You can not select more than 25 topics
Topics must start with a letter or number, can include dashes ('-') and can be up to 35 characters long.
2660 lines
113 KiB
2660 lines
113 KiB
Babylon 5 posts by JMS for Jan 16, 1993 - Jan 31, 1993
|
|
|
|
This file includes a compilation of posts on GEnie by J. Michael
|
|
Straczynski in the Babylon 5 topic. The posts are copyright 1993 by
|
|
J. Michael Straczynski with compilation copyright by GEnie.
|
|
|
|
|
|
************
|
|
Topic 1 Mon Oct 26, 1992
|
|
SF-FANTASY [Yog Sysop] at 18:50 EST
|
|
Sub: Babylon 5
|
|
|
|
Welcome to the Babylon 5 category! As always, offering or requesting copies
|
|
of copyrighted material, whether it's the B5 Newsletter, photos, or the actual
|
|
movie/episodes violates copyright law and SFRT policy.
|
|
555 message(s) total.
|
|
************
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 1
|
|
Message 337 Sat Jan 16, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 01:36 EST
|
|
|
|
Actually, JoJo's...uhm...outfit is probably the best thing about the
|
|
show...not for pure asthetics, of course, just...I dunno...I just kinda like
|
|
the dynamics of it...
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 1
|
|
Message 342 Sat Jan 16, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 22:22 EST
|
|
|
|
Indeed, they might withhold such participation, which the PC would be
|
|
obligated to honor. Non-PC telepaths would be a different situation entirely,
|
|
of course...and a danger...which only a PC (or one of the other government's
|
|
own 'paths, if any) could work against.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 1
|
|
Message 355 Sun Jan 17, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 20:01 EST
|
|
|
|
The "Making of B5" piece is being re-edited; originally, the E! piece was
|
|
going to be the one shown, but...well, no need to rehash all of that. The
|
|
piece is being recut, and new stuff put in to replace the old stuff. It
|
|
should be finished next week, I hear, and then provided to the stations.
|
|
|
|
Great news about Arisia, Arne. Any other reactions come to mind?
|
|
|
|
Re: using my posts for articles...by all means, proceed.
|
|
|
|
BTW, it appears that the deal for a B5 game has been closed, and the
|
|
winner is Electronic Arts.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 1
|
|
Message 358 Mon Jan 18, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 00:47 EST
|
|
|
|
This goes back to a very basic philosophical question: can you have
|
|
thought without language, or language without thought? At one point in our
|
|
evolution, we became conscious...was there language, or did language then come
|
|
as a *result* of consciousnes? Or did the slow development of language *lead
|
|
to* the development of true consciousness?
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 1
|
|
Message 375 Mon Jan 18, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 23:38 EST
|
|
|
|
I'll know more about the game in the weeks ahead.
|
|
|
|
Apparently, Creation has licensed some stuff...mainly shirts and mugs and
|
|
patches and the like, nothing major, but it's there. I got the first t-shirt
|
|
design roughs today, and have some notes, but nothing too major. More as this
|
|
is developed.
|
|
|
|
BTW, does anyone know if there are any SF conventions this coming weekend
|
|
in Dallas?
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 1
|
|
Message 379 Tue Jan 19, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 04:00 EST
|
|
|
|
Licensing Corporation of America. Based in New York.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 1
|
|
Message 403 Fri Jan 22, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 04:03 EST
|
|
|
|
You say, "New characters and sets apparently do not work." The basic
|
|
problem, you seem to feel, is that it's the same show, and how do we go about
|
|
making B5 different?
|
|
|
|
I think that the question is more accurately phrased as, "How does one
|
|
make DS9 more like TNG?" I'm going to do this absolutely as non-pejoratively
|
|
as humanly possible, because this is fundamentally the truth.
|
|
|
|
When TNG first went on the air, a lot of the legwork was done for them
|
|
already. Much of the universe was established: phasers, the Enterprise,
|
|
starfleet, klingons, warp speed, doors, terminology, on and on. There was
|
|
additional material added on, but the basic *foundation* is the same. This is
|
|
neither good nor bad. One can do (and there have been) good stories within
|
|
this format. What it *is* is a continuation of the same universe. You can do
|
|
good stuff with that, but it's still fundamentally the same universe.
|
|
|
|
Now comes DS9, and again, it's much the same situation: it builds upon
|
|
and integrates what went before. We have the Federation, stuff introduced in
|
|
TNG (Bajorans, Cardassians), some overlapping characters, and a carry-through
|
|
of many pre-existing stories and themes. Once again, and let me be clear
|
|
about this, this doesn't mean you can't do good stories here.
|
|
|
|
It's just that it's the same universe. It's not a question, really, of
|
|
"sets and characters," it's a question of the universe overall, and the fact
|
|
that it's really a repackaging of the same show, with some modifications.
|
|
|
|
B5 simply does not take place within that universe. Every frame of film
|
|
reminds you of this. Without making a qualitative judgment for a moment,
|
|
consider ST vs. Battlestar Galactica. Both are space shows, but very
|
|
different in tenor, tone and universe. (BG and Star Wars is, of course, a
|
|
very different discussion.)
|
|
|
|
The comparison I've always made has been to say "What if all the space
|
|
science fiction stories ever published were written by Larry Niven?"
|
|
Yes, they would be fine stories...but one kinda wants something different
|
|
after a while. He might change characters, create different empires, but it's
|
|
still a Niven point of view.
|
|
|
|
And that -- to get to the heart of your question -- is the point re: B5.
|
|
It's a question of *voice* as well as all the physical elements you see on
|
|
your television. The *voice* is the underlying philosophy of a show and its
|
|
creators, the perspective they bring to it. Babylon 5 brings in a whole
|
|
different voice. Better or worse, that's a question for the viewer to
|
|
decide...but it IS different.
|
|
|
|
We don't really have to try to be different from DS9 or TNG because we
|
|
were never like them in the first place. As opposed to DS9, which is linked
|
|
to another show, and proceeds from the same producers/writers, and to which
|
|
they have an obligation to make it, to whatever degree, much the same as TNG.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Those who have seen the two shows have no problem telling them apart.
|
|
And future B5 stuff will continue to remain separate and fresh for the same
|
|
reason that the pilot is different and fresh: because it proceeds from another
|
|
voice. Just as Clarke's stories have always been different from Asimov's has
|
|
been different from Ellison's have been different from Bova's have been
|
|
different from...well, you get the idea.
|
|
|
|
No comparison of quality implied there, only as examples of voice. (One
|
|
final note: B5 has always been conceived as, fundamentally, a five year story,
|
|
a novel for television, which makes it very different as well.)
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 1
|
|
Message 405 Sat Jan 23, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 04:33 EST
|
|
|
|
That's not a bad notion. As it is, the date given in each season of the
|
|
show will change. I.e., "I was there at the dawn of the third age of mankind.
|
|
It began in the year 2257." Then, "I was there at the dawn of the Third Age
|
|
of Mankind. It was the year 2258." And so on. So it not only tracks the
|
|
storyline, it'll be easier for folks to know which season they're coming into
|
|
as soon as they tune in.
|
|
|
|
BTW, y'know, I was thinking about this discussion as I sat chewing my
|
|
lemon sesame chicken at the Good Earth Restaurant in Glendale this evening (my
|
|
Spousal Overunit insists that I eat something healthy once in a while,
|
|
apparently not believing that one can actually SURVIVE on beef jerky and
|
|
little chocolate donuts and Crystal Pepsi)...and I was thinking about how this
|
|
on-line discussion has now generated -- what? -- 7,000+ messages even before
|
|
the show airs.
|
|
|
|
So I got to thinking...what's going to happen AFTER this sucker airs?
|
|
I kinda suspect that either a) we will see a lot of "I WUZ ROBBED!" notes
|
|
followed by a silence vast as space, or b) this category is going to explode
|
|
in the biggest blast since Tunguska.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 1
|
|
Message 421 Sat Jan 23, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 20:28 EST
|
|
|
|
So, Denny, any comments of David's that you'd like to repeat here, or
|
|
provide for PR use? If not, that's okay.
|
|
|
|
Yeah, I'm inclined to think that there will be an upswing in interest.
|
|
What intrigues me is the notion that we actually will have two audiences out
|
|
there: those who've followed this discussion, and will be able to read into
|
|
things the various background information posted here...and those who will see
|
|
it totally absent any background on the characters or the universe. An
|
|
offhand comment in the pilot would have more meaning for those who've been
|
|
following this, and can fill in the blanks.
|
|
|
|
As a writer, though, you can't expect anyone to bring prior knowledge of
|
|
your story TO the story, it has to be self-sufficient, so we'll see how well
|
|
it functions on that level when the new folks arrive.
|
|
|
|
I'm sorry if it seems like there's an awful lot of self-examination going
|
|
on here...my tendency is toward being hyper-critical of the work, rather than
|
|
to try and make excuses for it. And again, I must selfishly admit that I
|
|
learn a *lot* from these exchanges, and the diversity of opinions here, and
|
|
the depth of the answers to questions asked, is quite striking and most
|
|
invaluable.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 1
|
|
Message 436 Sun Jan 24, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 19:47 EST
|
|
|
|
Funny thing is, I hadn't checked to see when the pilot would be aired in
|
|
L.A. Kind of amusing...and appropriate, given the probability that the
|
|
audiences will overlap.
|
|
|
|
(The article to which Brett refers, btw, is a piece in the Palm Latitudes
|
|
section of the LA Times Magazine that hit the newsstands today, which talks
|
|
about the discussion here on GEnie, and has a photo of yr obdnt srvnt stuck
|
|
inside a computer monitor which should probably be burned...the photo, that
|
|
is...and as if that weren't bad enough, it's a Mac.)
|
|
|
|
One other aside...Denny's friend David is the *first* civilian on theh
|
|
planet to see the totally completed B5 pilot, with sound, music and credits.
|
|
Hence the current sub rosa exchange.
|
|
|
|
Katherine: yeah, I know there's a Good Earth in Studio City...was hoping
|
|
Spousal Overunit wouldn't find out about it, but she did...sigh. By gosh,
|
|
give me a hamburger, fries and a chocolate shake! The heck with this so-
|
|
called health food.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 1
|
|
Message 447 Mon Jan 25, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 23:02 EST
|
|
|
|
Hah! Phooey! Why do you think I grew up...as much as I did, anyway? So
|
|
I wouldn't have to eat that stuff anymore. When I'm found dead at 90 in front
|
|
of my TV watching Babylon 5: The Next Generation, let it be with a coke in one
|
|
hand and a chocolate bar in the other. As Mark Twain said, "If you can't get
|
|
to 70 by a comfortable road, don't go."
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 1
|
|
Message 450 Mon Jan 25, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 23:37 EST
|
|
|
|
BTW, I'm giving some thought, since I'm going to be appearing at Con-Dor
|
|
in San Diego this March as GoH, to bringing along some of the scenes we ended
|
|
up cutting from the pilot, just to see folks' reaction to the stuff. (Filmed
|
|
and cut, not cut before filming. There are about half a dozen extensive
|
|
scenes available.)
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 1
|
|
Message 454 Tue Jan 26, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 02:57 EST
|
|
|
|
Don't know if these will ever show up down the road; in a few cases,
|
|
where they're set pieces, we may actually be able to take one whole scene
|
|
which is pretty much independent of the plot and drop it into an episode as
|
|
part of a teaser. (One, for instance, is an encounter with an alien hooker,
|
|
the other invovles a smuggler.) They were cut for reasons of time: we were 25
|
|
minutes over length, and something had to go. Several somethings,
|
|
actually....
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 1
|
|
Message 470 Wed Jan 27, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 03:34 EST
|
|
|
|
Correct, that's the shot seen in the magazine.
|
|
|
|
Re: the B5 commercials...please drop me a line reminding me of this prior
|
|
to con-dor, or I'll forget. (Jeez, between the commercials and the cut
|
|
scenes, this is starting to add up to some considerable viewing time.)
|
|
|
|
Coke, Pepsi, who cares as long as it's got caffeine?
|
|
|
|
Katherine: I made a discovery, a better deli than Jerry's or Arts:
|
|
Solley's, on Van Nuys two blocks up from Ventura, in the same complex as the
|
|
multicinema. A good deli, and a great restaurant, with stuff I haven't seen
|
|
elsewhere. (Corned beef and fried egg sandwich...might as well inject the
|
|
cholesterol right into your veins and get it over with.)
