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The Lurker's Guide to Babylon 5
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===========================================================================
| This text is compiled from posts by J. Michael Straczynski on the Usenet
| group rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5. This document contains material Copyright
| 1994 J. Michael Straczynski. He has given permission for his words to be
| redistributed online, as long as they are marked as being copyright JMS.
| This document, as well as other Babylon-5 related material, is available
| by anonymous FTP at ftp.hyperion.com.
===========================================================================
From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 1 May 1994 17:38:36 -0400
Subject: A quote about another, related
Hmm...it seems Patrick and I have more in common than I thought....
jms
From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 1 May 1994 17:39:55 -0400
Subject: Survivors
"When are we going to get an Ivanova episode?"
"TKO," May 25th.
jms
From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 1 May 1994 19:11:19 -0400
Subject: A few questions
There is no tech manual currently available. But with time, that
may change.
jms
From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 1 May 1994 23:20:32 -0400
Subject: att:jms - explosions go boom
In general, you don't see a lot of light reflecting off other
objects when there's an explosion because in general those objects aren't
close enough to cause a reflection. Now, in "Signs," which comes up in
a couple weeks, there's explosions near a large object, and there we do
get some reflected light.
jms
From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 1 May 1994 23:39:32 -0400
Subject: Re: "Believers" is insulting.
You base a great deal of your thesis on the comparison between B5 and
the US, noting that the US can "exert tremendous influence" on other
countries through economics and other areas, such as technology.
You still don't understand that B5 is *NOT* the US; we are at or near
the bottom or the totem pole in terms of the Big 5 in the B5 Advisory
Council. B5 is a gathering place, neither more, nor less than that. You
seem to be taking the position that B5 should become the galaxy's
morality policeperson. We don't have the power to back it up, or frankly,
the moral highground from which to dictate it.
And just who is the "ahem" group to whom you refer but don't name?
Is there a problem with speaking honestly, and instead using asides and
innuendo?
Hardly seems the moral thing to do.
jms
From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 3 May 1994 02:01:33 -0400
Subject: ???
If you're talking about selling a new series...unless you have a
track record that shows you can run a series, it is not possible to sell
your own series. Simply doesn't happen. MUCH easier to sell a single
episode.
jms
From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 3 May 1994 02:45:18 -0400
Subject: TO JMS: being a Believer
The hardest thing in the world is to stand alone. Your friends will
not understand, will resent you, will want you to just stop it and let
life go back to where it was. But you have to follow the quiet turning
of your own considered conscience. It's a hard road. Good luck with it.
jms
From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 4 May 1994 01:14:11 -0400
Subject: JMS: Legal system on B5/in Ea
Yes, absolutely; in "The Quality of Mercy," you'll get a look at
how the justice system has come to grips with the question of how to
handle violent crimes in an environment like a space station, which has
limited room for cells, limited resources, and other complications. We
do plan to get into this area a bit, without getting too LA LAW about it.
jms
From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 4 May 1994 17:35:44 -0400
Subject: ATT:JMS Filming schedule
Yes, all episodes have been filmed, and are in the can. They have
all been edited. Only two remain to be mixed (putting in the soundtrack
and sound effects), and that's it. We're done. Assuming we're picked
up, filming would begin around July 14 or so. Some script work has been
started to give us a leg up on the season, one way or another.
PTEN begins its year in January for reasons of its own selection. It
is a PTEN artifact of choice.
jms
From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 4 May 1994 17:35:47 -0400
Subject: Re: Will Mira talk to GEEKS?
"And jms seems to be doing just fine...right, Joe?"
Yeah...absolutely...fine...look, hand me those crayons, okay...though
I don't know why...the black one's all flat and you can't make good lines
with it and they won't let me sharpen it because the last time I used the
sharpener I put Nurse Filbee's finger in it but that wasn't my fault, she
pointed it at me, so if I just have the crayons, the ones with the good
points, I can get this done, get this done, on deadline, the deadlines
are important, do you like the peach color or the green for the rabbit...?
What was the question again?
jms
From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 4 May 1994 18:41:21 -0400
Subject: JMS:broadcast problems
I hadn't heard this before, but will definitely investigate. Thanks.
jms
From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 12 May 1994 02:48:32 -0400
Subject: Did I hear Zarquon? ByAnyMeans
It's G'Quan.
jms (a man who always knows where his towel is)
From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 12 May 1994 02:48:36 -0400
Subject: "By All Means Necessary" Minor
Exactly my point; there are differences between similar alien
groups (like the Narn) in culture, language and religion, with BAMN being
a good demonstration of the latter. Which is why I could only shrug and
say "Wait" after people started hammering on me here about monolithic
alien religions after "Parliament." We'd already filmed BAMN by then, so
I knew it was there. That's one thing about this show that some have
found out...generally, what you'd like us to do, we've probably done or
are about to do (hence the many times, when I'm asked about something,
that we can just say, "Wait until X airs in 2 weeks" or somesush).
Still dancing as fast as I can....
jms
From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 15 May 1994 18:25:23 -0400
Subject: Re: Trekkers and Babylon 5
Let me dive in here for a moment, with some thoughts about the show,
people's expectations, and the like.
