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JMS messages on GEnie, July 1995. Collected by Steven Miale
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<smiale@cs.indiana.edu>.
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Category 18, Topic 1
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Message 393 Thu Jul 06, 1995
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STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 00:39 EDT
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Actually, all B5 crew get the jacket; difference is, only a few of us are
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entitled to wear the Battle of the Line patches.
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jms
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Category 18, Topic 1
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Message 421 Fri Jul 07, 1995
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STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 03:52 EDT
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I hear there's even going to be a jms card in the first batch of 120
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cards. (I have now achieved something, I am now a trading card.) There will
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be cards for every episode, in chronological order, and they can trace some
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arc elements and stuff. They look to be gorgeous, all based on photographs,
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many never before published or seen.
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People entitled to wear BotL patches: me, Michael O'Hare, and John
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Copeland.
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jms
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Category 18, Topic 1
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Message 434 Fri Jul 07, 1995
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STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 22:52 EDT
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Haven't seen the poster yet, but I hear it's cool.
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jms
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Category 18, Topic 1
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Message 453 Sun Jul 09, 1995
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STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 04:18 EDT
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Mike, would *love* to see a copy of that review; could you send it to me
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at 14431 Ventura Boulevard, Suite 260, Sherman Oaks, CA 91423? I would *very*
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much appreciate it.
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(If you could include the cover, that'd also be great.)
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jms
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Category 18, Topic 1
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Message 466 Mon Jul 10, 1995
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STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 01:38 EDT
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We're still negotiating for the release of the tapes. We may have to
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bring in former president Carter to finalize the negotiations. The cards will
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be fall-ish; the CD regular edition is currently available.
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jms
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------------
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Category 18, Topic 1
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Message 513 Sun Jul 16, 1995
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STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 04:13 EDT
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Y'know...we despair here about how the media (viz: TV Guide and others)
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can only think to describe B5 by comparing it to ST, why can't they get it
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together...I just blipped over to the category for NASFIC, the US proxy
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Worldcon...and there are panels on Star Wars, on the Fox shows, including X-
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Files, all this...and you know the only B5 panel I found? BABYLON 5 VS. STAR
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TREK.
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sigh....
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jms
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Category 18, Topic 1
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Message 526 Sun Jul 16, 1995
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STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 18:47 EDT
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We're doing a bit more here and there on merchandising, just enough to
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keep it going and provide quality assurance.
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BTW, in the ongoing saga of Big Bang Screwups...heard today that, in
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addition to Michael O'Hare getting stiffed the $5,000 remaining on his fee,
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Mark Hamill's check for the balance of his fee (a remainder of $10,000) has
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bounced, this on top of a previous check to reimburse travel expenses ALSO
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bouncing.
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These people are unbelievable....
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jms
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Category 18, Topic 1
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Message 555 Mon Jul 17, 1995
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STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 23:49 EDT
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....birthdays.....pfthpft.....
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jms
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Category 18, Topic 1
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Message 570 Tue Jul 18, 1995
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STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 21:01 EDT
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My hair doesn't change much in length, so I'm not sure there's any real
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difference. (Now *quantity* of operational follicles, that's a different
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story....)
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jms
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Category 18, Topic 1
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Message 583 Wed Jul 19, 1995
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STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 02:50 EDT
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The shadows know that Kosh knows, because the Vorlons *always* know; they
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also know (or think) that they're in a superior position because if Kosh
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should tell the others, either a) most wouldn't believe him, or b) the shadows
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would move aggressively now, costing untold lives. They're more worried about
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an alliance between lots of races than the Vorlons alone.
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jms
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Category 18, Topic 1
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Message 585 Wed Jul 19, 1995
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STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 03:40 EDT
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Okay. Look. I'm gonna make this *real* simple.
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Somebody gives me the cheat codes for DESCENT, and nobody gets hurt.