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 1
|
|
Message 478 Wed Jan 27, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 22:45 EST
|
|
|
|
How the various shows interface, and how one is linked to the other, is
|
|
best understood only by deities and studio guys; we'll have to see.
|
|
|
|
Only problem with coke is that they changed the formula and now use
|
|
sweeteners other than sugar. Though apparently they put out kosher Coke at
|
|
passover. Eventually I'll have to get a proper dispenser with Coke syrup and
|
|
seltzer, since the syrup apparently *does* still have the s ugar in it.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 1
|
|
Message 494 Thu Jan 28, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 02:57 EST
|
|
|
|
No, I have no knowledge of the article in question; could you upload it
|
|
to me in email?
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 1
|
|
Message 519 Fri Jan 29, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 04:00 EST
|
|
|
|
Katherine: my condolences on your recent assignment to a previously
|
|
undiscovered circle of Dante's Inferno. Surely your current task is
|
|
prohibited under the Geneva Convention....
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 1
|
|
Message 535 Sat Jan 30, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 03:13 EST
|
|
|
|
So, I like the number 5. Actually, the length was something set with Ron
|
|
at the time, and he produced the 5 miles figure (which is a bit short, in
|
|
fact, of the "actual" length as it came out).
|
|
|
|
And I didn't make up the L5 stuff...hey, it's synchronicity. Ohmygosh --
|
|
and I've been typing this with five fingers on either hand (well, nine
|
|
actually, the left thumb doesn't actually DO anything that I'm aware of).
|
|
|
|
Re: NATPE...Warners DID have a presentation doing on B5 there. Not a big
|
|
presence, because they've already sold it to just about all the stations
|
|
that'll be carrying it, and selling is pretty much the point of NATPE, but in
|
|
any event, it was there.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 1
|
|
Message 548 Sat Jan 30, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 23:41 EST
|
|
|
|
(BTW, Walter Koenig saw the pilot and said it was "a winner," adding that
|
|
he thinks it "should get a lot of the Trek fans, plus a lot of more mainstream
|
|
viewers.")
|
|
|
|
How much of the basic "saga" is in the pilot? Some...bits and pieces.
|
|
The problem, always, is that we have a whole new universe to establish, with
|
|
all the backstory that goes with that. As it is, it's fairly "information
|
|
intensive," as one person put it. We find out about the Earth/Minbari war,
|
|
the curious surrender, Sinclair's past, the missing 24 hours, the relations
|
|
between the various governments and their own personal agendas, and a hint of
|
|
what's to come. This while establishing the backstory of all our characters,
|
|
and telling a story in present time (for them).
|
|
|
|
I think you will find indications of what we've talked about for the
|
|
series present in the pilot. Which is why it bears watching more than once;
|
|
you'll pick up more information and more of a sense of the world the more
|
|
closely you inspect it. (We tried to come up with a pilot that actually
|
|
BENEFITS from close inspection, rather than falling apart if you look at it
|
|
too closely.)
|
|
|
|
Had a meeting the other day with the folks who're going to be doing the
|
|
B5 games. (As to platform...variations are being planned for ALL of the
|
|
various platforms...CD-ROM, IBM, Amiga, Mac, Sega and so on.) It was a
|
|
terrific meeting, with top of the line people. What was interesting was the
|
|
fact that they seemed shell-shocked from dealing with other producers, the
|
|
heavy restrictions, the interference, the hassles...my attitude on this show
|
|
has always been, "Here...we're creating a whole universe for you to go and
|
|
play in. Do so." So they're going to have a lot of freedom to come up with
|
|
stuff. I *want* to be surprised. Hell, I want to play the games.
|
|
|
|
Because of the need to avoid any substantial conflicts with the general
|
|
arc of the story, I gave them a peek into the five year arc, a few things that
|
|
had to happen. As long as things didn't cross into these areas, the territory
|
|
was completely open. And knowing that going in, there are no surprises down
|
|
the road to sabotage them. They seemed...well, there were a lot of very wide
|
|
eyes when I explained some of what we were going to do. They also saw the
|
|
pilot at the screening that night, and apparently loved it. We're cooking
|
|
along, folks....
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
************
|
|
Topic 2 Wed Nov 20, 1991
|
|
SOARON [Bio-Dread] at 19:41 EST
|
|
Sub: General Information
|
|
|
|
Babylon 5 will premiere with a two-hour movie entitled "The Gathering" early
|
|
in 1993. The creator of the series, J. Michael Straczynski joins us on-line
|
|
to answer your questions. (No story ideas please...)
|
|
|
|
394 message(s) total.
|
|
************
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 2
|
|
Message 114 Fri Jan 15, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 03:25 EST
|
|
|
|
Speaking of EFX, I was talking to Ron Thornton during the final mix down
|
|
the other day, and as we were watching it, he kept shaking his head at all the
|
|
things he would've done differently if he'd known then what he knows now, and
|
|
if he'd had the programs/techniques then that he has now. Just the few months
|
|
since we finished photography have given him a number of tools that he didn't
|
|
have then.
|
|
|
|
We talked a little about what's capable now, what he can do now, and
|
|
what's coming up, and it makes what's in the pilot look like nothing by
|
|
comparison. (A lot of the critics talked about the extensive work that went
|
|
into the DS9 jello-man effect, not to mention the cost involved; he turned his
|
|
associate Paul into the same thing in a test that worked just as well and took
|
|
one night and no money, just a little while behind the keyboard.) Once we get
|
|
the go, he and I are going to spend a couple of days just sitting and talking
|
|
about what can be done now, so that I can take full advantage of this new
|
|
stuff.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 2
|
|
Message 127 Sat Jan 16, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 01:46 EST
|
|
|
|
"Bob" will never be seen talking anywhere, at any time, for any reason,
|
|
in B5. I'll personally run a truck over him first, newscast or not (unless I
|
|
think I can get a good gag out of it...).
|
|
|
|
Re: my mental state...I'll know better in a week or so. I try not to get
|
|
too personally involved with my own life. Basically, it's lots of fatigue.
|
|
During the five days of editing, there was so much going on (the
|
|
music/sound/dialogue edit), I was so obsessed with making sure it all fit
|
|
together, that for two nights out of that I got no sleep at all, not so much
|
|
as a minute...I'd crash, and just stare at the ceiling, brain chasing itself
|
|
in ever-smaller circles, until gradually light started to come in through the
|
|
window slats. (Did you know that Danger Mouse is on at 6:30 a.m. out here?
|
|
I'd wondered where that show had gone.) This happened two nights in a row, so
|
|
by the end of the fourth day, without really any sleep at all, I had elevated
|
|
to a whole new plane of consciousness. The day after we finished, I slept for
|
|
something like 18 hours straight.
|
|
|
|
I tend to live crisis to crisis, and I guess right now my mental state is
|
|
mainly one of concern for how the show does when it airs. First was the
|
|
concern about getting the show made; then the concern about getting the show
|
|
made RIGHT; then the conern about post-production; then the concern
|
|
about...well, you get the idea.
|
|
|
|
There's this great character in Eric Frank Russell's "Men, Martians and
|
|
Machines" about a photographer who, on return starflights from the ship's
|
|
exploratory missions, sits and does nothing but worry about his pictures
|
|
coming back intact. The one time he DIDN'T worry, they were destroyed. So
|
|
now that's what he does: sits, stares, and worries. That's about how I get
|
|
through on shows like this.
|
|
|
|
BTW, for those interested, the magazine Aboriginal SF has an article by
|
|
Susan Ellison about B5, including an extensive commentary from Harlan about
|
|
his involvement with the show. (The issue just hit the stands.)
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 2
|
|
Message 152 Sun Jan 17, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 20:05 EST
|
|
|
|
BTW, to correct an erroneous statement of mine earlier, there is not a
|
|
species named Vee'lons that will be introduced on DS9.
|
|
|
|
The Vee'lons will be introduced on Space Rangers.
|
|
|
|
Some days, I just can't get a break....
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 2
|
|
Message 172 Mon Jan 18, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 23:42 EST
|
|
|
|
I take great joy in being politically *incorrect* at every possible
|
|
opportunity. I believe in the motto someone at the BBC once voice: "There
|
|
are some people we WANT to offend."
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 2
|
|
Message 185 Tue Jan 19, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 22:47 EST
|
|
|
|
Re: starships from Earth...yes, you'll be seeing a wide range of ships,
|
|
from smaller transports and trading vessels to big mothers. It is something
|
|
of an empire, and the ships come in as many varied forms as we have cars and
|
|
trucks and semis and tanks and on and on....
|
|
|
|
Re: talking vs. action...there's a shade more exposition than I'd like in
|
|
the pilot, mainly because there's so damned MUCH background to establish, so
|
|
much ground to lay...it'll be more evenly proportioned in the series. I like
|
|
action. For me, the #1 crime of any TV show or movie is that it should bore.
|
|
When in doubt, kill somebody.
|
|
|
|
Or blow something up.
|
|
|
|
Re: technology...yes, the point about the sudden jump via new
|
|
technologies is exactly dead on. It *did* have a tramautic impact, and to
|
|
varying degrees still does. The effect of technology, and the desire for
|
|
same, will be a recurrent thread. There are some technologies that are
|
|
considered too radical for some species, and are thus kept off limits, with
|
|
prison sentences or even death sentences for smuggling certain kinds of
|
|
technologies. One such tech-runner appears in the pilot. The parallel, I
|
|
suppose, would be our current concerns with the spread of nuclear technology.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 2
|
|
Message 205 Fri Jan 22, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 04:05 EST
|
|
|
|
Matt: the most entertaining thing for a writer is creating a character;
|
|
the second most entertaining thing is killing off a character. Believe me, as
|
|
you'll see in the Fight To The Death in the pilot, I have no problem dropping
|
|
a body. And as far as I'm concerned, only 2 or 3 characters in this series
|
|
are indispensible...the rest are open to all kinds of interesting fates.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 2
|
|
Message 206 Fri Jan 22, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 04:10 EST
|
|
|
|
P.S. If you want," check out the Captain Power two-parter I wrote,
|
|
"Retribution." That should answer the question....
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 2
|
|
Message 216 Sat Jan 23, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 04:35 EST
|
|
|
|
Yes, I *strongly* believe that there has to be diversity among our alien
|
|
races...accents, political beliefs, religion, name it. I think that is VERY
|
|
important. Yes, from time to time, you want the monolithic, perfectly
|
|
homogeneous aliens, but if so, you want them to stick out a bit in contrast to
|
|
the rest.
|
|
|
|
As has been noted, there's a *big* split currently going on between the
|
|
Minbari warrior and religious castes, for instance. More will come later.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 2
|
|
Message 227 Sat Jan 23, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 20:31 EST
|
|
|
|
What happens if something happens to one of the actors?
|
|
|
|
We'll deal with that when it happens.
|
|
|
|
(Was that okay, Mr. Director...?)
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 2
|
|
Message 230 Sun Jan 24, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 00:03 EST
|
|
|
|
"Do not tempt the hand of fate...." Gee, I'm getting good at this.
|
|
There may be a political career ahead of me.
|
|
|
|
The best way to help the show get the attention it deserives, and to get
|
|
feedback on everyone's efforts, is to contact your local station and Warners
|
|
after the show airs. (Er, that should be "deserves" above. One of these days
|
|
I'm gonna try Aladdin.) Right now, it's all in the hands of the one-eyed god
|
|
of television PR....
