brennen
/
lurkers-guide
1
0
Fork 0
Code Issues 0 Pull Requests 0 Releases 0 Wiki Activity
The Lurker's Guide to Babylon 5
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.
51 Commits
1 Branch
88 MiB
 
 
 
 
Branch: master
Branches Tags
${ item.name }
Create branch ${ searchTerm }
from 'master'
${ noResults }
lurkers-guide/ftp/Usenet/jms95-06-usenet

3052 lines
124 KiB
Raw Permalink Blame History

Messages from Babylon 5 executive producer J. Michael Straczynski on the
Usenet newsgroup rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.
Date: 1 Jun 1995 03:28:01 -0400
Subject: JMS: Season really delayed, or
The last four eps of this season are being held by PTEN until
October, yes.
jms
Date: 1 Jun 1995 03:33:58 -0400
Subject: Attn: JMS - Any plans for a Se
A "secrets of B5" kind of one-hour special would be a great idea, if
we could convince WB to go for it. But right now, we're still waiting on
the series go, let alone anything else.
jms
Date: 1 Jun 1995 05:56:22 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: The First Ones
She was speaking of species, not individuals.
jms
Date: 1 Jun 1995 03:33:47 -0400
Subject: JMS: Space Cooties at Zha'ha'd
To Jim Jones: the shadows on Z'ha'dum are no more a tribute to the
Cooties than your name is a tribute to new and fascinating uses for
Kool-Aide.
jms
Date: 1 Jun 1995 21:11:45 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: Larry DeTillio leav
There's really not much *to* tell. Because I wrote 15 out of 22 this
season, and I held virtually all of the writers meetings, and personally
created and handed out the stories to freelancers, there wasn't a lot for
him to *do*; he spent a lot of time when he wasn't doing his scripts
more or less sitting on his hands. Larry's a world-builder, coming from
a gaming background, and this world was already built. There wasn't that
much for him to do, and his skills were being wasted. He'd never have a
chance to shine and come out from under the jms shadow to be recognized
for what he can do. (Very often, stuff in his scripts would get credited
to me, often incorrectly.) This situation would only get worse in later
seasons, with more and more arc stories, pre-determined, coming into the
foreground. So it was really for the best.
jms
Date: 1 Jun 1995 21:41:54 -0400
Subject: JMS: Triluminary an Artifact?
"There is good reason to believe the Minbari Triluminary device
is an artifact not created by the Minbari."
DING*DING*DING*DING*DING*DING*DING*DING!
jms
Date: 1 Jun 1995 21:27:11 -0400
Subject: JMS: Does Ed Wasser smoke?
Not insofar as I know.
jms
Date: 1 Jun 1995 21:07:06 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: short season?
No, the sliding of 4 eps toward fall wouldn't affect the length of a
third season.
jms
Date: 1 Jun 1995 21:07:34 -0400
Subject: Re: Attn: JMS - C&L and QoM -
It should also help in all these discussions to remember the
way the machine functions; it's not so much an alien HEALING device as an
alien LIFE TRANSFERRAL device. If someone is actually dying, or close to
it, the only way to save that person is to take the life from someone
else. So you really don't gain anything (which was why they used
condemned murderers for the original device).
jms
Date: 1 Jun 1995 21:31:56 -0400
Subject: Britain - last,best hope thwar
Okay, folks, CALm DOWn. Ch 4 hasn't gotten the last batch yet
only because we're finishing the last bits of tweaking. "Twilight" is
totally finished. "Divided Loyalties" is getting the final EFX put in
this week, and will probably be delivered to WB on Friday. (This would
be the first up of the last batch.) "Confessions" is finished and scored
absent 2 EFX shots, which will be in tomorrow, and we'll probably deliver
on Monday/Tuesday, with "The Fall of Night" delivered about a week after
that. They'll have the episodes in time to play them.
jms
Date: 1 Jun 1995 21:32:54 -0400
Subject: JMS: What is the Legend of the
I think I'll perhaps leave this question be for a little while....
jms
Date: 2 Jun 1995 04:35:38 -0400
Subject: Re: Britain - last,best hope t
RE: my mention of "Confessions" in the final four...I misspoke, and
meant to say "Comes the Inquisitor."
Soon I'll be saying tire when I mean to say bisquit.
jms
Date: 2 Jun 1995 04:37:48 -0400
Subject: Technobabylon
Michael, you're confusing your terms. You can't say that because
B5 has rotational artificial gravity that therefore this equals
technobabble.
Science fiction -- note, SCIENCE fiction -- relies on elements of
technology. You cannot have SF without some element of changed or
new technology. Thus your notion that ANY technology = technobabble
means that ALL SF is technobabble. In so doing, the term loses all
meaning.
Technobabble specifically refers to paragraph after paragraph of
dialogue explaining how the neutrino filters invert the tachyon field
distancing array and corrupt the magnetic flow systems into an inert
state...which is later solved by MORE technobabble. The operative word
here is BABBLE, which in this case means to go on and on.
jms
Date: 2 Jun 1995 04:38:00 -0400
Subject: Re: Britain - last,best hope t
Wait...I wuz wrong. We checked personally with the Channel 4
programmers, who are out here on the West Coast for an international TV
big-deal, and apparently they *are* going to hold up on the last four
just 2-3 weeks, specifically because to air it would be to put it up
against the Tour de France, and nobody would ever see the darned thing.
Just a slight delay, a couple/three weeks...hey, could be worse, could
be October.
jms
Date: 2 Jun 1995 21:06:09 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: The Planet... What'
We'll see Draal and the planet below B5 in the last batch of new
eps this season. And the plural of Minbari is Minbari, as the plural of
Moose is Moose.
jms
Date: 3 Jun 1995 00:00:33 -0400
Subject: JMS: Comes the Inquisitor?
"CtI is the only episode in the last four that we know nothing about."
And if I figure out how I happened to achieve that (short of just
keeping my big yap shut), I'll do it some more. There should be some
surprises, yes?
And it's an arc story, yes, but in a very odd way.
jms
Date: 3 Jun 1995 00:00:06 -0400
Subject: Re: Mirrors and reflections
Yes, there is a reason for the mirror/reflection motif, and for
Kosh's comment. What is a reflection?
jms
Date: 4 Jun 1995 04:03:57 -0400
Subject: JMS: Official request for tra
Isn't it more fun to leave the piece untranslated? Shouldn't some
things be left to the imagination?
jms
Date: 3 Jun 1995 23:59:15 -0400
Subject: TREK IS BEST
Dear Ryan: regarding your comment that DS9 and the other ST shows are
superior because they use "real models" instead of CGI...they DO, in fact,
use CGI ships in all their shows, including Voyager, and they use THE SAME
COMPANY WE DO, Foundation Imaging. (They just finished doing a Solar
Sailing vessel for, I think, DS9.)
In short...you don't have a clue what you're talking about.
jms
Date: 3 Jun 1995 23:59:24 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS -- Quick question...
Yes, I slipped a reference to B5 into an old episode of Captain Power
called "Final Stand," and into my second novel, OtherSyde.
jms
Date: Sun, 4 Jun 95 08:29:00 UTC
Subject: Why are you here (rastb5)?
The notion that I'm asking for no story ideas to be posted so that I
can rip off story ideas is the most lame-brain statement I have heard in
10+ years of being on the nets. Saying "no story ideas" doesn't kee
anyone from suing; it just keeps useable ideas out of where I can see them,
period.
I have said, often, and repeatedly, and clearly, why I am here. The
problem is that you have one or two absolute mindless conniving distrustful
fuckheads who have no perceivable life other than to try and ride my ass
about one thing or another, swinging from one stupid theory to another to
another with as much astonishing speed and illogic as the Simpson defense
team. They will seize upon anything, ANYthing, and try and twist it around
to try and convince others that somehow, somewhichway, I'm getting away
with something, I'm conning people, I'm lying, I'm actually Reichminister
Goebbels who set up a twin for the little WW II misunderstanding and am
currently trying to sneak back into the United States disguised as Rondo
Hatton.
Loonies and feebs and creeps, oh my.
Okay, you want it straight up? Here it is. I'm here for a number of
reasons. 1) I like to get kind of a sense of the room; I'm not going to
change anything, but writing for TV is like writing for a vacuum; you nevr
(never) get to see the reaction. This is the ONLY chance I get to get a
reaction to something I've written and produced, and maybe it's ego, maybe
it's just that I work very hard to make something effective,and want to see
if it had the desired effect. Writers and artists and singers are like
that.
2) I think that TV producers in general get a very skewed sense of
who's in the audience. This exchange gives access to people across the
country to someone who makes TeeVee, and lets me hear them. How often
would someone in Clearwater, Oklahoma, have the chance to express an
opinion to someone in LA making a TV series? Not bloody often. And that
is in large measure, I think, why TV has become so insular. And so
unresponsive to its audience. So I'm kind of a test-case volunteer for
this, in the hopes of luring more producers onto the nets and creating a
more open exchange, making producers accountable for what they make.
3) I've dedicated over 15 years of my life to trying to demystify
TV production and writing. I've written columns and columns, reams of
articles, a book...all trying to help people understand how this medium
works, because you can't control or influence something unless you truly
UNDERSTAND it...why things are done a certain way. This is part of an
educational project that I've been doing for over a decade, a natural
outgrowth of that process. By the time this is all done, there will be
an online document of hundreds of archival pages -- maybe thousands --
covering the development, birth and ongoing creation of a TV series at a
depth never before chronicled, which will be available to students and
universities and ordinary folks. I think that's a valuable experiment.
Finally: 4) I'm an SF fan. I think SF fans are, overall, the most
exploited bunch around. They're expected to line up, buy the toys,
watch the show and shut the hell up. I think it's time some respect for
that audience was shown by allowing them a voice. This is part of my
sense of personal obligation to the field that spawned many wonderful
years of reading.
My request has always been just that, a request, and a simply stated
one. You can talk about story ideas all you want. But I simply cannot be
here if you do that. I will not run the risk of being sued, or having the
show that I've labored over for, now, eight years being victimized by some
crazed yahoo who posts something and then decides I've ripped him off,
despite the fact that this material has been sitting in my computer for
YEARS. And a Crazed Yahoo (tm) doesn't have to win, doesn't even think
he may have a chance to win...but defending a case can run hundreds of
thousands of dollars, thanks to our wonderful legal system, and can tie
up episodes for years.
You cay some of these people think the chances of a lawsuit are
"ignorable." Yeah, for them. They're not the ones at risk. If they're
wrong, it's "Oh, huh, guess I was wrong." For me it's several years of
courtrooms, lawyers, depositions and the like. It's frankly not their
call to make. It's mine. Warners knows I'm here, and I periodically
have to reassure them that I'm keeping the promise about not exposing the
show to risk. And I have to maintain that stance, or vanish.
I would remind a very few of the feebs I noted before that in fact,
there WAS no rec.arts.b5 area until I showed up on the alt group. At
that point, membership jumped *dramatically* enough to merit the
formation of a rec.arts group. I have no particular infatuation with my
own sense of importance -- much the contrary -- but I do know that my
being here is in many ways directly responsible for there BEING a
B5 rec group. Now I'm being told, "Hey, why make special rules for him,
who cares, let him blow off if he doesn't like it."
Not a special rule. Just courtesy. Plain and simple. Why is it
that one can no longer simply make a request out of courtesy? Instead one
must now back it up with lengthy treatises about legalities and laws and
risk factors...and one's own personal motivations are challenged and
questioned and suspected and put on trial and smeared by a callous few to
whom the very concept of "courtesy" is a foreign idea, and who exist only
to bring grief to me and the bulk of users here. There are PLENTY of
ways for people to suggest story ideas to one another without exposing
them to me...email lists, private groups, whatever.
The theory, as I understand it, is that people are coming up with
story ideas because they like the show. Why, therefore, would they
choose to *endanger* the show by posting them where I can see it? I had
this recently with a fanzine publisher who turned down a B5 fictional
story because I'd asked, politely, that none be published until after the
show had ended. The writer got very upset and said, "Well, who CARES what
he wants?" The side-product was more important than the creation that
spawned it.
I've made my motivations clear from day one. Anyone who wants to
challenge them can go fuck themselves, I don't have to answer to them or
give them any credence whatsoever by even acknowleging them. It's in all
the faq files from the beginning; let them go do some research, it's all
there. They pick on this today; tomorrow they'll move onto something
else, because they don't actually CARE about the truth. They care about
being hyenas, and biting at people who didn't bow down and kiss their
respective asses.
