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The Lurker's Guide to Babylon 5
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Messages from Babylon 5 executive producer J. Michael Straczynski on the
Usenet newsgroup rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.
Date: 1 Jul 1995 01:20:31 -0400
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: Fleer B5 Cards!
The cards will cover all of B5, from the pilot to the present.
jms
Date: 1 Jul 1995 00:28:49 -0400
Subject: Lestat going to jail? ***** IM
Insofar as I know, there's nothing in the B5 faq that could cause
any problems for WB.
jms
Date: 1 Jul 1995 01:20:40 -0400
Subject: Some products I noticed:
I'm never as anyone pictures me. I like it that way.
jms
Date: 4 Jul 1995 03:25:03 -0400
Subject: Lestat reprieved (Send forth y
Uh-oh.
When I saw faq in your inquiry to me, insofar as I knew, we were just
discussing a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) file, the same as we've seen
many times before. I did NOT know that it was essentially a note saying
that mass reproduction services were being offered for episodes.
Whether money is charged or not is not the issue; if someone is making
group copies of episodes for others, that is an infringement of copyright,
and *believe me*, Warners will come down hard on anyone doing this.
It's common practice to make 1-2 copies of something for an archive, or
for a friend, but to make multiples like this and supply them in htis
(this) fashion is going to put you in deep legal shit with the suits at
WB, *trust* me on this.
I would strongly urge you to reconsider. Your heart is in the right
place, as far as enthusiasm for the show goes, but to do this on the
scale you are suggesting breaks not only US and UK laws individually, but
collectively as well, and you could end up in serious trouble.
jms
Date: 4 Jul 1995 03:27:25 -0400
Subject: Attn JMS: Is B5 Limited to the
For all intents and purposes, our story pretty much takes place
within the Milky Way Galaxy.
jms
Date: 4 Jul 1995 03:27:51 -0400
Subject: Attn JMS: Would you attend a p
If fans would be willing to endure such a terrible burden, I would
kind have to share it. I just can't imagine anyone willingly thinking
that this was a Good Thing. I mean, sitting through 112 hours of ANYthing
is a very daunting notin.
Or notion.
jms
Date: 4 Jul 1995 03:28:16 -0400
Subject: Re: Dave Shao's post bites
In my orignal reply to Davaid Shao, I specifically asked that people
NOT pile on him because of this. It's resolved. I'm now on a moderated
newsfeed, and all is well. No story ideas can now reach me from this
service. Over, done, forgotten.
jms
Date: 4 Jul 1995 03:30:40 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: Us nitpicking netter
I'm not entirely sure I understand the question. Some "nitpicks" have
contained valid points; some haven't. Some have been based on incorrect
perceptions that are easily corrected. Some are factual. I
am not entirely sure what you mean by "not taken into account."
jms
Date: 4 Jul 1995 03:32:54 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: What will we see ag
That would be telling....
jms
Date: 6 Jul 1995 01:24:43 -0400
Subject: JMS: did Delenn's transformati
Yes, one might well believe that the transformation has had an effect
on Delenn's lifespan.
jms
Date: 6 Jul 1995 01:24:19 -0400
Subject: So WHO are the "Klingons"?
I went to *great pains* to indicate that the Fed-co-opted-by-Klingons
analogy was NOT a one-to-one analogy, only something to indicate the
magnitude of the change. So this discussion has no bearing on the
situation.
jms
Date: 6 Jul 1995 05:19:23 -0400
Subject: Attn:jms San Diego Comicon
The only thing I know for sure is that I'm doing a lengthy B5
appearance that Saturday at 11 a.m. The rest I haven't heard definitively
yet.
jms
Date: 6 Jul 1995 05:19:43 -0400
Subject: death of a dream
Don't give up the dream yet; the next Star Wars movies will use CGI
and digitech exhaustively; and the word is he's doing to re-do all the
EFX in the first SW movie this way, as well.
jms
Date: 7 Jul 1995 01:40:14 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: Question about Cath
They did not get married, due to Sinclair's new posting; it was put
on hold.
jms
Date: 7 Jul 1995 01:44:41 -0400
Subject: Re: Big Bang
Eric: BB was *not* a fan-run con, it was a for-profit con, and those
who put it on made *considerable* mention of the notion that they had done
Gen-Con for previous years, and thus were absolutely skilled at this.
jms
Date: 7 Jul 1995 01:45:01 -0400
Subject: Attn JMS: Thank You
Thanks. It was honestly no trouble at *all*. It was great fun.
jms
Date: 7 Jul 1995 01:45:31 -0400
Subject: ATTN:JMS - Carolyn Seymour
We've never had any conversations with Carolyn Seymour re: B5.
jms
Date: 7 Jul 1995 01:47:55 -0400
Subject: JMS: Casino Painting?