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jms
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Category 18, Topic 1
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Message 603 Thu Jul 20, 1995
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STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 04:13 EDT
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BTW, keep forgetting to mention...I've just finished a VERY lon (long) B5
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article for FOUNDATION, an academic review of SF published out of Britain.
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It'll be out and available at Worldcon, and elsewhere.
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It's about 7,600 words/28 typed pages, a mix of pro and personal stuff.
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jms
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Category 18, Topic 1
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Message 610 Thu Jul 20, 1995
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STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 17:58 EDT
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Our pilot got one emmy nomination (won that one); season one got two noms
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(won one), and our third season has just gotten three Emmy nominations, with
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the possibility of one or two more to come. We got noms for makeup, hair and
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cinematography. Nominations for directing, music, EFX and a few other areas
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will be out in the next couple/three weeks, when the last of the ballots are
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counted. Nothing for the cast or writers, alas, but that's typical for SF.
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jms
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Category 18, Topic 1
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Message 625 Fri Jul 21, 1995
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STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 03:46 EDT
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It didn't share an emmy, no, but in that category, more than one can win
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(EFX). DS9 also got an emmy that year, but TNG did not, the first year in a
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while that they hadn't.
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jms
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Category 18, Topic 1
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Message 648 Sun Jul 23, 1995
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STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 01:04 EDT
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To some extent it falls into a steady rhythm, except that each year we
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try to get more ambitious than the year before, so we're constantly pushing
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the envelope and looking for new ways to do things, and ways to make those
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things even bigger and better.
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jms
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Category 18, Topic 1
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Message 656 Mon Jul 24, 1995
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STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 03:10 EDT
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The BG is a sculpture; they were clipped into the image.
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jms
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Category 18, Topic 1
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Message 732 Sun Jul 30, 1995
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STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 23:04 EDT
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What Earthdome told us was that the Minbari were beaten back by our
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defenses, and sued for peace rather than walk into a buzzsaw.
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jms
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Category 18, Topic 2
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Message 544 Sun Jul 16, 1995
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STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 03:47 EDT
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WB will be putting out a bunch of new images/avi files/wav files to usher
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in the new season.
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jms
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Category 18, Topic 2
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Message 548 Mon Jul 17, 1995
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STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 03:17 EDT
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Script #5 completed, "Passing Through Gethsemene."
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jms
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Category 18, Topic 2
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Message 559 Mon Jul 17, 1995
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STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 23:52 EDT
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For most of our history with WB, the shield's attitude has been sort of
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lackluster when it comes to PR. Particularly for the first year or so, during
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their trial of a new concept in TV: stealth programming. You do as much as
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you can to make the show invisible to eye, ear, radar, sonar and infrared,
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lest god forbid somebody should write an article about it. We had *constant*
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battles with them over this.
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We think the situation is finally, slowly improving. A great deal of the
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problem comes from the fact that we're a) not a network show, and b) not a
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Warners in-house series, like Kung Fu or the other PTEN shows. We're an
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independent production company, and thus we tended to get orphaned/neglected a
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lot.
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jms
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Category 18, Topic 2
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Message 578 Wed Jul 19, 1995
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STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 02:51 EDT
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Good heavens; I think the "Gethsemane" story *you're* seeing is much more
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interesting than the one *I* came up with....
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Not to say that that theme won't recur down the road anyway....
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jms
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Category 18, Topic 2
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Message 604 Fri Jul 21, 1995
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STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 00:44 EDT
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Bear in mind also that this is a TV Guide photo, done by them, not an
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official B5 production cast photo, and it's who was available and in town
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during the hiatus.
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jms
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Category 18, Topic 2
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Message 615 Sat Jul 22, 1995
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STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 00:57 EDT
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As I recall, what they did was shoot the background, then shoot
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individual shots of the actors, and they may have put them all together later.
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Don't know if a single was shot of all of 'em or not.