And frankly, that to me has become one of the most wearing aspects of
being online; the wackos and creeps who just live to make trouble. For
that reason alone, I sometimes think, "Fuck it, I don't need this, I don't
need to go to bed angry, I don't need the distraction when I'm trying to
write, I'm doing this to do a Nice Thing. Period. And if all I'm going
to get is a few relentless assholes bitching at me 24 hours a day, then
the hell with it." Then the sane part of me remembers that the word FEW
appears in that sentence. And that these few jerks are irrelevant, despite
their attempts to create relevancy for themselves by attacking others. And
I calm down, and after a bit, log back on again.
To continue the experiment, as outlined above.
And that's the sum and substance of it. It's really a question of
which people prefer: having access to the producer of Babylon 5, or
blowing out huge story ideas. There can be one, but not the other. It
ain't the best case scenario, but it's the only workable one. It's my show
that would be at risk otherwise, and I'm sorry, but on that count noboty
(nobody) else gets a vote. Nobody else is entitled to determine the
risk factor, or determine if it's relevant. That's my call. And should
enough people decide their story ideas are what they really want to
discuss, or even a few (it only takes a couple to pose sufficient risk),
then I'll simply have to fade outta here.
Because the experiment will continue, on other systems. Compuserve,
GEnie, others...where the understanding is respected, and courtesy rises
above self-interest or unwarranted personal attacks. And AS HAS BEEN THE
CASE HERE, I should point out, since this thing began. If a few people
want to change that, well, that's their right. I just can't be here if
it happens. That simple.
And yes, you can repost this, but if you do in the public forums,
do so in toto. The usual band of self-styled critics/hatchet folks will
get all bent out of shape because I used a couple naughty words here and
there, and because I got all bent out of shape simply because they did
something as innocuous as impugning my motives and implying theft on a
daily, consistent basis, but y'know what?
Fuck 'em.
jms
Date: Sun, 4 Jun 95 09:02:00 UTC
Subject: Why are you here (rastb5)?
A postscript to my previous note. I debated including this, because
it sounds self-serving, but it also happens to be the truth, so after
thinking about it, I'm going to add it anyway.
I don't get paid to be here. Nobody asked me to be here. Nobody's
forcing me to be here. (And a few here would, apparently, love nothing
more than to drive me off here so they can say whatever they want without
the inconvenience of the target for their attacks disagreeing with them
with anything as unfair as facts.) I'm a voluntee
I am, insofar as I know, the ONLY television producer to be on-line
to this extent, creating what is really an interactive experience. This
is a great experiment, one which will probably go down in the record
books when people look back at the history of the net. There have already
been huge articles about this in books and magazines. We're pioneering
something here. And a lot of other producers I know are looking on to see
how this all shakes out. If it works, others will come on-line. If not,
if they're just going to get hammered and slandered and abused, they're
not.
Maybe the problem is...I'm free. And you respect something to the
extent you pay for it. My consulting fees are in excess of $100 per
hour. I spend 3 hours per day just on the internet. That's 21 hours a
week, 2 and a half work days per week. Most of that I spend not in
forwarding my own ego, or selling merchandise, or making money...I spend
it answering questions. Who was this actor? What did this mean? Why
are CGI used? How long does it take to make an episode? What does a
producer do? How do you write a character? How do you sell a show?
It's the kind of information you can't get anywhere else unless you
want to take one of those triple-damned McKee seminars and spend, oh,
about $500 for one weekend doing so. I read and I read, 500 messages per
day slip past me, some in detail, some less so. I provide a service. I
provide information. I answer questions. I don't do it for the ratings,
beause if you added up all the people who read this group, which I think
is about 10,000 people, they won't even show UP on the Neilsen ratings.
I do it, in addition to the reasons given a moment ago, to provide a
service. Were I providing this service to a studio, or as a consultant
on another project, it would cost them a couple thousand bucks a week. I
do all this without asking for money, or gifts, or even respect (he said
with a glance to the people riffling their papers in the back of the room
and tossing spitballs). I have only ever asked for *one thing* in exchange
for this service: no story ideas.
And I honestly don't think that's a terribly high price for the hours
and days I spend here when I should be writing, or trying to relax a bit,
or maybe going out to dinner once in a while. I'm chained to the keyboard
when I write scripts; and then volunteer to stay up here, until 2 or 3 or
even 4 a.m., dead-tired, answering one more ATT: JMS note, because I think
maybe, just maybe, it's important, and right, and honorable, and
respectful. I don't think most folks understand what this takes out of me
on a daily basis. And I suppose they shouldn't have to. It's not their
problem. It's my choice. I don't even like bringing it up, because it
sounds self-serving. But with all this going on, I figured maybe it
SHOULD get mentioned. Because it's the truth.
Anyway, enough. It's now 2:03 a.m., and I have 248 Internet messages
in my mailbox to get through before I crash tonight.
jms
Date: 4 Jun 1995 05:28:16 -0400
Subject: Re: Someone's Impersonating jm
Only because it's late, and I'm kinda pissed off anyway (see the note
which Vinay will be reposting any time now), let me dive into this with one
or two comments which, I hope, will end this discussion.
(And I won't even mention my sense that those who seem least to
understand the need to protect one's name are the ones who don't have much
of a name TO protect.)
Lemme bring you up to speed on something a few of you know about, but
the majority probably don't. There have been a couple of other cases of
people impersonating me. One of the most serious was someone who, saying
he was me, using my address, began logging onto certain sex-oriented
alt and rec groups and began leaving messages that were...disturbing, to
couch it delicately. Suffice to say they involved minors and let it go
at that. I found out about this when messages in response to this began
showing up in my mailbox. Other equally disturbing messages were brought
to my attention by a few others here who log onto some of the other parts
of the internet. (They can step forward if they so choose.)
One of these individuals is now facing criminal charges.
Lawyers brought into this made it *absolutely clear* to me, in NO
uncertain terms, how this should be dealt with. At the first hint, I must
send the person a message asking to cease and desist. This will help to
root out which are impersonators with fake addresses, and which are real
people with the same name. I note someone here (in a reply quoting it)
bitched, "Well, why didn't Joe try to contact this person here?" I did,
you idiot. And the message bounced back. At that point, Orders From
Lawyers #2 kicked in. You must hit them as hard as you can, as fast as
you can, as publicly as you can. Don't wait. If it turns out to be
benign, you can always apologize later. If you DON'T, any time that you
don't respond but know what's going on can be taken as permission or
agreement.
Two great ironies strike me here: 1) that one or two of the people
who have most implied that maybe this isn't really me (one of the ten
zillion nutty conspiracy notes they flash around) seemed to find no
problem with a system -- automated or manned by a person -- which might
further fuzzy up what's me and what's not. 2) Citing the person who got
accidentally bombarded with notes, a situation which BEGAN with a threat
of a harrassment lawsuit aimed against me (something which the person
here conveniently forgot).
I don't care if it's automated. I don't care if it's a person. I
have a name, and a reputation to protect. Naming a bot morden.bot is not
the same thing as jms.bot because jms is a real person and morden is not.
It has the same end result of blurring the lines.
In any event, there has to be a forceful, hard response at ANY time
an impersonator emerges or seems to emerge, as fast as possible, because
of several other rather ugly incidents that have taken place. And if
ANYbody has a problem with that, I really don't care, because it's my name
and reputation that's at stake here, not yours.
jms
Date: 4 Jun 1995 19:34:18 -0400
Subject: Why I'm Here: Addendum
Only because I'm an idiot, and I forgot, and I thought it was implicit
in the message I wrote, but sometimes implicit isn't sufficiently clear
(certainly not when I'm behind the keyboard)....
The other aspect is that you're all (well, mostly) a bunch of cuties.
Occasional nincompoops notwithstanding...I see more well-considered,
substantive, bright and funny comments here than I can count. There isn't
a day that goes by that I don't sit here and perk up at a particularly
insightful message, or laugh at the latest Top Ten or whatever. The
majority of messages here are nothing less than terrific, and I hope that
that implication was clear enough in my message(s); if not, take it from
this one.
As for the few weasels...my spousal overunit has a great saying:
"Don't fight the rabbits; the lions'll get you."
jms
Date: 5 Jun 1995 19:14:56 -0400
Subject: Re: Why is joe here (rastb5)?
To Eric Wampner: Vinay DID have my permission to repost the
material publicly; said permission was even included within the post,
if you read it thoroughly. So I think you owe him an apology.
jms
Date: 5 Jun 1995 17:22:31 -0400
Subject: JMS: Music tastes?
Actually, I listen to just about every kind of music there is, except
hard-core country-western, which I can't abide. I have a fairly large
collection of music, and stuff goes in and out depending on my mood and
what I'm writing. In rock, I'm partial to Peter Gabriel, Phil Collins,
Melissa Etheridge, Meatloaf, Indigo Girls, Billy Joel, Enya, Slade and
a lot of others. I always go for strong individual voices and strong
writing. I'm a sucker for the kind of music that makes you start pounding
your arm on the arm of your chair and makes the hair on the back of your
neck stand up. Bonnie Tyler stuff.
Other than that...classical, a *little* new wave, Celtic, Japanese
(KODO music in particular), Aboriginal music, medeival music, jazz,
big-band (LOTS of big band), musicals, soundtracks...you name it.
jms
Date: 5 Jun 1995 17:39:21 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: CGI question
In that scene, the door to the Copernicus was real; the CGI wa
wrapped around it.
jms
Date: 5 Jun 1995 18:06:08 -0400
Subject: Top Ten Reasons Joe Reads the
Now THAT'S comedy....
jms
Date: 5 Jun 1995 18:10:28 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: Have You Gotten Ever
Yeah, there was one thing I didn't get, only because those involved
kind of imploded. The final revelatory scene at the end of "The Long
Dark" was supposed to be one HELL of a lot more impressive than it was.
I really wanted to see something extraordinary. What we got...wasn't
it. That's the only case that I can remember. PTEN has never come to us
and said, "Joe...it's too weird." Performance wise, I think the part of
Inspector Cranston in "Hunter/Prey" could've been better executed. But
overall, I have to say I'm very satisfied.
jms
Date: 5 Jun 1995 20:11:27 -0400
Subject: YAGGGH!
I'm getting two copies of EVERYTHING via my gateway! Is anyone else
having this problem?
jms
Date: 6 Jun 1995 03:20:50 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: Starfury name origin
The 'fury comes from the conventional air force useage in general;
star is self-explanatory. But yes, it does have its roots in tradition.
jms
Date: 6 Jun 1995 00:38:32 -0400
Subject: Attn JMS: putrid pun that must
That has to be the best/worst title I've ever heard....
jms
Date: 6 Jun 1995 03:20:39 -0400
Subject: Re: YAGGGH!
No, it's *still* going on. Your message to me (to which I'm now
replying) is also doubled. EVERYTHING is coming in twice except for
private mail.
jms
Date: 7 Jun 1995 04:35:10 -0400
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: Have You Gotten
"That admission was impressive!" (Ross Bench)
Not really. Kinda wish it was, but it ain't.
You have to understand, for all the criticisms on this or any other
net, there is nobody -- NOBODY -- harder on this show than we who make it.
Nobody gets spared. Opinions are not withheld. This is a show where
one of my producers, John Copeland, for instance, can walk into my office
after getting a new script and say, "Joe...it sucks." (Most notably,
this happened on the first draft of "Soul Hunter," which I knew didn't
work as soon as I finished it, but still put it into the pipeline because
I wasn't sure of my own opinion at that very early stage in the first
season, decided I was right after all, and yanked back the script from all
parties with a note simply explaining that I had been momentarily
possessed by an idiot.) We're all very open about this stuff.
What I guess maybe doesn't always come through is that if you ask me
a straightforward question about the show, or behind the scenes, I'll
give you a straightforward answer. I've never been big on politics or
self-preservation. Which ep disappointed me with the EFX? The Long
Dark. Which do I consider my worst ep? Infection, and it's entirely
my fault; if it ain't on the page, it ain't on the stage. Is there
anything I'd like to re-do? Yeah, probably parts of Voice 2.
Happily, of all the stuff we've done, there's only about 5-10% that
sometimes glitches. Mostly, it's light years beyond anything I could have
hoped for. And lemme tell you...in advance...for those who thought "The
Coming of Shadows" was something, I've seen the final version of "The Long,
Twilight Struggle," and it's even better. Better than "Z'ha'dum." It's
probably the best we've done. I've poked and prodded that one all over,
and it's solid.
jms
Date: 7 Jun 1995 04:46:46 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: B5 multimedia CD
Should we get the final word on renewal, I'd expect the cd-rom to be
out by about Christmas.
jms
Date: 7 Jun 1995 04:55:11 -0400
Subject: Is it safe to come out?