It's a progress mural, starting with early civilization, the pyramids
and stuff in the lower right corner, through the development of agrarian
cultures, technology, cars, planes, jets, all moving left to right on the
canvas, through space flight and finally, in the upper-right corner, B5.
jms
Date: 7 Jul 1995 01:47:31 -0400
Subject: S4C and the last 4 eps
The first new ep in the UK airs July 25; the remaining 3 after that
each subsequent Tuesday.
jms
Date: 7 Jul 1995 01:47:06 -0400
Subject: !HEY JMS!: The *B4* Thread?
The B4 thread will be resolved in detail, yes.
jms
Date: 7 Jul 1995 04:19:42 -0400
Subject: JMS: Do you read the novel or
I read both. The Ivanova/Talia thing wasn't handled exactly as I
had thought it would, and missed some parts of it (it was very late that
night), and by the time I caught some of it, it was too late. The comics
version shows creatures that are not the shadows themselves but some of
the many creatures who serve them. I try to catch all I can. I sent the
third book back for a *total* rewrite which put it behind a couple of
months, but that's okay by me. Better right than on time.
jms
Date: 7 Jul 1995 04:26:59 -0400
Subject: - PTEN - ** double sigh **
Difference is, Kung Fu started a while *after* we began airing our
second season, so they had some in the bank, as it were, for July.
jms
Date: 7 Jul 1995 18:08:15 -0400
Subject: It's Official ! B5 Comics Get
Nope. The CBG info is old. I was just told yesterday that the
contract for the B5 comic has been extended through 24 issues total, not
the 11 noted in the article, which gives us a year and a half or so to
build the audience further for the book. It's doing well, and having only
been out for six issues, needs a fair shot at finding its audience.
jms
Date: 7 Jul 1995 18:47:38 -0400
Subject: Lestat gives up (Victory for t
Lestat, nothing is served by public displays of self-pity. On the
electronic screen, it simply comes off as indulgent and "poor me,"
whether that is the intent or not.
You say you have been judged by others, and you think unfairly so.
I have pointed out, as have others, that if you make mass copies of this
show, for distribution to others, *free or otherwise*, it's illegal, and
you will get nailed by Warner Bros. This is not judgment, it's a fact.
It's like saying, "I'm going to take this book from this store and
not pay for it," and everyone says, "But that's shoplifting," and you
come back with anger because you're being judged. No, those are the laws,
and it doesn't matter if you intended to simply give it to someone else
without cost to yourself.
Spending months mass-copying B5 episodes from the UK to the US is
patently illegal; you not only violate US and UK copyright laws
individuallly, but collectively; you would even violate the federal laws
regulating the transport of illegal goods via interstate mail. You could
be *hurt*, and badly. And believe me, if WB found out about it, you
WOULD be, for doing this on the scale you describe.
We've recently run into someone who was selling unlicensed B5 tapes
here in the US. Mass produced. This person has been identified, and
evidence gathered, and now this person is going to be prosecuted, and
subpoenad, and spend months in courthouses and giving depositons and
paying fines and potentially doing time, depending on the breaks. The
only difference is that one does it for money, the other doesn't, but THAT
isn't the core of the problem, it's copyright infringement.
People here, myself included, have gone out of our way to tell you
that what you proposed was illegal, and would get you in massive amounts
of trouble, to *save you from getting hurt*. You could be standing on a
ledge, about to jump, with people telling you not to do it, and then turn
around and yell at them for interfering in your own business. Well, it
ain't just your business, and it is for your own good. If you cannot see
that, it's nobody's fault but your own.
jms
Date: 7 Jul 1995 18:47:12 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: Series shown out of
You may want to call your station and tell them to check with WB
International Distribution, which knows and understands that they are to
be shown in broadcast order, and will help them to know what that is.
jms
Date: 7 Jul 1995 23:15:05 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: Apologies!