In my case, I've always tried to be very honest about which episodes
I think are spiffy, and which are less than effective, whether I wrote them
or not. ("Infection," for instance, is one of my least favorites.) What
I have talked about being special is the *series* per se. The cumulative
and total effect of it. Where this series will go, is somewhere no other
series has gone.
But you can't just dive in from zero. You have to establish your
world, and your characters. Otherwise you'll lose your audience because
it's coming too fast, and they're not sufficiently grounded to appreciate
what's going on. So the first batch of episodes were, for the most part,
very straightforward. They gave little hints and tastes of what was
going on elsewhere, but they were fairly standard in some ways. And, of
course, we got hammered. "Where's this special series that we were all
told about?" Well, to that, I say, "You haven't SEEN the series yet, only
the opening."
My point of comparison, I suppose, would be "The Lord of the Rings,"
which spends the first several chapters, a LOT of time...on Bilbo's
birthday party, dividing up his belongings, bringing in Frodo, the
relationships between all the various Baggins's and other relatives, with
Frodo waiting around, and finally hitting the Road. You get a *sense* of
things happening around the corners, at the edges of the story, but for
the most part, it's fairly standard. Now, you could stop at this point
and say, "Well, so what's so special about this? It's just about some
dumb birthday party." But it's the *book* (or books) that are truly
extraordinary; it's where the road takes you.
Like Tolkien, and Jonathan Carroll, whose wonderful books start out
looking very nice and comfortable...and gradually take you to someplace
strange and dark and unique...I've tried to apply a similar structure to
Babylon 5. It seems to be chugging along at a good clip along relatively
familiar terrain. Now my job is to walk up alongside the story with a
crowbar and give it a good, hard WHAM! to move it into a different
trajectory. "Parliament" was just sort of a preliminary nudge. "And the
Sky Full of Stars" was a good, solid WHAM! This week's episode, "Signs
and Portents," is another WHAM, even bigger than the one that precedes it.
There are two more major WHAM episodes: "Babylon Squared," dealing
with the fate of Babylon 4, and "Chrysalis," our season ender, which is
really more of an atomic bomb rather than a crowbar. So roughly about
one-fourth of this season's episodes are WHAM episodes. That figure will
increase in year two to about one-third. Year three (Neilsen willing)
will be half-WHAM and half-not. Year four would be three-quarters WHAM.
And year five is all WHAM.
I guess where I'm getting in all this, is that I don't think that I
have hyped the episodes. (No, you didn't say this, I'm responding to what
you're responding to.) The only time I've slipped and waxed rhapsodic
about the show...is when talking about the *show*, which is in my head,
all of it...I know who the Shadowmen are, and what they want, and why the
Minbari surrendered, and what the Psi Corps is up to, and who is on that
shuttle you see in the last moments of "Signs and Portents," and what led
up to that moment. For me, the goal has always been the book in its
totality.
Along the way, we have an obligation to make each individual episode
stand alone, and be as entertaining as humanly possible. We invest
astonishing amounts of time working to make the show as good as it can be.
I try to keep down the "unrealistic expectations" you note as much as
possible. It's hard when you have such an incredibly talented team as we
have assembled *not* to sometimes glow a little, but we do try and keep it
down to a roar.
From my point of view, I think we've got a dynamite first season
under our belts. As I noted elsewhere, if in my entire career I never
did anything more than "Chrysalis," I'd be happy. Out of 22 episodes, I
think we have maybe four that, if all the negatives vanished tomorrow, I
wouldn't feel bad about. The rest I'll put up against any other SF series
ever produced. That we could make something as nifty as "Mind War" in our
first season should be achievement enough; to also have made "Sky," and
"Signs," and "Babylon Squared," and "Chrysalis," and "Parliament" in the
same first season is almost more than could've been hoped for.
And finally, some folks are never gonna like it. Lots of folks like
country music. I can't abide it. (Exceptions for bluegrass and anything
from Leon Redbone and the Red Clay Ramblers.) Tastes vary. And we have
encountered some who are defensive against the show, and dismiss it
without a fair chance. But there are always those on *every* show. So
this bothers me not at all. What matters most to me is that we are true
to the vision of what this show is, and true to our audience, that we don't
dumb it down or fail to deliver 100%. And in that, I feel very
comfortable.
jms
From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 15 May 1994 20:27:44 -0400
Subject: Re: JMS: Why are you a G-Man?
Due to a GEnie mailbox glitch, I missed the original posting, so I'll
answer Malcolm's question here:
Why use G' instead of J'?
Ask the Narns. They's crazy, those aliens. Just don't do nothin'
like we'd like 'em to.
It seemed like a good idea at the time.
Pick one. Either are more or less accurate.
jms
From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 15 May 1994 20:27:46 -0400
Subject: THOSE WHO HATE WORKERS
I'm told by the writer (*now*) that yes, the Rush Act is indeed
named after Mr. Limbaugh.
jms
From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 16 May 1994 17:48:04 -0400
Subject: Chrysalis and anti-government
"Do you have something against our government?" No, this isn't our
government in B5's time. It has some echoes, but it's not the same thing.