Of *course* it's safe to come out.
Silly girl.
Much better.
Hmmmmmm? Light switch? *What* light switch?
Perhaps there's a problem with the fuse box. I think I'll go check
with my new friends, Mr. Black and Mr. Decker...just wait right there...
jms
Date: 7 Jun 1995 05:04:46 -0400
Subject: Re: YAGGGH!
All better now. Ron fixed it.
jms
Date: 7 Jun 1995 05:16:15 -0400
Subject: B5 CD and Drum Corps? Any tho
Yeah, I love drum corps stuff. And yes, a lot of Chris's stuff
would work well in that form.
"A member of the JMS militia." Somebody around the office came up
with a great name for this...the Joe Corps.
jms
Date: 7 Jun 1995 05:18:23 -0400
Subject: Re: Someone's Impersonating jm
I never see Fulleristic messages directly, because I kill the notde
(note) as soon as the name appears on my screen, but seeing this small
quote in Wayne Humfleet's message about DF calling the B5 production
office...I'm pleased to see that admission. Basically, the call was to
complain to the office about me, read what I'd been writing on the nets
in answer to DF's attempts at glossalalia (not *entirely* sure I spelled
that right), in an attempt to make trouble and get me off the nets.
This is the difference between us. I do not call her office, or her
school, or her employers, to complain about the nutty, libelous thnigs
(things...fingers are tired) she says here. But folks like her, and a
few others, because they can't win on the merits of their arguments, they
seek to shut the other person down. They fax complaints to Warner Bros.,
they call my place of work and complain.
It is, frankly, the very lowest form of net behavior I've ever seen.
If you can't win, try and silence the opposition. But hey, it worked for
the brown shirts, right...?
jms
Date: 7 Jun 1995 18:05:43 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: Babylon Music
The deal for the music was only for the pilot; you can't mix and
match composers once you get to series.
jms
Date: 8 Jun 1995 06:35:46 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: Comic Cancelled?
We've not yet heard the final, definitive word on this.
jms
Date: 8 Jun 1995 07:00:20 -0400
Subject: Re: Why I'm Here: Addendum
Zafaran (and Travers)...thanks. We'll muddle through.
jms
Date: 8 Jun 1995 07:00:32 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: Those Pesky Prophets
Nnnnnnoo, not really; the Centauri don't actually have an
equivalent to G'Quan or Valen.
Believe it or not, this one answer may add another layer to a scene
in one of the last episodes of this season. You can infer it backwards
once you see it, but now you'll have it going n.
Or in, as the case may be. (Gotta stop typing before 3:45 a.m.)
jms
Date: 8 Jun 1995 07:00:40 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: You and Latex
I have direct control/approval over every aspect of the show, but I
try as much as possible to leave the talented people alone to pursue their
vision of the show. In the case of prosthetics, when a new race comes
aboard, the elves at Optic Nerve will generally come up with several or
just a few sketches. I review those sketches, and if there's one they
prefer, I go with that one, unless I feel strongly otherwise. Other
times they have no real preference. Once approved, they proceed apace,
and I'll see it one more time when the sculpture's finished, then not
again until it's on the stage.
jms
Date: 8 Jun 1995 07:00:48 -0400
Subject: Re: JMS: Music tastes?
"Will you marry me, Joe?" Robert Hayden
Not until you shave, stop wearing that terrible cologne, and divorce
my sister.
jms
Date: 8 Jun 1995 07:00:57 -0400
Subject: Question on emmys
We received an Emmy for Best Special Effects for the B5 pilot
(beating out TNG that year), and a second Emmy for Makup for the first
year of the series. We've also received the Cult TV award from England
for Best New Series, the Space Frontier Foundation Award for Best Vision
of the Future, and the Jewish Televimage Award, plus the pilot wsa
nominated for a Hugo.
jms
Date: 9 Jun 1995 00:19:39 -0400
Subject: Re: OFFICIAL RENEWELL!!!!
Re: "A RIGHT BLEEDIN BASTARD."
Now, now. You can't fault people for their enthusiasm, and Brett was
reporting what he heard, without elaboration. Let's all play nice, shall
we?
jms
Date: 9 Jun 1995 00:19:58 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: Jump gate sideways?
Yeah, we'll probably get around to showing that one of these days.
jms
Date: 9 Jun 1995 04:00:32 -0400
Subject: JMS IS RUINING TELEVISION!
Jeff....thanks, that means a lot.
jms
Date: 9 Jun 1995 03:51:59 -0400
Subject: Re:Vir to die before season en
"Do I understand you correctly?" Timothy H.
god, I hope not....
jms
Date: 9 Jun 1995 03:52:15 -0400
Subject: Re: JMS: Music tastes?
Yeah, it's mainly the Nashville stuff I can't abide. Bluegrass is
quite good, I'm partial to the Red Clay Ramblers, so that stuff is fine.
jms
Date: 9 Jun 1995 03:52:33 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: Chicago Comicon
My plans for the con aren't finalized yet.
jms
Date: 9 Jun 1995 17:27:18 -0400
Subject: "Infection" revisited, was Goo
Yeah, I kinda guess that "Grail" would be my alternate for worst ep;
I guess I'm generally just harder on eps I wrote myself.
BTW, given the reasons you cite for liking "Sky," I think you're gona
(gonna) LOVE "Comes the Inquisitor."
jms
Date: 8 Jun 1995 01:42:07 -0400
Subject: OFFICIAL RENEWELL!!!!
Well, this is all well and good, but what's odd is that as of the
moment I'm writing this, NOBODY has said *boo* to us about renewal being
official yet, from Warner Bros. I have a vague suspicion that something
is rumbling around the corporate WB offices that involves PTEN in some
way, but I have no clue whatsoever what that is, or even IF it is, could
just be swamp gas. It's certainly a good omen, but it ain't official
until somebody calls us from WB or PTEN, tells us, and we're authorized
to exercise our option on cast and production staff for year three.
jms
Date: 8 Jun 1995 01:43:54 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: How's the finale?
How does the finale compare? Hmmm...depends on what you're looking
for. "Inquisitor" is primarily a character piece, virtually no EFX, but
very intense. The story is kind of straightforward, with a few kickers
along the way. "Twilight" is a heavy story episode, that zips all over
the B5 landscape, between the Narns, the Centauri, and elsewhere (he said
vaguely). The finale, "The Fall of Night," is actually kind of deceptive;
it starts out fairly calmly and tightens fairly fast. The story is not
as back-and-forth or layered as Twilight or Coming, it's really about one
thing. Visually, it's the most ambitious thing we've done to date, and
probably the most ambitious EFX stuff done for a TV series *ever*. I
don't think you'll feel left wanting after the episode is done.
jms
Date: 8 Jun 1995 01:45:36 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: Ganya Ivanov Questio
We learn a bit more, but you're right, it wouldn't hurt to learn a
little more about him. Maybe I'll do this.
jms
Date: 9 Jun 1995 18:07:07 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: The great stories..
I actually don't think there are only X number of stories. I've
heard this theory, and don't subscribe to it. There are as many stories
as there are people. Then again, someone once wrote, "Of course everything
has been said; but since nobody was paying attention, we must begin again."
jms
(My usual definition of a story: what does A want, how far is he
willing to go to get it, and how far will someone else go to stop him?
That makes every story individual to the person's background.)
Date: 9 Jun 1995 18:07:23 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: Question about show
Merchandising isn't factored against ratings; ratings are of use to
advertisers in determining how much to pay for an ad. They don't care if
there are Londo dolls, how many people wll see their commercials? The
merchandising is good for WB, but not if the ratings drop so that the show
can't be sustained by advertising.
jms
Date: 9 Jun 1995 18:12:46 -0400
Subject: ATTN: JMS Ivonava's Collar
Traditional women's fashion, clasping on the reverse side.
jms
Date: 9 Jun 1995 04:25:38 -0400
Subject: Re: Why many Trekies dislike B
Karen Cravens: funny thought...one could also read your note a
different way and with one minor distortion, come away with "He who
lives by the Trek will die by the Trek."
jms
Date: 9 Jun 1995 04:34:09 -0400
Subject: From jms....We Got Year Three
Since apparently this has broken on AOL via John Copeland before I
could post it...yes, I can confirm that we've been renewed for Year
Three. I got the call late today, and have spent part of the evening
doing Producer Stuff, part trying to push through a bit of a bug that
hit last night (and thus took some of the edge off the news), and only
late this evening was able to get on-line to confirm.
It's a full order for 22 episodes, and we begin shooing July 31st or
thereabouts.
Thanks in particular to all of Babylon 5's "netted" friends, who have
held the Line alongside us for the preceding two years, and with whom we
hope to continue sharing the foxhole for the next three.
jms
Date: 9 Jun 1995 04:29:43 -0400
Subject: End of Series=End of War??
It'd be foolish, I think, to try and extend the shadow war across
3 years of the B5 series; I think it'd get redundent real fast. I'd say
there has to be more than that, wouldn't you?
jms
Date: 9 Jun 1995 04:29:58 -0400
Subject: Attn JMS : A thank you
Carolyn: your words are kind, and highly appreciated. Thanks.
jms
Date: 10 Jun 1995 04:21:30 -0400
Subject: from jms: my address changed
I don't *quite* know why, but for some reason my address seems to
have changed to firewall rather than genie. Until we get this fixed,
y'all may want to copy me at both addresses for private mail. Weird....
jms
Date: 10 Jun 1995 22:18:06 -0400
Subject: The Big Cat in the Hat . . .
Melody....
Wow. Holy smokes. That was an amazing message. I've saved it to
disk for the archives. Excellent points, all. (And I share some of your
concerns about the paying conventions.) Really well done.
jms
Date: 10 Jun 1995 22:20:05 -0400
Subject: JMS: The shape of things to co
Well...some of what's coming in year three can be deduced from the
last four eps; let's have those first, then we'll talk.
jms
Date: 10 Jun 1995 22:20:10 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: Renewal/stripping
I imagine they probably won't strip B5 until much later, maybe not
until we've finished our run.
jms
Date: 10 Jun 1995 22:31:24 -0400
Subject: Re: From jms....We Got Year Th
It's our understanding that ch4 in England will show the third year
in *letterbox format*, from preliminary discussions taking place with them.
jms
Date: 10 Jun 1995 22:31:29 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: Who speaks for you h
Well....erm...uhm...*I* speak for me.
And some folks, who remember what I said, sometimes repeat it.
Unlike those who simply ignore it, or distort it.
What gets me is when somebody says, "Well, who are YOU to post here to
defend him?" Well, who are YOU to post here and attack? Everybody's an
equal when it comes to speaking up. If one can make someone else's
business your own enough to attack, how is that different from making
someone else's business one's own enough to defend? This is absolutely
illogical, and can only, I assume, proceed from a desire to have me respond
personally to them. Which I have absolutely no intention, or desire, to
do. You will note the very important sentence that comes up frequently:
"If what I wrote wasn't important, then why all these reactions?"
That's the key, and it's very sad. To respond directly, WHATEVER you
might say, creates the sense that they are important. And they LIKE that.
The more furor, the more angry messages get provoked, the more important
they feel. If you respond directly, you're doing *exactly* what they
want you to do, and feeding the fire, and soon the conversation becomes
about the conversation, rather than the substance that provoked it, and it
spirals off and away into madness.
They are petty, and venal, and I have absolutely nothing to say to
them. If others choose to talk to them, well, why should they complain,
since it's that very action that makes them feel important? It's a logical
contradiction.
But then, logic has *nothing* to do with this.
jms
Date: 10 Jun 1995 04:27:33 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: Shadow Archetypes?
How Jungian are the shadows? Hrrmmmm...that's a hard one to
answer, because in part it requires revealing more than I want to at the
moment. To varying extents, yes, certainly. But there are also some
elements of Joseph Campbell, the Old Testament, and Freud.
jms
Date: 10 Jun 1995 05:22:30 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: Starfury Problem...
Some new starfuries will be arriving at B5 next season....
jms
Date: 11 Jun 1995 05:04:46 -0400
Subject: The Great War
Never said the shadow war would be over in one year. Only that it
wouldn't last three.
jms
Date: 11 Jun 1995 05:04:58 -0400
Subject: Re: Are B5 Scripts Available?
