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The Lurker's Guide to Babylon 5
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The following postings from JMS (and occasionally others) are from the
CompuServe information service. They're collected by Michele Worley,
michele_l_worley@yahoo.com.
BABYLON 5: MINBARI CASTES #801209 (Reposted with author's permission)
DATE: WED AUG 24, 1994 12:46:08
FROM: IMS, 75050,357
Question: Do the Religious Caste perform functions
similar to our organized religions for the Warrior
Caste and workers? It would seem that the Religious
Caste could either be the ones who provide spiritual
guidance, rituals, ceremonies, religious teaching, etc.
for the others or they could be more monastic in nature
preferring a scholarly, aloof lifestyle separate from
the other two groups.
I'm curious about the role of the Religious Caste in
everyday Minbari life.
Thanks for a great show!
DATE: WED AUG 24, 1994 2:23:04 (#801261)
That describes it pretty well; I'll probably
get into this more in detail down the road a piece.
jms
DATE: THUR AUG 25, 1994 1:14:04 AM #801949
There will be 22 episodes in season two.
jms
DATE: THUR AUG 25, 1994 9:06:29 PM #802638
Usually, depending on circumstances, it takes me about 2 weeks to
write any episode of a TV series, including B5. That's from zero, no
outline, to finished script. I've done it in as little time as two days
(when I was on Murder, She Wrote). Optimum is about 7-10 days.
jms
DATE: FRI AUG 26, 1994 4:23:02 AM #803023
"What was the hardest thing you ever had to write?"
Usually it's the next thing...whatever that happens to be.
(If you take it out of the area of scripts, then the hardest
thing I've ever had to write was my second novel, emotionally and
physically, since I was doing about 3 jobs simultaneously. The next
really major hurdle waiting for me is my planned 3rd novel, which
will be around 1,000 pages and extremely complex.)
jms
DATE: FRI AUG 26, 1994 11:34:18 PM #804003
The planned third novel is more along the lines of
contemporary dark fantasy, not horror.
jms
DATE: THUR AUG 25, 1994 9:06:26 PM #802636
Generally speaking, I don't write for other shows.
The pilot for the other SF series was written during
the hiatus. I haven't written for any other series
since taking on B5.
jms
--------------------------------------------------
QUESTION #803044: (JMS' new pilot != JMS' movie screenplay?)
--------------------------------------------------
BABYLON 5: NEW JMS PROJECTS #803996
DATE: FRI AUG 26, 1994 11:34:05 PM
Yes, but I separate out "movies" from "shows/series." The
GRIMJACK screenplay will be turn in around the end of the year.
If the other pilot should go to series, I'll exec produce and
write some of it, but will have to bring on a qualified show runner
for day-to-day operations.
jms
BABYLON 5: B5 AND COMPUTERS #803998
DATE: FRI AUG 26, 1994 11:34:08 PM
No, can't currently discuss the other pilot in any detail
other than to say that it's contemporary SF.
jms
BABYLON 5: B5 AND COMPUTERS #804000
DATE: FRI AUG 26, 1994 11:34:12 PM
A lot of other shows now gearing up are looking to the B5 "model"
as they call it for what to do, including CGI. The only show that is
not going to CGI, it seems, is ST.
The result of all this, one hopes will be more SF series coming out
where because there isn't the constant concern about what EFX you can and
can't do, they can concentrate more on the story.
jms
BABYLON 5: NEW JMS PROJECTS #804001
DATE: FRI AUG 26, 1994 11:34:14 PM
People who've noted the datestamps on my messages on
various systems find they're posted at all times of day...
up to 3-4 a.m. Basically, I'm working from the minute I get
up, to the minute I go to sleep, with one-hour breaks for
lunch and dinner, and sometimes I'll watch Letterman or
TV Nation, but that's about it. I sleep maybe 4-5 hours a
day.
jms
DATE: SUN AUG 28, 1994 3:24:21 AM #805189
Personally, I still like the pets on prozac story
(though I kinda preferred the log-dog *before* they
gave him the prozac).
jms
BABYLON 5: AFTER THE 2ND SEASON #802639
DATE: THURS AUG 25, 1994 9:06:30 PM
The SF channel doesn't have the money required to produce full scale
dramatic series, which is why they do basic talk-format shows. And B5 is
basically owned by PTEN, not me (the same way Paramount owned ST, not
Roddenberry). So anything afterward becomes highly problematic.
jms
----------------------------------
QUESTION: invitation to Mid-Ohio-Con (Nov 26-27)
----------------------------------
DATE: THURS AUG 25, 1994 9:06:27 PM #802637
I don't think I can do mid-Ohio-con, simply because
I'll be doing three others at that time, and I suspect
I'm going to be convention'd out by that point, and there
is this little series they tell me I'm supposed to be
exec producing....
jms
-----------------------------------
QUESTION #803327: Will you show Chrysalis at the Dallas
convention? (paraphrase)
-----------------------------------
BABYLON 5: CONVENTION APPEARANCE #803997
DATE: FRI AUG 26, 1994 11:34:07 PM
No plans currently for a showing of "Chrysalis," but
I'll know more the closer we get to that date.
jms
BABYLON 5: BORING B5 #802615
DATE: THURS AUG 25, 1994 8:54:04 PM
Then stop watching. If you don't like a show, stop
watching. I don't understand, and have never understood,
people who watch a show they say they don't like, just to
crab about it.
jms
BABYLON 5: BORING B5 #804002
DATE: FRI AUG 26, 1994 11:34:16 PM
What I *don't* understand is how you can characterize
the show as harmless and fluff...we've had parents who kill
their children, an alcoholic main character who's still
recovering, a commander with a death wish, a second in command
going through the emotional turmoil of sitting shiva for her
dead father and still dealing with the death of her mother by
suicide... well, I could go on, but I don't much see the point.
What you see is what you see.
jms
BABYLON 5: B5 AND COMPUTERS #802903
DATE: FRI AUG 26, 1994 12:59:03 AM
Yes, CGI will be used in the second project we're doing, which is
even more challenging (and interesting) from an EFX perspective because
there will be a lot of location filming.
As far as the amount of CGI for this coming season...as with our
first season, there will be as much as the stories require, no less, no
more. The effects have to service the story, not the other way around.
jms
BABYLON 5: NEW JMS PROJECTS #803024
DATE: FRI AUG 26, 1994 4:23:04 AM
Nothing will ever be allowed to affect B5.
jms
----------------------------------
COMMENT: Things around here are slow because of reruns (paraphrase
from #802665)
-----------------------------------
BABYLON 5: RERUNS #802936
DATE: FRI AUG 26, 1994 1:30:21 AM
Actually, I'm not entirely sure that's true. I've been tracking
the audience response, and the ratings for the last seven weeks have
ALL increased over the one before, a step up every week by as much as a
third of a ratings point. So we're suddenly adding a *lot* of new
viewers to whom the reruns are first-run.
Also, gauging from the mail we get at the B5 offices, we've added a
lot of new viewers since TNG went off the air. Several people have
written in to say that while TNG was on, they felt funny about going over
to B5, despite having heard some good things about it. When TNG was gone,
one of those obstacles was removed, and now they've been sampling the show.
Finally, after being on the air for a full year, there's finally been
enough time for word of mouth to start getting around, and that's also
adding to the viewership. So I suspect that there will be a fair number
of folks with comments about reruns that they're seeing for the first time.
jms
BABYLON 5: O'HARE/SINCLAIR--WHY?? #805194
DATE: SUN AUG 28, 1994 3:38:30 AM
Actually, yes, I believe there is a Michael O'Hare Fan Club; I saw
a posting on Internet about it...maybe someone else here saw it and can
relay the details.
I have, btw, now seen the finished (minus music and some minimal EFX)
first episode of B5 with Bruce. We did the producer's cut yesterday, and
I have to say that I think it's very nice. Last season's first episode was,
I think (and as I said at the time), a bit less than it could've been from
a characterization point of view. That was something we grew into slowly
over the course of the season.
