in the way you perceive the Earth Alliance)...but it looked great, he was very much at his ease, and this was the first frame of film shot for year two. The stories are shaping up to be very exciting; things are going to move a LOT faster this season, now that we've established our universe in fair detail. It lets us concentrate on our characters. Some fun titles for you..."The Customer is Always Right," "The Very Long Night of Susan Ivanova," "Unnatural Selection," "A Race Through Dark Places," and others. It's often hard to get excited about stuff, because you're in the middle of it all, racing from one thing to another...but I think I'm now getting a little excited, as the reality finally sinks in. Until the day you start rolling film, it's all theoretical. Now it becomes real. So tomorrow commences "Points of Departure." The ride begins again. jms ------------ Category 18, Topic 1 Message 296 Wed Aug 10, 1994 STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 14:31 EDT Second year narration will be Sheridan. Third year probably either Ivanova or Delenn. Fourth year G'Kar. Fifth year...possibly no one. jms ------------ Category 18, Topic 1 Message 326 Thu Aug 11, 1994 STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 23:49 EDT I don't know what's in the TBA slot. It was initially put in on the off- chance that we could convince PTEN to show "Chrysalis" early. As for videotapes...probably later in the Fall. jms ------------ Category 18, Topic 1 Message 337 Fri Aug 12, 1994 STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 15:26 EDT The internet stuff is, btw, somewhat exaggerated; a bunch of people in the same market (Cincinnati) noticed the change, and in some cases didn't get the information right. (They said it was being dropped, when in fact it was being time-shifted to Saturday afternoons and Sunday late (very) evenings.) This is nothing anywhere near serious enough to warrant anybody writing anyone. jms ------------ Category 18, Topic 1 Message 342 Fri Aug 12, 1994 STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 21:52 EDT Well, actually, I'm not entirely sure that that's true, that's all. "The Quality of Mercy" is a smaller, character-based story, not a big blow- out; in fact, it has virtually NO CGI, and no arc stuff. It's a nice, fairly enclosed little story. The problem that one encounters, given the specific kind of series we're doing here, is that the major stories have to have every single little detail dead right, and they're filled with zillions of little clues that only I know. To usher a freelancer through that process would require VAST amounts more hand-holding than on the personal stories. And as a result, the freelancers *prefer* to do those stories (from wha they've told me) because they have a LOT more latitude to pursue the story where they might like to take it; if they do a major arc story/blowout, the parameters are MUCH more strict. One other aspect to all this is that big EFX stories can be hideously expensive, unless you know exactly how to write it to avoid that. You can write it one way, and it stays in budget; you can write it anther way and literally be tens of thousands of dollars over budget. Because I work very closely with the production people, I can turn out a first draft that is generally spot-on, money-wise; with a freelancer, who doesn't know the parameters, you have to *massively* overhaul the first drafts of a big story to bring it down to something you can produce. (Even Larry has this problem; "Deathwalker" in particular was originally 'way beyond what we could do, and had to be made producible.) Anyway, those are the reasons you generally tend to see my name on the Blowout episodes. But in many ways, I prefer the smaller ones, and this coming season I'll be doing more of those. jms ------------ Category 18, Topic 1 Message 358 Sat Aug 13, 1994 STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 20:38 EDT Re: narration...yes, the plan is to change it each year, partly because it needn't convey the same information every year, partly because it should be somewhat from each person's individual point of view. jms ------------ ************ Topic 2 Wed Nov 20, 1991 STARR [Arne] at 19:41 EST Sub: Babylon 5 -- The Series!! >>SPOILERS<< Babylon 5 offically became a series on May 28 '93. There will be 22 hour eps for season one (in addition to the pilot). Airs Wednesdays at 8PM in most places starting Jan. 26 '94. This is the SPOILER topic where anything goes. 370 message(s) total. ************ ------------ Category 18, Topic 2 Message 235 Tue Aug 02, 1994 STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 