Recognizing that some folks would like to examine the scripts (hell,
if I were out there, I'd be kinda curious), once the B5 Fan Club gets up
and running (we're nearly there to getting the darned thing approved after
negotiating with WB for nearly a year), there are plans afoot to release a
limited number of B5 scripts for sale through this venue, so they're
properly authorized and complete.
The word "complete" is important because in, oh, 95% of the cases,
some dialogue ends up on the cutting room floor. Sometimes it's only a
few lines or words, sometimes it's a short scene, or several paragraphs
worth of dialogue which add to the scene, but when we got into editing,
felt weren't *absolutely necessary* (and we're always long on our eps,
from my sense that it's better to have more story than time than more
time than story). (And no, expanded episodes won't ever be available on
tape or disk.) All that material will be available in these scripts.
Give us another couple months on this one.
jms
Date: 10 Jun 1995 05:32:17 -0400
Subject: ATTN: JMS ABOUT BRUCE B...
Bruce knows stuff only on a season-by-season basis.
jms
Date: 11 Jun 1995 05:29:15 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: Wishlist for season
In looking at the story breakdown for year three, there isn't much
on that wish list physically, except for one big addition to our little
B5 universe. Beyond that...we're going to make some modifications to
C&C that I've wanted to do for some time now, add a couple of recurring
characters, do a bit more CGI than we're doing now...but the rest of the
pieces are all there. Now it's time to just focus in on the story.
jms
Date: 11 Jun 1995 05:29:26 -0400
Subject: Q vs Jason Ironheart
I see we've worked our way back to the "Who would win in a fight,
Jesus Christ or Superman" thread....
jms
Date: 11 Jun 1995 22:16:56 -0400
Subject: JMS
"We need the Bab5 equivilant of a tribble."
That would be me, yes.
jms
Date: 11 Jun 1995 22:17:22 -0400
Subject: ATT: JMS: Will Season 3 *end*
You're asking me to try and predict the actions of PTEN a year in
advance.
Me, I'd rather bet on the horses....
Odds are better.
jms
Date: 12 Jun 1995 02:39:42 -0400
Subject: ATTN: JMS - Unresolved Psi stu
I think some of the loose ends of which you speak will be dealt with
by this season's end....
jms
Date: 12 Jun 1995 02:53:14 -0400
Subject: Re: Are B5 Scripts Available?
The long cuts exist only in the computer; there was never a fully
extended, on-film ep cut down for time. Once we make our cuts on the
computer, the film is assembled only once, for the final product. We'd
have to go in and re-edit EVERYthing to make it work.
jms
Date: 12 Jun 1995 02:55:27 -0400
Subject: a quote
Bingo. As I mentioned before, the "long twilight struggle" title
is a quote; you correctly identified the source in the JFK quote.
jm(wish I had a toaster to award)s
Date: 12 Jun 1995 03:05:05 -0400
Subject: B5 descriptive narration for t
I don't really have an answer for you, but I'll try and look into it.
jms
Date: 12 Jun 1995 05:24:44 -0400
Subject: JMS: Price of Three Trilumina
[Would we be on the right track if we guessed that the triluminaries were
given to the Minbari in exchange for a promise to help out in the next
war against the Shadows?]
"Would we be on the right track?"
Not really.
jms
Date: 12 Jun 1995 05:48:51 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: Which age of mankind is it NOW?
It would be fair to say that this is the second age of mankind, yes.
jms
Date: 12 Jun 1995 19:50:04 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: Background questions
I just can't imagine myself writing that much info on Minbari clans
without my brains exploding and then running screaming out into the night.
jms
Date: 12 Jun 1995 19:56:01 -0400
Subject: JMS: A quick question.
Bear in mind, the 200 pages of notes aren't per se a straightforward
outline; as I worked out bits of the story, I added it to the material
as I went along, so sometimes you have year three stuff right alongside
year five stuff. Each season I go through my notes, pull out the stuff
relevant to that season, put it in the right order, and fill in any gaps
in-between.
jms
Date: 13 Jun 1995 00:56:07 -0400
Subject: Re: JMS
"He's a little too big to be held easily in the palm of one's hand."
Bless your heart....
jms
Date: 13 Jun 1995 01:02:04 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: WB studio question
The signs are for shows WB *produces*. They don't produce B5,
Babylonian Prods. does that.
jms
Date: 13 Jun 1995 18:21:53 -0400
Subject: ATT JMS RFD: Moderation
I imagine that the odds of my continuing are pretty much the same
for options 2 through 4; option 1 will eventually cause a problem, I
think, the way things are going. While the group was of resaonable
size, it was easier to influence things; with the mammoth increase in
membership, and the increase in plot speculation, eventually the limit
on what I can afford to be exposed to will have to be hit.
jms
[In reply to:
Holy Valen! So the warrior caste has been ticked off for 1,000 years. No
wonder they're so scary. They've held a grudge against Valen for that
long. Now all their scoffing at the prophecy and the religious caste
makes sense. Personally, I think these guys killed Dukhat to ruin
Valen's prophecy -- Revenge motivation (of course the humans could have
gotten VERY lucky and I'm wrong).
Delenn refuses to help the Children of Time because someone interfered
with Minbari religion and the results have caused her and her people to
avoid doing so to others. Valen is said to return.
So 1,000 years ago, how did Valen do his coming and going? I'm beginning
to seriously wonder is this Valen guy was a Minbari at all. Someone
subduing a violent caste sounds like manipulation. And those prophecies
do hint at more knowledge than the Minbari had at that time. Of course
he could be a Minbari with powerful friends so he could maintain control
and reign in the warrior caste AND set up the new Minbari government. Or
he could be powerful himself. Perhaps he had the help of three
triluminaries; I'm sure their powers, creatively applied, could go a long
way.
Christopher Novosad]
Date: 13 Jun 1995 18:53:25 -0400
Subject: Holy Valen!
Christopher: save this message of yours and keep it at hand going
into the second season, around the 10th episode or so.
jms
(sigh...I meant third season, wrote second...still dealing with
the renewal.)
Date: 13 Jun 1995 03:25:02 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS:
The warrior caste was subdued by the coming of Valen, who brought
the law about not killing other Minbari, and formed the Grey Council. The
Rim is the edge of known space. The absolute bottom/rim gravity in B5 is
about 1.2 G; the C&C gravity is about 1/3rd G.
jms
Date: 14 Jun 1995 01:03:16 -0400
Subject: Babylon 5 avaliable for video.
With all the inquires about video, I thought I'd inquire of WB. Much
to my astonishment, after I made my way through the complex web of studio
people, the person at the other end of the phone told me that apparently
there ARE no immediate plans to release the videos, because there is
concern that if they're available, it'll bring down ratings; also because
WB and the PTEN stations own the shows jointly, and some kind of complex
negotiations would have to take place to sell the show domestically. I
pointed out that the cassettes are for sale in the UK, and doing very well,
and that if WB wasn't going to air the first season for a long time, then
why not release THAT one cassette for now? No clear answer, but I've got
another name to speak with (upon his return from out of town), and we're
going to push for this from other directions. I'm sure we'll get it done,
but it may take a bit.
jm(perpetually astonished)s
Date: 13 Jun 1995 03:28:48 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: "Coming of Shadows",
It didn't show up in the script, and probably won't, but the Emperor
probably did have a vision of his death, and the Vorlon.
jms
Date: 13 Jun 1995 05:18:56 -0400
Subject: Attn JMS: The future of B5 if.
If something happens to me...nobody gets the notes. The whole POINT
is that this is a personal story, told out of a personal vision. So if
you want to see this story finished, it behooves y'all to keep my sorry
ass alive for the next 3 years.
jms
Date: 14 Jun 1995 01:15:32 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: The flow from Season
No, the last ep of this season wasn't per se a cliffhanger, though it
does tip over a few things, so it flows from 222 to 301 fairly smoothly.
jms
Date: 14 Jun 1995 05:18:45 -0400
Subject: JMS, Top ten signs your addict
You're welcome.
jm(tap-tap-tap-tap tap-tap)s
Date: 14 Jun 1995 05:18:29 -0400
Subject: Re: Holy Valen!
Whether one becomes religious, warrior or worker caste is something
that arises early on, not through birth or genetics, but what you are
called to do, or feel called to do. If you believe that you are calleed
to the religious life, you go to that part for a time, a few years, and
that is determined by you and to a certain extent, others. If you seem
not suited toward that, they may work with you to find what you are more
suited for (and perhaps you felt *expected* to be called a certain way,
but that's not really where you're best suited).
jms
Date: 14 Jun 1995 17:59:11 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: a question about wri
Writing for the page and writing for the stage are considerably
different processes; what looks good in a book sometimes sound bogus
coming out of someone's mouth. Which is why it's so hard to translate
much of Bradbury's stuff to the screen; the language is lovely on the
page, but the second someone starts saying it, something goes wonky
and it sounds off.
The only real key that I've ever had is to try and make yourself
stop writing and start listening; create the characters, make them as
real to yourself as you can, then get out of your own way and try to
listen to what they say and do, rather than trying to force them to behave
the way you think they should.
jms
Date: 14 Jun 1995 01:03:28 -0400
Subject: ATTN: JMS Minbar
We'll see Minbar at least once in year three, perhaps more.
jms
Date: 14 Jun 1995 17:50:42 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: question about PTEN
PTEN is a business consortium between Warners and the stations that
air B5.
jms
Date: 15 Jun 1995 02:07:03 -0400
Subject: One eensy moderation concern..
I don't get the alt. group. I get only this one internet group,
through the good offices of Ron Jarrell. I deliberately don't accept
any of the free Internet offers that are occasionally made, and don't
slip out into other areas. This is the only one I get, via my GEnie
mailbox.
jms
Date: 15 Jun 1995 02:07:17 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS - A few questions....
We *somewhat* compose for standard aspect ratio, but often our
directors frame quite a bit off center, or have stuff going on over in
the edges, or otherwise work to make the whole thing interesting when it's
returned to widescreen format. You will see B4 again in year three, yes.
Interesting about the war in DS9, that's all I'll say on it.
jms
(Except that we'll do it better.)
Date: 15 Jun 1995 02:25:45 -0400
Subject: Mr. JMS: Media Bias?
How can "Word" be a commentary on current allegations of bias (which
I think are out of all proportion) since the media is now supposedly
anti-government (nonsense), and the newscast in ""Word" was more than just
a bit spoon-fed government propaganda?
jms
Date: 15 Jun 1995 02:26:03 -0400
Subject: Mr. JMS: Shadows - Why?
Of course we're going to find out more about why the shadows are
doing and what they want; it'd be kinda pointless otherwise, no?
jms
Date: 15 Jun 1995 02:35:44 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: On conspiracy theori
A very good and well-reasoned analysis.
jms
[Steven Orso's "Unified Field Theory of Conspiracies." The Shadows and Vorlons
are battling to control what their successors will be like; the Shadows want
to cull out weakness, and are behind all the conspiracies, which can all be
viewed as strong people edging out weak ones. The mind control in comic
issue #7 suggests that Takashima's participation in Sinclair's frameup in
"The Gathering" might not have been a conscious choice; she served on Mars,
where Garibaldi and Sinclair saw what they saw.]
Along with John Miller's examination, this has to be one of the
most well-thought-out analyses yet. I'd say that a lot of it holds
water. (One nice side-element...I noted a while back that the comics
were not necessary to follow the series, as anything there would be at
some point mentioned in the show if it were important; here, you've
used it correctly to presage and four-wall the series and deduce some
very good stuff.) Splendid work.
jms
[The attack on the Narn outpost]
Date: 14 Jun 1995 17:51:02 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: CGI -- art
Thanks. That scene in "Coming of Shadows" is one of my favorites;
it does, as you say, convey that sense of wonder which is one of my main
goals with this show.
Until "The Long Twilight Struggle," nothing else has come close to
that scene for me. But there's some stuff in there that finally manages
to surpass it. Just gorgeous and scary and awe-inspiring.
jms
Date: 15 Jun 1995 04:21:42 -0400
Subject: Babylon 5 Prayer (Humor, of co
Forgive them, Kosh, they know not what they do....
jms
Date: 15 Jun 1995 04:21:56 -0400
Subject: JMS: Is it getting easier?
Easier? It never gets any easier. (Nor should it. The minute it
becomes something you toss off quickly, easily, is the moment you should
get out of the business.) If anything, it gets harder, because you're
constantly trying to out-do what you did last week.
jms
Date: 15 Jun 1995 18:26:30 -0400
Subject: JMS: Screen savers?