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 2
|
|
Message 231 Sun Jan 24, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 00:09 EST
|
|
|
|
BTW, before I forget, in addition to the People Magazine ads (and others
|
|
that'll be popping up soon enough), there's an article on Andreas Katsulas
|
|
(G'Kar) in the current Starlog, which came out pretty well, and an A.P. story
|
|
that features B5 that should show up in various papers in the next day or so.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 2
|
|
Message 240 Sun Jan 24, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 19:56 EST
|
|
|
|
The comment re: Twin Peaks is correct; I loved TP dearly, but if you
|
|
missed one episode, you were screwed. The way the story is constructed, you
|
|
can come in at any point, even miss episodes, and still be able to follow the
|
|
thing. It's just that the *more* you watch, the more you'll get out of it,
|
|
the more things you'll pick up on. It's a very difficult task from a writing
|
|
point of view, but worth the effort, I think.
|
|
|
|
Re: the actors...yes, there was a great degree of comitment on their
|
|
part. The head/hairpiece for Londo worked fine, but just to add to the
|
|
authenticity, Peter Jurasik shaved his head for the duration of the shoot.
|
|
All of the actors did research into their characters, got books on SF if they
|
|
didn't know much about the genre, on and on. They *very much* got into it,
|
|
down to consulting about their wardrobe and having input into prosthetics (to
|
|
some degree). We want them to be comfortable, otherwise they can't do their
|
|
best work.
|
|
|
|
They're all certainly committed to doing the 5 year stint; as for being
|
|
forever inserted into SF...there's the question of typecasting, and we've
|
|
tried to circumvent that in some sneaky ways (who's going to recognize Mira or
|
|
Andreas outside of their makeup?). Nimoy had problems because it was his face
|
|
and head, just a pair of ears stuck on. If we have lots of alien makeup, we
|
|
try to hide the actor's face (while allowing for varied expression) so they
|
|
can do other stuff. I think it's important to try and think of your actor's
|
|
well being and career...because then you create a good and healthy environment
|
|
for them, and it serves you well in the long run.
|
|
|
|
I've not been consulted re: closed captioning, and must confess that I
|
|
don't have the info on this. Will see if I can find out.
|
|
|
|
Yes, I was consulted about the ads, and while accepting the graphics,
|
|
provided alternate copy for the ads, which I thought were a tad heavy handed.
|
|
But overall, I'm quite happy with the approach that's being taken.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 2
|
|
Message 242 Sun Jan 24, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 20:16 EST
|
|
|
|
I think that talk would be premature; let's see if it GETS that kind of
|
|
attention, or if folks want to run us out of town.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 2
|
|
Message 250 Mon Jan 25, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 04:29 EST
|
|
|
|
A video index...oh man...you're *deliberately* trying to make my
|
|
life a living hell, aren't you? (More than it is already.)
|
|
|
|
We'll see. It's something I'll mention, and see how they react.
|
|
|
|
Meanwhile, here's a little something I came across in my computer
|
|
this evening. I had always sensed that the Londo introduction/narration
|
|
at the top of the pilot was the way to go. But it never hurts to try
|
|
other avenues...you discover the darndest ideas that way. Anyway, I came
|
|
up with an alternate introduction, just to see if it worked or not. I
|
|
rather liked it...and still do, to some degree...but finally opted to go
|
|
with the Londo intro instead, which is what we'll stick with.
|
|
|
|
But since it's not going to be used, I figured...why not let y'all
|
|
take a look at what would've been an alternate opening for the pilot?
|
|
|
|
BABYLON 5
|
|
Insert/Prologue
|
|
|
|
FADE IN:
|
|
|
|
ON STATIC. Then: a BLACK SCREEN, OVER which we HEAR the FEMALE
|
|
voice of a news broadcast in progress:
|
|
|
|
FEMALE VOICE (vo)
|
|
-- continue to bring you updates on
|
|
the Interplanetary News Network.
|
|
|
|
And now, gradually, a PICTURE begins to emerge from the darkness
|
|
-- grainy, slightly washed out, a VIDEO IMAGE of Babylon 5.
|
|
|
|
FEMALE VOICE (vo)
|
|
In other news, the Earth Alliance
|
|
space station Babylon 5 celebrates
|
|
its first year in operation with the
|
|
imminent arrival of an ambassador
|
|
from the Vorlon Empire.
|
|
|
|
And now: a MONTAGE of shots from within B5, and some EFX shots
|
|
from outside...the casino, the customs area, the bazaar and other
|
|
areas. During this, the IMAGE BEGINS TO SHRINK, to recede into
|
|
the distance, and gradually the stars begin to come out on all
|
|
sides of the picture, framing it. This UNDER:
|
|
|
|
FEMALE VOICE (vo)
|
|
Located in neutral territory, Babylon
|
|
5 has exceeded all expectations in
|
|
dealing with the many life forms that
|
|
pass through the five mile long
|
|
station. As a result, Earth Central
|
|
has approved an appropriations bill
|
|
to keep the orbiting freeport open to
|
|
travelers, businessmen and diplomats
|
|
for another five years.
|
|
|
|
And now the image shifts, and the picture continues to recede
|
|
into the distance, now only a few inches across...a grainy black
|
|
and white image:
|
|
|
|
FEMALE VOICE (vo)
|
|
Meanwhile, a new binary star
|
|
discovered by Mars colony scientists
|
|
has been named Kennedy Proxima, after
|
|
20th century president John F.
|
|
Kennedy, born 340 years ago this
|
|
week.
|
|
|
|
And now, in the small picture framed by stars, receding more
|
|
rapidly from view, we SEE footage of JFK speaking before the
|
|
Democratic convention the eve of his presidential nomination:
|
|
|
|
KENNEDY
|
|
I believe that the times require
|
|
imagination, and courage, and
|
|
perseverance. I'm asking each one of
|
|
you to be pioneers toward that New
|
|
Frontier. My call is to the young at
|
|
heart, regardless of age; to the
|
|
stout of spirit, regardless of party;
|
|
to all those who respond to the
|
|
scriptural call, "Be strong and of
|
|
good courage. Be not afraid, neither
|
|
be dismayed." For courage, not
|
|
complacency, is our need today.
|
|
|
|
UNDER this, Kennedy's image recedes further into the distance,
|
|
growing smaller and smaller until he is now one of the many
|
|
surrounding stars splashed across the blackness of space. A
|
|
moment, and the MUSIC RISES, brave and martial, as we
|
|
|
|
TILT and PAN ACROSS to reveal Babylon 5 itself, up close and
|
|
personal in all its huge splendor. PUSH IN on the station as
|
|
a ship approaches, and we HEAR:
|
|
|
|
LAUREL (vo)
|
|
Confirmed, Delta Gammer Niner, you
|
|
are clear for docking.
|
|
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 2
|
|
Message 251 Mon Jan 25, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 04:33 EST
|
|
|
|
That should be Delta Gamma Niner, not Gammer Niner. Typo. Sorry.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 2
|
|
Message 265 Mon Jan 25, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 23:17 EST
|
|
|
|
Generally speaking, I agree with the sentiments expressed, and what
|
|
you've picked up on are the reasons that I decided against using this
|
|
particular form, even though there are things I like about it. What was, for
|
|
me, the #1 reason for not using it is that it's...for lack of a better term,
|
|
fairly prosaic. A news cast as opposed to the voice of the story teller, a
|
|
sense of future-history you get through Londo's voice and the identification
|
|
of him as the storyteller.
|
|
|
|
Although I agree about the Kennedy tie, and that it can be somewhat
|
|
problematic, what I like about it is that it fed into what I've been after
|
|
with this show from day one...to tie our past, our present and our future.
|
|
Done properly, it could've been fairly classy, I think. And there's Kennedy's
|
|
voice -- I have the tape of his speech -- which rings powerful and true in
|
|
that speech. It set a tone. But as has been noted here before, writing and
|
|
acting and directing are fundamentally about making choices...this move rather
|
|
than that, this attitude over that attitude. The Londo choice was the
|
|
*better* of the two, even though there's much about this version to commend
|
|
it.
|
|
|
|
(A quick aside re: the MURDER question...the episode you cite was one
|
|
done under my watch, but not the one I mentioned as the last I'd have anything
|
|
to do with for this season. That one, which I wrote, aired about two weeks
|
|
ago. The one you saw this weekend was from last season, as is the one coming
|
|
up this Sunday, an episode of mine called "The Committee," a fairly gothic
|
|
episode that actually came out quite well. The mystery element may or may not
|
|
be that strong, but for me, MURDER was always a character story first, onto
|
|
which you graft a puzzle.)
|
|
|
|
Well, review copies of the pilot are going out, and have gone out. I
|
|
heard through back channels that a major reviewer for a major magazine saw the
|
|
pilot on Thursday last and his head exploded, thought it was terrific. The
|
|
one comment that I keep hearing back from people is that it redefines SF on
|
|
television. Now, that doesn't necessarily mean it's the best thing since
|
|
sliced bread, but in terms of character and SFX and the general, more adult
|
|
approach, it redefines what you can get away with. Which is all to the good.
|
|
|
|
As for what I'm doing now...writing a script for a friend who's in a
|
|
bind, ratcheting up the PR on the show a little more, giving interviews and
|
|
suchlike, trying to get a leg up on my next novel so I'll be able to continue
|
|
with it once this thing gets going to series, and some other stuff that, for
|
|
the moment, is classified.
|
|
|
|
It's now less than a month until this thing shows nationally. And just a
|
|
tick over two weeks until those with satellite dishes pull the show out of the
|
|
general ether. By February 22nd, I fully anticipate being a complete and
|
|
total basket case.
|
|
|
|
Fortunately, it's unlikely anyone will notice....
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 2
|
|
Message 272 Tue Jan 26, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 01:09 EST
|
|
|
|
Rob: the scenario you posit is a viable one. Nuff said.
|
|
|
|
RE: the making of stuff...rather than a half-hour show, the stations
|
|
(which in some cases had a hard time breaking loose a full half hour) will be
|
|
getting promos from a minute-thirty to 20 minutes in length, which they can
|
|
drop in as they wish, giving them more flexibility.
|
|
|
|
It *may* go out to them along with the B5 downlink, but I'm not sure.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 2
|
|
Message 275 Tue Jan 26, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 07:17 EST
|
|
|
|
(What the hell am I doing up at 4:15 a.m. my time? Watching B5 for the
|
|
ten zillionth time. Picking it apart. Making notes. This is nuts. I'm
|
|
going to bed. See you all in the afternoon.....
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 2
|
|
Message 288 Tue Jan 26, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 22:58 EST
|
|
|
|
Artisan: I think j.roy's got some graphics that qualify; nudge him into e-
|
|
mailing them.
|
|
|
|
Nothing to pick at? Oh, dear. Stand with your face half an inch from
|
|
the mirror, and tell me you see no imperfections. We all see the things
|
|
others miss. Tell you what...at some point after the pilot's aired, after
|
|
things have settled down, I'll go through my list of things to do better in
|
|
the series, things we should've done different in the pilot, on and on. But
|
|
that's the *purpose* of a pilot, to try a show out for size, see how it fits,
|
|
and make adjustments.
|
|
|
|
But no matter how good it gets, everything is open for improvement in
|
|
some way. You have to keep constantly questioning and re-evaluating. The
|
|
unexamined life and all that jazz.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 2
|
|
Message 294 Wed Jan 27, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 03:36 EST
|
|
|
|
Hmm...y'know, given the reaction here, maybe I'll fax the intro over to
|
|
Warners PR and see if they can use it for a promo. Like I said, I liked it as
|
|
well, it just wasn't up to the level of the rest of the show, I thought.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 2
|
|
Message 295 Wed Jan 27, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 05:53 EST
|
|
|
|
From the Associated Press article by Scott Williams on the new crop of SF
|
|
TV series (specifically here, DS9, Space Rangers and B5), quoting David
|
|
Gerrold. "I've seen the pilot, and it's [Babylon 5 is] the best looking of
|
|
the three. I really do think that Babylon 5 will be the one for grownups to
|
|
watch." (Article appeared in various newspapers over the last few days across
|
|
the country.)