In this year two first-episode, there's a lot of humor, some interesting
plot turns, and a very solid emphasis on the characters. It's sort of a
sandwich episode; "Chrysalis," the last year one episode (which apparently
will air a week prior to season two's debut), is *extremely* intense...so is
the second episode of year two, "Revelations." People are going to need
some respite from that, and "Points of Departure" does this quite nicely.
And Bruce does a wonderful job in the role. He's brought a lot to the
table, and I think people are going to be very pleased.
jms
STAR TREK: DAVID ALEXANDER: MORE #791971
TO: ALL
DATE: SUN AUG 14, 1994 11:57:07 PM
To all and sundry...just to put some closure on the whole David Alexander
situation, I thought I'd pass this along. Near as I can tell, this is a
reply to a message of mine, here on this forum, that scrolled off the
forum and ended up in DA's mailbox. He replied to it. Since it was a
reply to a public message, I'm passing it along here, in toto, without
revision or distortion. (All I can assume from memory is that I was
noting in my original message that he never did deal with *any* of the
issues raised in my original posting calling several of his statements
into question, particularly when they contradicted one another.
The only comment that I would make on the following is that 1) I never got
ANY answers to ANY of the questions raised, which kinda makes moot the
"not to your liking" aspect, and 2) I never said, implied, or stated that
I was any kind of authority on Roddenberry's life...my questions were
based strictly on the statements made by Alexander within the context of
his message, which seemed to clearly indicate substantial bias against
Gerrold and others.
Once again, the question is misstated and bent to make it easier to attack.
Ah, well...message follows.
***
Date: 14-Aug-94 13:41 PDT From: David Alexander [71271,1162]
Reply to: Message Scrolled from SF & Fantasy Forum
Mr. Straczinski,
You labor under the illusion that because you send questions and demand a
response that I am, somehow, under obligation to respond, and if those
answers are not to your liking, then I am to respond again and again to
any and all questions you care to put - as if you were some sort of final
authority on the truth of Gene Roddenberry's life or my motivation in
writing his biography. I have no interest in becoming involved in what
is clearly a CompuServe "tar baby."
I admit that I was unaware of the "rules of behavior," that one had to
cleverly couch one's insults and snottiness in polite language. Of
course, I had been attacked and accused of a number of things, including
felonious behavior, for several weeks before I came on the forum, but
that doesn't seem to matter. I was blunt in my response and a number of
people took insult and made their feelings known publicly - but a number
of people also wrote me privately, telling me how funny they thought it
was and how deserving they thought you were.
When I was a child, we were plagued with door to door salesmen. My mother
had a sign made up that was quite effective.
"You have nothing to sell or give away that I am interested in. Please do
not waste your time and mine by calling me to the door.
Thank You"
I think that sentiment is appropriate here. My error was not invoking it
at the beginning.
David Alexander
STAR TREK: START OF VOYAGER #803030
DATE: FRI AUG 26, 1994 4:37:07 AM
Today's DAILY VARIETY had a big article about the problems over on
Voyager, titled CAPTAIN QUEST LEAVES ENTERPRISE ON AUTOPILOT. (Some
edits for space follow; nothing significant was omitted.)
"The search for a captain for "Star Trek: Voyager"...has at least
reached yellow-alert status. Though production was to begin next Monday,
the show shut down Tuesday because of an inability to get a star, or even
figure out whether to weave a male or female uniform...."
It talks about ST fans faxing Paramount "unhappy missives because of
rumors the studio was trying to fill the role with a male actor." Plans
for a female character "has yet to yield a candidate acceptable to both
the producers and Paramount."
It mentions some of the candidates, including Susan Gibney, then
notes: "The studio, apparently concerned that the traditionally strong
male demos of "Star Trek" warranted a male star, was initially cool to
Gibney and widened the search to men. Sources said the studio is high
on Nigel Havers, the British actor known for 'Chariots of Fire.'
"Though speculation is the show could still begin shooting Monday
around its non-cast, that would be a challenge. Scripts would have to be
rewritten depending on who gets the top job."
Last coment from the article: "Par might be skeptical about handing
over the keys to the Enterprise to a woman," and then goes on to mention
that the person being brought on potentially to run one of the new nets is
a woman, which then goes off on another tangent.
If the studio would just let talented people like Jeri Taylor alone
to do their job, they wouldn't be *in* this fix. But it's The Franchise,
and the studio doesn't ever want to do anything risky to endanger that
franchise.
jms
BABYLON 5: QOM--RESURRECTIONIST #802640
DATE: THURS AUG 25, 1994 9:06:31 PM
In my original thoughts about the episode, there was
more of a con man ressurectionist angle to the show, which
later got dropped.
jms
------------------------
The following refer to "Believers".
------------------------
BABYLON 5: QOFM GOV'T HYPOCRISY #803999
DATE: FRI AUG 26, 1994 11:34:10 PM
No, the parents were not charged with murder. When a species
on the station acts against one of their own kind in a particular
way, and no other species is affected, they are judged by the laws
that apply to their own species and culture. In their culture,
what they did is not a crime, so they received no punishment. Had
they done this to a human, then yes, they would have been charged
with murder.
jms
BABYLON 5: QOFM GOV'T HYPOCRISY #805188
DATE: SUN AUG 28, 1994 3:24:20 AM
The area that cannot be opened is the chest area, primarily;
a nick or cut or scratch really doesn't count; it's puncturing to
the body cavity wherein the soul is housed.
jms
STAR TREK: START OF VOYAGER #805619
DATE: SUN AUG 28, 1994 6:11:15 PM
It wasn't my post, really; it was only a verbatim quote from
DAILY VARIETY. If he has a problem with the information, he should
take his concern to DAILY VARIETY.
The only comment that I made within that post was that the studio
should let people like Jeri Taylor do what they do best, which is
make the show as good as it can be. If that is problematic to Brannon,
I can't for the life of me understand why.
jms
BABYLON 5: BAB 5 ON PARAMOUNT #807136
DATE: TUES AUG 30, 1994 12:19:17 AM
Paramount has nothing to do with Babylon 5. B5 is distributed by
Warner Bros. through PTEN (Prime Time Entertainment Network); though it
appears on some Fox stations, Fox is in no way involved in the production
of the show.
B5 will never be part of the Paramount network.
jms
STAR TREK: VOYAGER == END OF TREK #807135
DATE: TUES AUG 30, 1994 12:19:15 AM
Excuse me, but having created B5, it a) has nothing to do with
Battlestar Galactica, which I totally disliked, and b) was developed
prior to ST:TNG going on the air.
You're only bringing it in in an "Oh, yeah?!" sort of way.
Just because you're confused about ST don't drag B5 into this.
jms
STAR TREK: VOYAGER == END OF TREK #807327
DATE: TUES AUG 30, 1994 3:50:01 AM
The first notes and drafts on Babylon 5 go back to 1976,
though the first script wasn't finished until 1977/78.
jms
STAR TREK: *BUJOLD IS VOY CAPTAIN!* #808399
DATE: WED AUG 31, 1994 2:07:20
Funny thing is...the word on the street is that Ed Marinara's agent
was just about to release a press release (or did release one) last week
stating that Ed was going to be the new captain. If something happened
at the last moment, then that's very interesting.
Either way, I think it's an excellent choice, and in the rush
of people crediting Berman and Pillar, I think perhaps a few might
want to credit Jeri Taylor, who was the most vigorous in pushing
for this, and fought very hard for it. As co-creator of Voyager,
she often gets insufficient credit due to the familiarity of Berman
and Pillar. She keeps a lower profile, but don't lose sight of her.
jms
==============================================
QUESTION #808463: Do you think the fan campaign for
a female captain brought this about?
==============================================
STAR TREK: *BUJOLD IS VOY CAPTAIN* #808906
DATE: WED AUG 31, 1994 6:33:00
I think that David Gerrold starting the campaign here and elsewhere
was actually a big help. How much a help it was to them getting what
they wanted is something I don't know, because obviously I'm not there.
But I'm sure it was a help to one degree or another.
jms
BABYLON 5: TOP TEN LIST #807120
DATE: TUES AUG 30, 1994 12:04:10 AM
People are also bound to say B5 folk can't do math.
There were 11 items in your top ten.