No problem, Bob.
jms
Date: 7 Jul 1995 23:26:19 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: If you don't mind br
Okay, lemme see...we're on in Singapore, Thailand, Italy, Germany,
England, Australia, France, Middle-East TV (covering Israel, Jordan and
some other places in that area), Greece, parts of South America, and a
few more beyond. That's all I can recall offhand.
jms
Date: 7 Jul 1995 23:28:07 -0400
Subject: - Attn. JMS: 3rd-hand nun stor
I'd love to get more information on this; heck, we can use it for PR
if nothing else. I'd particularly love to know what specifically they
like about/watch for in the show.
(In thinking about this, there's some stuff in the second or so
episode of year three that they're absolutely gonna *love*. All I can say
is that I hope I get a product placement notation from the Vatican. BTW,
there were real nuns in the line in "Parliament of Dreams.")
jms
Date: 8 Jul 1995 06:00:40 -0400
Subject: JMS at San Diego Comic Con?
Yes, I'll be at SDCC, giving a 2-hour presentation that Saturday.
jms
Date: 8 Jul 1995 06:00:28 -0400
Subject: More sci-fi on TV!
I saw a promo (4-mins) for Space at Chicago Comic Con; my first
thought was that the CGI was *awfully* blurry/low res, I hope that was
only test footage for the promo reel. Other than that, with Morgan and
Wong backing it, at least I have good hopes for the writing.
jms
Date: 9 Jul 1995 04:48:43 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS : Has the Great War a
Wars generally don't just *begin*, they roll into one another and
grow. When did WW II begin? When Germany annexed the Sudetenland? When
they invaded Poland? When England got into it? When Pearl Harbor got
bombed? Did it in a sense begin with the assassination of Archduke
Ferdinand, which led to WW I, which with a minor pause led into WW II?
jms
Date: 10 Jul 1995 02:30:49 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: Crystal storage...
There's a number imbedded inside the crystal; the only way to change
it is to shatter the crystal. Also, if you pop it in an conventional
crystal port, it can project the entire directory, source material, and
other information instantly.
jms
Date: 10 Jul 1995 03:38:19 -0400
Subject: ATTN: JMS - will comics spoil
There's only one case of this conflict, so if you want to avoid any
spoilers, here's my recommendation: when the last issue of this current
story arc comes out, resolving the Mars/Sinclair/Garibaldi thread, pick
up that last issue and stick it in a bag until after the first new ep
airs in October. THEN read it. You'll know it when you find it.
jms
Date: 10 Jul 1995 03:38:33 -0400
Subject: Re: Elana leads B5 Group at We
Okay, Elena, you can be Queen of B5 Fans.
But I get to wear the tiara.
*^^^*
Date: 10 Jul 1995 03:40:48 -0400
Subject: B5 Fan Name? (was Re: Attn JMS
Two most frequently used terms: Babylonians and the Grid Epsilon
Irregulars, for the station's location.
jms
Date: 10 Jul 1995 20:12:53 -0400
Subject: Attn JMS: When it all over, in
I'd kinda like to take *all* the remaining months off that are
allotted to me, and just write when I want to.
Which, sadly, knowing me, will probably be full-time anyway.
jms
Date: 10 Jul 1995 20:13:55 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: L. Ron Hubbard and D
Never read Dilbert. As for ElRon...I know people who were there the
night of the party, decades ago, when L. Ron -- then making a penny a word
for westerns and SF and other genres -- was told, "Look, you want to make
REAL money, get into the religion biz." That night, he went home and
began cranking out Dianetics, written on butcher paper (his usual medium,
which he kept on a roll behind his typewriter, and would rip as needed).
jms
Date: 10 Jul 1995 20:14:30 -0400
Subject: JMS.more viewers!!