No, I'm not a libertarian. I just believe, in looking at, say, 6,000
years of recorded history, that government always tends to have with it
varying degrees of corruption, stupidity, venality and dunderheads. Ditto
with any organization whose membership is larger than 1. That, too, is
part of our heritage.
The EA government is currently in a very bad state; something is
starting to go very wrong at the heart of it. We're catching it just as
this is starting to heat up. We're seeing signs (and portents) that the
EA is taking a turn toward something nasty. Question is, who's doing the
turning, and why? It's not a stereotype, or an analysis of our current
system of government; it's a plot point.
jms
From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 16 May 1994 18:09:33 -0400
Subject: Re: Egotistical Producer
The name of General Netter was stuck in as a tweak to Doug, it's a
tuckerism (for those who know the term). We've done it a bit here and
there; I kinda started shutting the process down after a while, since it
was getting carried away. I don't want it to be obtrusive.
jms
From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 16 May 1994 18:14:38 -0400
Subject: Blatant Humour in B5
For as long as I've been writing, I've had a very simple belief that
comes across with B5 as well: try to get in one really great action moment,
minimum one real nice character moment, one solid dramatic moment...and
one moment or scene that's fall-down funny.
I like humor. I like that characters can show another side of
themselves. If there is any real test of sentience, one of them must
surely be the possession of a sense of humor, since it requires self
reflection. And there is always unintentional (on the part of the
character, at least) humor.
SF-TV has generally taken itself either too seriously, with rods up
butts, the humor forced...or it's not taken itself seriously at ALL, and
gone campy. This show takes itself seriously, but not in quite a way that
lets it fit in either category.
For me, as a viewer, I enjoy the shows that are roller-coasters, that
take you from something very funny...and slam you headfirst into a
very dramatic scene. Hill Street was like that, Picket Fences is like
that now...why not SF? I've also found that humor can help you reveal
things about the characters. The Londo/G'Kar scene at the elevator in
"Signs and Portents," for instance. It says something about both of them
without coming out and *saying* it.
jms
From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 16 May 1994 23:04:17 -0400
Subject: Women on ST, B5 are perfect
I dunno...I didn't think of Dr. Hernandez in "Believers" as a typical
model-looking woman.
jms
From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 16 May 1994 23:04:21 -0400
Subject: "Signs and Portents" -- SPOILE
Re: the theme music at the end of "Signs," I think it was me (but I
could be mistaken) who suggested to Chris, our composer, that he use the
theme, but in *minor chords* rather than major chords. Makes it very sad,
and very effective.
jms
From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 17 May 1994 18:28:04 -0400
Subject: JMS: Awestruck again!
I sympathize with your attempt; I'm not sure that *I* could get it
down to 14 pages, you're probably doing it better than I could. As you
say, there's a lot of information there. Most people probably aren't aware
of just how much they know until they do what you just did. It's good to
know that this stuff gets noticed from time to time.
jms
From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 17 May 1994 18:29:25 -0400
Subject: JMS: Do you feel a karmic debt
My "karmic debt" is first, foremost and forever to the story, then to
myself, then to the audience, then to the studio/publisher.
jms
From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 17 May 1994 18:32:05 -0400
Subject: Questions for JMS
Since the second season is still being shaped, this is a question
that might be better asked in a few months.
jms
From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 17 May 1994 22:09:26 -0400
Subject: Correct this quote!
The exchange, I believe, was:
Sinclair: Lieutent Commander Ivanova, please escort Major Kemmer from
the Observation Dome.
Ivanova: Certainly. You will resist, I hope...?
It's from "Survivors."
jms
From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 18 May 1994 01:06:07 -0400
Subject: Is B5 a double header May 18?
Negative. TKO airs the following week.
jms
From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 18 May 1994 06:28:13 -0400
Subject: Re: Sinclair's D*CK!
I don't understand...what does Sinclair's duck have to do with
anything? We weren't even planning on introducing the duck until late in
season two. I suspect a leak. Nothing worse than a leaky duck.
jms
From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 19 May 1994 01:24:43 -0400
Subject: JMS: Your appearance in Real G
Oh dear...er...umm....no comment.
(Damn, and I thought I'd burned the last of the negatives....)
jms
From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 19 May 1994 01:24:46 -0400
Subject: Attn JMS: Signs & Portents
Let's just say that if you liked "Signs and Portents," you're gonna
LOVE "Babylon Squared" and "Chrysalis."
jms
From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 19 May 1994 01:24:50 -0400
Subject: Babylon 5 first episode error
Negative. The error is yours. Londo's nephew was *not* aboard the
Raghesh 3 station. He was on the planet below. Check the credits; the
actors are different people.
jms
From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 19 May 1994 04:48:53 -0400
Subject: Thank you, JMS! S&P [SPOILERS,
The symbol on Ivanova's starfury is a traditional Russian
star/herald. Crews of Earth-based ships are always human. And we did
some minor tweaking to Kosh's encounter suit, yes.