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 2
|
|
Message 302 Wed Jan 27, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 23:01 EST
|
|
|
|
"The Committee," which airs Sunday, is an episode of Murder, She Wrote,
|
|
for which I was producer/writer until recently. Sorry, thought I was clearer.
|
|
|
|
BTW, I recently made a horrific discovery about GEnie posting. In the
|
|
past (since I compose on-line), I'd hit the carriage return at the end of a
|
|
line...and nothing would happen. I'd wait. Hit CR again. Then I'd get the
|
|
new line...and figured it just took a second to kick in.
|
|
|
|
Turns out that every time that happened, apparently the buffer or
|
|
something was getting full, and half the line wasn't getting through each time
|
|
it happened...so there have got to be some sentences of mine that make even
|
|
less sense than usual. Now that I'm aware of it, I'm going back and revising
|
|
the line when I see the delay at CR.
|
|
|
|
I'm meeting Friday with the computer game design people for a few hours
|
|
to kick around the structure for the thing. Should be interesting; main thing
|
|
will be determing the degree to which this thing should interface with the
|
|
overall acr of the story, or exist totally outside of that arc.
|
|
|
|
To the question raised 'way uptopic about comics -- yes, there may in
|
|
fact be one. And I'm actually quite pleased with the idea (being a comics
|
|
fan). Imagine what could be done by a Neil Gaiman or a Grant Morrison could
|
|
do with the B5 concept.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 2
|
|
Message 314 Thu Jan 28, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 01:18 EST
|
|
|
|
Y'know, when I posted the original idea for an introduction, I had no
|
|
idea it would generate so many different responses. And all with some merit.
|
|
Rob, the points you raise are correct: I've always felt very strongly that in
|
|
this show, and in SF in general, it helps to connect the future to the
|
|
present, to show the continuity of the species, of the common coin of our
|
|
shared humanity, our cultures, our languages. I think there are other ways
|
|
of doing it, and will do so. But given the "pro" response, maybe there might
|
|
be some way of using this thing, whether it's as a promo or somehow using it
|
|
in the show. (Y'know, it *could* be used in the course of a regular episode,
|
|
as I think of it; no reason why it couldn't....)
|
|
|
|
Well, one thing's for sure...if it ever DOES get used, it'll in large
|
|
part be because of the reaction here. Thanks.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 2
|
|
Message 318 Thu Jan 28, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 06:54 EST
|
|
|
|
Well, it's almost 4 a.m. I was going to give you three guesses as to
|
|
what I've been watching -- again -- but I figure by now that's kinda
|
|
pointless. I know, I know, obsessive/compulsive. Sue me.
|
|
|
|
It's now 2 weeks and 1 day until those of you with satellite dishes see
|
|
the pilot. I'll be very interested in seeing (well, reading) your reactions.
|
|
I must confess that as this dialogue continues, I find myself learning more,
|
|
and questioning more, and digging deeper for information that had been glossed
|
|
over before. I very much appreciate your comments, your suggestions, even the
|
|
occasional outbursts of Attitude.
|
|
|
|
There will shortly be a private screening of the pilot on a real movie
|
|
screen, just for cast and crew. The only time that I know of that this thing
|
|
will be shown in the US on a big screen. Have been going over what I'm going
|
|
to say to the assembled folks...how does one properly thank another for the
|
|
fulfillment of a dream? How do you quantify five (now six) years of struggle,
|
|
now given life by people you had hardly met one year before, but have given
|
|
their blood and time and effort to see someone else's dream realized?
|
|
|
|
During the filming, as I would be standing on stage, off camera, and we'd
|
|
take a break between shots, invariably someone -- the camera operator, the
|
|
costumer, an actor, a carpenter -- would come up alongside and say, "Is this
|
|
close to what you saw when you wrote it? How are we doing on the dream?"
|
|
They knew what it meant, the long road to get here, that it wasn't just a
|
|
*job* for me and many others; it was something we wanted to do out of passion.
|
|
And they responded to that...slept nights on the set rather than going home,
|
|
produced work above and beyond the call of duty...how do you properly thank
|
|
someone for reaching into your head and pulling out a vision and giving it
|
|
form and weight and light and substance? I don't know. I don't know.
|
|
|
|
Whatever the future holds -- win, lose or draw -- I think we've done
|
|
something special here. And it's interesting to see how that sense pervades
|
|
everything...the casting, the production...and now even this. I have noticed -
|
|
- I do a LOT of bbsing, much to my spousal overunit's dismay -- that the tone
|
|
on this category seems vastly different than it is elsewhere. I don't
|
|
know...a give and take, no flame wars, a sense of community, the VERY SAME
|
|
sense present on the set, in the dressing room, behind the camera.
|
|
|
|
In the cold light of morning (when I manage to see it, when I'm not
|
|
coming at 4 a.m. from the opposite direction), I tell myself it's just a
|
|
television show, and six months from now, or ten years from now, no one will
|
|
notice or remember. At night, as I watch the show again for I no longer know
|
|
how many times, I allow -- just for a second -- the notion that we've carved
|
|
out a little piece of history. Win, lose or draw, we got it on film, when
|
|
everyone said we couldn't.
|
|
|
|
And now it's yours.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 2
|
|
Message 325 Thu Jan 28, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 19:57 EST
|
|
|
|
Bear: you're an evil man.
|
|
|
|
I like that.
|
|
|
|
Re: "Night of the Living Dead," yeah, that's Patricia Tallman in the lead
|
|
role. Which is where I saw her for the first time, and decided at that moment
|
|
that I *had* to use her in something. She's dynamite. I saw her at a number
|
|
of gatherings in LA, including the Horror Hall of Fame parties at Universal,
|
|
but didn't say anything because...well, when someone comes up to you and says,
|
|
"Hi, I'm a producer, I'd like to use you in my next big project," it's
|
|
invariably perceived as a come-on. So I waited until the right opportunity
|
|
arose.
|
|
|
|
Knowing she'd be perfect for B5, I had her called in to audition. As she
|
|
was waiting in the hall, nervously practicing her lines, I stepped outside to
|
|
tell her that I'd seen her work, that she was terrific, and that I looked
|
|
forward to working with her. Apparently she didn't have any idea who I
|
|
was...but found out when she was brought in to do the actual audition a few
|
|
moments later. There was never any question in my mind about her doing the
|
|
role, and it was one of the smartest decisions I made in this thing.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 2
|
|
Message 345 Fri Jan 29, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 00:49 EST
|
|
|
|
Re: the Trek story...no, that was very much of its form and of that
|
|
universe; it wouldn't fit in the B5 universe.
|
|
|
|
Anything else in the past to compare with B5? Probably the closest has
|
|
been the novel writing, especially the one I'm working on now. But overall,
|
|
no, this is the biggie. If it works, it'll probably be the single largest
|
|
task of my career. If there's any one thing that I'd want to be remembered
|
|
for, it's a B5 series.
|
|
|
|
BTW...just a general note for those who are cycling in and out of the
|
|
conversation...be sure to be around a week or so before the airing of the
|
|
pilot. Many folks have asked how they can help; at that point, I just may put
|
|
you to work, and take you upon that generous offer...
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
(that should be up on, not upon...)
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 2
|
|
Message 353 Fri Jan 29, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 04:21 EST
|
|
|
|
EEEEEEEEEKKK!!!!!
|
|
|
|
I just read the first eight messages in the new topic 19 (mine). Jeez,
|
|
what a flashback. What redundencies. Did I really sound that gleepy? Oh,
|
|
man. It's like looking at your high school yearbook photo. Are you guys
|
|
*really* sure you want to do this?
|
|
|
|
Eek, I tell you, Eek!
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 2
|
|
Message 363 Sat Jan 30, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 03:20 EST
|
|
|
|
Agreed on LBJ...he was something of a thug.
|
|
|
|
Flat-out wasted tonight...we had a private screening this evening for
|
|
cast, crew, some critics and some Warners execs. About 400+ people at the
|
|
theater in the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in North Hollywood (in
|
|
the shadow of a 50 foot Emmy). I don't think I've ever been as nervous,
|
|
because here's where all the people who worked their butts off get to see if
|
|
we screwed it all up for them or not. Everyone liked it bigtime. The few
|
|
critics who said anything (most headed out, as is standard, you don't want to
|
|
tip your hand) loved it...one CNN person said he hoped it would run for 10
|
|
years, another critic said it was the best SF television pilot he'd seen in
|
|
the last 10 years...I think they liked it.
|
|
|
|
Sitting here now with a MASSIVE headache from fretting over all this, so
|
|
will probably make this short tonight. (Harlan kept hitting me in the
|
|
shoulder after the screening, smiling and saying, "Will you for chrissakes
|
|
ENJOY this? It's your night! It's a hit! It's wonderful! This kind of
|
|
night only comes once in your life! Enjoy it!" I will...as soon as we get
|
|
the series Go. Nothing can be allowed to distract from that.)
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 2
|
|
Message 374 Sat Jan 30, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 23:50 EST
|
|
|
|
The sound system at the theater was great; we ran it off the D2, the
|
|
master tape, and it came out very well.
|
|
|
|
The point you raise re: Starlost is one Harlan's made to me. When I was
|
|
at times feeling a bit low -- I want the series NOW -- he would point out that
|
|
no matter what happens, we made my show the way I wanted it made, no
|
|
interference...as opposed to what happened with Starlost, which just yanked
|
|
his heart out. And it's a valid point.
|
|
|
|
Thing is, it took five years to get this made, and that it HAS been
|
|
made...it's almost an act of sheer will. I decided five years ago that no
|
|
matter what happens, this pilot WILL be made. You have to focus in on the
|
|
goal like a laser beam (tm Bill Clinton). That's been done. Now the next
|
|
step: the series WILL be made...and now I have to focus in on that one with
|
|
equal conviction. It's quite literally the only way ANYTHING ever gets made
|
|
in this town. Ask George. He's been down the same road.
|
|
|
|
As for the question of the show working with non-SF fans...we've actually
|
|
shown it to a number of people who don't know from SF, and the result has been
|
|
that they've liked it enormously. The reason, basically, is that it's not a
|
|
hardware-driven story. It's a character drama with a mystery story element.
|
|
The solution doesn't come from cross-wiring the ramaframmit with the
|
|
zigamakawanna, and computing the resonance factors. (And I have to confess
|
|
that those kinds of stories bore me to tears.) You start and end with
|
|
character, and drama...and if you're true to those elements, the audience will
|
|
follow you even into unfamiliar terrain.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 2
|
|
Message 379 Sun Jan 31, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 05:21 EST
|
|
|
|
(btw...anyone here know of any major conventions between now and February
|
|
22nd around the country?)
|
|
|
|
What has been said that's *negative* about the show? Do you actually
|
|
believe I'll provide *NEGATIVE* information about my own show?
|
|
|
|
You do? Oh. Then okay.
|
|
|
|
Probably the number one comment, when there are any negatives voiced, is
|
|
that the first half-hour is slow when compared with the rest of the episode.
|
|
And I have to agree...there's SO much to establish, so much ground to cover,
|
|
that the first half hour is very dense. Once we've established the
|
|
foundation, that changes fast, because we now have a common ground of
|
|
understanding about the universe in which the story is taking place.
|
|
|
|
Let's see...one fellow from Starburst Magazine who was at the preview
|
|
said that if it were his, he would've rearranged the last few shots. The
|
|
current sequence is, Action Scene, Transition with Kosh, Confrontation with a
|
|
Major Character and Sinclair, the Reception, Delenn and Sinclair in the
|
|
Garden, and the final shot with Laurel in the observation dome. He would've
|
|
put the Confrontation with a Major character as the LAST scene, and cut the
|
|
shot of Laurel altogether. His sense is to end on a big scene...my sense is
|
|
that it's better to end on a note that sets up the series to follow. Not so
|
|
much a negative as a difference of opinion.
|
|
|
|
Let's see...some didn't like the gun designs (others loved it), some felt
|
|
we didn't do as much as we could've with the background aliens (some thought
|
|
we did too much)...mainly they've been matters of taste, rather than someone
|
|
finding something that Just Doesn't Make Sense, or an EFX shot that looks
|
|
crummy. There aren't any Real Big Plot Holes, and insofar as I know, nothing
|
|
major to pick on which is *objective*, only differences of opinion. (As we've
|
|
seen here with the Kennedy stuff; some liked it, others didn't.)