I have, alas, zip control over promos; they're done by the station
there, and WB. We're not authorized to do that.
jms
Date: 11 Jul 1995 01:34:48 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: Unanswered Questions
For their own purposes, the shadows chose to stay on this side of the
Rim. The other questions will be answered soon enough.
jms
Date: 11 Jul 1995 01:41:47 -0400
Subject: You know you've been watching
Similarly, I saw "Norton utilities for people," and my brain saw,
"Morden utilities for people."
I've been writing too much.
jms
Date: 11 Jul 1995 02:02:42 -0400
Subject: Chicago ComiCon Report (!SPOIL
BTW, Mark, as promised, we amalgamed your name and Julie's into one
name (Julie Musante), and that has now been used as a major character in
"Voices of Authority," as per the auction. It's a big role, and a very
memorable character who has some...intriguing scenes with Sheridan.
jms
Date: 11 Jul 1995 02:02:57 -0400
Subject: B5 Analysis
Message received, but not much I can comment on; probably better to
let the questions be answered in the show than here.
jms
Date: 11 Jul 1995 05:25:12 -0400
Subject: Att JMS: No sidestepping now,
Yes, Harlan returns next season as our consultant. And believe me,
he's been VERY busy, mainly with his comic from Dark Horse, DREAM
CORDIDOR. He's written new stories for every issue, plus all the
interstitial pages, in addition to his work with me on B5, plus several
other new stories, a script for a new Showtime anthology that's a
knockout which has a bunch of big-name directors fighting over it.
jms
Date: 11 Jul 1995 05:49:41 -0400
Subject: Mr. JMS: Kosh = Anagram?
No, no anagram intended in KOSH.
jms
Date: 11 Jul 1995 05:49:50 -0400
Subject: Mr. JMS: Outer Limits/Twilight
My favorites from the Outer Limits...Soldier, Demon With a Glass
Hand, Cold Hands Warm Heart, and others whose titles I've forgotten
(the sentient tumbleweeds, the house where nobody got old, the kid and
his alien tutor, and the Zanti misfits, natch).
From Twilight Zone...Walking Distance, One For the Angels, just
about all the Serling episodes, actually. In general, TZ is one of my
overall high-points in TV. Very few drones.
What often gets ignored is Night Gallery, which had some very decent
stuff in it, most specifically They're Tearing Down Tim Reilly's Bar,
which I always fire up when I think I'm getting too confident in my own
writing. Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant writing.
jms
Date: 11 Jul 1995 23:59:35 -0400
Subject: AAITN Question
The Streib saw an alliance between Earth and Minbar at that moment,
which is the LAST thing they wanted to go up against. Also, you don't go
to war at the drop of a hat just because somebody sinks or shoots down
one of your ships. This is one of the cliches in storytelling. And what
the Streibs were doing was totally unjustifiable in any event. Do you
gear up for the massive hassle of total war -- supply lines, fleets, all
the rest -- because of this incident? Remember, the purpose of the ship
was to find races weak enough for them to attack with impunity; they don't
want to go up against a force that can strike back.
jms
Date: 12 Jul 1995 02:25:17 -0400
Subject: Looking for Captain Power
Yeah, the Siskel and Ebert thing was great. For those who didn't
hear about this...we worked *very* hard to make Captain Power nominally a
show for grownups, screw the toys. And we got hammered in the press,
mainly by people who hadn't watched the show. So one day, I'm watching
SisBert doing their collective thing, a video round-up installment of
their review show...and suddenly they say, look, we don't normally talk
about TV series, but there's this one show you gotta check out, it's got
a dopey name, and forget the toys, but there's something Going On with
this show, it's really got a great story.
It was, alas, too little too late for CP.
jms
Date: 12 Jul 1995 02:01:43 -0400
Subject: B5 Novels....
The third B5 book from Dell is due out sometime in the next 4-6
weeks.
Dell has licensed another 5 novels, and is currently considering
proposals/outlines *from established SF pros* (with several novels
published, preferably not just media tie-ins) for these books.
jms
Date: 12 Jul 1995 02:26:50 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: Mars colony
Well, the Mars colony grew over time, from a few people to cities.
It covers about 150 years, though the first 50 of that were very small in
nature.
jms
Date: 12 Jul 1995 02:27:01 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: Chicago CC?