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jms
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Category 18, Topic 2
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Message 637 Wed Jul 26, 1995
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STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 00:54 EDT
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Stan, y'know the only thing that kinda bothers me? I see you over here,
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on AOL, elsewhere, posting all these spoilers...and that's all you seem to do.
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I don't see you engaging in discussions, it seems to me as if your main
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interest is in just grabbing the information and racing to all the forums to
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be first with spoilers. I find this rather peculiar.
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jms
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Category 18, Topic 11
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Message 516 Fri Jul 07, 1995
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STRACZYNSKI [Joe] (Forwarded)
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Except, of course, that I'd specifically asked for people NOT to post
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that info; if this has been done, then this is the first time that request has
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not been honored. I've done these screenings in the cooperative sense that it
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will be kept to the crowd and not posted publicly; even gotthe audience to
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agree with it. If this promise has been broken, I may have to reconsider the
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screening process.
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Category 18, Topic 11
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Message 517 Fri Jul 07, 1995
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STRACZYNSKI [Joe] (Forwarded)
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PS. So in other words, Stan, if you want to post this material all over
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the place, on an episode that hasn't yet aired yet, totally not respecting my
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wishes on the subject, as the creator of B5, because you believe your right to
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post this is greater than my polite and respectful request to the fans who
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attended NOT to publicly post such things, then do as you wish, knowing that
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you kill any future screenings for other people.
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jms
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Category 18, Topic 11
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Message 524 Sat Jul 08, 1995
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STRACZYNSKI [Joe] (Forwarded)
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AND FURTHERMORE, *Stan*....I just checked AOL. The synopsis one person
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wrote there was *never* posted publicly insofar as I could see, and was noted
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that if anyone wanted to see it, it would be sent via email to that
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individual. Why? Because the person who saw the ep understood and respected
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my request, and didn't want it posted publicly. If that person had, it
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would've been. So you're even going against the wishes of the person who
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WROTE the synopsis.
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jms
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Category 18, Topic 11
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Message 538 Sat Jul 08, 1995
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STRACZYNSKI [Joe] (Forwarded)
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You know, Stan, it's really very sad when courtesy is no longer a valid
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reason for doing something. "Well, show me where it breaks THE LAW to do
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this," "I would love to see a legal challenge on that one," and "taking a
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magazine or newspaper to court." This is one of the reasons our society is so
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totally screwed up. "Because I ask you, as a favor, and as a personal
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courtesy," is not a good enough reason for some people.
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I was not required to show that episode. Nobody made me. Nobody was
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entitled to it. I did so as part of a compact between me and the audience
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that we will keep the details between us, privately. I have done literally
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dozens and dozens of conventions, exercised this compact dozens of times, and
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to date, not ONE PERSON has ever violated that gentleman's agreement. Except
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you. Who wasn't even THERE, and took the message out of private mail...why?
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Because you want to be FIRST. Because in the on-line community, knowledge =
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power. And because you want it, and unless you get what you want, you're
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going to stamp your foot and carry on cranky and scream and yell that
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everybody else should change the rules to accommodate you.
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This is not a censorship issue. GEnie is a *private corporation*, just
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like a newspaper. And any newspaper can choose, for itself, what it selects
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for publication, or not to publish. It has the right, and the responsibility,
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because it provides the venue. Freedom of speech in the press or the
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electronic media is a function of who's paying the bill. You can't go around
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screaming "I'm being censored" because a magazine saw your letter and decided
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it was dopey and didn't publish it. It's their call. This is GEnie's call,
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and the call of those who work for GEnie.
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Constitutional free speech means if you can't publish it in one place you
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can go and do it yourself. You can set up a BBS of your own somewhere and
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publish this to your heart's content. Nobody's going to stop you, this isn't
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about laws, or rules, or ratings, it's a simple request from me, and the
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courteous agreement to that request by others. You are trying to negate what
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they and I have agreed to, because you want to. Because your perception of
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your "rights" (which do not exist in a service like GEnie which is not a
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democracy, is paid for via a corporation privately owned) is that it matters
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more than my rights to make this request, more than the sysops to honor that
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request, more than the structure of GEnie, more important than the wishes of
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the users here, more important thjan the future convention goers who might
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find no further screenings....