BTW, for anyone looking on...Delenn didn't say, "They're back." She
said "They're here."
jms
From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 19 May 1994 22:32:42 -0400
Subject: Signs & Portents: WHAM! (attn
The discrepencies have been noted, and will be looked into. The
questions you raise will be answered in time...but not here.
jms
From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 20 May 1994 02:04:01 -0400
Subject: JMS: Coincidence?
At the point in which we join the tale of the last of the Babylon
stations, *everything* is in a state of flux...one government is on the
rise, another is declining, Earth is taking some new and disturbing
directions...so yes, they all feel there is a change coming. It's a little
thing, but we keep it alive to keep a sense of something moving on a web,
and each movement makes the whole thing shake just a little.
jms
From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 20 May 1994 02:30:23 -0400
Subject: "A" and "B" plots
We're very flexible when it comes to A, B and C stories. Some of
our episodes, like "Survivors," are all A story, no B story at all. Some
have A and B stories. Some, like "The Quality of Mercy," have 3-4 stories
going on at once.
jms
From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 20 May 1994 02:30:26 -0400
Subject: Shadows of Shadowmen (spoilers
Since you've done such a great job of speculating, I give you a
gift...a preview of something.
There's an upcoming episode with Delenn going to the Grey Council.
As she joins the circle, in her Grey Council robes, she says, "In Valen's
name, I take the place that has been prepared for me. I am Grey; I stand
between the candle, and the star. We are Grey; we stand between the
Darkness, and the Light."
jms
From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 20 May 1994 02:30:28 -0400
Subject: What the HELL?! (S&P SPOILERS!
The raiders are gone for good, yes.
jms
From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 20 May 1994 02:40:01 -0400
Subject: JMS: S&P - ?'s I Don't Expect
They refers to humans. There was no need to ask Sinclair, and he
was under orders not to. And who is on that shuttle...is an excellent
question.
jms
From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 20 May 1994 04:30:00 -0400
Subject: @JMS, The intro
The first episode of season two will be narrative-intro'd as the
year 2259.
jms
From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 20 May 1994 05:38:59 -0400
Subject: "Believers": Sci-Fi or ripoff?
Excuse me....
You don't think that "Believers" was SF. Tough.
No, it didn't have warp gates, or tachyon emitters, or lots of
technobabble...it was about people. And the dilemmas they face.
Part of what has screwed up so much of SF-TV is this sense that you
must utterly divorce yourself from current issues, from current problems,
from taking on issues of today and extrapolating them into the future, by
way of aliens or SF constructs. And that is *precisely* why so much of
contemporary SF-TV is barren and lifeless and irrelevant...and *precisely*
why such series as the original Star Trek, and Outer Limits, and Twilight
Zone are with us today.
Like Rod Serling and Gene Roddenberry and Joe Stefano and Reginald
Rose and Arch Oboler and Norman Corwin and a bunch of other writers whose
typewriters I'm not fit to touch, my goal in part is to simply tell good
stories within an SF setting. And by SF I mean speculative fiction, which
sometimes touches on hard-SF aspects, and sometimes doesn't. Speculative
fiction means you look at how society changes, how cultures interact with
one another, how belief systems come into conflict. And as someone else
here noted recently, anthropology and sociology are also sciences; soft
sciences, to be sure, but sciences nonetheless.
It's been pointed out that TV-SF is generally 20-30 years behind
print SF. This whole conversation proves the point quite succinctly. In
the 1960s or so, along came the New Wave of SF, which eschewed hardware
for stories about the human condition set against an SF background. And
the fanzines and prozines and techno-loving pundits of hard-SF declared
it heresy, said it wasn't SF, this is crap. And eventually they were
steamrolled, and print SF grew up a little. Now the argument has come to
settle here. Well, fine. So be it.
I think it was Arthur C. Clarke who said that SF is anything I point
to and say, "That's SF." Go pick up a copy of "A Canticle for Liebowitz,"
one of the real singular masterpieces of the science fiction genre, and
it won't fit the narrow criteria you've set up for what qualifies as SF
by your lights.
There is a tendency among the more radical hard-SF proponents to
stamp their feet and hold their breath until they turn blue, to threaten
that unless the book changes or the field comes around or the series
cottens to *their* specific, narrow version of what SF is -- and that
definition changes from person to person -- they'll take their ball and
their bat and go home. Fine and good. And the millions who come to take
their place in the bleachers and on the field will get to have all the
fun.
Some of our episodes will fit your definition of SF. Some will not.
This worries me not at all.
jms
From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 21 May 1994 01:33:55 -0400
Subject: Laura Palmer (Sheryl Lee) on B
I think that's an absolutely *splendid* idea.
jms
From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 21 May 1994 01:33:57 -0400
Subject: The same launching shots
I tend to agree re: the launching shots. There were going to be som
(some) new ones for S&P, but there were SO many new shots in that one that
we just ran out of rendering time. There's some new ones coming, though,
and very dramatic looking, in "Babylon Squared" and the two-parter.
jms
From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 21 May 1994 04:56:12 -0400
Subject: Re: Message from JMS
Please do not stick this on O'Hare. Whatever decisions get made, it
is up to the producers -- me and Doug -- to implement those decisions, so
ultimate responsibility rests with me. If you're going to be angry at
anyone, be angry at me. Your anger is misplaced.