"Much apologizing...mathematics not Zathras' skill...."
jms
==============
COMMENT: worried about Sinclair leaving
==============
BABYLON 5: BABYLON SQUARED #806642
DATE: MON AUG 29, 1994 6:00:22 PM
Nope, the storyline still tracks just fine. There's just
no reason to have everyone static and stuck in the same place
for the next X-years.
jms
BABYLON 5: OPENING MONOLOGUE #806645
DATE: MON AUG 29, 1994 6:00:29 PM
Yes, we will definitely be changing the narration each year; the
year two narration will likely be shorter, with some personal touch
(I'm in the process of writing it now), and it'll vary in phraseology
with each new narrator.
jms
BABYLON 5: OPENING MONOLOGUE #807118
DATE: TUES AUG 30, 1994 12:04:07 AM
Another way you'll know immediately what season it is, besides
the voice, is that the date in each intro will vary; the date in the
second season narration will be 2259, and so on.
jms
BABYLON 5: OPENING MONOLOGUE #809327
DATE: THURS SEPT 1, 1994 1:13:17
The year mentioned in the pilot is 2257.
Year one of the series is 2258, year two is 2259, and so on.
jms
BABYLON 5: JUMP GATES #808393
DATE: WED AUG 31, 1994 1:55:28
Jump gates aren't instantaneous; transit within a gate is usually
a couple of days, though it seems a bit longer to those outside.
jms
-------------
BABYLON 5: B5 GRAVITY #808915
DATE: WED AUG 31, 1994 6:46:05
The 2.5 million tons of spinning *metal* refers only to that part,
the metal casing. It doesn't include the furniture, the structures,
the Garden, the 250,000 humans and aliens...so the total mass of the thing
is MUCH greater than the 2.5 megatons. Also, the body was shoved out of
the area around the cargo bay, non-rotating, which would also cut down on
the momentum (as opposed to shoving out out of the rotating part, where
it would speed away at 1g).
jms
---------------
BABYLON 5: QOFM GOV'T HYPOCRISY #805188
DATE: SUN AUG 28, 1994 3:24:20 AM
The area that cannot be opened is the chest area,
primarily; a nick or cut or scratch really doesn't count;
it's puncturing to the body cavity wherein the soul is housed.
jms
BABYLON 5: BELIEVERS #806643
DATE: MON AUG 29, 1994 6:00:24 PM
Actually, I disagree when you say that the doctor was right.
Says who? Not the parents. Not the episode. Nobody was really
right, when you come down to it, except maybe Sinclair, who made
the correct call. You say the boy was okay at the end...the parents
didn't think so. Who's to say if there was or wasn't a soul inside?
I think David's script walked a very fine line and really didn't
endorse either side. (I've had people send me email upset because we
showed that the parents were right, and others because we said the doctor
was right, and others because neither was right and the ambiguity
bothered them.)
jms
====================================
COMMENT #807555: <right == consistency with one's own beliefs,
so *everybody* was right>
====================================
BABYLON 5: BELIEVERS #807741
DATE: TUES AUG 30, 1994 5:19:03 PM
There's a wonderful scene in "Fiddler on the Roof" where Tevya
is caught in an argument between two Rabbis. The first one makes
a point. "You're right!" Tevya says. The second Rabbi makes a
contradictory point. "You're right!" Tevya says. A third Rabbi,
looking on, says, "Wait a minute, they can't *both* be right."
"You know," Tevya says, "you're right too."
jms
BABYLON 5: BELIEVERS #807119
DATE: TUES AUG 30, 1994 12:04:08 AM
A lot of our episodes are constructed to work as mirrors; you see
what you put into it. "Believers" has been interpreted as pro-religion,
anti- religion, and religion-neutral..."Quality" has been interpreted,
as you note, as pro-capital punishment, and anti-capital punishment. We
do, as you say, much prefer to leave the decision on what things mean
to the viewer to hash out.
A good story should provoke discussion, debate, argument...and
the occasional bar fight.
jms
BABYLON 5: "MIDNIGHT" OBSERVATION #807760
DATE: TUES AUG 30, 1994 5:57:01 PM
Re: the elevator/transport tube gag...yes, we set this stuff up
WAY in advance. The first time is in the tube where he tells Talia
about his second favorite thing in the universe. The second time is
in "Mind War" when he gives her the mental once-over and she belts him.
And then we paid it off later with her line about him always being there.
One nice thing about the way we're doing this show is that we don't
just have to set up gags within an episode; we can set them up *weeks*
ahead of time, as long as the payoff is self-contained, but then when
you see the earlier shows, now you get more out of it.
jms
========================================
QUESTION #807890: (1) Rerun date for B^2? (2) In AtSFoS, is GC#1 the
Minbari at the end, or the one with the staff? (3) Credits
for B^2 GCs (#1 w/staff, #2 speaking role)
========================================
BABYLON 5: CREDIT CLARIFICATION #808394
DATE: WED AUG 31, 1994 1:55:30
Not sure on the rerun for "B-squared."
Mark Henrickson was the...rounder of the two Minbari.
The one with the staff wanted to go uncredited.
jms
BABYLON 5: CREDIT CLARIFICATION #808905
DATE: WED AUG 31, 1994 6:33:30
No real reason, he just felt it would be better for the character
to remain mysterious; and since it really wasn't a big part, it wouldn't
make a real difference one way or another in his credits and resume.
(I know that sounds weird, but as near as I can determine, that's
the reason. He did a great job, and we're looking forward to having him
again.)
jms
========================================
QUESTION #805920: Are Londo's appendages in addition to or
instead of human-type "appendages"?
========================================
BABYLON 5: JUNE LOCKHART EPISODE #805997
DATE: SUN AUG 28, 1994 11:49:14 PM
That would be instead of, not in addition to.
jms
BABYLON 5: B5 CAST ANNOUNCEMENT! #805620
DATE: SUN AUG 28, 1994 6:11:18 PM
We decided to try an even stranger approach, and have Sinclair
show up again about *mid-way through* the second season once or twice.
There needs to be some mystery to his departure, which being there to
shepherd the New Guy would destroy.
And at the same time, the comic from DC will follow the Sinclair
line after he leaves B5 for the first four issues in particular, starting
by showing the flip-side of what happens in the first episode.
What you suggest is perfectly reasonable; I agree that the tactic
should be unusual. And we think this may well qualify....
jms
BABYLON 5: O'HARE/SINCLAIR-WHY??? #805194
DATE: SUN AUG 28, 1994 3:38:30 AM
Actually, yes, I believe there is a Michael O'Hare Fan Club; I saw
a posting on Internet about it...maybe someone else here saw it and can
relay the details.
I have, btw, now seen the finished (minus music and some minimal EFX)
first episode of B5 with Bruce. We did the producer's cut yesterday, and
I have to say that I think it's very nice. Last season's first episode was,
I think (and as I said at the time), a bit less than it could've been from
a characterization point of view. That was something we grew into slowly
over the course of the season.
In this year two first-episode, there's a lot of humor, some
interesting plot turns, and a very solid emphasis on the characters.
It's sort of a sandwich episode; "Chrysalis," the last year one episode
(which apparently will air a week prior to season two's debut), is
*extremely* intense...so is the second episode of year two, "Revelations."
People are going to need some respite from that, and "Points of Departure"
does this quite nicely.
And Bruce does a wonderful job in the role. He's brought a lot to
the table, and I think people are going to be very pleased.
jms
=====================================
QUESTION #808145: When is Garibaldi going to get a girlfriend?
=====================================
BABYLON 5: O'HARE/SINCLAIR: WHY??? #808395
DATE: WED AUG 31, 1994 1:55:31
Garibaldi will get something going next season....
jms
BABYLON 5: BORING B5 #805621
DATE: SUN AUG 28, 1994 6:11:20 PM
DC Fontana has turned in her first scripts this season,
"A Distant Star," which will be seen as episode #4, and will
likely begin another very soon. I have a story for David Gerrold,
which I'm futzing with just a bit more before giving it to him
to develop.
jms
========
QUESTION #805938: <from SH, Infection, & QoM, poster has inferred
a finder's-keepers rule for wrecked ships, artifacts> But what about
genetic material from corpses found in wrecked spacecraft?