Yes, there will be a B5 screensaver out from Sound Source later
this year.
jms
Date: 15 Jun 1995 18:26:54 -0400
Subject: Re: JMS retire????
Certainly George R.R. Martin and Melinda Snodgrass are looking to do
more producing; Morgan and Wong from X-Files are off doing Space; so
there's hope.
jms
[Dates unknown, but sometime in June]
Interestingly enough...yes, Warners does seem to take an interest in
where the series is going. The one comment I hear most often is that they
enjoy seeing where the stories are going, and that they're not really like
the stories being done elsewhere. This is the only one of the PTEN shows
to pick up even one Emmy, let alone the two we've received. There were a
number of folks at WB who initially really weren't sure about us, who have
subsequently come around and have been very supportive. Two of the main
folks who've taken an active interest and supported us are Dick
Robertson and Evan Thompson, between them the two Main Men of PTEN.
Without them, there wouldn't BE a Babylon 5 series.
jms
If you still have a copy of that article, and write-up, could you
send it along to me for my files at the following address:
14431 Ventura Boulevard, Suite 260, Sherman Oaks, CA 91423? The line
"most Trek-like" is hysterical; well, I think THEY think in terms of,
ST is successful. Thus another show in space that succeeds is most ST
like.
War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Jesse Helms is human.
jms
Haven't had the time to watch ANY of the Outer Limits, I'm afraid.
jms
IF it's an established and well-attributed quote, then it's okay to
mention it, yes, as "the long, twilight struggle" is a partial quote.
jms
Yes, the Centauri/Narn war is a very handy distraction, which the
shadows could use. That's one of the two reasons they helped set the
whole shebang going.
jms
The Narns believe the Centauri are perfectly capable of doing this
on their own; they've done it before, after all.
jms
I hope the reaction would be both; what a ride, and that's deep
(though I probably wouldn't use that exact wording). It should also
create the sense that you've gone off and lived somewhere else, and
somewhen else, for five years. When I got finished reading the Lensman
books, my sense wasn't really either of those expressed above, but a sense
that I had visited a real place, and lived through massive changes,
empires that rose and fell, and seen a genuine saga with massive
repercussions. It should really have the sense of finishing a good book,
one which one would like to go back and reread again later.
There are a number of philsophical undercurrents to the story, of
course, some of which are apparent now, some which will become clearer
later, and certainly a lot of action...but I'm shooting for something I
can't really define for you, except to say that it should somehow be more
than the sum of its parts.
jms
[Vir to die before season end?]
Now, what kind of storyteller would I be if I actually answered
that question? Hrmmmmm?
jms
Sure, I can tell you what happens in the last four eps.
Really Awful Stuff.
jms
[What kind of jazz do you like?]
Jeez, I like a lot of it...Cout Basie, and Glen Miller, and Arty
Shaw (though some of his later stuff got a bit derivitive of the earlier
material), Tommy Dorsey, Gershwin...there's a CD came out a few years
ago, a reconstruction of a number of performances debuting new material
for the first time, and there's Gershwin playing (for lack of a better
term) the beta version of "Rhapsody in Blue," with *riffs he later
discarded*, and you can hear the differences, and understand why he made
them. Cab Calloway...dynamite.
jms
Yes, the theory is to show the last 4 eps in October, and go right
into year three eps the next week in November, no break, so you'd get
about 8-9 eps in a row, rather than the usual 5 or so.
jms
Never said the shadow war would be over in one year. Only that it
wouldn't last three.
The long cuts exist only in the computer; there was never a fully
extended, on-film ep cut down for time. Once we make our cuts on the
computer, the film is assembled only once, for the final product. We'd
have to go in and re-edit EVERYthing to make it work.
jms
: "Now the trumpet summons us again: not as a call to bear arms, though arms we
: need; not as a call to battle, though in battle we are; but as a call to bear
: the burdens of a long, twilight struggle--year in and year out, rejoicing in
: hope, patient in tribulation--a struggle against the common enemies of
: man--tyranny, poverty, disease, and war itself."
: John Fitzgerald Kennedy
: Mike Daniels
Bingo. As I mentioned before, the "long twilight struggle" title
is a quote; you correctly identified the source in the JFK quote.
jm(wish I had a toaster to award)s
Date: 16 Jun 1995 01:03:29 -0400
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: Why No B5 Covera
The English press has *always* been very receptive to B5, ranging
from the genre/fan press to such publications as Time-Out and even the
London Times, which has spoken well of the show. It's mainly here in the
States that the problem manifests itself.
jms
Date: 16 Jun 1995 04:50:08 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: Name of 3rd Season
I'd rather wait a bit before making that declaration official.
jms
Date: 16 Jun 1995 04:24:11 -0400
Subject: JMS: Minbari Prophecies & War?
There was the prophecy, but they didn't know specifically to which
race it pertained until much later.
jms
Date: 16 Jun 1995 04:27:27 -0400
Subject: Re: DS9 establishes a new nadi
Ehhh....every year, DS9 promises something new, big stuff brewing,
there was war talk last season...people fall for the okeydoke...it
doesn't happen...ten months later, they're back with more hype and
promises...seen it, been there.
jms
Date: 16 Jun 1995 21:22:48 -0400
Subject: Re: * * * JMS Nude!... * * *
I don't think there should be any further revelations about me
nude; I wouldn't want to be inadvertantly responsible for anyone being
struck blind.
jms
Date: 16 Jun 1995 21:22:27 -0400
Subject: Re: JMS "Cassandra falls in se
"Cassandra fell in service with the Greeks."
Yes, but which in particular?
jms
Date: 16 Jun 1995 21:23:11 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: political Q's
While most of the major powers have their-race colonies, each of
them has client worlds inside their jurisdiction that are not their own
species.
jms
Date: 16 Jun 1995 21:27:59 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS - "Cobra" bays?
The exterior launch bays are narrow along for some distance, then
flange out into a kind of diamond shape; they resemble cobras, hence,
cobra bays.
jms
Date: 16 Jun 1995 21:30:44 -0400
Subject: --Why I'm upset with DS9 and V
An aside to the discussion: I often hear folks who defend DS9, and
some *with* DS9, say they can't do much action because they can't afford
it. I have *no* idea why this should be so, as a) both the current ST
shows use a hell of a lot more stock footage than we ever do, and b) both
ST shows have roughly twice the budget we have per episode.
jms
Date: 16 Jun 1995 21:57:20 -0400
Subject: JMS?? Re: RFD: rec.arts.sf.tv.
I was asked if I wanted to be part of the discussion on this, and I
opted out, because I don't want to be in the position of unduly pressuring
anyone; I also barely understand the internet structure, and couldn't
add much of substance anyway. Just end up muddying the waters further.
Nor would my feelings on this be of much use, since they are totally
conflicted. I like the free-ranging discussion that comes with an
unmoderated group. On the other, there are more and more story ideas
being posted in the course of speculation. One or two that I stumbled
across scared the hell out of me, though fortunately they ended up going
off in directions I had no intention of going in.
I don't generally access internet through any other venue than this
one, provided by Ron Jarrell through my GEnie gateway, which minimizes my
contact with the net.
My hope was that in not influencing the discussion, those minds which
understood the situation could come to some reasonable compromise
situation. I do think that Jay has come down a tad harder than I would
have in similar circumstances, but that does not negate the core of the
concerns; I did not initiate this whole moderation debate, but it was bound
to become an issue sooner or later.
What I've told Ron, and Jay, and others, is that I want a solution that
affects/impinges on others as little as possible. This is, fundamentally,
MY problem, and I've always felt uncomfortable making others compensate
for my problem. So I simply, honestly don't know what to do. (I know that
Ron has some ideas he's going to call about next week, so maybe he'll have
a solution.)
There are times I do think it'd be better and simpler for me just to
withdraw from internet, since after all I can still be reached easily via
email, and my address is on the nets, so folks wouldn't have a hard time
reaching me. But I don't know if that's right either.
All of which should give you some idea of why I'm not doing much in
this discussion; I can pretty convincingly argue just about every point of
view.
jms
Date: 16 Jun 1995 22:30:44 -0400
Subject: Attn JMS: When do we get to see defensive mods on B5
You'll see some of them in use by the end of this season.
jms
Date: 17 Jun 1995 02:27:35 -0400
Subject: Attn JMS: Little Lost Delenn
Well, it's about TIME somebody noticed that little exchange in
"Confessions and Lamentations." Sometimes I stick stuff so obviously in
the foreground that I'm afraid it's going to be too blatant, and then
nobody seems to notice it, looking instead at the tiny stuff in the
background.
Unfortunately, all I can say for now is that it is significant to
Delenn's character and growth, and her sense of being special, and called
into the religious caste.
jms
Date: 17 Jun 1995 02:29:42 -0400
Subject: JMS: A Kosh Question
"Have we seen Kosh lie?"
With Kosh, who can tell...?
jms
Date: 19 Jun 1995 02:00:48 -0400
Subject: Re: DS9 vs B5 comments
*sigh*...my screw-up. I was thinking Jake Sisko, when I should
have thought Ben Sisko. Mea culpa.
jms
Date: 19 Jun 1995 02:01:02 -0400
Subject: Re: Attn JMS: Little Lost Dele
Interesting how many B5 viewers know the lyrics to JC Superstar....
jms
Date: 19 Jun 1995 04:48:32 -0400
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: How are you trea
A lot of TV execs don't know from SF. Or SF concepts. So it became
useful to have some nice, friendly, non-threatening pictures to show 'em
to introduce them to the concepts behind the show.
jms
Date: 19 Jun 1995 04:48:22 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: Merchandise in Santa
From the description, I can't tell if it's legit or not; so I guess
you may as well just assume the best.
jms
Date: 19 Jun 1995 05:17:31 -0400
Subject: Re: Attn JMS: Little Lost Dele
"This is the second time you've mentioned chainsaws in as many weeks.
Is there anything you'd like to talk about???"
...
You've never worked with actors before, have you?
jms
Date: 19 Jun 1995 18:39:48 -0400
Subject: JMS: Bureau 13 game?(!)
No, the Bureau 13 rpg precedes our show; we weren't aware of it at
the time we did the episode.
jms
Date: 19 Jun 1995 18:39:20 -0400
Subject: Re: Attn JMS: Little Lost Dele
Actually, the stage version of JC Superstar was just released on
gold CD, as well as being available on regular CD, so it's slightly
better for the audiophiles amongst us.
jms
Date: 19 Jun 1995 18:43:16 -0400
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: How are you trea
I think Max Headroom was kind of uneven; much of it I liked, some
of it fell flat for me. Overall, though, I liked more than I didn't.
jms
Date: 19 Jun 1995 18:43:36 -0400
Subject: Channel 4 - Right to Reply.
If you have the opportunity, please convey to Channel 4 the
following from me: My undying thanks to everyone at Channel Four who
have supported Babylon 5, and who have demonstrated remarkable patience
with what has apparently been a flood of messages, phone calls, letters
and skywriting incidents. (Well, okay, I made up the last one.) From the
proverbial horse's mouth...we have now delivered to Warner Bros. two of
the remaining four episodes. The first was delivered three weeks ago,
the second about a week ago. The third should be in their hands this
week, the last a bit thereafter. I have no clear understanding what the
airing arrangements might be between C4 and Warners, but any support that
we can provide is there for the asking.
We sometimes allow ourselves the conceit that Babylon 5 has a very
British feel to it, as much of the better SF has come from the UK, and
its tone is not far from what we do. We are thus inestimably pleased by
the great support C4 has shown for the series, the friendliness, courtesy
and patience of its staffers, and we look forward to a long and
productive relationship.
Now, about that six p.m. timeslot....
sincerely, J. Michael Straczynski
executive producer/creator, BABYLON 5
Date: 19 Jun 1995 18:43:59 -0400
Subject: Re: Attn JMS: Little Lost Dele
The Phantom of the Paradise CD is very hard to get; I grabbed two
copies while in the UK, and have since only seen one other here in the
states. (Got Paul Williams to autograph both of them for me while he
was here.)
jms
Date: 20 Jun 1995 01:38:12 -0400
Subject: Re: DS9 vs B5 comments
Ted: I think your note is even-handed and well considered. For me,
any one of the items you discuss being present isn't a big deal; it's the
cumulative effect of all of them being present in both shows, at the same
time, airing within weeks of one another.
The result of all this nearly killed B5 in its early stages, which
I think was the desired effect. You must understand that when B5 was
announced in the trades for the first time in November of that year (2-3
months prior to the announcement of DS9), in articles that described it
pretty succinctly (space station, rogues, renegades, all the usual H'wood
hype), it was often referred to as Warner's attempt to create a space
franchise (see above re: hype).