Again, this was *mutual*. We looked at the story, the way a
novelist looks at a novel he's one-fifth through writing, and you learn
things writing the novel that you can learn NO other way, however much
you plan and outline. And at some point, you say, "If we leave things
JUST as they are, no changes, we can do X and Y, which are both very
cool. But if we take a chance, and make some shifts in direction, we can
do X, and Y...*AND* Z...and Z is *VERY* interesting indeed. It opens up
whole new areas for us to explore. So we talked about it with Michael,
who had some thoughts of his own...and now here we are.
Granted, it's taking a chance. But we all swore a blood oath to
make the show consistently better. Any time a possible decision comes
up -- like, Should we do "Believers," knowing that it'll get us in
ENDLESS trouble -- we ask, "Will this benefit the show?" If the answer
is yes, we do it, regardless.
Once again, this is *mutual*. So blame me. And be assured, this
isn't now going to be a band-aid covering...it will let us get deeper and
faster into the meat of the storyline, and intensify the characterizations
and relationships. Sinclair's purpose in the large part of the first
section of the story was really to get everyone together...to start the
pieces moving. And now we've got all the players in position. The whole
24 hours/Line thread was *always* going to be resolved at the top of year
two, because you can't sustain that for more than 1.5 seasons at MOST.
The audience, rightly, won't stand for it. At that point, that mystery
dispensed with (which would lead to other questions), Sinclair kinda
faded a bit from the story, because now we have to bring the other
players into the foreground. So if he's going to fade *anyway*, why have
him meandering around? Why not "absent" him for a time...and up the
stakes for everyone else, and help focus on other aspects?
The story will go where it was always going to go. This much is
certain.
jms
From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 21 May 1994 18:31:23 -0400
Subject: Re: Portents and Questions
"It has been divulged that Sinclair is coexisting in a parallel
dimension Babylon 4."
Actually, this has *not* been divulged...what it is is a speculation
based on an offhand comment by Michael at a convention. I jump in here
only because, well, that ain't it. B4 is not in an alternate dimension,
neither is there an alternate Sinclair. Just a course correction to the
discussion.
jms
From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 21 May 1994 18:32:42 -0400
Subject: JMS: Zima?!
Babylon 5 (the show) got not a dime for sticking in the Zima sign.
We just thought...well, it'd be funny.
jms
From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 21 May 1994 18:32:44 -0400
Subject: Re: Message from JMS
Just to clarify again, this was a *mutual* decision. There are some
VERY interesting things that we can do if we take an extended hiatus from
Sinclair aboard B5 (while keeping his character alive elsewhere) that we
wanted to explore, and Michael had some thoughts of his own.
jms
From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 21 May 1994 18:32:46 -0400
Subject: JMS: O'Hare leaving?
Londo's voice over does not specifically name Sinclair in the pilot.
jms
From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 21 May 1994 18:32:49 -0400
Subject: ATT: JMS PsiCops! (You are tri
Congratulations. I was wondering when anyone was going to hit on
the CSICOP reference. I was looking for a good name for the pit bulls of
the Psi Corps, and thought it made for a great play on words, and a very
obscure almost-pun, to name them Psi-Cops.
I'm afraid you don't win a toaster, but a definite nod from deep
inside Babylon 5.
jms
From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 21 May 1994 18:59:13 -0400
Subject: Re: Message from JMS
"...terrible mismanagement of the production staff to not have
wrapped the main characters in contract for the duration."
We did.
As has been noted elsewhere...when you write a novel or produce a
series, you learn things you can learn no other way. And we looked at
where we were with the story, and figured we could keep on going just
fine as we were. But if we did X, risky as it might be, it would open up
whole new directions, and let us improve the quality of the story in its
range, its scope, and its impact. THEN we went to Michael for his
thoughts. Both sides had some good reasons for doing this. This isn't a
matter of "patching things over." On our part, this is a deliberate
decision which we think will improve the hell out of the story.
jms
From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 21 May 1994 21:16:19 -0400
Subject: "Babylon Squared" & "Chrysalis
"Babylon Squared" and "Chrysalis" will air in August.
jms
From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 22 May 1994 02:43:33 -0400
Subject: RUMOR: Michael O'Hare (Sinclai
Yes, it's quite true. And it was precipitated, in large measure, by
an in-house evaluation of the story, and where we stood, and what more we
could do to make the story tighter, more interesting, and bring in some
surprises. Then followed our talks with Michael, who had some thoughts of
his own. And this is not a total separation; there may well be some
sightings of Sinclair along the way from time to time....
jms
From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 23 May 1994 00:19:25 -0400
Subject: JMS: two questions and a spoil
There will not be a title change during the 5 year story; and we may
not have seen B5's full defense system.
jms
From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 23 May 1994 01:55:51 -0400
Subject: Starfury merchandising (ATTN:
Galoob will do some limited toys, don't know if the Starfury will
be among them, but I'd be very surprised if someone didn't start putting
them out eventually (though nothing's set yet). Hell, I want one for
myself.