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 2
|
|
Message 390 Sun Jan 31, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 19:24 EST
|
|
|
|
I'll be getting in touch with Mr. Jonas.
|
|
|
|
Re: the uniforms...yes, there's a certain traditional look to them, and
|
|
this is deliberate. Look at any uniform from 200 years ago, and you have
|
|
certain lines and forms that repeat, and which stay part of the uniform.
|
|
There is a STRONG sense of tradition and history in any branch of the
|
|
military. Heck, the navy not long ago went BACK to a more traditional dress
|
|
after making some modifications. The basic dress uniform for your basic
|
|
soldier on leave looks about the same now as it did during WW II.
|
|
|
|
Much of what passes for SF uniforms/costuming in the future simply
|
|
pretends that all that history and tradition just suddenly came to a
|
|
screeching halt. In B5, we're trying to connect our past, our present and our
|
|
future, to show the continuity of the human species.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
************
|
|
Topic 3 Tue Nov 03, 1992
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 03:09 EST
|
|
Sub: BABYLON 5 - Computer EFX 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.
|
|
549 message(s) total.
|
|
************
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 3
|
|
Message 498 Thu Jan 21, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 01:20 EST
|
|
|
|
While we may indeed have a CGI character down the road, it most assuredly
|
|
*won't* be a shapechanger. I don't like to swim in somebody else's pond.
|
|
|
|
Re: observatories...we'll be introducing the many other specialists who
|
|
work at B5 as we go along, from environmental techs to astrophysicists, so
|
|
we'll definitely find a place for this.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 3
|
|
Message 505 Fri Jan 22, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 00:37 EST
|
|
|
|
Insofar as I can remember (problematic on the best of days), I never
|
|
cited that the CGI character would be a shape-changer. Because such is not
|
|
planned...though I suppose I could've been momentarily possessed by an
|
|
idiot...it could happen.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 3
|
|
Message 520 Mon Jan 25, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 05:45 EST
|
|
|
|
My reaction...it's an interesting idea, yes. It's also a story
|
|
suggestion, but one K.L. should let slide because I don't think it's a B5 kind
|
|
of story...more of a TNG story. But the notion of different forms of
|
|
communication than what we have come to accept or recognize as such is
|
|
certainly valid and filled with dramatic possibilities.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 3
|
|
Message 523 Mon Jan 25, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 23:19 EST
|
|
|
|
The hardest thing, of course, is making the muscles beneath the skin move
|
|
realistically and correctly. That apparently has just been licked, though.
|
|
Ron mentioned the other day that he just got some new software in that will
|
|
let him do for TV what Spielberg's whole computer operation is required in
|
|
order to do Jurassic Park.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 3
|
|
Message 531 Tue Jan 26, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 07:11 EST
|
|
|
|
I'll ask re: Ron's new stuff. As for the changing technology, I'd like
|
|
to keep things looking *pretty* much the same, so there isn't a big or
|
|
noticeable jump, but things just sorta look clearer and better and more real
|
|
over time, rather than changing things per se.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
************
|
|
Topic 4 Tue Nov 03, 1992
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 03:12 EST
|
|
Sub: BABYLON 5 - Cast and 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.
|
|
505 message(s) total.
|
|
************
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 4
|
|
Message 505 Fri Jan 22, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 04:06 EST
|
|
|
|
Also, the contracts with the actors for the series extend to the window
|
|
at which time Warners *must* either give us a decision. So we're covered.
|
|
|
|
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.
|
|
288 message(s) total.
|
|
************
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 5
|
|
Message 218 Wed Jan 20, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 03:00 EST
|
|
|
|
Yep...the "beep" stuff will all be clear by the end of the pilot.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 5
|
|
Message 267 Wed Jan 27, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 03:39 EST
|
|
|
|
Hmm...two 3.5 floppies, that's...2.4 megabytes...my last novel was about
|
|
600k, so that's....FOUR NOVELS!?
|
|
|
|
Okay, that's it. Everybody pony up a quarter....
|
|
|
|
Yikes!
|
|
|
|
I was far less tired before I read that.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 5
|
|
Message 269 Wed Jan 27, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 04:34 EST
|
|
|
|
(Hmm...that sounded vaguely like a threat....)
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
************
|
|
Topic 6 Tue Nov 03, 1992
|
|
T.ORTH [Mr. Rico] at 06:43 EST
|
|
Sub: Where is Babylon 5? TV stations...
|
|
|
|
Babylon 5 is a cornerstone of Warner's new Prime Time Network. Here is where
|
|
one can find the station information....
|
|
374 message(s) total.
|
|
************
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 6
|
|
Message 287 Wed Jan 20, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 03:02 EST
|
|
|
|
I'm scheduled for Gallifrey One Goes Forth?
|
|
|
|
Oh....
|
|
|
|
Er...when exactly is that, again?
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 6
|
|
Message 291 Thu Jan 21, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 01:21 EST
|
|
|
|
Yes, we've got WOR, which will only be blacked out if your local station
|
|
requests it. If no one locally is carrying it, then it might indeed be
|
|
available that way.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 6
|
|
Message 305 Sat Jan 23, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 00:54 EST
|
|
|
|
Okay, here's the deal on the "Making Of" stuff. Many of the stations
|
|
indicated that they might have a hard time knocking loose a half hour on TOP
|
|
of the 2 hour running time for B5. So Warners is providing shorter pieces --
|
|
90 seconds, 2 minutes, 5 minutes, 15 minutes and 20 minutes -- to the
|
|
stations, giving them some flexibility.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 6
|
|
Message 309 Sat Jan 23, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 04:37 EST
|
|
|
|
Don't know the answers to the questions, but will post as soon as I do.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 6
|
|
Message 318 Sat Jan 23, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 20:35 EST
|
|
|
|
If you're seeing promos for KF and TT, then yes, you'll probably get B5
|
|
on the same station. As for the 2 1/2 hour feed...I don't know for certain,
|
|
but it's *likely* that the making of clips will be included in that feed.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 6
|
|
Message 320 Sun Jan 24, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 00:05 EST
|
|
|
|
To the questions about airdates and times...there's no one central source
|
|
for this information, alas; the best thing to do, unless someone else here
|
|
happens to have the information, is just to give your local station a call and
|
|
ask the programming or publicity departments. They'll be happy to supply the
|
|
information.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 6
|
|
Message 323 Sun Jan 24, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 03:52 EST
|
|
|
|
BTW, a belated but *substantial* thank you to Jim Partridge for sending
|
|
in the KBHK tape. Yep, they used B5 footage to promote DS9, all right. We
|
|
just got it over to the Big Boys, and they'll take care of it from here.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 6
|
|
Message 342 Tue Jan 26, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 01:11 EST
|
|
|
|
Enough stations *are* airing them together that it still causes a
|
|
problem. Additionally, a "second night" also has financial meanings; the
|
|
doubling of resources to acquire two more programs, making four series rather
|
|
than two. So it applies in both ways.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 6
|
|
Message 351 Wed Jan 27, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 03:42 EST
|
|
|
|
Yeah, I'd gotten it, I was just swamped. (Also there was no letter
|
|
inside, and I had to tear through bags of discarded envelopes set to be
|
|
recycled to find the mailing label with the correct info.) Would've mentioned
|
|
it before, it's just...my head explodes sometimes, y'know...?
|
|
|
|
Gary: that's *great* news re: KUSI. San Diego's my old home town, so
|
|
it's good they're pushing it. Wish I'd known about the promo, I could have
|
|
bugged some people down there to tape it for me. Ah, well....
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
************
|
|
Topic 7 Tue Nov 03, 1992
|
|
J.HUDGENS [Fenn Shysa] at 23:07 EST
|
|
Sub: Babylon 5 -- POTENTIAL SPOILERS
|
|
|
|
If you've seen the B5 promos or the sales info packages and want to mention
|
|
specific items or situations without worrying about spoiling it for others,
|
|
post & comment here... THERE BE SPOILERS HERE!
|
|
467 message(s) total.
|
|
************
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 7
|
|
Message 398 Sat Jan 16, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 01:50 EST
|
|
|
|
There are actually several languages heard on B5, though you have to
|
|
work to hear them. (Those with surround will have an easier time.) For
|
|
instance, in the customs area, announcements are made first in English, then
|
|
in Interlac. In the bazaar area, you'll hear chirrups and whistles and clicks
|
|
and a wide range of language-sounds.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 7
|
|
Message 400 Sat Jan 16, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 04:12 EST
|
|
|
|
There are about as many as now...with a few extras developed on the Mars
|
|
and other colonies.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 7
|
|
Message 408 Sat Jan 16, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 22:29 EST
|
|
|
|
Re: asking telepaths on a date...it would be verbal, assuming we're
|
|
talking PC hrized scans are illegal, and thus they would not be "dipping" to
|
|
know your intentions.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 7
|
|
Message 416 Mon Jan 18, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 00:48 EST
|
|
|
|
(A job like that could take YEARS....)
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 7
|
|
Message 433 Thu Jan 21, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 03:32 EST
|
|
|
|
It's a very difficult area, and I thank Katherine for making the call for
|
|
me...it becomes hard at this end sometimes to call. My sense, really, is that
|
|
if there are VERY SPECIFIC plotlines put forth, then it becomes an issue
|
|
suddenly.
|
|
|
|
As an aside, though, one thing I did hear from the message was the
|
|
Vorlons as Minbari question. This I can say definitively ain't so. They are
|
|
two completely different species, with no common points of origin.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 7
|
|
Message 451 Sat Jan 23, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 20:38 EST
|
|
|
|
Cindy: smug because I've *GOT* the script?
|
|
|
|
Cindy baby, I *WROTE* the script!
|
|
|
|
I have not BEGUN to smug....
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
************
|
|
Topic 8 Tue Nov 03, 1992
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 23:41 EST
|
|
Sub: Behind The Scenes
|
|
|
|
Production Designers, Art Directors, Costumers, Director, others...this is the
|
|
place to discuss the production-aspects of B5...it's look and the process
|
|
involved.
|
|
336 message(s) total.
|
|
************
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 8
|
|
Message 238 Fri Jan 15, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 03:27 EST
|
|
|
|
BTW, it's my understanding that the monitor screens on TNG are not
|
|
inserted in post; they're regular TV screens with edges that come out and
|
|
cover any bends in the tube, thereby giving it a flat look. At least, that's
|
|
what I hear....
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 8
|
|
Message 251 Sat Jan 16, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 01:53 EST
|
|
|
|
I agree re: universal translators. Most everything in the ST universe is
|
|
bent toward making the process easier, less challenging; I want to show the
|
|
process of overcoming. I think it's great if an alien shows up from a
|
|
previously unvisited planet, and they spend days trying to communicate with
|
|
it. I think that some computerized stuff might work, as in the case where
|
|
someone programs a machine to go from one specific language to another (sort
|
|
of a species-specific interpreter), but thats about it.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 8
|
|
Message 261 Sat Jan 16, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 22:37 EST
|
|
|
|
The language facilities of aliens will vary; probably the most fluent (by
|
|
virtue of necessity) are the ambassadors, whose english is perfect or nearly
|
|
so (cyberlink to the brain dumping the English equivilants of their own
|
|
language and grammar directly into the brain, very expensive and not a little
|
|
painful). The drawback is that some cultural references or some contextual
|
|
areas may not be as clear as required. (Londo wondering about ramoras, Delenn
|
|
unsure for a moment about poetry....)
|
|
|
|
Re: language in general...I agree that all languages must be "living
|
|
languages" in that they are free to grow and expand and add new terms. There
|
|
is a difference between this and a *collapsing language* in which the
|
|
distinction between terms (the aformentioned less and fewer) becomes degraded,
|
|
and meanings blur through misuse. Ase gradually becomes less precise. A
|
|
language should be graded on how well it manages to communicate the thoughts
|
|
of one to the other. If it begins to fail in that regard, then it is not a
|
|
living but a dying language.
|
|
|
|
(Another example: the way that "anxious" and "eager" have come to mean
|
|
the same thing. "Anxious" carries with it some degree of worry or dread or
|
|
fear; "eager" is a pleasant term, connoting something wonderful and nice for
|
|
which one is longing. So when someone says, with a smiling and expectant
|
|
attitude, "Yeah, I'm really anxious to see the new Lucas movie," it's a misuse
|
|
of the term, unless there's some reason for worry.)
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 8
|
|
Message 268 Sun Jan 17, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 20:11 EST
|
|
|
|
In terms of the EFX, I think it's all Amigas, with some IBMs being used
|
|
for general computing (letters, schedules, etc.).
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 8
|
|
Message 281 Mon Jan 18, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 23:49 EST
|
|
|
|
Re: TRON v2.0....I'd rather write kids in space.
|
|
|
|
Re: places of origin...my sense is that they have their own unique names.
|
|
We don't call our planet Terra (well, not really), or Hum (for Human) or
|
|
Planet Human. Because some of the names are difficult to pronounce, the
|
|
logical approach is to note them by designation, i.e., "And shall be shipped
|
|
off to the Narn homeworld." That is the only time or I should say context by
|
|
which we refer to their places of origin. The only exception to this, and I
|
|
don't recall if this is in the pilot or not, is the Centauri homeworld,
|
|
designated Centauri Prime.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 8
|
|
Message 288 Tue Jan 19, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 03:35 EST
|
|
|
|
Yes, there are definitely other human settlements...colonies and outposts
|
|
and co-operative projects on other worlds with other species. It's mainly
|
|
from this overlap that the EA draws its non-human members, though a few worlds
|
|
have chosen to ally themselves directly with the EA.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 8
|
|
Message 325 Fri Jan 29, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 04:08 EST
|
|
|
|
The command level uniforms (Sinclair, Laurel, Garibaldi) are pretty much
|
|
the same in cut, though Garibaldi's (and all of securityard grey more than
|
|
blue. Medical uniforms have a somewhat different cut and lean toward charcoal
|
|
grey.
|
|
|
|
There's a slightly different cut for grunt-level security, and a slightly
|
|
greener look. Station techs (maintainance crews and the like) generally get
|
|
yellow outfits with the B5 logo (and are not directly part of the EA
|
|
structure; they work at and for the station per se). Control techs, in the
|
|
observation dome, for instance, generally don't wear jackets on duty, but
|
|
rather shirts with the B5 logo. The shift commander, though, does wear a
|
|
jacket with his uniform. (When B5 opens, you see Laural give a command to the
|
|
shift commander, who then relays it to others. You can trace the line of
|
|
command in the dome from there.)
|
|
|
|
There are, and will be, other variations in uniform, but those are pretty
|
|
much the ones you'll see in the show. (In addition, of course, to more
|
|
conventional clothing such as that worn by casino workers, marked only by a
|
|
glitter-B5 logo.)