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Because you want to be *first*. Very few can actually DISCUSS the
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episode, because it hasn't aired. Only the relative handful in the room. So
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there's not much they can really add to it. You weren't even THERE. You just
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want to run into the room waving the synopsis because you feel it gives you
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some kind of status. And the hell with everybody else.
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Some studio types don't like episodes being screened ahead of the
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broadcast; so I try and keep a low profile on this to avoid causing them
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headaches. Which is, essentially, what I said at the time, and was known and
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understood by everyone who was there, of which you were not one. So in your
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ignorance of the situation, you potentially complicate things
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further...because you wanna this, and you wanna that.
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It's a sad world when the only thing you respect is the sound of your own
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voice.
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jms
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------------
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Category 18, Topic 11
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Message 550 Sun Jul 09, 1995
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STRACZYNSKI [Joe] (Forwarded)
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Stan, your application of the definition of censorship just doesn't
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wash. When the dictionary says "remove or suppress," it means from the
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society at large. It also refers to the government. If a newspaper chooses
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not to publish an article, it's not censorship, it's the choice of a
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publication. The right to make that choice is one of the prime tenets of
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freedom of speech. By your definition, any service or publication which
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chooses for itself what it will or will not publish is a censor; and in so
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doing, you create the error of accepted cliche which in time wears down the
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specific meaning of censorship by generalizing it to an insupportable level.
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People who scream censorship at the drop of a hat become like the little boy
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who cried wolf; pretty soon, the serious and real cases get ignored in the
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whiten noise.
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(white noise, that is)
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One suggestion: study a little communications law. Because you really
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don't understand what it is you're addressing here; a two-line definition in
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the dictionary has little to no bearing on case law, the history of
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governmental censorship, or much of anything else. I've spent considerable
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time studying communications law; you should try it before you go off like
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this. Also copyright law, and free speech rules. We'll continue this after
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you've finished your homework.
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jms
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------------
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Category 18, Topic 11
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Message 566 Sun Jul 09, 1995
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STRACZYNSKI [Joe] (Forwarded)
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I was going to make one last reply on this, until I saw the line, that
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I'm "supporting the use of force to thward the dissemination of information."
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Force? WHAT force? You keep quoting the dictionary, Stan, WHAT force?
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Look it up. Has somebody come to your door, kicked it in, taken you to a
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prison and attached electrodes to your genitalia and I wasn't informed?
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Excuse me, Stan, but you have just passed into the totally ridiculous. Your
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statement here is offensive to me and anyone who knows how writers have been
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tortured and harrassed and killed in the process of their work. I have
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donated literally *thousands* of dollars to PEN and other freedom of
|
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speech/protection for writers organizations, people who in Latin American and
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Eastern European countries know what *force* means.
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No force was used of any kind, Stan. You're gibbering. You got your
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little message deleted, you got hysterical, and you're blowing this out of all
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proportion.
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I have nothing further to say to you.
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jms
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------------
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Category 18, Topic 12
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Message 299 Sat Jul 15, 1995
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STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 22:27 EDT
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The TV Guide issue with the B5 feature story should be hitting
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newsstands on the East Coast today (reaching LA on Monday). Anybody out there
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got a copy for a quick review/heads-up for us out here?
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jms
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------------
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Category 18, Topic 17
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Message 378 Wed Jul 12, 1995
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STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 05:08 EDT
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Some places list the CD under Chris Franke's name, not B5, oddly enough.
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You can also get it via Tower Records phone order, at 1-800- ASK-TOWER. Many
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folks have reported getting it quickly that way.
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Yes, insofar as I know, these are licensed uniforms.