(e.g. Narns & telepaths)
========
BABYLON 5: SALVAGE RIGHTS #805998
DATE: SUN AUG 28, 1994 11:49:15 PM
Still working on that bit.
jms
BABYLON 5: TIME-WARNER&MERGERS #809789
DATE: THURS SEPT 1, 1994 4:51:00
You kind of have to begin this conversation with the understanding
that my grasp of matters corporate is not exactly breathtaking; I'm not
quite an idiot on such matters, but I can do a darned good imitation
some days.
Disclaimers aside...in general, the more you tend to concentrate power
over artistic affairs and programming and the creation of TV series in an
increasingly smaller number of people, I think the worse it is overall for
the industry. Let's say you make a fairly eccentric product. If there are
500 buyers in the room, the odds are decent that you'll find somebody who
resonates with your ideas. If suddenly the number of potential buyers
decrease to 10, then the odds of your ever selling that project become
substantially less.
I can see the fiscal advantage in owning the point of creation and
production, and the point of distribution, in a studio/network merger.
It gives you considerably greater control, and greater revenue sources;
you don't have to worry about the distributer cross-collatoralizing your
revenue streams against fees they shouldn't be charging. But then that's
really the point...it's a *financial* decision, not a creative one, and
though I know that showbiz *is* a BUSINESS, still that sort of approach
worries me just a bit.
jms
BABYLON 5: TIME-WARNER&MERGERS #810235
DATE: THURS SEPT 1, 1994 11:57:10
Thanks for your comments. As it happens, your comments were echoed
today by no less than Leslie Stevens (with Joe Stefano the force behind
THE OUTER LIMITS), who came by the studio for a tour, just to say how much
he loves the show, and the details, and the care with which we produce it.
He's just enamored of the whole thing, and coming from him, that's high
praise indeed. A very nice and gentle man.
To the question of producing LoTR for TV...there are two competing
aspects to the question: desire and practicality. A lot of writer/producers
(viz: folks like me) would *love* beyond the telling the chance to do LoTR.
The flip side of this is the practicality of trying something that truly
massive from a budgetary and location point of view, which would scare off
the networks. Right now, simply from a physical standpoint, it couldn't
be done effectively, no matter how much you spent. Virtually *all* the
locations would have to be built, though you might be able to go on
location for a few things like castles and forests. But how would you do
Mordor? Or Lothorien? Or the Shire? Or Rivendell? Or the high seat
where Frodo has his vision?
In another 5-10 years, when virtual sets have been further perfected,
to real three-dimension realism, you might be able to do the show for
something short of the national budget. And then it might become feasible
for the networks to try. Maybe. You'd have to do it over a period of
six years, one year per half-book. Otherwise there's just way too much
in the way of shifting locations.
I'm just not sure if LoTR *should* be done for TV. Perhaps some
things should remain sacrosanct.
jms
=================
QUESTION #810583: Can you tell us anything about the relative
scale of B5's realm, e.g. Earth's distance to B5, Minbar's
distance to B5?
=================
BABYLON 5: THE B5 GALAXY #810799
DATE: FRI SEPT 2, 1994 9:04:06 PM
I'm in the process of putting that together in one place
for easier reference; it's something we've worked out, piecemeal,
but not gathered together.
jms
BABYLON 5: B5 - GRAVITY #810800
DATE: FRI SEPT 2, 1994 9:04:07 PM
RE: maximum speed...obviously there's no maximum save for
the speed of light, but there's a maximum of what any particular
vessel can travel. There is a maximum speed that the Pioneer
can travel, or the space shuttle. So there is a similar cap on
Starfury accelleration. I'm not sure I see what your concern is here.
jms
BABYLON 5: B5 - GRAVITY #810982
DATE: SAT SEPT 3, 1994 1:20:06
"Either way, "speed" does not in any way equal "thrust," folks."
Sorry. It does.
The maximum thrust your ship can give you is equal to the maximum
speed your ship can travel, particularly since fuel is finite. Given
an infinite amount of fuel, and infinite amounts of time, you can build
up a pretty good head of steam. But Starfuries have neither.
Maximum thrust results, short-term, in maximum speed. The rest is
quibbling over semantics. And pilots are notable for using shorthand.
They may not say, "Utilize F15 rocket engines to maximum thrust." They
may say, "Hit it!"
If maximum thrust provides the top speed your ship can travel, then
maximum speed is perfectly acceptable, and interchangeable. (And we
generally use thrust anyway.)
jms
BABYLON 5: "CREDIT" CARDS #811560
DATE: SAT SEPT 3, 1994 11:19:12
The credit chits work differently depending on who you are. If
you work for B5, your salary is tied into your credit chit, and you
pay accordingly. If you're a visitor from elsewhere, bringing in
non-Earth currency, you exchange that currency (as Aldous noted
in "Grail"), much as you do now. Difference is, you turn in the currency
at the B5 exchange. It is processed on the current rate of exchange,
and you are issued a credit chit programmed with an amount equal to
whatever you brought in. You use it the same way as a credit card,
until it runs out, then it's rejected until you "recharge" it by
exchanging more currency.
It's also tied into your identicard, which has every available fact
about you.
Interestingly enough, I just saw an article in, I believe, WIRED,
which noted that Sweden had just launched on a program of using this
exact same device, same system, on a trial basis.
jms
BABYLON 5: BORING B5 #810236
DATE: THURS SEPT 1, 1994 11:57:12
Berman/Pillar have said, repeatedly, in and out of print, of ST:
"If it ain't broke, don't fix it." Meaning don't change it. Which,
you have to admit, makes a great deal of fiscal sense. It's a great
franchise, a license to print money...why take a chance on messing
it up by doing something unusual or potentially controversial?
jms
STAR TREK: VOYAGER - MONEY #810564
DATE: FRI SEPT 2, 1994 3:22:19 PM
If I can be permitted one personal, editorial aside....
I'm on a lot of nets. More than I like to think about.
And I tend to keep an eye on various discussions. I've been
tracking the Voyager talks for a while now. (And BTW, if for
no other reason than it was co-created by Jeri Taylor, I wish
the show nothing but success. Let's clarify that from the git-go.)
And I've seen a lot of people, not necessarily you, I'm just
thinking out loud and your message was in front of me when I
started to do so...saying "Let's keep an open mind, give the show
a chance, don't belittle it without seeing it, exercise tolerance."
I also recognize names...and quite a few of those names (again,
I'm not directing this at you) are the same folks who've said that
Babylon 5 would be crap before it aired...and who refuse to watch it,
or even give it a chance....
As Kelsey said in "Mind War," "There are rules...and then there
are rules." One would wish that same open-mindedness would apply to
some areas outside ST.
jms
BABYLON 5: BORING B5 #811565
DATE: SAT SEPT 3, 1994 11:31:24
Here is one other way, responding to that thread of your message,
in which B5 differs in the area of merchandise.
You mention, correctly, that Richard Arnold read and approved all
the ST stuff...comics, novels, whatever.
I work directly with DC on the comics line. I approve artwork,
stories, script and cover art. I work directly with Dell Books on
the B5 novels, approving outline, cover art, and full novels. (I'm
currently about 1/2 through John Vornholt's first B5 novel, and hope
to get my notes -- minimal, it's a good book -- back to Dell by the end
of the coming week.)
The result of this is that there won't ever be the mountain of
licensing on B5 that you've come to associate with ST. Which is fine.
I wouldn't want that much. What there is, has to be consistent in tone
and quality with everything else. This is a story, not a franchise.
jms
BABYLON 5: MARIE CELESTE #811566
DATE: SAT SEPT 3, 1994 11:32:01
As well as the transport Marie Celeste, the new B5 Earthforce Club
is named Earhart's (as in Amelia).
jms
BABYLON 5: JMS SECRETS #810362
DATE: FRI SEPT 2, 1994 4:35:01 AM
I've spoken before of Norman Corwin. For those who might've missed
it, Norman Corwin is one of the finest writers that this country has ever
produced. At the height of the radio drama age, there was no one better
or bigger...not Orson Welles or Arch Oboler. Nobody.