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 8
|
|
Message 327 Sat Jan 30, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 03:26 EST
|
|
|
|
If the Garibaldi outfit you refer to is on page 30, that's the same cut
|
|
of uniform as Sinclair's on 34, just a different angle on it. (And there's no
|
|
white shirt under the outfits on page 28; those are high collars with gold
|
|
braid.) Now, there *is* another outfit that both he and Sinclair wear, it's a
|
|
black outfit (pants and long shirt) under a grey flak-jacket, which is a
|
|
combat uniform. (The flak jackets are composed of various reflective
|
|
substances that help refract and dissipate some of the impact of energy
|
|
weapons.)
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 8
|
|
Message 329 Sat Jan 30, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 23:53 EST
|
|
|
|
Oops! Nope, you're right, yes, there *are* shirts under the jackts
|
|
(actually, there are shirts under ALL the jackets, as you'd expect of
|
|
clothing). I thought you were referring to the collar. My error.
|
|
|
|
Actually, *ALL* of the costumes are layered. G'Kar can remove six
|
|
different layers of his outfit, Londo can wear the jacket with or without the
|
|
vest (which can also be removed for the shirt below), the Minbari wardrobe is
|
|
equally layered and can be played with as well, on and on.
|
|
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 8
|
|
Message 331 Sun Jan 31, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 05:27 EST
|
|
|
|
Rob: so what would you suggest?
|
|
|
|
If B5 succeeds, there will be comics published in the same basic
|
|
universe, as well as novelizations. These will be specifically encouraged to
|
|
go in different directions, partly for selfish reasons, so they won't mess
|
|
with my time/character line, and partly because I'd like to see what others
|
|
can do with this universe...sort of like a shared world anthology. So yes,
|
|
there's room to play, and with luck, we'll see it there and elsewhere.
|
|
|
|
What other options would you suggest? If I've missed something, let me
|
|
know.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 8
|
|
Message 335 Sun Jan 31, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 19:31 EST
|
|
|
|
Rob...my friend, it took me five years to get this one show into
|
|
production. The rest...I'll leave those to somebody else.
|
|
|
|
Re: colors and uniforms...we decided against using color that much as
|
|
service designation (red for security, and so on) for two reasons: one is that
|
|
it's so associated with Trek. We're not Trek. We allowed a touch of it in
|
|
the insignia, but in a very limited way. Second reason, you're dealing with
|
|
aliens who see various colors and don't see others, and alien sectors where
|
|
the lighting may wash out or totally change the color codes, which is why we
|
|
went for specific *symbols* for different areas (security, maintainance,
|
|
command and so on). If you're in the alien sector that uses red light
|
|
heavily, and you need help fast, you don't want to try and figure out of
|
|
that's a blue stripe or a purple stripe when asking somebody for help.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
************
|
|
Topic 9 Wed Nov 11, 1992
|
|
T.RESTIVO [Little Guy] at 18:27 EST
|
|
Sub: Babylon 5 Humor
|
|
|
|
From *Beep Beep*, to Top Ten Lists to full-blown paradies, this is where to
|
|
put your funny bone in writing!
|
|
172 message(s) total.
|
|
************
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 9
|
|
Message 150 Mon Jan 18, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 01:24 EST
|
|
|
|
Kosh as in "gosh." There's actually a last name, btw...Naranek.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 9
|
|
Message 156 Mon Jan 18, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 23:50 EST
|
|
|
|
Pronounced Nuh-RAH-nek.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
************
|
|
Topic 10 Thu Nov 12, 1992
|
|
SANDMAN [Henry] at 19:25 EST
|
|
Sub: Sex in Babylon 5
|
|
|
|
Can't do without this one!!
|
|
|
|
|
|
104 message(s) total.
|
|
************
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 10
|
|
Message 101 Thu Jan 28, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 23:49 EST
|
|
|
|
Yep.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
************
|
|
Topic 11 Sat Nov 14, 1992
|
|
J.SHEEN1 [Leviathan] at 18:09 EST
|
|
Sub: B-5 ADRIFT!
|
|
|
|
BABYLON 5 Topic Drift
|
|
If you feel like talking about it, but it doesn't fit anywhere else... If its
|
|
only connection to B-5 is that you thought of it in this CAT...
|
|
This is where to come and get it out.
|
|
373 message(s) total.
|
|
************
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 11
|
|
Message 323 Fri Jan 15, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 00:48 EST
|
|
|
|
Definite no on the question of matter transmitters. That's a little too
|
|
much in the magic/science-fantasy area for my preferences. Space travel is
|
|
done in ships.
|
|
|
|
Re: Captain Power...it aired in 1987/88 in syndication. Was set in the
|
|
future, after the MetalWars, in which one man, who caused the war (in the best
|
|
interests of humanity) decided that to save humanity it must be digitized and
|
|
stored in machines for the day when perfect metalloid bodies could give
|
|
mankind immortality.
|
|
|
|
Re: Twilight Zone...yes, I worked on the syndicated version. Among the
|
|
episodes I wrote (I was also story editor) are "The Mind of Simon Foster,"
|
|
with Bruce Weitz; "Dream Me a Life," with Eddie Albert; co-wrote "The Curious
|
|
Case of Edgar Witherspoon," with Harry Morgan, and co-wrote "Our Selena is
|
|
Dying" posthumously with Rod Serling, from a long lost TZ outline. Other TZs
|
|
that I wrote around that time, but whose stars I can't consistently recall:
|
|
"The Wall," "The Call," "What Are Friends For?" "Something in the Walls,"
|
|
"Acts of Terror," "Special Service," "Rendezvous in a Dark Place," and have
|
|
another shared writing credit on "The Trance."
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 11
|
|
Message 356 Mon Jan 18, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 00:50 EST
|
|
|
|
No, I wasn't previously aware of "Agony" (except what I've gone through
|
|
these last six months), but will look for it in future.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 11
|
|
Message 372 Wed Jan 27, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 03:43 EST
|
|
|
|
Shot on 35mm film. Transferred to tape for post.
|
|
|
|
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.
|
|
190 message(s) total.
|
|
************
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 12
|
|
Message 174 Thu Jan 28, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 01:22 EST
|
|
|
|
I think you'll see the biggest push 7-10 days before, yes; and given that
|
|
the PTEN ratings have been quite good overall, it's kinda hard to argue too
|
|
strenuously with that approach. I imagine that reviews and stuff will be
|
|
coming out about the same time.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 12
|
|
Message 176 Thu Jan 28, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 20:01 EST
|
|
|
|
BTW, I've been hearing more and more from our Warners liaison that the
|
|
reviewers who've gotten copies of the B5 pilot have had their corneas melted
|
|
by what they've seen. Half a dozen have already scrapped plans for other
|
|
covers in their weekly television magazine/supplements in deference to a cover
|
|
story on B5 (and this during Sweeps Week, no less!).
|
|
|
|
Keep your eyes peeled, folkses...the stuff should start hitting the
|
|
streets in the final week of our countdown.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 12
|
|
Message 186 Sun Jan 31, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 05:29 EST
|
|
|
|
Getouttatown...really? I know Somtow, and I'm surprised he didn't tell
|
|
me he snuck this in. That's funny....
|
|
|
|
Oh SOMMMMMMtow...c'mere...I wanna talk wit'cha....
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
************
|
|
Topic 13 Mon Nov 23, 1992
|
|
T.ORTH [Mr. Rico] at 21:00 EST
|
|
Sub: BABYLON 5 - Science and Technology
|
|
|
|
Jump gates, nanotech, high-tech weapons, starship drives, sound in space, and
|
|
other subjects of science and technology in Babylon 5.
|
|
269 message(s) total.
|
|
************
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 13
|
|
Message 152 Sat Jan 16, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 02:02 EST
|
|
|
|
The defense system for B5 consists of a system of moderate level
|
|
defensive grids, hull-mounted weaponry (which is generally concealed behind
|
|
large plates, which would be blown off with explosive bolts to reveal the
|
|
weapons beneath), and a small number of individual fighter craft stored in a
|
|
docking bay at the rear of the station.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 13
|
|
Message 158 Tue Jan 19, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 03:37 EST
|
|
|
|
The two things on front -- the spikes, as it were -- are on either side
|
|
of a second loading bay, this one expressly for cargo held in the zero-g cargo
|
|
hold.
|
|
|
|
The vanes in the back are heat radiators, as I recall from the original
|
|
design notes.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 13
|
|
Message 164 Thu Jan 21, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 01:26 EST
|
|
|
|
Yes, there are definitely different levels in each section of B5.
|
|
|
|
And yes again, down the road there will be both small flyers and
|
|
individuals with air-packs in the zero-G section at the center of the Garden.
|
|
Ron's worked out how to do it.
|
|
|
|
How's it illuminated? Quite nicely, actually....
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 13
|
|
Message 172 Fri Jan 22, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 00:41 EST
|
|
|
|
250,000 is the *maximum* number of beings who can be there at one time;
|
|
that's not necessarily the maximum number of living quarters. In some ways,
|
|
B5 is like an airport; you come in, linger, then move on to your eventual
|
|
destiny (catching a few winks in the customs area waiting for the right ship
|
|
to come in or go out).
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 13
|
|
Message 187 Sun Jan 24, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 00:07 EST
|
|
|
|
Yes, if a big ship went into hyperspace on its own power, it would
|
|
likely have to accellerate first, but if it were near B5, it might well just
|
|
use the jump-gate that's already there to save on energy and fuel.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 13
|
|
Message 189 Sun Jan 24, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 03:49 EST
|
|
|
|
I'll ask Ron.
|
|
|
|
This is one of those areas in which I'll have to defer until such time as
|
|
we get a regular science advisor on the show. I know *some* of this stuff,
|
|
but fact is, I ain't a techie, and this genre is best served by getting that
|
|
kind of information from someone who knows what the hell he's talking about.
|
|
|
|
(Which means we *will* be getting a science advisor once this thing gets
|
|
rolling, btw...no one's set yet, but will probably cull from one or two strong
|
|
possibilities over at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. My plan is to also bring
|
|
on a freelance linguistics consultant to invent a few languages for us...and
|
|
that may be somenoe I encountered right here on GEnie, as a matter of fact,
|
|
but will wait until something Happens to give more info on that.)
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 13
|
|
Message 199 Sun Jan 24, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 20:04 EST
|
|
|
|
As to what happens to their inertia/velocity when they come out, if they
|
|
accelerate going in...yep, we deal with that. It's in the pilot, and we make
|
|
it clear that they have to take time to decelerate prior to docking. I think
|
|
in Kosh's case it took something like 2-3 hours to decelerate.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 13
|
|
Message 214 Mon Jan 25, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 23:22 EST
|
|
|
|
MATH! MATH! YOU SAID THERE WOULDN'T BE ANY MATH ON THIS TEST! I DIDN'T
|
|
STUDY! HOW MUCH OF MY GRADE WILL THIS BE?! AAAUUUGGGHHH!!!
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 13
|
|
Message 219 Tue Jan 26, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 02:59 EST
|
|
|
|
That's actually fairly close to what we were planning...have you been
|
|
hanging around Ron again...?
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 13
|
|
Message 221 Tue Jan 26, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 04:40 EST
|
|
|
|
Disagreement: the coolest show ever made is THE PRISONER. I hope to
|
|
capture a little of the flavor of that show, mainly by playing a little with
|
|
surrealism, what's real and what's not...but it'll pale beside that show. THE
|
|
PRISONER, for me, is the perfect television program. I've never really seen
|
|
its equal.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 13
|
|
Message 241 Wed Jan 27, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 23:24 EST
|
|
|
|
I'd expect a comment like that from someone who watches GI Joe....