00:57 EDT Mr. T -- force field technology is nowhere within Earth's grasp in 2258. (In fact, I don't know for sure that ANY of our races have that particular tech at the level you're describing.) Also, the second you put that up, if there were such things, then you know the station could never be in danger...and suddenly you'd have to start finding ways to *disable* the system, have it break down, to have any real jeapordy. Besides, the jump gate is only used to save energy; any ship big enough to pose a real threat to B5 could make its own jump point...and you can't build a force field everywhere. At any given day, someone on the LA freeway can turn around and see somebody with a gun pull up alongside. Life is dangerous. B5 reflects that. The more implausible safeguards you come up with because you want a nice, safe, riskless society, the more elaborate nonsense you have to go through to circumvent those safeguards to have any dramatics. jms ------------ Category 18, Topic 2 Message 241 Tue Aug 02, 1994 STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 20:29 EDT By the standards of general society, yes, TV writers are hideously overpaid. By the standards of the revenue generated by what these same TV shows make for the studios...they are vastly *under*paid. jms ------------ Category 18, Topic 2 Message 246 Wed Aug 03, 1994 STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 00:48 EDT ANYONE who says that "it is easy to write an impressive speech" has never had to write one. And I'm sorry, but people *do* speak in blocks from time to time and it's PART of a dialogue. There are no monologues of the kind you describe, Jim, which consists of one person talking alone in a room. They are always part of a dialogue, they ARE dialogue, period. You seem to think that dialogue is one sentence from A, one sentence from B, another from A. Sometimes it is. Sometimes it ain't. Londo was not alone in the room delivering a monologue about the Narns; he was responding to a point raised by Delenn and explaining the situation. Sometimes that takes more than one sentence. As far as I can remember, I don't think I've ever had a conversation in my entire life where nobody ever said more than three sentences at one time. You sometimes have to break in, "Let me get in a word in edgewise here." That is PART of dialogue. You may not like it. That's your business. But if you say it's not dialogue, I'm sorry, but you're simply, flatly and irredeemably wrong. jms ------------ Category 18, Topic 2 Message 249 Wed Aug 03, 1994 STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 01:53 EDT They haven't built 5 Babylon stations. The first three were sabotaged/damaged during the *very* early stages of construction; they never got very far with them, so the cost was minimal. Only #4 was completed, very expensive. When that vanished, they decided to scrimp and (with Minbari additional funding) built a half-assed B5; there will never be a B6. jms ------------ Category 18, Topic 2 Message 270 Thu Aug 04, 1994 STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 00:56 EDT Yes, in 7 days, we see B4. (Do I live to please, or what?) Had two Susan russianisms in the two-parter, they slipped past; I generally keep them more distinct. I don't think there are any more for the rest of the season. RE: similarity in initials...well, a creator has to take some liberties in character identification.... RE: casting Boxleitner and differences in how the character fits in...he fits tighter into the events of year two than Sinclair would have, in terms of being on B5, due to the desire to increase some of the tension on-station. The questin of who you can really trust starts to take on weight next season. Also, Sinclair's place of relocation will allow us to bring in some new elements that you'll start spotting about mid-season (we'll see who notices them first; they'll be in the background to start, then move forward). And, again, we can broaden out the storyline. A *lot* of people were considered for this role...because you have to look at all of the possibilities, and from there find the one person most suited to your show. Some of the other people who were on the list were Anthony Andrews, James Earl Jones, Roger Reece, A. Martinez...but the one name that really kept coming to the top of the list, who both Doug and I wanted the most, was Bruce. He has all the right attributes for the character, and Doug has worked with him before, knowing him to be a nifty guy...good with people, a hard worker, a team player, dedicated to his craft and his show...good, decent, honorable people are