Best to the U of MN viewers.
jms
From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 23 May 1994 01:55:57 -0400
Subject: > Attn: JMS - re: Morden/Ed Wa
I agree; Ed did a great job. He was perfect for that role. (He has
an oddly Rod Serling-ish quality to his stance, I've noticed.) And he
will definitely be seen again.
jms
From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 23 May 1994 02:11:16 -0400
Subject: JMS: Will we see Sinclair at a
At this point, we may well see Sinclair at some point in season two,
but can't at this point tell you where.
jms
From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 23 May 1994 11:47:49 -0400
Subject: Re: Message from JMS
Yes, you're right, I meant to type Moria, but my brain glitched and
it was late.
jms
From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 23 May 1994 11:49:10 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS Re: Message from JMS
It was my letter, yes.
jms
From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 23 May 1994 11:49:12 -0400
Subject: Re: Message from JMS
The Battle of the Line and the hole in Sinclair's mind was always
intended as the entry point or trigger to the story. It's like Frodo
being given the Ring in LoTR. The story isn't about that, that's how we
get INTO it. Frankly, there's no way you can sustain that one element for
five years, nor did we ever intend to do so.
The only difference in the resolution of that aspect is this: we had
originally intended to resolve the missing 24 hours, and the Battle of
the Line, by episode four, season two. We've simply moved it up 3 eps to
the first episode. Because new players are coming onto the field, in the
form of the Shadowmen, and other forces, and we now have to begin turning
our attention to new mysteries.
jms
From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 24 May 1994 02:56:35 -0400
Subject: Don't erase your lab notes JMS
We must never cease striving for perfection.
jms
From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 24 May 1994 03:06:43 -0400
Subject: JMS: Small Bit in S&P
The reference was mainly just a bit of black humor, no greater
overtones or meaning than that. I don't think it's fair to the audience
to use something as obscure as that as a plot element.
jms
From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 24 May 1994 03:06:45 -0400
Subject: There's a hole in your cast (w
In brief...yes, it was we who initiated the conversation with
Michael, not vice versa.
Re: "sudden insight," it's no different than the insight a novelist
(he said, having written two published novels to date) gets around the
time he gets to page 200 and has a minor revelation about the story and
the characters. Why didn't he have that at page 1? Or page 199? Whop
(Who) knows? Part of it, I suppose, may have to do with the fact that
while you're actully *making* the show, there's very little time for
reflection...only panic and terror (to quote an earlier episode).
When we finished shooting season one, we -- ALL of us on the B5
production team -- went away, and then came back again to do a post moretm
(or mortem) (or morden) on the first season. What did we do wrong, what
did we do right, what can be improved? My job was to think about the
writing, the story...was it fine as tracked, or could it be modified and
clarified and made better? And the answer (as it usually is) was yes, it
could. This quiet contemplation could only really take place after we'd
finished year one.
Re: point three, I really see no point in speculating; who knows?
On A, I pointed out that we *do* have all of our cast on options.
On B, to what I owe the audience...well, yes and no. My sequence of
what I owe, and to whom, runs as follows: I'm true first to the story,
then to myself, then to the audience, then to the studio. I think that if
you EVER rearrange that list of priorities, you're doomed as a writer and
should get the hell out of the business. (While the latter two may be
obvious, to illustrate the first two...yes, I'm an atheist, but if the
story requires advancing a religious notion in order to do the story
right, I'll set aside my beliefs and do it).
jms
From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 24 May 1994 03:08:04 -0400
Subject: JMS: Please don't pull a seaQu
It is my undiluted hope never to pull a seaQuest on you.
jms
(who would *never* call his show babYlon 5.)
From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 24 May 1994 18:32:10 -0400
Subject: Sinclair's end
No story suggestions, please.
jms
From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 24 May 1994 18:54:56 -0400
Subject: TKO - the worse episode ever
The question of what is or isn't SF is one of the most boring and
pointless conversations you can have. And I tend to ignore people who
say, asyou do, "there's nothing sci-fi about the story." (Partly because
the term sci-fi is abhorrent and I don't like it.)
Babylon 5 is a dramatic series about people who live in a space
station in the year 2258. It is about their lives, on a daily basis. And
some things their lives come into contact with are "SF" oriented, and some
things are oriented toward their personal lives. To some people, unless
it's got hardware and technobabble, it ain't SF. For me, if it's on a
space station, in the future, with aliens...it's SF. (And by my lights,
SF stands for speculative fiction...which includes speculation on
society, religion, anthropology, psychology and lots of other areas.)
"A Canticle for Liebowitz" is one of the *classics* of science
fiction. But 99% of it takes place after a nuclear war, and there's NO
hardware, no aliens, no space travel, no nothing. Ditto for "Alas,
Babylon" and hundreds of other SF stories and novels.
It's as if someone in the 1800s wrote a novel about live in the
year 1994, and everything was about putting on jet packs and eating food
pills and talking to my secretary whose name is A7B...and nothing in it
about being married, or having friends over for dinner, or seeing a
baseball game, or having friends pass away.