There has *long* been bad blood between Paramount and Warner Bros.
Particularly since Paramount was then already setting the blocks in place
to create its own network, and PTEN was being birthed right then, setting
the stage for major conflict. The number of syndicated stations is very
small, and the hours available per station equally small. Faced with
that kind of scenario, big guns tend to be pulled out.
Whatever the sequence of events might have been, the result was that
I ended up sitting in meetings with Warner execs who said, "How am I
supposed to sell this show? It's *identical* to DS9 in any way that
matters, the syndicated market can't sustain two identical shows like
this, and they've go the Star Trek name to entice station owners. Nobody
knows from 'Babylon 5.'"
Understand, since the debuts, the shows have gone off in different
directions, but we're talking the first season and the pilot. Nearly all
the articles described them as nearly identical at that stage. And the
details of character don't often play to TV execs who only see the broad
strokes, the "quick concept."
The fact that the two shows were so similar at that time, one a nobody
show from nowhere, the other bundled with the STAR TREK (tm) name, came
within an inch of killing Babylon 5. (Which wasn't helped by A Certain
Studio telling advertisers that B5 was going to be crap, cheaply produced,
and not to bother.) That's one of the main reasons why it took nearly a
period of four months before we finally got the go order for year one,
after everybody crunched the ratings, and the demos, and decided to take
a chance on it. And even THEN we were told, "The syndie market can't
sustain two shows like this; you're gonna get creamed."
Through the clipping service, I saw one newspaper/magazine article
after another calling B5 a "clone" of DS9. Because they considered them
identical. Many ST fans felt the same way, and said so, openly. "Jeez,
they copied EVERYthing," one noted. Now, when we point out which really
came first, suddenly some of these same folks say, "Nah...they're not
alike at ALL. Don't be silly."
One could get whiplash from such a thing.
To step back a second, the reality is that this sort of thing happens
in hollywood all the time. When "The Abyss" was being produced, several
other films with identical concepts were rushed forward (remember Deepstar
7 or 9 or whatever that was?). Consequently, one of the things you most
protect are the details of your project. You don't want a possible
competitor to know what you're doing. Unfortunately, right there in the
files at Paramount was every last detail about how we were going to do B5,
the station, the stories, everything.
Now, I'm sure that the Paramount execs said, "No, no...we won't look
at it, we won't open the drawer, we'll remain pure and virginal and even
though we're trying to beat Warners in creating a new network, even though
they're threatening to break our monopoly on space/future shows, we won't
open that file drawer, no sir."
They could not possibly have said, "Okay, open the file drawer.
Let's take a peek at what they're going to do. We won't copy it, exactly,
but knowing what they're doing will allow us to co-opt a little of their
franchise, enough to cut them off at the knees in the marketplace. We
won't tell Berman or Pillar about this, because they would never go along
with it, but we'll just *guide* them here and there. We give notes all
the time in development, who's to know where they came from?"
And just to be clear, so the sarcasm doesn't get in the way: I have
never, *ever* felt, or believed, or thought, that Berman or Pillar EVER
saw or knew about the B5 information. Had anyone suggested anything of a
less than straightforward nature, they would have refused; of that I have
no doubt. No sarcasm, that's what I think.
jms
Date: 20 Jun 1995 01:55:55 -0400
Subject: B5 Cancelled rumor
Any newsletter that identifies itself as "Mr. Data's" ANYthing can
generally be construed as being wrong as it pertains to any info re: B5.
jms
Date: 20 Jun 1995 01:01:48 -0400
Subject: Re: Attn JMS: Little Lost Dele
Bruce: saw "Chess" in London after it'd been around for a few years;
was surprised that they'd softened some elements from the sountrack stage.
jms
Date: 20 Jun 1995 01:12:33 -0400
Subject: Paramount swipes B5 idea!
Actually, I would be very happy to let Voyager be the one to own the
notion of holding back the last four eps if we could just air ours NOW.
jms
Date: 20 Jun 1995 02:00:17 -0400
Subject: JMS: Up Front Again? (Season
Yup, just keeping that thread alive, since it's going to come up in
a major way in the last four episodes.
jms
Date: 20 Jun 1995 05:20:32 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: Weird Question
Valen is the Minbari pronunciation.
jms
Date: 20 Jun 1995 05:24:34 -0400
Subject: ATTN: JMS Re: Talia Leaving?
Brutwug: ah, but you WILL see Pat Tallman again on B5; this season, no
less. We live to serve....
jms
Date: 20 Jun 1995 05:28:31 -0400
Subject: Do actors _like_ doing cons?
Insofar as I know, *all* of our cast enjoy going to cons, perhaps
mainly because they do NOT see it in terms of "drooling SF geeks" or "holy
reverence." This is their show as much as mine; they work hard, and they
respect and appreciate their audience.
Ask anyone here who was at Babcom in Birmingham. Or at Marcon in
Ohio. Peter was always accessible, friendly, hung out; we all went double
the allotted time to make sure everyone got an autograph (we signed 3,000
in two days, probably more). Richard and Jerry hung out with fans at the
Marcon, in the bar, the lounge, the green room, room parties. Theydo seem
to honestly enjoy the exchange.
jms
Date: 20 Jun 1995 05:48:28 -0400
Subject: Re: evolution in B5 universe
RE: the bone crests on the Minbari, the notion expressed by David
Sueme detailing evolutionary notions omits the most rudimentary fact
about such things when he says it's illogical from a birth perspective:
They're not BORN that way, any more than elks are born with full-length
horns. Like any other species that grows bony-matter outside the head
(deer, cows, bulls, certified public accountants), it's either not there
at birth or nascent. It gradually grows out. Ditto for the Minbari.
There are elaborate rituals of shaping and honing and cutting as one's
crest grows. Some crests are shaped more in tune with the military caste
than the religious caste, for instance.
It grows out to create a protective sheath around the back of the
head, where the internal skull can sometimes be fragile, to provide
added reinforcement.
jms
Date: 20 Jun 1995 05:48:42 -0400
Subject: Re: Smoking Guns?(fountain pen
Re: Patricia Swan....AH! Another pen-lover. Dittos all around. I
love pens. All kinds pens. But clearly the fountain pen is my favorite.
For my money, the Parker fountain pens are always the best. I tried the
Mont Blancs for a while, didn't work for me. But the Parker Centennial,
the Sonnet and the Duofold are terrific pens. (Did you know they're
discontinuing the Duofold? Rushed out and picked up two more when I
heard that.)
In the category of "This is god's way of telling you you've got too
much money," I noted an ad from Nakimi for a fountain pen made of layers
of Japanese Urushi lacquer, carved maple, ornately wrought designs of
18-karet gold and hand-wrought silver. A strikingly beautiful pen.
Price? $6,000.
You gotta be outta your mind....
jms
Date: 21 Jun 1995 01:34:22 -0400
Subject: Centauri first encounter
When they encountered us, the Centauri empire was already shrinking;
we were off the beaten track and had little of value, or strategic
interest. We were a curiosity, with some nice cultural stuff for trade.
jms
Date: 21 Jun 1995 01:33:50 -0400
Subject: JMS: What have we missed?
If I told you *everything* that seems to have been missed, I'd be
highlighting things that will come and should be surprises....
jms
Date: 20 Jun 1995 17:24:54 -0400
Subject: ATTN: jms 3 Questions
How I got Walter is, basically, I know him, and I asked him. Not
much more to it, really. The psi symbol is taken from the greek letter.
And don't have much info on cons at this point anywhere in that area,
I'm afraid.
jms
Date: 20 Jun 1995 17:25:22 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: What's the office
Actually, my office ain't much to write home about. Main thing is,
where all of the offices and walls in the office area here at the B5
studios are white, mine is painted battleship grey. Brown desk, black
sofa and cabinet, TV and small stereo. A few B5 items here and there,,q\,
including a model vorlon transport made and hand-painted by Ron, a couple
of awards. On the walls: not much, a woodcut of a skeletal dwarf riding
a flying pig and carrying a scythe; a shot of the B5 station; the season
two/three B5 poster; calendar; and my schedule board where I keep track of
scripts, which is adorned with huge (1.5 foot by 3 foot) boards, one on
either side, which contain individual quotes. I swap out the quotes on a
regular basis. On now: "To define is to kill, to suggest is to create,"
Mallarme. "The point of no return; that is the point that must be
reached," Franz Kafka.
jms
Date: 21 Jun 1995 05:59:21 -0400
Subject: ?????
G'Kar is not leaving the show.
jms
Date: 21 Jun 1995 01:57:14 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: How does Vir know?
Vir was there when Londo summoned him to do the hit on the Narns in
"Coming of Shadows," as seen in the ep. It's quite clear he knows what
Morden is all about.
jms
Date: 21 Jun 1995 01:59:31 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: Why Io?
Putting the jumpgate near Jupiter makes it harder to detect by long
range weapons systems, given the energy output from Jupiter.
jms
Date: 21 Jun 1995 02:04:42 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: Banana ice cream!
...nuts got no business being in any self-respecting ice cream,
banana or otherwise....
jms
Date: 21 Jun 1995 02:03:41 -0400
Subject: JMS: New Theme Music?
Narration will be shorter. Music will be more aggressive, more
martial.
Interesting things coming.
jms
Date: 21 Jun 1995 02:04:01 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: Finished the last 4
Haven't heard a final decision on this yet.
jms
Date: 21 Jun 1995 02:04:23 -0400
Subject: JMS: Perth Conventions
Haven't ever been to a Perth convention, but from your note I look
forward to trying it out one of these days. Thanks.
jms
Date: 21 Jun 1995 05:55:23 -0400
Subject: Mr. JMS: SAG regs on clips....
There is a clip rate for actors, don't have the figures before me.
jms
Date: 22 Jun 1995 03:28:53 -0400
Subject: Re: The Last 4 (Question)
I got some *very* interesting information today re: the UK airing
of the Final Four, and I'll be verifying it over the next few days. If
what I've heard is correct, this will be *very* cool for UK viewers, who
will NOT have to wait until October. Watch this space for updates.
jms
Date: 22 Jun 1995 04:50:31 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: Series Title Questio
In other words, basically, you want me to tell you the end of the
story.
notachance
jms
Date: 22 Jun 1995 04:15:56 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS : A Spaceship...
Sure. But you have to promise to blow it up real good.
jms
Date: 22 Jun 1995 04:20:05 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: Number Of Stations C
Insofar as I know, the number of stations has stayed fairly
stable, +/- a couple here and there, for which others have usually taken
up the slack.
jms
Date: 22 Jun 1995 04:20:24 -0400
Subject: Attn JMS: How are the Centauri
According to the latest reports from the front, the Centauri are
generally doing fairly well, though Narn reports continue to insist that
they are holding their own.
jms
Date: 22 Jun 1995 04:20:53 -0400
Subject: Re: DS9 War?
Yeah, the bit where Sinclair gets his link/hand tangled in his coat
was scripted that way. He wasn't sure about it at first, didn't know if
it would look goofy or not, but it looked real, and that's what I wanted.
Invariably, when a new script comes out, one or another actor reacts with,
"He wants me to do WHAT?" (fill in the blanks...sing a Gilbert&Sullivan
style libretto, orgasm on camer, do the hokey pokey) But it nearly always
works out.
jms
Date: 22 Jun 1995 04:21:08 -0400
Subject: Re: The One little thing about
The ant was paid strictly according to SAG rules (Screen Ants Guild).
jms
Date: 22 Jun 1995 04:25:53 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: Opening credits
Placement in the credits is determined by contracts with actors.
And I held off using "ambassador" in each credit because it looked too
repetitive.
jms
Date: 22 Jun 1995 04:35:35 -0400
Subject: ATTN: JMS The Coming Od Shadow
I approve all casting, so yes, I approved Turhan Bey as the Centauri
Emperor. He did a lovely job. Re: broadcasting B5 wide in the US, this
won't happen until HDTV is widespread.
jms
Date: 22 Jun 1995 04:50:50 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: Models?????
No models have yet been licensed.
jms
Date: 22 Jun 1995 04:51:08 -0400
Subject: JMS: Another Long-Range Set-U
Yes, part of the reason for the QoM episode was to set up the notion
of an implanted personality as acheivable tech.
jms
Date: 22 Jun 1995 05:06:40 -0400
Subject: From JMS: What Exec Prods Do
Every couple of days, as today, I get one or another message saying,
"In this episode, did you have anything to do with, or were you involved
with...." and it's the script, or an actor, or whatever. All legitimate
questions. In thinking about this, it occured to me that maybe it might
be a good idea to go over what an executive producer actually *does*.