He has been an inspiration to countless writers. Charles Kuralt. Rod
Serling. Ray Bradbury (who began his career trying to write like Norman).
He is, not to put too fine a point on it, a writer's writer. He is the
wellspring from which many of our finest writers can trace their origin.
Speaking as one tiny trickle in this momentous flood, I can certify his
influence on my own work.
Some have commented on the style of writing in Babylon 5, and in some
of my previous work. While much can be laid at the feet of Harlan Ellison,
much of my influence can also be traced to Norman Corwin, who taught me not
just how to write, but what it meant to BE a writer. I cannot commend his
work to you highly enough. If you have a love of language, of a story well
told, of fiction with a conscience and a point of view, then Norman's your
man. Some of you may remember "A Prayer for the 70s," written by Norman,
which I posted a while back. A work of absolute genius, in a career peppered
with awards, and recognition by the U.N. and others.
Many of you have asked for more information about Norman's work. To
that end I offer the following information:
Norman has a new book out, that is just hitting the stands. It is
entitled NORMAN CORWIN'S LETTERS, edited by A. J. Langguth. It's in
hardcover from Barricade Books, ISBN #0-9623032-5-9. It is an amazing
volume, full of inspiration and humor and the occasional thunder-and-lightning.
You will find letters to and from such notables -- friends of Norman's
-- as Carl Sandburg, Ray Bradbury, Bette Davis, Stanley Kramer, Groucho
Marx, Greer Garson, Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas, Edward R.
Murrow, Anthony Quinn, Rod Serling, Leonard Bernstein, Erik Barnouw,
Archibald MacLeish, Stan Freberg, Walter Cronkite, Norman Cousins, Studs
Terkel, Eric Sevareid, Philip Dunne, Bill Moyers, Gregory Peck...the list
goes on and on.
The letters are documents of a life, funny and outraged and thoughtful...
and beautifully written beyond my capacity to describe it to you. If you
are a writer, or interested in writing, I can commend no book to you higher
than this one.
If as a Babylon 5 viewer you'd like to get a better grasp of what
inspired me to pursue my career, and has helped make that dream a reality...
I recommend to you the works of Norman Corwin, starting with this book.
If you need any further encouragement to go out *today* and get a copy
of this book, then let me simply suggest that you call up a copy of Who's
Who, and look up who Norman Corwin is. I don't think you'll need additional
encouragement thereafter.
jms
BABYLON 5: JUMP GATES #810363
DATE: FRI SEPT 2, 1994 4:35:06 AM
Wellllllll...he said, smiling......yes, we're going to be showing
the insides of Hyperspace on several occasions this coming season. We've
been working on the design, and it's *really* cool...dark and dangerous
and very weird looking. AND we're doing more POV stuff from within ships
and cockpits. It's very neat stuff.
jms
BABYLON 5: ORIGINAL 2ND IN COMMAND #810556
DATE: FRI SEPT 2, 1994 2:53:06 PM
There were a number of reasons why Laurel Takashima was reassigned.
Primary among them...Tamlyn is a wonderful romantic lead in feature films
and television. She felt less than comfortable with her performance as a
command officer. It's not really the kind of thing she tends to do. So
we discussed it, and all parties decided it would be best if we sought out
someone else.
jms
BABYLON 5: TOP TEN LIST #807050
FROM: JAN FENNICK, 71670,254 (REPOSTED BY AUTHOR'S PERMISSION)
DATE: MON AUG 29, 11:31:08 PM
This following top ten list is going to be published in the newsletter
I help edit called "Continuous Future Experience" which is a pop culture
thingee about stuff we (meaning my editor in chief and other writers)
like. Anyway, thought you'd get a kick out of it in light of the current
"Boring B5" discussion. (disclaimer: this is meant to be humourous)
Top Ten Reasons Why *Real* Science Fiction Fans Don't Like Babylon 5
by Ian Prydon
1. It's not "Classic" Star Trek.
2. It's not Star Trek: The Next Generation.
3. It's not Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
4. It's not as good as Star Trek: Voyager is going to be.
5. It's not Doctor Who.
6. It's not Blake's 7.
7. It's not Star Trek: The Animated Series.
8. There aren't enough half dressed buxom babes to keep my interest.
And the girls they have on there are too smart.
9. There aren't any Klingons, Romulans, Vulcans, Cardassians
or Ferengis on the show.
10. I don't get most of the plots. And they don't even explain everything
by the end of the program.
11. There isn't any neat merchandising stuff to spend my money on.
BABYLON 5: TOP TEN LIST #807120
DATE: TUES AUG 30, 1994 12:04:10 AM
People are also bound to say B5 folk can't do math.
There were 11 items in your top ten.
"Much apologizing...mathematics not Zathras' skill...."
jms
BABYLON 5: TOP TEN LIST #807257
FROM: JAN FENNICK (REPOSTED BY AUTHOR'S PERMISSION)
DATE: TUES AUG 30, 1994 2:02:20 AM
>>People are also bound to say B5 folk can't do math.
>>There were 11 items in your top ten.
The author did that intentionally. Just a little test to see who
is awake out there. :-D The other test is the author's name itself.
Eventually, I'm planning on writing a critical review of B5 Season 1
but right now I'm trying to finish an article on how all 7 seasons
of ST:TNG were like a brontosaurus; very thin at one end, very thick
in the middle and then thin again at the end. (honest)
DATE: TUES AUG 30, 1994 3:50:06 AM #807328
FROM: J MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
Critical review for whom?
jms
BABYLON 5: TOP TEN LIST #807452
FROM: JAN FENNICK (REPOSTED BY AUTHOR'S PERMISSION)
DATE: TUES AUG 30, 1994 9:59:29 AM
Continous Future Experience, the soon to be launched newsletter
my friend and I are editing. Just another desktop publication,
but we're trying to have fun with it. As I mentioned in my last
post, it's just a pop culture newsletter about 'stuff we like'.
And what our writers like, too. Some of it will be serious
and some of it goofy, like the top 10 list. It's kind of surreal
since several of the writers will actually be writing columns
as different personas. If you'd like, is there a snail mail address
for Babylonian Productions? I'll make sure you're on the mailing list.
BABYLON 5: B5 AT THE HUGOS #811661
DATE: SUN SEP 4, 1994 2:26:22
We don't have any trailers. Never been made. As it was, the
only one we had access to was one put together by John (Fenn) Hudgens,
from GEnie, who made this one for his own interest, and sent us a copy.
jms
BABYLON 5: B5 AT THE HUGOS #812234
DATE: MON SEP 5, 1994 4:12:05
No B5 bible has ever been authorized for sale, no.
jms
BABYLON 5: HOMAGE, OR PLAGIARISM? #812629
FROM: J MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
DATE: MON SEP 5, 1994 4:47:14
To deal with your points one by one...may I first suggest widening
your reading background a bit. I'm amazed that you can say, of "regular
signals repeated at specific intervals" that this is a steal from ALIENS.
I would suggest that you do some reading in the SETI literature; this is
the first test for detecting a communications signal from space. There
are monitoring stations set up all over the place listening for just this
kind of signal. Not ALIENS, just plain old science.
RE: missiles...many people here and on other nets asked if we would
see missiles in an episode of B5; they said they were tired of everything
just being beams. So I opted to use missiles. They are a perfectly valid
means of defense. They had nothing to do with HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE.
===============================
NOTE from MLW: This isn't a typographical error---JMS forgot
to put in his signature.