This is our best attempt at a realistic dramatic series set in the
future, about the way people will live there. It isn't always going to
match the purely arbitrary notion that you *must* include some bit of
technobabble or hardware to meet someone's definition of SF. Like the
original Trek, it's an opportunity to address issues and themes that are
of general importance, and to advance the characters and the universe. To
me, it's important to say that, 250 years from now, we will *all* go into
space, all our cultures will continue, judaism included. No other series
has done this. Maybe you think that's unimportant because someone didn't
reverse the polarity on the tachyon driver. I happen to think that it's
very important.
jms
From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 25 May 1994 03:28:21 -0400
Subject: By All Means Necessary: movie
Your english professor has over-analyzed the problem. Lots of
people shake hands, and when you're going to go back to work, that's the
thing to say. Totally generic.
jms
From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 26 May 1994 01:05:08 -0400
Subject: JMS: Your favorite SF...
Oh, man...my favorite SF? Can I broaden this out to include the
alternative, Speculative Fiction, and toss some other stuff in as well?
Loved the Foundation books, the Lensman series by Doc Smith, Stranger
in a Strange Land...a lot of Eric Frank Russell's work (esp. Men, Martians
and Machines), lots of Matheson's work, everything by Ellison (natch),
much of Bradbury's early work (R is for Rocket, Martian Chronicles,
Dandelion Wine, Golden Apples of the Sun)...I suppose when you come down
to it, my favorite reading has generally been in the mainstream of SF;
I've tried to get into the cyberpunk stuff, and enjoy a little of it, but
the whole field just seems a trifle cold for my tastes.
I reread Pat Frank's "Alas Babylon" every couple of years just to
savor it; same with Lord of the Rings. Tried "Dune" and got through the
first book but not the rest. Seen one sandworm, seen 'em all. Probably
the only author I make it a point to seek out as soon as a new title hits
the stands is Jonathan Carroll, who if you don't know his work I commend
to you *highly*. He's a contemporary dark fantasist, and nothing short of
absolutely *brilliant*. His first book, "The Land of Laughs," which may
be found at some libraries, still puts me away. "Bones of the Moon" was
also terrific. The next two weren't quite up to the first two, but still
very good. Just bought his latest, "From the Teeth of Angels," and plan
to start reading as soon as time allows.
jms
From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 26 May 1994 01:36:44 -0400
Subject: Re: All good things... STUPID!
Waitasec...you're saying that the shot where the later Enterprise
comes upward into frame and blasts the Klingon ship...that was CGI? Are
you *sure*? I didn't tape it, and was watching from across the room at
the time, so didn't notice. If so I wanna know so I can go hammer some
geeks who said on another service they could tell CGI from models, and
they much preferred the models used in that shot.
As for the finale...ehhh. An omnipotent alien tests a human to see
if the human race is worthwhile. Seems to me we've seen that story on ST
a LOT. And the time-bouncing to learn a lesson seemed awfully reminiscent
of the DS9 pilot.
jms
From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 26 May 1994 01:36:47 -0400
Subject: Re: = Attn: JMS - re: Peter Al
So far working on season two: me, Larry DiTillio, DC Fontana, and
Harlan's turning his attention to his script. Will be farming out some
others as we go. Will probably write for year two about what I wrote
for this season, 12 or so.
jms
From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 26 May 1994 02:00:47 -0400
Subject: JMS: TKO and Judaism
Thanks. I guess what helps, in terms of all this religious stuff in
a series run by an atheist, is that I've read most stuff from nearly all
of the major and second-rank religions, and generally respect them all, for
what they are: an attempt to understand the universe, and our role in it.
So I can treat them pretty much even-handedly. Have even read the Bible,
cover to cover, *twice*. (Job was a lot of fun, great reading; anyone who
can make it through Numbers and Deuteronomy has my undying respect.)
jms
From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 26 May 1994 20:52:17 -0400
Subject: Re: I've discovered the key to
I absolutely positively *cannot* comment on this thread in any way,
manner, shape or form.
jm(slightly nervous but dealing with it)s
From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 27 May 1994 14:29:09 -0400
Subject: JMS, a "joke" ??? was: Re: ZI
Okay, okay, okay, we won't do it again....
jms
From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 27 May 1994 14:33:00 -0400
Subject: Re: JMS: Your favorite SF...
We just thought it was funny....
jms
From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 28 May 1994 04:27:59 -0400
Subject: Re: All good things...
"Without TNG to pave the way, we probably never would have had B5
at all."
Actually...not true. In fact, TNG has *hindered*, not helped, the
rise of new SF series.
Here's the biggest reason (and to be fair, this can't really be held
as TNG's fault, it's just the Way of the World). The TV industry has had
the belief, since the beginning, that the SF audience can only sustain one
SF series, and that that is Star Trek. (Or two ST series.) The single
biggest battle we fought from day one in trying to sell B5 was studio
execs who said, "Look, there's already a science fiction show out there,
the market can't handle more than one."
There's also the assumption on the part of many execs that there IS
no market for SF series at all...there's a market for Star Trek, period.