sometimes hard to find, but Bruce has all of those qualities and more. We spent a couple of hours the other day just hanging out in the B5 offices, talking SF (he'd just finished reading Harry Turtledove's newest Civil War book, and had started on another...he's a big fan of 50s SF as well as such films as Blade Runner, vastly preferring the director's cut) and fighter aircraft (he's a buff and collector of aircraft memorabilia, and has flown just about every kind of plane)...had a great time. He really complements the show because, like those of us who man the other areas, he really is a stone SF fan. (His kids in particular REALLY wanted him to do the show.) He's watched B5 and likes it a lot. I think you're gonna like him a *lot*. jms ------------ Category 18, Topic 2 Message 276 Thu Aug 04, 1994 STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 04:04 EDT My thought was always that big ships have interceptors to take out incoming fire, and other kinds of weaponry to deflect or knock asice (aside) other incoming fire. The key is to overload the defense system so that some things get through (and the enemy ship did take some pretty heavy hits at various points). jms ------------ Category 18, Topic 2 Message 308 Tue Aug 09, 1994 STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 02:44 EDT Ben: thanks. For what it's worth...I tend to write *very* tightly; I don't like to leave things hanging, and I don't like threads that don't get resolved. Chekhov wrote, "If there is a gun on the wall in act one, scene one, then you *must* use the gun by act three, scene three." You don't put in things you don't intend to use. So the future stuff will all be dealt with. When all is said and done...all will have been said and done. jms ------------ Category 18, Topic 2 Message 320 Wed Aug 10, 1994 STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 14:32 EDT Is this the *real* TV Guide or a local publication? jms ------------ Category 18, Topic 2 Message 329 Thu Aug 11, 1994 STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 00:48 EDT Jim: no, I'm sorry, but you're simply wrong on this. As of the teaser in "Voice," they knew that a world previously thought dead and uninhabited was in fact sending out an *extremely* powerful beacon; that alone confirms the existence of some new alien tech, probably very advanced. As soon as that beacon was detected, and a report filed (which was almost immediate), the Hyperion got its orders. Remember, Earth is obsessed with getting its hands on new technology. The Hyperion continued to monitor reports as it proceeded to B5. The Captain's line tracks. Please don't describe things as "improbable" or "plot contrivances" because you haven't thought them through. You do this frequently. jms ------------ Category 18, Topic 2 Message 352 Sat Aug 13, 1994 STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 20:40 EDT Sheridan, the universe willing, will be there throughout the rest of the B5 story. jms ------------ ************ Topic 3 Tue Nov 03, 1992 STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 03:09 EST Sub: Babylon 5 - Computer SFX Tech-Talk Some of the new computer EFX used in BABYLON 5 will be revolutionary, a new approach never seen before on this scale. It's all new tech, and this topic will try and address the new technologies involved. 384 message(s) total. ************ ------------ Category 18, Topic 3 Message 358 Tue Aug 02, 1994 STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 00:58 EDT She doesn't mention it in any of the following episodes; stress brings it out of her. jms ------------ ************ Topic 4 Tue Nov 03, 1992 STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 03:12 EST Sub: Babylon 5 - Cast & Characters For discussion of the actors who will be bringing BABYLON 5 to life with their performances...for information before, and discussion after the airing of "The Gathering" pilot. 331 message(s) total. ************ ------------ Category 18, Topic 4 Message 298 Thu Aug 04, 1994 STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 04:10 EDT "Gary Cooper was a bad actor. He WAS wooden." Say *what*? Has the taste of the american public been so diminished by over the top hysterics and overemoting and "method" that a performer as restrained and intelligent and *talented* as Gary Cooper is now considered BAD? Go out and rent HIGH NOON and *watch* it...then tell me he's anything less than one of the finest actors this country has ever produced. Jesus...just because an actor isn't ripping his shirt of and yelling "STELLLLLLLLAAAAAA" at the top of his lungs, somehow he's "bad." jms ------------ Category 18, Topic 4 Message 328 Mon Aug 15, 1994 STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 19:59 EDT Shawn Cassidy can write? jms ------------ ************ Topic 5 Tue Nov 03, 1992 T.ORTH [Mr. Rico] (Forwarded) Sub: Grid Epsilon Irregulars - News & Info. This topic is for information about Babylon 5 fan groups, newsletters, fanzines, get-togethers, B-5 at conventions, and other general fun. 292 message(s) total. ************ ------------ Category 18, Topic 5 Message 235 Sat Aug 06, 1994 STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 02:21 EDT ...ahem. (Extra-Large) jms ------------ Category 18, Topic 5 Message 244 Mon Aug 08, 1994 STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 15:43 EDT ...ahem.... jms ------------ ************ Topic 12 Wed Nov 18, 1992 B.WIST [Brad] at 18:12 EST Sub: Babylon 5 Sightings Post here when you've spotted Babylon 5, whether it be on Television, Magazine, or somewhere else. Let us know where we can find it/see it, too. 350 message(s) total. ************ ------------ Category 18, Topic 12 Message 343 Sun Aug 07, 1994 STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 03:05 EDT Many journalists are, frankly, idiots and crude; they look for ways to be cruel. (I'm talking mainly entertainment journalists, not the real kind.) In talking to some who've called for interviews, they go to "so, why'd you kick him off?" or "when did he get shoved out?" and it's so damned infuriating...they have to find some way to make this News With An Edge, give it some controversy, some heat, when none exists. I hate it a lot. jms ------------ ************ Topic 14 Thu Dec 31, 1992 STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 03:59 EST Sub: Lurkers/Introductions: Please Sign In A place for newcomers to come in, say hello, whether you want to jump into the conversation or not, just to let us know you're here. 482 message(s) total. ************ ------------ Category 18, Topic 14 Message 471 Fri Aug 12, 1994 STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 03:29 EDT And don't forget PIDATS...People of Infinite Discretion and Taste. jms ------------ ************ Topic 16 Fri Jan 15, 1993 T.ORTH [Mr. Rico] at 01:02 EST Sub: "No kids or cute robots, ever!" This is a topic for discussion of the unofficial slogan of Babylon 5. 180 message(s) total. ************ ------------ Category 18, Topic 16 Message 172 Sat Aug 13, 1994 STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 20:44 EDT Yes, and they're damned tasty. jms ------------ ************ Topic 17 Tue Jan 19, 1993 C.STOBBE [Colin] at 21:02 EST Sub: Babylon 5 - Merchandising A place to discuss all the neat Babylon 5 merchandising coming out (hopefully) soon 443 message(s) total. ************ ------------ Category 18, Topic 17 Message 420 Sat Aug 06, 1994 STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 02:24 EDT Michelle Sucillon at Warner Bros. licensing, in Burbank. jms ------------ ************ Topic 23 Fri Feb 12, 1993 V.VAIDY1 [Vijay] at 23:00 EST Sub: "OtherWorks" by JMS Before there was "B5" and when "JMS" was just another Plain Joe, there was OtherSyde [A discussion of the other works of J. Michael Straczynski] 203 message(s) total. ************ ------------ Category 18, Topic 23 Message 203 Sun Aug 14, 1994 STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 17:41 EDT Ah, yes...that was actually kind of a cool episode, though some cuts in the version now on USA kind of remove some of the more personal aspects of the show. (Cindy probably knows more specifically what was cut.) jms ------------ ************ Topic 30 Mon Jul 04, 1994 D.KAUFFMAN5 [CyberDad] at 13:14 EDT Sub: Nods, In-Jokes, and References Post any nods, in-jokes, or references you have seen here. For example, Babylon 5 refers to the Babylon of ancient Earth; the location of B5 is at Grid Epsilon 470/18/22, the location of the original B5 topic on GEnie. 115 message(s) total. ************ ------------ Category 18, Topic 30 Message 108 Mon Aug 15, 1994 STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 02:39 EDT As it happens, the script for that scene said, basically, that Garibaldi gives out a YELL that goes on and on as he fires for all h he's worth. Ye Author takes no responsibility for any words that crept in there. jms ------------ ************ Topic 31 Sat Jul 09, 1994 STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 20:23 EDT Sub: Really Stupid Questions from JMS Every so often, I need Information. (You won't get it!) Technical stuff, research or reference stuff...and given the brain trust here, I figured this could be a useful resource from time to time. With appreciation. 