================================
BABYLON 5: JMS SECRETS #812140
DATE: MON SEP 5, 1994 12:12:23
Actually, Norman is still with us, and working every bit as much
and as hard as ever. He has a second book coming out in about a month,
part of the Directors Guild oral-history series, based on a bunch of
interviews they conducted with him. At age 84, he can still write
rings around nearly everyone else in the business.
jms
BABYLON 5: JUMP GATES #811966
DATE: SUN SEP 4, 1994 6:18:11
Travel from point A to point B takes some amount of time. But when
you're near your destination, you can wait in hyperspace and choose to
come out at a specific moment. There's considerable speculation that
both the Minbari and Vorlons have ships standing by in hyperspace, at
various locations, in case they're needed quickly. (In the pilot movie,
Laurel Takashima even mentions that they are probably doing this.) It's
a correlation to the TOT (Time On Target) philosophy; you can send ships
in from various sectors, have them lurk in hyperspace, then all come out
at once.
jms
BABYLON 5: JUMP GATES #812141
DATE: MON SEP 5, 1994 12:12:24
Actually, T.O.T. comes from 20th century nuke technology. The
origins of this come from the need to sometimes launch ICBMs at
staggered intervals, but on a launch and flight vector such that
they all land at the same time, for greatest impact.
jms
BABYLON 5: ALIENS #811978
DATE: SUN SEP 4, 1994 6:34:03
We've had other kinds of aliens, including the CGI creature
in "Grail," and we're doing more non-humanoid stuff in year two,
mixing prosthetics with CGI.
What you have to understand, though, is that if you're going
to have a character BE a character, alien or not, you've basically
got two choices: put a human actor in makeup of some kind or other,
or you use puppets or animatronics, and in general the technology
to realize that still isn't enough to make it really lifelike.
Also, interestingly enough, I spoke to a lot of folks who know
biology and genetics and have an interest in xenobiology...and what
they said was that the basic humanoid configuration is the ideal one
from an evolutionary standpoint. Logically, you need minimum two hands
to grasp, and an opposable thumb (or two) to utilize tools; you want
your sensors at the highest part of your body in order to detect prey
and predators; you'll want legs instead of crawlers to run away from
predators more effectively, and because lower motor areas such as legs
are useful in controlling elements of technology; two legs are more
useful than four for getting through narrow areas and being more limber....
The analysis goes on, but you get the idea. And just as one last
thought in your direction...whatever one may think of UFO sightings,
you'll note that all of them have been of humanoid shapes, not one
slithering BEM in the bunch.
jms
BABYLON 5: ALIENS #812143
DATE: MON SEP 5, 1994 12:12:28
Which is exactly the point...alien life forms conceived in
fiction novels can be as strange as you want. You can do anything.
You can have a conversation with sentient pocket lint if you like.
The question becomes, what's practical and do-able in a visual medium?
What works on the page does not necessarily work on the stage.
jms
BABYLON 5: B5 COMIC SOLICITED #812144
DATE: MON SEP 5, 1994 12:18:14
I'm with you. I just turned 40, and have a comics habit to the tune
of $30-$40 per week. To anyone who still thinks comics are for kids, I
would heartily recommend SANDMAN by Neil Gaiman (separate from Sandman
Mystery title, done by Matt Wagner, which is great, but may not be as
accessible). Neil does some amazing stuff. Ditto Frank Miller, currently
publishing in MARTHA WASHINGTON GOES TO WAR. The form is really coming
into its own.
jms
BABYLON 5: JUMP GATES #812808
DATE: MON SEP 5, 1994 8:20:00
I think that the Eye was returned the next day, so there was
a goodly span between Ladira's vision, and the scene in Londo's quarters.
jms
========================================
QUESTION #812303: Why is it called the *Gray* Council? Because
they are between light and dark?
=========================================
BABYLON 5: GRAY COUNCIL #812652
DATE: MON SEP 5, 1994 5:04:30
Yes. As Delenn says when she takes her place in the Council,
"I am grey; I stand between the candle, and the star; we are Grey,
we stand between the darkness, and the light."
jms
STAR TREK: VOYAGER - MONEY #811965
DATE: SUN SEP 4, 1994 6:18:04
One thing we have in common is that we're both fans of SF. And like
you, I've largely felt disappointed by TV-SF in the past. Which was one
reason for wanting to try it myself.
Generalizing this discussion past my own show and ST for a moment,
I think there's some cause for hope. One of the reasons, perhaps *the*
primary reason, why much of the prior SF shows have been less than they
could've been, or hooked around a gimmick rather than character stuff,
is that they were generally cobbled together by people who didn't know
the genre, didn't respect the genre.
Now we're entering a period where folks like George RR Martin and
Melinda Snodgrass and Michael Cassutt and others who are SF literate
are getting into positions where they can run shows. And I think that,
with time, this will further increase the amount and quality of TV SF.
jms
BABYLON 5: MARIE CELESTE #811566
DATE: SAT SEP 3, 1994 11:32:01
As well as the transport Marie Celeste, the new B5 Earthforce Club
is named Earhart's (as in Amelia).
jms
BABYLON 5: "CREDIT" CARDS #811560
DATE: SAT SEP 3, 1994 11:19:12
The credit chits work differently depending on who you are. If
you work for B5, your salary is tied into your credit chit, and you
pay accordingly. If you're a visitor from elsewhere, bringing in
non-Earth currency, you exchange that currency (as Aldous noted in
"Grail"), much as you do now. Difference is, you turn in the currency
at the B5 exchange. It is processed on the current rate of exchange,
and you are issued a credit chit programmed with an amount equal to
whatever you brought in. You use it the same way as a credit card,
until it runs out, then it's rejected until you "recharge" it by
exchanging more currency.
It's also tied into your identicard, which has every available fact
about you.
Interestingly enough, I just saw an article in, I believe, WIRED,
which noted that Sweden had just launched on a program of using this
exact same device, same system, on a trial basis.
jms
BABYLON 5: BORING B5 #811565
DATE: SAT SEP 3, 1994 11:31:24
Here is one other way, responding to that thread of your message,
in which B5 differs in the area of merchandise.
You mention, correctly, that Richard Arnold read and approved all
the ST stuff...comics, novels, whatever.
I work directly with DC on the comics line. I approve artwork,
stories, script and cover art. I work directly with Dell Books on
the B5 novels, approving outline, cover art, and full novels. (I'm
currently about 1/2 through John Vornholt's first B5 novel, and hope to
get my notes -- minimal, it's a good book -- back to Dell by the end
of the coming week.)
The result of this is that there won't ever be the mountain of
licensing on B5 that you've come to associate with ST. Which is fine.
I wouldn't want that much. What there is, has to be consistent in
tone and quality with everything else. This is a story, not a franchise.
jms
DATE: TUES SEPT 6, 1994 3:47:17 #813447
No, actually, Stewart Copeland has done a lot of other soundtracks,
for the Rhythmitist, and for the Equalizer series. He wanted to do
some touring and an album after the pilot, which precluded doing the series.
jms
BABYLON 5: B5 COMIC SOLICITED #813095
DATE: TUES SEP 6, 1994 12:50:12
Yeah, Cerebus is good, though lately it seems like we're getting
far too little artwork and way too much text.
jms
BABYLON 5: C4 BAN B5(TKO) #814082
DATE: WED SEP 7, 1994
"I wonder if JMS has an opinion on the scheduling (and banning)
of his work?"
Absolutely.
jms
BABYLON 5: ALIENS #812943
DATE: MON SEP 5, 1994 10:33:10
"Why were all of those alien lifeforms living in glass tanks
with no privacy?"
Why do you think alien lifeforms feel the same way about privacy
that humans do?
jms
BABYLON 5: PRISONER STYLE END? #812651
DATE: MON SEPT 5, 1994 5:04:28
There are guarantees short of the grave.
That said...I think the ending for the B5 storyline is pretty cool.
That said...I don't think it's really about the ending. The ending
is simply where the story finally stops. Look at the ending of THE LORD
OF THE RINGS. Frodo back in the shire (though not entirely the same shire
it was when he left), glad that it's all over.
The climax of the story isn't always the same as the end of the story.
The climax of LoTR would be when the ring is returned to the fire, and
destroyed, in my view. Others might say that Aragorn being returned as
the kind would be the climax. The fact is there's SO much going on in
those books that it's hard to pick any one as being *the* climax.
In THE PRISONER, it was all centered on one question: will he or
will he not get off the island, and who's behind it? (Okay, that's two
questions, but they're associated.) B5 isn't built around ANY one question.
It has a lot of different pieces and threads, each with their own arc,
like LoTR. Look at the LENSMAN books. Same thing.
Will you be satisfied by the ending? More to the question, are you
being satisfied by the beginning, and the journey so far? That's the more
telling question. B5 is more about the journey than the destination, though
you have to craft one hell of a climax and a solid ending nonetheless.