And look at the reality of it...in 7 years since TNG went on the air, how
many successful first-run science fiction series have come out? They
have all fallen by the wayside, the few that went out...and they ARE few,
extremely few. If ST "paved the way," why did it take 7 years to do so?
And Paramount (a separate discussion from ST) has not exactly been
helpful in terms of other SF series which it felt provided possible
competition. They've done a *lot* to try and hinder things. Paramount's
view of SF is, "Well, *WE* own space."
It took me literally seven years to get a B5 series on the air. I
know many, MANY writer/producers who've tried to get other SF series on
the air in syndication, and after years of failure against the ST
juggernaut, finally gave up. So you'll excuse me just a tad if I take
the idea of ST "paving the way" for anything *cum granus salus*.
jms
From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 28 May 1994 04:55:40 -0400
Subject: Re: RUMOR: Michael O'Hare (Sin
I have, to date, read something on the order of a dozen different
rumors about the reason for O'Hare's leaving...that Warners marketing
wanted him out, that he was offered the lead on Voyager, that this was
actually planned out from the start, that he quit, that we fired him...if
I were to deal with all of these, I'd be here all day. Rumors are just
that: rumors.
jms
From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 28 May 1994 05:14:51 -0400
Subject: JMS - V: REBIRTH!!!
Sorry, I can't post the rest of the V script. But who knows, the
novelization may show up one of these days....
jms
From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 28 May 1994 05:14:54 -0400
Subject: JMS query, was Re: Shadow Spec
Universe Today is reliable sometimes...and other times not.
jms
From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 28 May 1994 09:07:17 -0400
Subject: O'Hare to ST Voyager???
I spoke to Michael O'Hare the other day about the Voyager rumor (one
of the many floating around), and he was *very* amused by the idea.
BTW, this is one area that needs mentioning. Michael and I do speak
frequently. We'll probably have dinner with the Ellisons and him in the
next week or so. And we'll be doing a little something that will involve
his character later this season. This is, again, a fairly amicable
situation.
jms
From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 29 May 1994 05:47:21 -0400
Subject: Re: TKO
At one point, there was a discussion in the scene about the whole
gills/scales/fins issue, to define kosher...but it *really* brought the
scene to a screaming standstill, and we needed to concentrate on the
relationships at that moment. In addition, as we looked at it, you would
have to get into the question of how alien gills/scales/fins compare to
earthly gills/scales/fins, because they're going to be very different in
many ways. In short order it became a massive Talmudic discussion, and
we only have an hour for the show....
jms
From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 29 May 1994 05:54:57 -0400
Subject: JMS: TKO suffered from *bad* h
We're trying to get Warners to re-evaluate their approach to the
teasers.
jms
From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 30 May 1994 04:41:07 -0400
Subject: E Con (ECONomics 101) & JMS
We've tried very hard not to let the merchandising get out of hand.
I pretty much sat on it during our first season, and am now letting a few
things go, like the CDRom, the soundtrack, the comic, some novels, and a
few other things. But this was never intended to be a *franchise*, and I
would really rather not see it become one.
jms
From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 30 May 1994 20:27:58 -0400
Subject: Newsgroup idea
A newsgroup is still problematic; a private mailing list is far less
so.
jms
From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 30 May 1994 21:00:45 -0400
Subject: JMS: a possible solution to "n
I appreciate your suggestion, but the safest way really is just to
stay clear in general as much as I can. Most of my entries on the files
are time-stamped, and a few have been circulated, so there's a paper
trail. I'm just trying to avoid specific story suggestions in public as
much as possible.
jms
From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 31 May 1994 02:55:02 -0400
Subject: Prophecy in Parliament
Yes, definitely keep in mind the intent of the ceremony...but be
sure to remember *all* aspects of it.
Also, take a good look at Li, goddess of passion, in Londo's
ceremony. There's something about it that will be very funny later.
jms
From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 31 May 1994 21:35:18 -0400
Subject: JMS: TKO/Sitting Shiva
I'm very glad to see your note, and know that the story has had its
desired impact. The passing of close family is the most traumatic thing
we can endure, and it must be faced with honesty and tenderness and the
willingness to forgive, and mourn, and go on with life with a clear
soul. Good luck to you and yours as you gather.
jms
From: straczynski@genie.geis.com
Date: 31 May 1994 21:35:20 -0400
Subject: JMS: TKO and Judaism
To the problems some have with Theodore Bikell's accent not sounding
real...it's my understanding that he was raised in Russia.
Ivanova does not have an accent because she was educated overseas,
her father wanting her to have certain advantages the rest of her family
did not.
Nowhere did we say that Andrei or the rest of the Ivanov family ever
emigrated. They didn't. They live in Russia. Or lived, in any event.
Not everyone migrates to the US or to Israel, and not everyone wants to.
On the treel/kosher discussion...I can only shrug. Nobody's ever
shown that jews go forward into the future, placed them at the heart of
a science fiction show as a regular character, nobody's shown shiva before
in (and possibly out of) an SF series...and some folks are complaining that
not every aspect of a treel's kosher-ness was discussed at dinnertime.
Some days, you just can't win....
Feh.
jms