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 13
|
|
Message 243 Thu Jan 28, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 01:24 EST
|
|
|
|
Nope, the music is all original to our composer, Stewart Copeland.
|
|
|
|
And it be WAY cool.
|
|
|
|
(On the B5 blooper reel, there's a shot of all these alien faces, and
|
|
that rock song with the lyric, "Everyone's strange, when you're a stranger,
|
|
faces look strange, when you're alone" going on in BG. Very funny.)
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 13
|
|
Message 246 Thu Jan 28, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 02:59 EST
|
|
|
|
That's probably something that'll have to be worked out between the
|
|
Language Person and Warners.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 13
|
|
Message 253 Thu Jan 28, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 06:34 EST
|
|
|
|
Okay, okay, I got the lyrics wrong, but I got 'till *right*.
|
|
|
|
Thing is on the language stuff...it honestly isn't my choice. There is a
|
|
little thing called "separation of rights." Publishing rights would probably
|
|
accrue to whoever does the language stuff. It's not my call. I would be
|
|
giving away something that ain't mine to give.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 13
|
|
Message 266 Sun Jan 31, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 05:30 EST
|
|
|
|
Just for clarity, I don't want to "slip Prisoner elements in" in the way
|
|
described. Was only referencing the show as the kind of show to emulate with
|
|
a beginning, middle and end, and a sometimes surreal aspect that leaves you
|
|
questioning what's real and what isn't.
|
|
|
|
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.
|
|
187 message(s) total.
|
|
************
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 14
|
|
Message 132 Sun Jan 17, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 20:15 EST
|
|
|
|
Hey, Mark, good to have another H-25er around.
|
|
|
|
Pat: I taught at Grossmont College for about one semester, it's a pretty
|
|
good place. (Went to San Diego State and meself.)
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 14
|
|
Message 135 Mon Jan 18, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 00:52 EST
|
|
|
|
I taught writing (what else?)...I *think* it was around 1979 or 80.
|
|
After a while, everything blurs.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 14
|
|
Message 143 Mon Jan 18, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 23:59 EST
|
|
|
|
Re: SDSU, no, I had very little to do with the cinema/telecom dept.
|
|
there. I crashed two courses -- mainly because I wanted to learn from a
|
|
particular instructor, Norman Corwin -- and had one or two others, but that's
|
|
it. My interest was in other areas...one degree in Clinical Psychology with a
|
|
minor in Philosophy; another in Sociology with a minor in Creative Writing,
|
|
that sort of thing.
|
|
|
|
BTW, if you go down to the offices of the Daily Aztec, and ask to see the
|
|
archive volumes of the paper around 1977/78 or thereabouts, you'll see several
|
|
zillion articles by me in there. At more or less the same time, I was the
|
|
resident book reviewer, film reviewer and theater reviewer, had two weekly
|
|
humor columns ("A View from the Rabbit Hole" and "A Modern Cynic's
|
|
Dictionary"), as well as regular feature articles and profiles, and the
|
|
occasional investigative article, including one on the CIA. The frequency of
|
|
articles led some to describe the paper as The Daily J. Michael. At the same
|
|
time I was doing cover stories for the San Diego Reader, the Daily
|
|
Californian, features for the SD edition of the Los Angeles Times, and
|
|
entertainment reviews for KSDO-AM Newsradio.
|
|
|
|
But the Daily Aztec stuff was great fun. I worked without pay, the only
|
|
one on staff who did, in fact...because I didn't want to be beholden to
|
|
anybody, could write what I wanted, nobody had any leverage. Which was all
|
|
for the good, given the massive numbers of angry letters and the occasional
|
|
bomb threats elicited by what I wrote.
|
|
|
|
Can't imagine why....
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 14
|
|
Message 147 Tue Jan 19, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 22:57 EST
|
|
|
|
Yes, a VERY large blunt object.
|
|
|
|
The one point of any possible interest to draw from this comes from
|
|
something I tried to beat into incoming students when I was an orientation
|
|
counselor at SDSU: if you go to college, and all you see are the class rooms,
|
|
the bathrooms, the parking lot and the cafeteria, you will cheat yourself of
|
|
99% of your possible education. Any university or college has vast
|
|
opportunities for writers and others. In the former case, write for the
|
|
university newspaper, or the university theater (and most schools have an
|
|
ongoing one-act production program)...take classes in acting or film, to get a
|
|
sense of history, or the hands-on process of being on stage...the range of
|
|
experience open to you is enormous. Don't just follow your major to its
|
|
conclusion. There is a world of experience you can get while you're there
|
|
*that you may never have the chance to experience again*. Take it.
|
|
|
|
End of sermon. I shouldn't even be here, frankly, this is for the new
|
|
folks and others to sign in and introduce themselves...both for the interests
|
|
of our own private party, so we know who's come into the room, and for any
|
|
possible future mailings or opportunities.
|
|
|
|
Let's hear from y'all.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 14
|
|
Message 152 Thu Jan 21, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 01:28 EST
|
|
|
|
KBHK Channel 44 in San Francisco.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 14
|
|
Message 160 Sun Jan 24, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 20:08 EST
|
|
|
|
Shane...imagine, if you will, a slow fuse being lit...as I stare at the
|
|
name, thinking, "There was something...something I was supposed to do,
|
|
something...writing?" Then, finally, the fuse works its way through the dense
|
|
foliage I laughingly call my cerebral cortex and explodes with the words "THE
|
|
ARTICLE, STUPID! YOU NEVER FINISHED PROOFREADING THE ARTICLE HE SENT YOU!"
|
|
|
|
A thousand apologies, Shane. The piece came in right when I was in the
|
|
midst of finishing B5 and leaving M,SW, my life was degenerating into stark,
|
|
staring madness, and I put it down, intent upon taking care of it that
|
|
evening, and next thing I know...I see your message here.
|
|
|
|
Hope I didn't screw anything up....
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 14
|
|
Message 165 Tue Jan 26, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 01:13 EST
|
|
|
|
I forget...which one of us was wearing the rabbit outfit that night?
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
************
|
|
Topic 15 Thu Dec 31, 1992
|
|
J.ROY18 [Jonathan] at 21:29 EST
|
|
Sub: BABYLON 5 - Alien races
|
|
|
|
Aliens races in Babylon 5... their politics, abilties, technology, history,
|
|
and any other discussion specificly about non-humans.
|
|
|
|
128 message(s) total.
|
|
************
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 15
|
|
Message 71 Tue Jan 19, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 00:01 EST
|
|
|
|
Yeah, that's one thing I've kind of slated in as a B story in a given
|
|
episode...an alien comes aboard and they just can't quite manage to
|
|
communicate, it's just too damned foreign in its thinking. (What I'd love is
|
|
for them to find out at the end that it's some other alien's damned cat or
|
|
something, and they've been spending all this time trying to communicate with
|
|
something that ain't sentient...but with aliens, how can you tell sometimes?)
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 15
|
|
Message 88 Sat Jan 23, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 04:40 EST
|
|
|
|
Yeah, you kinda need binocular vision for survival purposes and the
|
|
utilization of tools.
|
|
|
|
Re: alien plans...that's something that we'll have to work out down the
|
|
road with our prosthetics people. I don't think we used the full range of
|
|
aliens (both versions) as well as we might have in the pilot. We get only
|
|
one medium-long shot of Black Eyes, for instance, and that's one that I feel
|
|
came out VERY well and should be highlighted more. Some of the others were
|
|
less effective, but were kept to the background.
|
|
|
|
I'd like to keep a mix going, about 50/50.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 15
|
|
Message 96 Sun Jan 24, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 03:51 EST
|
|
|
|
An entire planet of mimes.....AN ENTIRE PLANET OF MIMES!?!
|
|
|
|
NUKE 'EM!
|
|
|
|
NUKE 'EM TILL THEY GLOW THEN SHOOT 'EM IN THE DARK!
|
|
|
|
YAAAAAGGGGHHHHH!
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 15
|
|
Message 118 Thu Jan 28, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 03:02 EST
|
|
|
|
till (til) conj. & prep until
|
|
~~~~~~~~~~~~
|
|
Oxford American Dictionary
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 15
|
|
Message 122 Thu Jan 28, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 06:38 EST
|
|
|
|
Your teacher was wrong. The dictionary accepts till. If required, I can
|
|
call Mrs. Nash, assuming she survived the process.
|
|
|
|
Re: aliens...yeah, there was a somewhat naturalistic look to the things
|
|
that I'd like to experiment with come the series. This was a deliberate
|
|
choice on Criswell's part. And by and large, it worked out okay. I just
|
|
think that for the series, it would limit us.
|
|
|
|
Criswell's elves actually did a *lot* of research, trying various
|
|
textures and color combinations drawn from nature. Of course, that's all
|
|
nature as would evolve in an oxygen atmosphere, 1g. We have to go beyond
|
|
that, and I think there's some nifty stuff that can be done down the road.
|
|
|
|
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.
|
|
99 message(s) total.
|
|
************
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 16
|
|
Message 2 Fri Jan 15, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 03:31 EST
|
|
|
|
On the other hand...maybe it might be better if our Sysoptrix took the
|
|
last, oh, 100 or so messages from 1 about this and transplanted 'em here. Get
|
|
the whole context in place.
|
|
|
|
And lord knows, it's not like she has anything ELSE to do, other than
|
|
nudzhing me....
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 16
|
|
Message 21 Sun Jan 17, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 20:19 EST
|
|
|
|
Something I forgot to mention uptopic, when asked if I can write a story
|
|
with kids...it's appeared in a lot of my prose. The two leading protagonist
|
|
in my most recent novel, OTHERSYDE, were around 16...the lead character in one
|
|
of the first short stories of mine ever to be published ("Your Move," in
|
|
Amazing SF) was about 13, and the second story of mine published ("A Last
|
|
Testament for Nick and the Trooper," Shadows 6) featured two kids maybe 19.
|
|
|
|
Provided only for the sake of completeness.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 16
|
|
Message 26 Tue Jan 19, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 00:03 EST
|
|
|
|
Absolutely. I love being proven wrong.
|
|
|
|
Though there are few survivors to carry the story....
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 16
|
|
Message 42 Fri Jan 22, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 05:25 EST
|
|
|
|
Ah LAHKES Crow an' Tom Servo....
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 16
|
|
Message 57 Mon Jan 25, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 05:47 EST
|
|
|
|
If you can find Harpo, we'll book him on the show....
|
|
|
|
Or Chico, or Groucho...but definitely not Zeppo...or Flammo, the Marx
|
|
Brother who ended up on the cutting room floor.
|
|
|
|
"Getta you tootsie-fruitsie ice-a cream...."
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 16
|
|
Message 64 Mon Jan 25, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 23:29 EST
|
|
|
|
Rob: that was very funny stuff. And believe me, I know from Gummo;
|
|
the Flammo reference was from a play by Louis Phillips, "The Last of the
|
|
Marx Bros. Writers," very surreal, where they mention Flammo. The play
|
|
is about...well...the last surviving Marx. Bros. writer, who is living in
|
|
a one room flat, doesn't go out, and keeps having delusional conversations
|
|
with God. "Make Me Laugh," God says. The writer starts a joke.
|
|
|
|
"Heard it," God says. Which is, of course, the problem...he's heard
|
|
ALL of them.
|
|
|
|
BTW, if you're a true-blue Marx Bros. fan, you might want to find (if
|
|
you already haven't) the book "Flyweel, Shyster and Flywheel," which
|
|
contains many of the radio scripts of that Marx Bros. show, no surviving
|
|
audio copies of which have survived. Very, very funny stuff.
|
|
|
|
"How much do you charge to perform?"
|
|
"Ten dollar."
|
|
"How much to perform but leave out the rehearsal?"
|
|
"Twenty dollar."
|
|
"How much not to perform at all?"
|
|
"Oh, no, boss, you couldn't afford it...."