You're also asking us to make a subjective decision that really
only you can make. You didn't like the ending of THE PRISONER. I
think it's nifty. It's obvious that some stuff was thrown in just to
get weird; but a lot of it wasn't, and you really have to sit down and
parse through the thing to get maximum meaning out of it. It's not as
absurd as it looks.
Watch the show for as long as you enjoy the journey.
jms
BABYLON 5: PRISONER STYLE END? #814081
DATE: WED SEPT 7, 1994
I've had occasion to talk to a number of people who were involved
in the production of THE PRISONER, and there's one very interesting aspect
they give to the events.
What they say is that #6 resigned *expecting* to get kidnapped,
that he had heard about the Village, and protested, and deliberately
put himself in the position of being taken there in order to prove
his thesis: that the whole value of the thing could be proven worthless
if even *one man* was able to defy what was supposed to be an unbreakable
and inescapeable system. So there was really no mystery about why he
resigned, except among the lower level flunkies...but they wanted him to
*say* it, to prove they could break him.
(Further proof to this theory is in the main titles, the way
he drives and never looks back, despite being followed...when the gas
enters his room, he looks up and just for a second, there's a very definite
smile on his face, a "good, let's get on with it, then" expression. His
glance out the window, almost a knowing, parting glance...then away.)
And so, at the end, he has proven his point. The unbreakable machine
is broken, its usefulness destroyed. Unless he should choose to join it
and run it, his resolution *not* to be broken being strong enough probably
to break anyone else like him. But he refuses, and when he does so,
it all comes apart.
The irony, of course, being that once he's back, and he enters
his own apartment...the door opens and closes automatically, just like
in the Village...implying that when you come down to it, we're *all*
in the Village every day, all of us.
jms
BABYLON 5: HOMAGE, OR PLAGIARISM? #812629
DATE: MON SEPT 5, 1994 4:47:14
To deal with your points one by one...may I first suggest widening
your reading background a bit. I'm amazed that you can say, of "regular
signals repeated at specific intervals" that this is a steal from ALIENS.
I would suggest that you do some reading in the SETI literature; this is
the first test for detecting a communications signal from space. There
are monitoring stations set up all over the place listening for just this
kind of signal. Not ALIENS, just plain old science.
RE: missiles...many people here and on other nets asked if we would
see missiles in an episode of B5; they said they were tired of everything
just being beams. So I opted to use missiles. They are a perfectly valid
means of defense. They had nothing to do with HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE.
===============
(Mr Straczynski omitted his sig on the above.)
===============
QUESTION/APOLOGY #813292: apology from poster JMS responded to in #812629;
in Homage or Plagiarism thread; unintentional offence
===============
BABYLON 5: HOMAGE OR PLAGIARISM? #813445
DATE: TUES SEP 6, 1994 3:47:13
Understood. No problems here.
jms
BABYLON 5: HOMAGE, OR PLAGIARISM? #813443
DATE: TUES SEP 6, 1994 3:47:09
Sorry, I'm not going to let you run this number on me. I have been
on line and receiving criticism -- good and bad -- since the pilt went on
the air. And agreeing with much of it. I've taken *immense* amounts of
criticism.
What bothered me in the message, and what you didn't address, is
the difference between a *criticism* and an *allegation*. Look at the
header of this message. HOMAGE OR PLAGIARISM. Had the header read,
simply, HOMAGE? I wouldn't have had a problem. But what it says -- and
again, words have meaning -- is "Is this a tribute, or is it theft?"
There is a quantum difference between criticism, and accusing someone of
a crime.
For some reason, some people just leap to this. David Gerrold had
to fend off the allegations that he ripped off Peter David's novel. Some
people think that if there is any similarity in theme, it has to be theft.
And they're too quick to throw around terms like plagiarism without
understanding what they are saying, and what the impact is. And then when
they get called on it, they say the person's being defensive and doesn't
want criticism...as you just did.
Wrong. It's not a matter of God jumping on anybody. I'm sorry, but
I see 500 messages a day, most of them with a suggestion or a criticism.
I don't jump on people unless there's a reason. I've been here on this
forum talking about this a long time, and the people here know that. The
day you can wade through 500 messages a day dissecting what YOU do for
a living, then you can come talk to me about being open to criticism.
jms
==============
QUESTION: <enjoyed the B5 mantra>
==============
DATE: WED SEP 7, 1994 #814059
Ivanova's a hoot, no mistake....
jms
BABYLON 5: TECH 1 GONE #814083
DATE: WED SEP 7, 1994
Marianne Robertson wanted to spend time with her husband,
Dick Robertson, do some traveling, and possibly (I'm told)
have a kid. Some people actually have lives outside of their
work (impossible as that idea seems to me at times).
jms
BABYLON 5: JUMP GATES #814061
DATE: WED SEP 7, 1994
Yes, most of the energy is expended getting in and out of hyperspace,
with a fair amount being expended navigating through it.
jms
=======
PRAISE 813550: better than Trek: TOS
=======
DATE: WED SEP 7, 1994 #814060
Many thanks.
jms
BABYLON 5: PRISONER STYLE END? #815042
DATE: THURS SEP 8, 1994 12:17:22
Alexis Kanner (who played the young guy who escaped with #6), who is
also a friend of Patrick's, says that Patrick always considered #6 to be
Drake.
jms
=====
QUESTION #815229: What is Alexis Kanner doing now?
=====
BABYLON 5: PRISONER STYLE END? 815240
DATE: THURS SEP 8, 1994 3:22:26
Acting, doing a bit of directing, that sort of thing.
jms
BABYLON 5: PRISONER STYLE END? #815043
DATE: THURS SEP 8, 1994 12:17:24
I wish I could take credit for the interpretation, but that's
the one that I've picked up from the few people I've met who actually
worked on the thing.
jms
=========
QUESTION #814533: Have you read the DC Comics sequel to The Prisoner?
=========
BABYLON 5: PRISONER STYLE END? #815049
DATE: THURS SEP 8, 1994 12:18:06
Actually, yes, I did read the DC book...but for the life of me,
I can't remember the precise storyline. I remember he was there, had
come back, was older...but beyond that, it's just fallen out of my head.
jms
BABYLON 5: PRISONER STYLE END? #815052
DATE: THURS SEP 8, 1994 12:18:13
Thanks. I love Patrick's work. Problem is he's *very* fussy on the
roles he takes. (And justifiably so.) He has to be sold on the script or
there's no deal. We'd sent him a copy of "And the Sky Full of Stars,"
which would have had him as the main interrogator, Knight Two...and he liked
it, and was prepared to do it...when we checked our respective calendars
and discovered that he was going to be out of the country when we were
scheduled to shoot.
We hope to get him at some later time. He's just terrific.
jms
BABYLON 5: KUDOS #815916
DATE: THURS SEP 8, 1994 8:56:02
My favorite books when growing up: the Lord of the Rings trilogy,
a Lovecraft anthology (The Color out of Space), and the Martian Chronicles.
jms
BABYLON 5: KUDOS #815048
DATE: THURS SEP 8, 1994 12:18:04
Thanks. I've had a long time to think about what I want to do with
the story, and that's what I've *always* wanted to do...something that
would be in the spirit of the great, huge, sprawling sagas that I grew up
reading. As far as individual stories are concerned...when you've got
characters as interesting as G'Kar and Delenn and Ivanova and all the rest
(and now Sheridan), it's easy to come up with stories for them...and very
hard to make them shut up once they start talking in a scene. They pretty
much just take over and start running around causing havoc....
jms
BABYLON 5: C4 BAN B5 (TKO) #815918
DATE: THURS SEP 8, 1994 8:56:07
Your best bet is to either get one from the States, or wait until
it's released on video over in the UK.
jms
=======
COMMENT #816179: saw JMS' photo at WorldCon in a display
of "Professionals of Science Fiction", not what poster had
imagined JMS looked like
=======
BABYLON 5: C4 BAN B5 (TKO) #816284
DATE: FRI SEP 9, 1994 12:41:08 AM
Just curious (how could I not be after that?) how the photo differed
from the perception based on the work. I'll say that the photo isn't the
best of me, not because of the photographer, who was fine, but because
I was just sorta walking by one day, dressed real casual, frumpy shirt,
when I was asked if I'd sit for one.
jms
BABYLON 5: B5 CAST ANNOUNCEMENT #815051
DATE: THURS SEP 8, 1994 12:18:11
Replacing Sinclair? No, not precisely. Boxleitner's character,
Captain John Sheridan, is coming aboard B5 as its now commanding officer,
but Sinclair isn't gone permanently. He is being moved off the chessboard
for a time, allowing us to broaden out the story, and give Michael the
chance to pursue some interests of his own in the meantime. Sinclair will
return from time to time as the story requires. (There's a lengthy message
in library 13 here with more details.)
jms
=====
QUESTION: So what *happened* to Sinclair? (paraphrase)
=====
DATE: THURS SEP 8, 1994 12:17:26
You'll find that out in episode one, starting in November. To
say now would be telling....
jms
BABYLON 5: ALIENS #815047
DATE: THURS SEP 8, 1994 12:18:02
Frankly, in the long run, I'm *much* happier with Chris Franke.