So file this under "How I Spend My Days," by J. Michael Straczynski,
Age 12
1) I write scripts. 12 the first year, 15 the second. When you see
my name on a script, every action and dialogue was written that way. My
scripts are very detailed. There is very, *very* little improv allowed
on the show, not necessarily because I think each word is golden but
because a changed word can mess up an important sentence that foreshadows
something 4-6 episodes down the road. If an actor is having a problem
with a line, which happens occasionally but rarely, and wants to substitute
one word with another, somebody comes from the stage to my office, 15 feet
away, and checks to make sure it's okay.
2) I work with the prosthetics/makeup people in conceptualizing
and approving makeups. I partly sculpted the original version of Delenn's
headpiece in the pilot. Prosthetics folks read the script, come up with
several designs, run them past me, and I approve one or the other.
3) I work with the costume designers, again with final approval on
all elements. Sometimes if I have something specific in mind, I'll try
and sketch it out. (I can't draw for squat, and our costume designer finds
my pathetic scribblings very amusing, and...."cute." I once drew a kitty
on the same page as a costume note, just to show her i was improving my
range. She stuck it on her wall. Argh.) Usually she comes up with
designs, runs them past me, I make some notes or suggestions of varying
coherence, and she runs with it.
4) I approve all set designs, and again, once in a while, will get
into the act with a rough sketch of one sort or another. Any artwork,
posters, signage, set dressing, props...all go through my office for
personal approval.
5) Along with the director and a few others, I sit in on all casting
and have final right of decision, along with Doug, and we rarely
disagree.
6) I approve all directors and writers for the show, and work with
both. In the case of directors, we speak about the episode many times,
and have "tone meetings" just before shooting in which we go over every
page to discuss the visualization and make sure we're on the same track.
I try to slip out onto the set when possible to make sure we're still on
the right track. If I see something that may not be what I had in mind,
I'll either defer if it works, or if I'm concerned, I'll pull the
director aside for a quiet discussion, and let the director relay my
notes to the actors. (On the set, there can only be one voice, and that
is the director, in terms of relaying instructions to crew and cast.)
7) I work with the composer, determining in- and out-cues for music,
and where I have something in mind, expressing it to Christopher.
8) Working with the CGI folks on exactly what given sequences should
look like, and how long they should be.
9) After the director makes his/her cut, John Copeland and I go in to
make the producer's cut. We sometimes re-edit every frame, or do a light
dusting. Generally I work more with the character stuff, and he's good at
action stuff (hence my nickname for John, Captain Action). We sometimes
spend as much as two days going over every single frame, to tighten and
make it stronger.
When you have a crew and cast as talented as we do, a lot of the
preceding stages amount to basically saying "yup" a lot, and in all of
this, John Copeland is my good right arm; I rely on his judgment
implicitly.
(John is also our resident military expert, and he does a lot to
keep us in line with tradition. I think when the B5 history is eventually
written, his importance to the show will really come through.)
jms
Date: 22 Jun 1995 18:54:40 -0400
Subject: B5 CDROM What Happened?
The CD rom was put back when Compton's cut back its list of titles
from several hundred to 38. We're now renegotiating with several other
companies who are actively pursuing the license, and hope to have this
locked down soon.
jms
Date: 22 Jun 1995 19:53:44 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: Thanks for doing GRO
I'd have to go back and check, but I'm pretty sure it was a row of
stars or a row of ships going around Earth.
And thanks.
jms
Date: 22 Jun 1995 19:58:09 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS : Should I Buy Unlice
For reasons that are probably self-evident, I really can't comment
on any of this...though I wouldn't mind getting the address for the person
selling these PPGs and stuff....
jms
Date: 22 Jun 1995 20:06:39 -0400
Subject: JMS: "What I really want to d
I dunno...I keep going back and forth on this. For my purposes it's
easier to find directors who see the show my way, and hire them; and not
the ones who don't. I sometimes consider directing -- mainly because it
makes John Copeland get all twitchy every time I broach the subject, and I
like to watch him vibrate into another dimension -- but mainly...it'd
require getting up WAY too early. My agent says I'm nuts for not taking
the opporunity, which is there, if I wanted it. But so far...ehhh.....
jms
Date: 23 Jun 1995 04:18:28 -0400
Subject: Dissapointed with the Soundtra
Err...both main themes ARE incorporated into the soundtrack, one at
the top of track 10, the other earlier.
jms
Date: 23 Jun 1995 04:18:41 -0400
Subject: Re: Holy JMS-Re: DS9 establish
Excuse me, Michelle, but I resent your message. I have absolutely
NO control whatsoever to the airing schedule of Babylon 5; I can help
set up which episodes within a given period will air, in what order, but
when PTEN decides that NO episodes are going to air in that period, there
ain't squat I can do about it, and believe me, I tried; I can't count the
numbers of phone calls I made, to no effect. To take a situation over
which I have no control, which I didn't know when I was writing or
producing the episodes, about which I am *very* upset, and try to make
me responsible for that, and therefore that I am a hypocrite for holding
back the great war, is just about as low as one can get.
Further, you're operating out of what you think the war is. It's one
large war that spirals into another. The Narns and the Centauri are at
war. You can't just dismiss it as the trigger; thousands of Narns and
many Centauri are *dying*. And the last four episodes are planned to
escalate the hell out of this.
I'm sorry if it's not sufficiently nasty at this point to satisfy
your bloodthirstiness.
jms
Date: 23 Jun 1995 04:18:55 -0400
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS:Harlan Ellison o
What I have to say about Christopher Priest and his piece of crap
Deadloss Visions, little more than attempted literary assassination, from
a personal vendetta aided and abetted by Groth and Feeley, would fry your
modem connection and violate just about every provision Congress just
slapped onto electronic communications.
jms
Date: 23 Jun 1995 04:18:16 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: Hyperspace effects
Yes, the mass energy shown in the gates shows why Explorer craft
like to conserve energy. And you're pretty much on the beam about how
Shadow vessels move in and out of hyperspace.
jms
Date: 22 Jun 1995 20:00:27 -0400
Subject: Re: DS9 vs B5 comments
Why on earth am I suddenly getting a zillion rerun old messages
with the Fidonet notation at the end of each one?
jms
Date: 22 Jun 1995 18:17:21 -0400
Subject: Star Trek vs. B5
It's also worth mentioning that one of my hopes in doing b5 is that
it will encourage others to pick up the ball when I've finished playing with
it and do other linked/novel-structured stories, so far from thinking that
ST is "ripping off" anything by adapting to a long-term structure, I'd be
quite pleased.
I'd rather it weren't *my* story, but anything else...terrific.
jms
Date: 22 Jun 1995 18:55:24 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS:Harlan Ellison o
Unfortunately, Bob, you are one of those people of whom Harlan
speaks when he says you have no sense of the real history of the story
behind ST. He did more than just write "City"...he brought in ohter
SF writers, rewrote them on the QT in some cases, fronted ST to SFWA and
vice versa; he was the one who fronted a mass mailing to leading SF pros
and other urging them to do all they could to keep the show on the air
when it looked like it was going to be canceled at the end of its second
season.
He did more beyond that, but that's a start. So on that count, you
are absolutely wrong and ignorant of the facts.
Item #2, he has never "cheated or swindled" the authors involved with
"The Last Dangerous Visions." Each author was paid, with a fee that
covers X-amount of time. At the end of X-amount of time, he sends another
check to renew his right to publish those stories. Any author who wants
to pull his story, can do so, and some have. Most haven't, and are
content to wait.
The paralogia you exhibit in your message is blatant and sad. You
try to attack his statements on ST with false and uninformed opinion, then
drag in TLDV as if to somehow verify his lack of character in speaking his
mind about Star Trek. Using anything, however false or irrelevant, to
discredit the messenger who's saying stuff you don't want to hear.
Tough.
jms
Date: 23 Jun 1995 00:52:22 -0400
Subject: JMS : Ivanova Romance Questio
There will be an Ivanova romance...but not necessarily with whom you
might expect.
jms
Date: 23 Jun 1995 04:26:39 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: *Is* B5 History Bein
The closest thing to a history is something I've been working on a
bit here and there, trying to put together a daily (or twice-weekly)
journal on the making of the third season, filling in backstory along
the way. We'll see if I can keep this sucker going throughout the
season.
jms
Date: 23 Jun 1995 16:28:39 -0400
Subject: JMS: Season Three, Episode Te
I think it's a bit early for me to be giving out spoilers for ep 10
of year 3.
jms
Date: 23 Jun 1995 16:29:03 -0400
Subject: Re: DS9 establishes a new nadi
The problem with the competition discussion is that it doesn't address
the issues from an industry standpoint. It's not an issue of "Well, DS9
isn't sweating because they're getting better ratings than B5." It's not
per se a competition on that level. What worries Paramount is ANY other
show like B5 even existing, because it dilutes their monopoly on this
kind of space show, which has existed for 30 years. Also, over time, DS9's
ratings have gotten very soft; a number of their folks have drifted over
to B5. Given their huge expensive budget, even while they may stay way
ahead of us in the ratings, if they drop below a certain point it's going
to cause them problems.
jms
Date: 23 Jun 1995 16:29:22 -0400
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS:Harlan Ellison o
Please cite for me, Rob, those stories you've heard about literary
assassination by Harlan. I would like to see them. Invariably they are
total fiction of grossly exaggerated by those who want to do harm.
As for not delivering a book manuscript for X-years...this is not a
big deal, frankly, and it's not the business of anyone not directly
involved. Hell, I've been trying for the last six years to finish the
revisions to the scriptwriting book; I've said I was just about finished,
only to get hammered by something and time slips. It happens to every
writer.
And the same people who say, "Why hasn't he finished his work?" are
the ones who chivvy and harrass him, send him abusive mail, subscribe him
to magazines he doesn't want, start organizations like Enemies of
Ellison, and do everything they can to wind him up to the point where
nobody could get ANY work done. That he's delivered as much as he has,
equal to or more than my output on any year, is amazing, given that this
is ALSO the man with Epstein/Barr (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome) and has had
two heart attacks and two surgical heart procedures.
Gee, I wonder why he's distracted.
Priest and the rest of his ilk should get a fucking life and maybe do
some work of their own instead of harrassing Harlan.
jms
Date: 23 Jun 1995 16:32:51 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: Will the original sc
Well, we'll see if there's enough interest at that time.
jms
Date: 23 Jun 1995 16:40:47 -0400
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS:Harlan Ellison o
Except, again, you're characterizing a twisted, biased hatchet job
by someone with an agenda as a legitimate report, and basing your
reactions on that assumption. It ain't.
jms
Date: 24 Jun 1995 03:21:59 -0400
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: What's the off
Oh, hell, I forgot the one pre-eminent feature in my office: a framed
MST3K picture of Mike and TV's Frank and Dr. Foresster and the 'bots, all
signed by the relative charcters, living or robotic.
It was a present for my birthday, and in return I sent 'em a box of
B5 caps.
jms
Date: 24 Jun 1995 19:18:46 -0400
Subject: Re: From JMS: What Exec Prods
I don't think *any* topic is off-limits when it comes to discussing
B5, because no topic is off-limits when it comes to *making* B5. So
questions/discussions of costumes, makeup, EFX, philosophy, mathematics
(not Joseph's skill, however), set design...whatever. I may not always
have an answer, but I'll either find one or come up with a reasonably
plausible alibi.
jms
Date: 24 Jun 1995 19:19:06 -0400
Subject: Illuminati invade B5
The handclasp used in "Coming of Shadows" was a traditional clasp
used by Romans, usually in order to check if the other person was carrying
a knife.
jms
Date: 24 Jun 1995 19:18:56 -0400
Subject: Re: DS9 establishes a new nadi
Yeah, the new "Space" series should further take SF from being a
one-show monopoly and making it into a regular genre like any other, IF
it proves successful. Given that Morgan and Wong (from X-Files) are
behind it, I have great hopes, and wish them nothing but success.
jms
Date: 24 Jun 1995 19:36:02 -0400
Subject: Re: Holy JMS-Re: DS9 establish
Ted: you're comparing apples and oranges (again). There is a profound
difference between PTEN (to use your term) "meddling" with what dates to
SHOW the program, and Paramount "meddling" with what goes INTO the
program. Further, I've seen just as many people here hitting critical
mass about the PTEN delay as those discussing Paramount/ST, probably more.