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 16
|
|
Message 81 Wed Jan 27, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 04:36 EST
|
|
|
|
KL: though it galls me to quote commercials, I heard something on one the
|
|
other day that's actually quite telling...some restaraunter quoting something
|
|
his father told him: "The guy who says he never had a chance, never TOOK a
|
|
chance."
|
|
|
|
What you say is correct: write it, send it out, write another, send it
|
|
out, write another...on and on and on...if it's good, sooner or later
|
|
somebody'll notice.
|
|
|
|
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
|
|
55 message(s) total.
|
|
************
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 17
|
|
Message 3 Tue Jan 19, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 23:00 EST
|
|
|
|
I'll know more about the computer game next week or so. Best thing in
|
|
general is to write to Licensing Corporation of America to get on their
|
|
mailing list for future B5 promotional stuff and merchandising.
|
|
|
|
The Creation designs for shirts look okay, if a tad prosaic...there has
|
|
got to be one central image to promote this show, but I'm darned if I can
|
|
figure out what it is at this stage. The logo looks swell, though, in any
|
|
event.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 17
|
|
Message 21 Sat Jan 23, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 00:59 EST
|
|
|
|
Jack's message is correct. The only "sale" aspect was that the GEIs in
|
|
question had to send $1 to help cover postage; the shirt was free. (I hear a
|
|
few have shown up at auctions for sale; $50 for one, in fact.)
|
|
|
|
And yes, the triangle logo has been pretty much officially dropped.
|
|
Whether or not we'll find another use for it down the road is an open
|
|
question, but for now...yep.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 17
|
|
Message 25 Sat Jan 23, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 20:47 EST
|
|
|
|
Oh, yeah, before I forget (again)...look for ads in People Magazine and
|
|
elsewhere to start appearing in the next few weeks. And local TV reviewers
|
|
are going to start getting their copies this week.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 17
|
|
Message 27 Sun Jan 24, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 00:08 EST
|
|
|
|
Well, this IS a science fiction topic.....
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 17
|
|
Message 32 Sun Jan 24, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 20:11 EST
|
|
|
|
BTW, for anyone going to NATPE -- wherever the hell it is -- this coming
|
|
week, there's going to be a big B5 display at the Warners booth, and some
|
|
posters available. I've asked to get one of the posters for my archives.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 17
|
|
Message 39 Mon Jan 25, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 23:30 EST
|
|
|
|
Boy, those time distortion fields are tricky, aren't they?
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 17
|
|
Message 42 Tue Jan 26, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 07:13 EST
|
|
|
|
Go ahead....YOU tell G'Kar he's ToTo. Me, I wanna live a while....
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
************
|
|
Topic 18 Fri Jan 22, 1993
|
|
SF-LAWRENCE [Katherine] at 01:57 EST
|
|
Sub: Law and Order on Babylon 5
|
|
|
|
The sociology of the B5 station is already being discussed and has generated
|
|
so many messages, they deserve their own topic. Here's where we can discuss
|
|
Law, Order and Penalties for breaking the law, on B5.
|
|
85 message(s) total.
|
|
************
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 18
|
|
Message 1 Thu Jan 21, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] (Forwarded)
|
|
|
|
The death penalty question is one I've been debating in terms of B5 for
|
|
quite some time. Look at the math involved...if you find someone guilty of
|
|
murder, do you spend all the money and time and effort and so on to ship them
|
|
to a penal colony? The cost would be ENORMOUS. Do you keep them imprisoned
|
|
on B5? If so, eventually you'll run out of room. So the question becomes, Do
|
|
you space them? Kill them humanely?
|
|
|
|
There's a B5 story I have in mind that will explore this question, but
|
|
I'm not yet sure which way I want to go on it.
|
|
|
|
And to the question above...some stations air PTEN shows on different
|
|
nights, yes, there's some flexibility.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 18
|
|
Message 4 Thu Jan 21, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] (Forwarded)
|
|
|
|
Ah, but you see, for starters, the issue may not be one of reform; okay,
|
|
A kills B, so we transform A into a better person...this by you is a
|
|
punishment? What is the purpose of the law, to reform or to avenge?
|
|
|
|
Plus you run into the other problem...what of the other species out there
|
|
who may require death for certain offenses, such as murder of their own
|
|
species?
|
|
|
|
And consider this: A kills B. B happens to be your little sister, age
|
|
12. A gets transformed by the psychs. And you're now living side by side
|
|
with A, you see him every day, in a closed station...would thisn ot lead to
|
|
MORE murders?
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 18
|
|
Message 31 Fri Jan 22, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] (Forwarded)
|
|
|
|
Yes, but of course the problem *there* (making them work it off) is that
|
|
it begins to institutionalize slavery. How can you safeguard against
|
|
situations leading to indentured slavery...Person A is *falsely* accused of a
|
|
crime for the purpose of shipping him off to the work colony where he will
|
|
slave away for the Company indefinitely?
|
|
|
|
In a way, when you're dealing in this context -- far space -- the
|
|
question of "is murder humane?" is really less and less the operative
|
|
question. (By "murder" I mean the death penalty in the above.) You're living
|
|
in *very* small quarters, when you get down to it. It costs quite a lot in
|
|
time and money to get there. And to send someone away. How much time and
|
|
money do you allocate for extradition across, potentially, x-number of light
|
|
years?
|
|
|
|
The best metaphor, I suppose, is a boat at sea. There are ten people in
|
|
the boat. A kills B. You don't really have the resources to rehabilitate
|
|
there. And barring that option, there's no way of knowing if A won't kill C
|
|
in his sleep...or that D, B's friend, won't kill A at the first opportunity.
|
|
Meanwhile, you've got to put your attention to getting this ship to port
|
|
without totally disrupting operations and sinking before you reach port.
|
|
|
|
On Earth, if someone commits a crime, you send them to prison upstate,
|
|
out of sight, out of mind. But where do/can you send them in such closed
|
|
quarters? I raise this mainly because what I've always tried to do with B5 is
|
|
to Ask The Next Question. Very often the answers to those questions aren't
|
|
easy, or comfortable...but they have to be asked, and answered, if your
|
|
universe is to make any sense or have any degree of consistency.
|
|
|
|
(And just in general, btw, everyone who comes to B5 operates under EA
|
|
laws, so Earth laws have jurisdiction under *most* circumstances. But there
|
|
are always exceptions. And those would be a *real* test.)
|
|
|
|
As to the idea that the death penalty costs more than life...yes, that's
|
|
true as far as it goes on Earth...but a station wouldn't have time or money or
|
|
resources for those kind of endless appeals. Justice wold (would) have to be
|
|
fairly swift, or the entire operation would come to a screeching halt. So
|
|
what happens to civil rights? To the question of cruel and unusual
|
|
punishment? Where does one draw the line?
|
|
|
|
They're very hard questions. And the thing is...there IS no right
|
|
answer.
|
|
|
|
On to other things (meanwhile, feel free to keep this discussion
|
|
going...there are a lot of sides to this argument, and it's good to hear all
|
|
of them).
|
|
|
|
Yes, there are starmaps around, some are visible in Sinclair's briefing
|
|
room, although they got kinda washed out to a light blue and you really can't
|
|
see them well. We'll fix this later.
|
|
|
|
There are weapons, and we'll see them eventually. Can the station move?
|
|
Yes, but only marginally, as required to maintain its L5 position. As for
|
|
the engine room...since this isn't a starship, the engine room is not exactly
|
|
the same. There's not much of an engine per se; it was built IN one place to
|
|
STAY in one place. There are maintainance areas and operational sections, the
|
|
blue-collar stuff, though, and that we will be seeing.
|
|
|
|
Had something great happen today. Got a call from a friend, and there
|
|
was a guy in town from Magazine X (I can't give the title), which covers
|
|
computers, and SF, and other related areas. He wanted to see B5 and do a
|
|
quick interview/review. Now, this guy is very skeptical and not a little
|
|
cynical, even by his own admission. I said okay, and he came to the house
|
|
where I cranked up the system and showed him the finished pilot.
|
|
|
|
This is the first time a civilian has seen the *completed film*, sound,
|
|
music, pic all. And a reviewer, no less. His responce, (response), when the
|
|
pilot was over? He pronounced it the best SF pilot ever made, the "most
|
|
significant SF event" he had ever seen. He was just croggled by it.
|
|
|
|
I am a happy man. It's a start.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 18
|
|
Message 41 Sat Jan 23, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 01:03 EST
|
|
|
|
And there I agree...in our current situation, I much prefer live (er,
|
|
life) imprisonment to the death sentence, first because it allows for more
|
|
time to correct errors if the person's innocent; and second, if the person's
|
|
guilty...deny him an easy way out.
|
|
|
|
But again, that's *here* and *now* and may not necessarily reflect the
|
|
sorts of problems and considerations that may exist on a station such as B5.
|
|
|
|
Leviathan: you say that the law should "protect, not avenge." But
|
|
protect how? How do you protect against the lover who, in a fit of jealous
|
|
rage, knifes his fiancee to death? Do we have cameras in every room of every
|
|
house, monitoring for potentially dangerous behavior? What is the dividing
|
|
point between privacy and endangerment? Is not the aspect of protection or
|
|
prevention hinged upon the idea of retribution if caught? If there is no
|
|
avengement, where then is the prevention? If there is any privacy at all,
|
|
where is the protection?
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 18
|
|
Message 53 Sat Jan 23, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 20:52 EST
|
|
|
|
I think that, to avoid a western-centered show, you have to work from the
|
|
assumption that the EA has incorporated laws other than those of the good old
|
|
US of A. Which will add some color to things.
|
|
|
|
As for how dangerous a place B5 is...the comment about the prior Babylon
|
|
stations is a good and telling one. There are almost two levels of
|
|
understanding on this...the sense of those who work there and maintain the
|
|
environment, who know just how fragile this situation really is, and the sense
|
|
of those who come and go, whose sense of safety has to be reinforced if B5 is
|
|
to be commercially viable. Which opens up some interesting moral and ethical
|
|
dilemmas for some of the crew....
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 18
|
|
Message 61 Sun Jan 24, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 20:14 EST
|
|
|
|
Little Guy: there is, admittedly, a certain advantage to throwing a topic
|
|
out there, and watching a number of intelligent, articulate people who know SF
|
|
debate the thing...it opens your mind to many possibilities.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 18
|
|
Message 66 Mon Jan 25, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 05:50 EST
|
|
|
|
Jim...hmm...interesting...an inquisitorial system could make for a good
|
|
adjunct to something I'd been thinking of...something Harlan suggested,
|
|
actually, during our first B5 brainstorm session last year.
|
|
|
|
Which I'll elaborate on at some point in the future, but in the
|
|
interim...good idea.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 18
|
|
Message 72 Mon Jan 25, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 23:32 EST
|
|
|
|
Re: the use of psi's in the judicial system...there was a whole long
|
|
discussion of this in another topic...which answered all of the questions
|
|
asked. In fear of being redundent...does anyone out there remember where that
|
|
discussion took place, so we can send this fellow to the right message(s)?
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
------------
|
|
************
|
|
Topic 20 Fri Jan 29, 1993
|
|
SF-LAWRENCE [Katherine] at 06:32 EST
|
|
Sub: "Babylon 5" - Information Only 2
|
|
|
|
Topic 1 is for old messages, already archived into the library. This topic is
|
|
for newer posts, and like topic 19, will remain a CLOSED topic. Get your hot
|
|
Straczynski messages here! Hot off the topics! <g>
|
|
1 message(s) total.
|
|
************
|
|
------------
|
|
Category 18, Topic 20
|
|
Message 1 Fri Jan 29, 1993
|
|
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] (Forwarded)
|
|
|
|
The command level uniforms (Sinclair, Laurel, Garibaldi) are pretty much
|
|
the same in cut, though Garibaldi's (and all of securityard grey more than
|
|
blue. Medical uniforms have a somewhat different cut and lean toward charcoal
|
|
grey.
|
|
|
|
There's a slightly different cut for grunt-level security, and a slightly
|
|
greener look. Station techs (maintainance crews and the like) generally get
|
|
yellow outfits with the B5 logo (and are not directly part of the EA
|
|
structure; they work at and for the station per se). Control techs, in the
|
|
observation dome, for instance, generally don't wear jackets on duty, but
|
|
rather shirts with the B5 logo. The shift commander, though, does wear a
|
|
jacket with his uniform. (When B5 opens, you see Laural give a command to the
|
|
shift commander, who then relays it to others. You can trace the line of
|
|
command in the dome from there.)
|
|
|
|
There are, and will be, other variations in uniform, but those are pretty
|
|
much the ones you'll see in the show. (In addition, of course, to more
|
|
conventional clothing such as that worn by casino workers, marked only by a
|
|
glitter-B5 logo.)
|
|
|
|
jms
|