119 message(s) total. ************ ------------ Category 18, Topic 31 Message 100 Tue Aug 02, 1994 STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 03:36 EDT (The following to be read in the voice of Humphrey Bogart) Now listen up, I need a name, see...I gotta lean on somebody and I gotta lean hard. Don't weasel out on me now when I need you, this is for all the marbles. A name, got it? Somebody who works for Dell Computers, somebody I can lean on, somebody who knows somebody who knows Somebody, maybe a president, maybe a VP, doesn't matter.... Oh, and if you hear some noise from the back room...don't look back. jms ------------ Category 18, Topic 31 Message 105 Wed Aug 03, 1994 STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 00:51 EDT (waiting, let's see if they can resolve this.) jms ------------ Category 18, Topic 31 Message 112 Sat Aug 06, 1994 STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 02:26 EDT A second 1-gig drive was installed, but never hooked up,and I was told by Dell it couldn't be hooked up to deliver more than 500 megs (even though I'd paid $999 for the one gig), and wouldhave to be shipped back and exchanged, after I'd configured the damn thing. Well, while I've been away, I'm told that Dell has actually fixed the thing; I'll know for sure Monday when I check it out again. jms ------------ ************ Topic 22 Sun Apr 17, 1994 STARR [Arne] at 23:54 EDT Sub: #120 - "A Voice In The Wilderness" - 1 by JMS. Directed by Janet Greek. 152 message(s) total. ************ ------------ Category 19, Topic 22 Message 104 Mon Aug 01, 1994 STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 01:21 EDT Dave...he didn't turn the set off...it was broken up by static, if you'll go back and look, because a much stronger transmission was coming in. Namely, the one that appeared in his room. If you'll note, it goes away, THEN, puzzled, Sinclair goes to the screen to see why it's gone. It is, as you say, "very annoying" to be accused of a "standard TV cliche" that in fact only happened in the viewer's memory. jms ------------ Category 19, Topic 22 Message 117 Tue Aug 02, 1994 STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 00:50 EDT There is a middle ground here. The people who like to speculate do so in print because they want to see (and be seen) if they were right or wrong; else why write it? You can write to a topic without ever having read it. So why not speculate on voice 2 *in* voice two, then after you've seen the episode, do a REA 23 1-whatever the last number is? This way, you don't see any spoilers that you don't want to see, and other folks don't have to worry about it? This is fast becoming one of those discussions over who has what *rights* when in fact it should be about politeness. jms ------------ Category 19, Topic 22 Message 140 Thu Aug 04, 1994 STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 00:30 EDT J.Ward...no, you don't have to read a topic to post there. You can post in, say, part 2, then wait until after you've seen the episode, and THEN read all the messages there. jms ------------ ************ Topic 23 Sun Apr 17, 1994 STARR [Arne] at 23:56 EDT Sub: #121 - "A Voice In The Wilderness" - 2 by JMS. Directed by Janet Greek. 107 message(s) total. ************ ------------ Category 19, Topic 23 Message 25 Thu Aug 04, 1994 STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 00:35 EDT RE: predictable...it was never meant to be much of a mystery; this particular episode isn't a who-dunit, or who's-gonna-do-it-to-whom. Some I write with that in mind, some are those in which you *know* something is going to happen to someone, and you have a fair idea what, but the "how" is something you don't know. It's the ride getting there. jms ------------ Category 19, Topic 23 Message 29 Thu Aug 04, 1994 STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 01:21 EDT Draal will not get involved in such things. The fate of B5 must be played out without interference. They can ask, but he will not reply. Most pre-War EA warships operated sans gravity, though some of the later, larger ones used counterweight-spinning to create a tiny bit of gravity (a la 2010), but when going into battle, that is disabled to give the ship maximum maneuverability. (Can't decide if it's wonderful or sad that we've worked this stuff out to this amount of detail....you'll probably see one or more of the latter kinds of ships next season.) jms ------------ Category 19, Topic 23 Message 42 Fri Aug 05, 1994 STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 02:52 EDT The captain of the Hyperion specifically states that he was already IN hyperspace, en route to another system, when he was ordered to stop here. His ship was already in the area. Also, there is a fair amount of time between the actions on the planet initially, and the arrival of the Hyperion...enough to know there's some kind of tech there, based on the initial attacks. The Hyperion continued to monitor reports as they came in. jms ------------ ************ Topic 24 Sun Apr 17, 1994 STARR [Arne] at 23:58 EDT Sub: #118 - "Babylon Squared" by JMS. Directed by Jim Johnston. 