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jms
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------------
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Category 18, Topic 26
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Message 622 Mon Jul 03, 1995
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STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 01:20 EDT
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The assaulted dealer has required hospitalization and there are some
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concerns about his vision in one eye.
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jms
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------------
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Category 18, Topic 26
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Message 656 Sun Jul 16, 1995
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STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 18:41 EDT
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Is Trace Bileau (I misspelled that, I know) going to be doing the honors?
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jms
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------------
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Category 18, Topic 26
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Message 659 Mon Jul 17, 1995
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STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 17:23 EDT
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No, that happened just before the pilot was aired, and just after it was
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finished.
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jms
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------------
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Category 18, Topic 26
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Message 670 Sun Jul 23, 1995
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STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 01:01 EDT
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Both Bruce and Pat Tallman were at MOC, and apparently everybody there
|
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was very much won over, from reports I've seen.
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jms
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------------
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Category 18, Topic 38
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Message 230 Tue Jul 04, 1995
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STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 02:17 EDT
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All issues through 11 will come out; we think we've got things in place
|
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to go beyond that as well, as some elements have improved. More on this as it
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develops.
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jms
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------------
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Category 18, Topic 38
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Message 242 Thu Jul 06, 1995
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STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 23:35 EDT
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I've just been told today that the comic has been extended through issue
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#24. So it's clear for over a full year yet to come. There should be
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something official about this out soonish.
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This should give it a decent shot at finding its audience, which is
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already building (40,000+ copies per month ain't bad).
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jms
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------------
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Category 18, Topic 38
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Message 300 Mon Jul 17, 1995
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STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 23:44 EDT
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David's story for DC is based on an episode script he'd done for us
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(outline, actually) for the first season, which would've been just about
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impossible to shoot.
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jms
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------------
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Category 18, Topic 41
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Message 12 Sat Jul 15, 1995
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STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 22:24 EDT
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I think the idea of a fan-run con is great. And be *sure* that wherever
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you do choose has a) adequate transportation in and out, b) something to do
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when the con's not in session, c) good hotels centrally located to the
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convention.
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I like Tom's approach above; it gives all the various departments a
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chance to get their moment in the sun, AND provide solid info on those aspects
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of making the series that would be of interest to different people.
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What we have here, really, is the chance to re-think and re-create the
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convention process a little, make it more active, and inter-active, and more
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interesting.
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One thing to be advised about: actors are paid to perform. This is
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performance, however one might choose to consider it otherwise. So any cast
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members brought in are going to require some kind of compensation, travel and
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the like. Just a reminder to keep in the back of your head(s) as you plan all
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this stuff out.
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jms
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------------
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Category 19, Topic 43
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Message 314 Thu Jul 20, 1995
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STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 18:02 EDT
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Negative. That was never intended. Sakai would not have had this
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encounter with the shadows. And remember, we *saw them* in year one, so they
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were already out, about and awake. It's not just a matter of transposing
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names.
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jms
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------------
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Category 19, Topic 46
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Message 4 Wed Jul 26, 1995
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STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 00:55 EDT
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There is a topic here for spoilers from the UK, Stan. Use it.
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Also, what is this obsession you have with posting every single detail of
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a story just to get it out there?
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jms
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------------
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Category 19, Topic 46
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Message 9 Wed Jul 26, 1995
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STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 06:08 EDT
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It's just that the sysops have *specifically* set aside topic #1 here for
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"The British Aired Final Four Episodes." The DL info came from one of the
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British Aired Final Four Episodes. It seems to me that one would wish to
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respect the wishes of the sysops who created that topic for that express
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purpose, the same way one puts discussions of B5 science into 18/13. Why is
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it you seem to feel that the sysops needs are subordinate to your own? Nobody
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said you couldn't post the spoilers, they merely said that the topic over
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*there* is the right place for them, THIS one is for the spoilers that take
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place after they've aired here in the US.
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jms
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