Stewart was more of the "let's make a library of music and draw from it
and remix a lot" school. Nothing wrong with that, lots of shows do it.
Chris, on the other hand, uses *very* little library stuff; each episode
is scored individually, and the music is lush, driving, powerful. I
couldn't be happier.
jms
========
COMMENT #814245: <doesn't like the idea of a woman captain>
<claims ST's purpose is to allow its "mostly male audience" to unwind>
(NOTE: poster sounds serious, not like flame-bait MLW)
========
STAR TREK: BOYCOTT ST:VOYAGER #815084
DATE: THURS SEP 8, 1994 12:44:27
Calamity Jane.
Annie Oakley.
Joan of Arc.
Indira Ghandi.
Amelia Earhart.
Mary Queen of Scots.
The usual flurry of Celtic warrior queens...the woman who led an army
in the Old Testament (just forgot her name)....
Oh, yeah...and Ripley, and Susan Ivanova....
jms
STAR TREK: BOYCOTT ST:VOYAGER #815915
DATE: THURS SEP 8, 1994 8:56:01
Ripley is *not* a character of history, that's a character
of fiction.
There have been plenty of stories and movies written about
Annie Oakley, Joan of Arc, Amelia Earhart and all the rest.
jms
BABYLON 5: B5 WINS MAKUP EMMY #818543
DATE: SUN SEPT 11, 1994 2:02:13
Just learned that Babylon 5 won an Emmy for its Makeup Design, for
"The Parliament of Dreams." This is our second Emmy so far, our first
for the series. I'm determined that next year we get some notices for
our acting and other above-the-line areas.
In any event, congratulations to our makeup and prosthetics design
people.
jms
======
MESSAGE #818603: <praise and congratulations>
======
BABYLON 5: B5 WINS MAKUP EMMY #818608
DATE: SUN SEP 11, 1994 5:09:17 AM
Thanks x 2 for the kind words.
jms
BABYLON 5: NEW JMS PROJECTS #817492
DATE: SAT SEP 10, 1994 2:26:24
You can have the Sun reporter contact me through Warner Burbank.
Typical, though....
And now perhaps you can see what it's like; they're always asking you
to prove what makes you different from Star Trek. Why should they think
we're the SAME as Star Trek? To many reporters, it's all the same thing,
which is depressing. How does the producer of NYPD prove that his show is
different from Picket Fences? *They're just not the same show*.
Anyway, I enjoyed working with you for the full totality of five
minutes.
Too bad; at six minutes you'd've started getting residuals.
jms
BABYLON 5: MINBARI CRUISER ANALYSIS #817503
DATE: SAT SEP 10, 1994 2:43:07
I've said that Earth tech doesn't have any kind of gravitational tech,
including magnetic/tractor beams. The Minbari have a much greater control
over and knowledge of gravitational science.
jms
BABYLON 5: "BELIEVERS" #817504
DATE: SAT SEP 10, 1994 2:43:08 AM
How Ivanova got away from the Raiders was taking advantage of
her lead to run away, occasionally firing backward to deter pursuit,
until she got to the jumpgate. It wasn't really anything dramatically
interesting, and at that point you would start distracting from the
main plot...and that couldn't be allowed to happen. There's really
noplace in the rest of the act where you can cut in without destroying it.
And in the tag there's no room for the pursuit, only the arrival.
jms
DATE: SUN SEP 11, 1994 2:02:11 AM #818542
Thanks, glad you're enjoying the show. So far, we plan to keep
right on doing what we're doing until the game is called on account
of darkness.
jms
STAR TREK: BUJOLD WALKS-RUMOR? #818237
DATE: SAT SEP 10, 1994 8:55:02
I don't understand why there's so much concern about whether or not
they can meet their airdate schedule. There's still plenty of time. We
began shooting the new season of B5 on August 11th, to go on the air
November 2nd. That's just under 3 months, and we'll be delivering episodes
a few weeks before airing.. As of right now, there are 4 months between
now and January, Voyager's debut. If they take another full month to find
a replacement, that's still more time than we took, so they should be fine.
jms
STAR TREK: BUJOLD TOO BOLDLY GOES! #818238
DATE: SAT SEP 10, 1994 8:55:07
Let me just jump in here on the "say each line word for word" issue that you keep throwing around. The notion of how much actors improvise on TV is *grossly* exaggerated. I have not worked on any show yet in which the actor is allowed to just change lines or wordings on set without first getting permission from the story editor or producer.
The reason for this is very simple: episodes are not shot in order
of scenes, but in order of location (i.e., all the mess hall shots are
done in there, then you move the camera crew to another location, and
you do all those scenes, then you interweave them in editing). It's
VERY easy to lose track if you're shooting that way, and you can change
a line in scene 9, from "He said it's the absolute truth" to "He said
he wasn't lying," not realizing that *another* character in another
scene has already said, or will say, "Like Mike said, it's the absolute
truth," and now those two scenes don't match. Meaning you now have to
go in and edit around it and loop the dialogue.
Sometimes an actor may not fully realize that there's a clue, or
a particular line that must be repeated. So the rule on EVERY show
that I've ever worked on -- particularly the more technical ones --
have the same rule: absolutely NO changes allowed on set without
consultation with the story editor/producer(s). That's the rule on B5,
Murder She Wrote, the Twilight Zone...on and on and on.
There's this contemporary mythology that actors get up there and
start improvising and adlibbing, and that somehow ST is an aberration
for not allowing that. Simply not true. You have bought into the
trap of accepted cliche and misinformation.
jms
STAR TREK: BUJOLD TOO BOLDLY GOES! #818541
DATE: SUN SEP 11, 1994 2:02:10 AM
I have no direct contact with the day-to-day operations at ST,
and if there's one thing that I've learned from the occasional sarcasm
and rumor mongering and speculation attendant upon the modification
in B5 casting, it's that such speculation is invariably wrong, and hurtful,
and cynical, and thus nothing much is gained by my contributing to it.
jms
BABYLON 5: C4 BAN B5 (TKO) #814082
DATE: WED SEP 7, 1994
"I wonder if JMS has an opinion on the scheduling (and banning)
of his work?"
Absolutely.
jms
DATE: FRI SEP 9, 1994 3:34:28 PM #816752
I *believe* that only the first batch of episodes, up to but not
including "Believers," are Hugo eligible for next year, due to the dates
on which they were broadcast. (There's a cutoff somewhere in there on
eligibility, so later ones will have to be for the 1996 Hugos.) Perhaps
someone out there can provide the specific dates for eligibility for the
1995 Hugos. I think the only real biggies eligible from the first part
of the season would be "Mind War" and "And the Sky Full of Stars," but
someone out there may know better.
jms
==========
QUESTION #816622: Is there *any* chance that your casting director,
Mary Jo Slater, could get her son to show up at some point?
==========
BABYLON 5: CASTING SUGGESTIONS #816753
DATE: FRI SEP 9, 1994 3:34:29 PM
It's something she's mentioned to us a few times, so we'll see.
jms