122 message(s) total. ************ ------------ Category 19, Topic 24 Message 15 Mon Aug 08, 1994 STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 02:08 EDT A thought to bear in mind re: the whole Sinclair thing...I announced on the various forums several *months* ago about the change in his role, moving off the chessboard. If we really were never going to see Sinclair again, one particular shot would have been deleted from the episode; it would not have caused us any problem since we were still messing with it anyway, and we've certainly left things unexplained in other episodes, like "Mind War." We could've left the One unexplained. We chose not to. You can read into that what you will. jms ------------ Category 19, Topic 24 Message 40 Thu Aug 11, 1994 STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 00:37 EDT Cindy: on the one hand, one of the true ingredients of tragedy (or just plain drama in some cases) is that you know something that hte (the) characters *don't* know, and if you like the characters, and you know something just awful may happen to them, but you don't know exactly how or when, it adds interest, I think. On the other hand, 1) I've never stated that that was where Garibaldi does (or doesn't) check out, and 2) go watch "Signs" again; there's a shuttle seen leaving B5 instants before it explodes. Who's on it? We'll have to wait and see. Certainly, though, this would be one good prospect for a good death. But my point is you *don't* know...so the uncertainty remains. jms ------------ Category 19, Topic 24 Message 84 Sat Aug 13, 1994 STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 20:31 EDT I don't think one should assume anything about the fate of *any* of our characters...it's WAY early to do that, and I wouldn't tip too much at this juncture anyway. jms ------------ Category 19, Topic 24 Message 88 Sun Aug 14, 1994 STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 02:54 EDT Alas, if I revealed the first two ages, it would reveal the third by inference.... Paulman: you are righter than you know. jms ------------ Category 19, Topic 24 Message 95 Sun Aug 14, 1994 STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 17:34 EDT He was looking out a port as the shuttles raced away from B4. Mike: it'll all hang together in the end. If I'd wanted, if that scene with the One revealed would've been a problem, I could've easily cut it LONG before delivering it to PTEN, and left it a "mystery yet to be explained." No problem. But I didn't. It all still tracks. Peter: I agree about the exposure the show is(n't) getting. It's just very hard to make people understand what we're trying to do here. jms ------------ Category 19, Topic 24 Message 110 Mon Aug 15, 1994 STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 15:28 EDT An interesting (one hopes) sidelight to the episode.... This is, after all, two stories overlapping...the present story, and the future story. When, eventually, that future story is shown, it has to be absolutely consistent with the events in B-squared. So what was required, really, was to block out two scripts...this one, and the one yet to be written, so that the events dovetail in the right sequence. (The best analogy would be the last two "Back to the Future" films.) It was kind of a bear, but an interesting thought experiment. jms ------------ Category 19, Topic 24 Message 113 Mon Aug 15, 1994 STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 19:58 EDT It's very much a personal philosophy. This theme -- sacrifice of oneself for another -- is one that appears again and again and again in my work. I think that we have lost something important in the "me first" philosophy that has become entrenched in American society. jms ------------ Category 19, Topic 24 Message 122 Tue Aug 16, 1994 STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 19:53 EDT Actually, I never said that the Minbari all go through changes from male to female or vice versa; that became a bit of accepted story because people kept repeating it, going from speculation to being "sure" I said it. Didn't. jms ------------