"Does this mean that people like Franklin who criticize Trek writers
for Paramount decisions but don't criticize jms for PTEN decisions are
being hypocritical? Absolutely."
Ted...what the fuck are you talking about? I'd like to know because
this doesn't parse on any level; it doesn't touch reality at any two
contiguous points. A writer is responsible for only one thing: what goes
into the script. You might as well blame the writer for some station
airing the show at 11 p.m. vs. 8 p.m. Which is sheer madness on your
part.
There is creative meddling with the program's contents, and scheduling
meddling which all happens after the contents are completed. These are
as different as night and day. A writer is responsible for the contents
of his/her scripts; and is NOT responsible in any way, manner, shape or
form for the scheduling of that episode. I'm sorry, Ted, but this is one
of your more extraordinarily dumb postings, and there've been some
real whoppers, lemme tell you.
jms
Date: 24 Jun 1995 20:48:50 -0400
Subject: JMS: Franklin's religion and m
...okay, Rebecca, I'll bite...what were the deconstructionist
interpretations of Franklin's speech?
jms
Date: 25 Jun 1995 02:45:04 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: CGI in GROPOS
That was all CGI, yes.
jms
Date: 25 Jun 1995 22:24:46 -0400
Subject: JMS: Did it work?
There are still about 3 shots left to come on "Fall," but yeah, so
far it looks like it's gonna work.
jms
Date: 25 Jun 1995 22:25:04 -0400
Subject: JMS:Why Babylon?
The name was mutually arrived at by the nation/sponsors of B5, and
the man who initiated the project, looking back at the original story of
Babylon as a place where different languages came together. I'd started
to do a story about the founder of the Babylon Project, but it kinda got
shoved aside; I'll do it eventually.
jms
Date: 25 Jun 1995 22:53:02 -0400
Subject: ATTN:JMS Chicago Comicom
Yes, I do plan to be at Chicago ComicCon.
jms
Date: 24 Jun 1995 02:54:38 -0400
Subject: Giving JMS Feedback on last 4
Actually, the writing of the next batch of scripts has very little to
do with reaction to the last four; the story is the story. And, as it
happens, the first three are now written, and I'll be starting on script
four next week. By the time the first episode airs in the UK, we will hvae
(have) 5-6 scripts in-hand.
jms
Date: 25 Jun 1995 22:50:05 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: Ranger-hood
One could certainly argue the position that those who become Rangers
are drawn to Minbar for that purpose, and speculate about what might be
propelling that.
jms
Date: 25 Jun 1995 22:50:26 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: when do we get to se
There is nothing special about the spots on Na'Toth's forehead, and
we may or may not see her again.
jms
Date: 25 Jun 1995 22:53:18 -0400
Subject: ATTN, JMS: Lyta-Talia question
Different character, different story. And you'll see Lyta in the
final four, and probably in year three as well.
jms
Date: 25 Jun 1995 22:53:47 -0400
Subject: UK showing end of Season 2 bef
The showing of episodes in the UK won't have any effect on US
ratings, as the few copies that work their way back here won't be in
sufficient numbers to affect the Neilsens.
jms
Date: 25 Jun 1995 22:53:59 -0400
Subject: JMS: Interzone #97 talks about
Jeannette: yeah, if it's a good piece on the show, send it or a
copy along. BTW, got the music. All very nice, but especially like
Roy's stuff. Some of his little tirades are quite impressive.
jms
Date: 25 Jun 1995 22:53:32 -0400
Subject: Re: Holy JMS-Re: DS9 establish
Alex, I never said I *wasn't* bugged about the delay in episodes;
only that it's not something within my control. I would much rather they
were shown in July. I've always said that. Schedules are not the
writer's jurisdiction.
jms
Date: 25 Jun 1995 23:05:31 -0400
Subject: From jms: Harlan Merchandise
Most of you may not be aware of the existence of the Harlan Ellison
Record Collection. Harlan Ellison, besides being Conceptual Consultant
for Babylon 5, and a leading writer, is also an amazing performer on
stage, and when reading his own material. One of his recordings was
recently nominated for a Grammy Award.
All prior releases from HERC have been on LP (and they are all
terrific, recordings of "I'm Looking for Kadak" and "Jefty is Five" and
a collection of his appearances such as "On the Road with Harlan
Ellison"). Well, now his first CD is out, his reading of the award
winning story "Paladin of the Lost Hour," which was also done as an
episode of The Twilight Zone, guest-starring Danny Kaye.
If you've never heard Harlan read, you've got to check this one
out. He doesn't so much read as *perform* the story, playing all the
parts, with inflections and accents and a wonderful dramatic flair. As
with all the rest, it's a joy to listen to.
This brand-new, first-time ever release of "Paladin" is 55 minutes
in length, and the price is $16.50 plus $2 for postage and handling.
Again, this is the CD. There are discounts for those who join HERC
which for a yearly membership fee of $8 gets you the HERC Newsletter,
with bits from Harlan, edited by his wife Susan Ellison, and access to
all of his previously published books *and* prior HERC recordings.
(For HERC members, btw, the "Paladin" CD goes for $15 with $2 postage
and handling.)
The address, for those interested, is: The Harlan Ellison Record
Collection, P. O. Box 55548, Sherman Oaks, CA 91413. (Checks or money
orders only, no plastic.)
I've been meaning to pass this info along for a while now, but the
release of "Paladin of the Lost Hour" gives me a good opportunity to do
so finally. For those who like audio books, radio drama (some of the
recordings incorporate some elements of production, and sound effects,
though minimally), performance art, storytelling...this is definitely
something you'll want to consider.
(If anyone wants to add this info to any of the WWW pages out there
for future use in the archives, that'd be a Nifty Thing.)
jms
Date: 24 Jun 1995 03:27:51 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: Who checks your scri
Generally speaking, not that much checking needs to be done; I try to
write from what I know, or can research on my own. In a few cases, we've
brough in advisors in specific areas; military advisors for GROPOS,
medical advisors on "Confessions", that sort of thing.
jms
Date: 26 Jun 1995 01:27:53 -0400
Subject: Re: DS9 compared to B5
Actually, I think we broke RoTJ's record for ships on-screen in the
pilot; Ron was rather pleased about it at the time.
jms
Date: 26 Jun 1995 03:50:50 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: Congrats from Austra
Thanks, and I'll pass this along to David Gerrold.
jms
Date: 26 Jun 1995 03:50:59 -0400
Subject: ATTN: JMS Idle curiosity...
Actually, yes, it does have a name, but the darned thing is in my
notes, and I'd have to go digging it out.
jms
Date: 27 Jun 1995 06:51:16 -0400
Subject: ATTN, JMS: Jumpgate question
You might as well ask who invented the computer. The principles have
always been there, written in the universe for people to decode, as we
have been doing throughout centuries. At various points, races stumble
upon items like jumpgate technology the same way they stumble upon fire,
or radium, or the piston engine.
jms
Date: 27 Jun 1995 06:51:31 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: No Na'Toth? But you
No, I never said that the character of Na'Toth was needed to relay
information to another character. (It would be infinitely better if the
tens of thousand of people you cite who memorize every comment checked
the actual statement, 'cause often it's misphrased from memory, and then
I get held accountable for it.) I said that she had to have certain
information, period. Specifically, when G'Kar came back, I needed
someone there who he could talk to about the shadows, and get us into
that part. Someone who knew he'd been gone, and why. Otherwise, he'd
be spilling his guts to a total stranger, and he wouldn't *do* that.
Hence, you need Na'Toth.
jms
Date: 27 Jun 1995 06:51:51 -0400
Subject: ATTN, JMS: Literacy
No plans for a READ poster at this time, no.
jms
Date: 25 Jun 1995 03:23:00 -0400
Subject: Re: Attn.: Big Bang Con Atten
J. Potts...your report reflects exactly what I'd been afraid of,
that the event was going to be an organizational disaster. The cast were
game to go for the fans, and I'm glad to see that they did okay in that
regard, but they can't do much about how the con is organized. This all
pretty much confirms that my concerns were justified.
jms
Date: 28 Jun 1995 03:50:19 -0400
Subject: JMS:Delenn's age
She is between 60 and 70, which in Minbari terms is a very young
woman.
(amend that, not *very* young, as 18, but equal to a human female
in her 30s)
jms
Date: 28 Jun 1995 03:50:45 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: Ideas to help newbie
We broached the idea of a one-hour "Mysteries of
Babylon 5" special to PTEN; unfortunately, it seems problematic. Fox can
set aside a block of time because it's a true network; PTEN would have
to go to each station individually and sell the one-hour show, and that
is apparently very difficult.
jms
Date: 28 Jun 1995 04:05:29 -0400
Subject: Re: ATTN: JMS--EA gives B5 to
Hardin: the key issue, always, is the introduction of new plot
elements and actions not previously introduced. It's the difference
between saying what something may *mean*, and suggesting something that
may *happen*. The more precise the suggestion, the more problematic it
becomes.
jms
Date: 28 Jun 1995 04:26:53 -0400
Subject: JMS: Plausable deniability?
I have made considerable mention that I don't access the internet
any other way. Proving access is key to any legal problems. If I'm here
posting regularly, that de facto proves access. If I'm not, it becomes
more difficult to prove.
Second, the material *is* all put away, and dated, but the key isn't
just winning the case, which would happen; I just would rather not spend
the next 2 years of my life subsequent to a problem in depositions, and
hearings, and more hearings, and closeted with lawyers in the course of
defending myself against somebody.
jms
Date: 28 Jun 1995 03:51:09 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: Writing Software Que
I used to use Wordstar, with macros to adjust dialogue margins,
almost constantly in writing scripts. Then the last two places I worked,
including Universal and "Murder, She Wrote" went over to Movie Master,
which is basically a no-brainer script program that has all the margins
and formatting set up. After learning that one, it kinda stuck, and
that's the one I use now for B5.
jms
Date: 28 Jun 1995 03:55:24 -0400
Subject: JMS Club
You're going to hell for that, you know that, don't you?
jms
Date: 28 Jun 1995 04:05:07 -0400
Subject: From jms: ComicCon Schedule
For those in the Chicago area, my schedule at the Chicago Comic Con,
held this weekend at the Rosemont Convention Center, Rosemont IL has been
firmed up. Here it is:
FRIDAY: 3-4 p.m. jms w/bloopers and other stuph. 4-5 Michael O'Hare
gives an acting seminar.
SATURDAY: 11 a.m. Michael O'Hare Q&A session. 1:30-3:00 special jms
presentation (*be there*). 4-5 p.m. jms writing for TV seminar. There
will be some kind of informal B5 reception in the evening, somewhere, with
jms, Michael, and Peter David.
SUNDAY: 1-2 p.m. B5 panel with jms, Peter David and Michael O'Hare.
jms
Date: 28 Jun 1995 04:20:43 -0400
Subject: JMS----Jumpgate colors???
Don't know if my prior note got through; it's due to red shift.
jms
Date: 28 Jun 1995 04:21:07 -0400
Subject: First Blood
There does seem to be some symbolism in that, though I think it came
more subconsciously than consciously; the Narns and Centauri classify the
other as the deadly enemy, but the visible fights and woundings have come
from their own kind. We are always our own worst enemies.
Though that will change, shortly.
jms
Date: 28 Jun 1995 04:21:20 -0400
Subject: Re: JMS----Jumpgate colors???
The colors correspond to red-shift.
jms
Date: 29 Jun 1995 03:54:39 -0400
Subject: Attn: JMS - Ivanova Question (
Yes, Ivanova brought a secret with her to the station.
But, who didn't, after all?
This IS Babylon 5.
jms
Date: 30 Jun 1995 00:53:01 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: If you could be a B5
I'd probably choose Delenn.
jms
Date: 30 Jun 1995 00:57:14 -0400
Subject: ATTN: JMS - Babylon5 on Armed
We're investigating the issue; we're very popular with the military,
and are trying to find some way to work it out.
jms
Date: 30 Jun 1995 01:36:59 -0400
Subject: ATTN: JMS - fan mail by proxy
That's really very gratifying to know. I'm please that there is
sufficient there to merit her attention. My regards to her.
jms
Date: 26 Jun 1995 17:27:32 -0400
Subject: JMS: Who all knows the Arc?
Nobody knows every aspect of the arc; I release enough each season
so our crew can plan ahead. A couple of people have seen a brief
10-page synopsis of where it's going, but that's very vague. And I intend
to keep it that way.
jms