I *greatly* enjoyed the Chicago ComicCon. Lots of fun, many good
people, a hard-working staff dedicated to making sure things go well, a
terrific operation. This was only my second year there; I went for the
first time a year ago, dragged along by Harlan. Glad I went.
High-points for this convention...helping pile on a shoplifter (me
and another guy, the one who ran the booth in the dealer's room) trying
to escape, the two of us holding this guy, struggling to get away, for
the cops, and a con organizer saying to him, "Hey, you've just been
arrested by a celebrity," and the shoplifter's response, "Fuck you"....
the B5 reception, even *with* the MST3Kification of one of my episodes...
the pleasant, friendly, enthusiastic fans who were a joy to meet...it was
an unvarnished terrificness.
jms
Date: 12 Jul 1995 01:53:14 -0400
Subject: Big Bang Refunds (aka CMC meet
To hear that the two numbers for Big Bang/CMC are alternately
disconnected or no longer answering is most disconcerting. I can't recall
hearing of anyone getting refunds that weren't put through quite some
time ago.
I strongly urge all people who have not yet received refunds from
these people to get together and jointly consider what actions you might
take, particularly in terms of the VIP tickets. Because with current
reports, plus the non-payment of Michael O'Hare's $5,000, I have grave
concerns about anyone getting their money out of this.
jms
Date: 12 Jul 1995 05:18:55 -0400
Subject: Re: Lestat gives up (Victory f
Elizabeth: you're correct, in that nothing can stop individual copies
from floating across the Atlantic. That's going to happen, and has
happened, for some time. What sent off fireworks and red flags was the
notion of *mass producing* these things. That's the kind of thing that
gets you raided by the FBI.
jms
Date: 13 Jul 1995 01:57:03 -0400
Subject: Dressed in Black
There is no significance to the clothing; that's just what they were
wearing when Sheridan called.
jms
Date: 13 Jul 1995 01:57:08 -0400
Subject: Keep your day job Vir!!
Re: the SPACE cgi being blurry...I'm kinda surprised. I'd seen the
demo reel at Chicago ComicCon, and saw that it was blurry there, even hard
to focus on, but figured it was a low-res test they used in the earlyl
promotion reel. I was sure they'd go to something a bit more high-res for
the real thing. I'm astonished.
jms
Date: 13 Jul 1995 04:27:18 -0400
Subject: Re: B5 Novels....
Of course it's a pain in the ass. It's a PROFOUND pain in the ass to
keep track of all this. But it's kinda in the job description. As far as
the novels go, an outline comes in, on spec, and I work with it to make it
fit in continuity, or at least not contradict anything being done in the
series. Sometimes that means major changes, sometimes it's minor stuff,
but something always needs to be done. And done again, as much as can be,
when the actual manuscript comes in. It's one more thing, but then my
life is generally "one more thing."
jms
Date: 13 Jul 1995 05:08:04 -0400
Subject: Commander roles in war
Eric: a very good analysis/contrasting of the roles of the two
characters. Very much dead-on.
jms
Date: 13 Jul 1995 05:24:22 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: Vorlon Homeworld(s)
We'll see the Vorlon homeworld eventually.
jms
Date: 13 Jul 1995 05:24:28 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: Selling your soul to
That's a very hard question to answer, if I'm going to try and answer
it totally honestly. Sitting here now, at this moment, with year 3 a go,
I'd say, "If they said replace Ivanova and Sheridan, I'd refuse, even if
it were a condition of pickup." That's what I'd like to think I'd say. I
hope that it's what I *would* say. At least, at this moment.
But now I try to put myself in that future frame of mind...I have 200
or so people who work for me, who'd be out of jobs. The story would be
aborted, and the series ultimately a failure because it didn't go to term.
Everything we'd built so carefully these last 2-3 years would be down the
toilet. We'd have to dismantle the sets, sell old props, vacate the
stage...emotionally, it would be devastating. Many careers would be hurt.
At that point, it would come down to, Do I hurt 2 people or 200?
So I guess, really, the answer is...I don't know. I know what I'd
like to do, particularly if I felt strongly that I could get them to back
down. It's a question of who blinks first. Fortunately, WB and PTEN are
VERY happy with our cast, feel they're doing great jobs, and we're on the
cusp of breaking through, so I gravely doubt that decision would ever have
to be made.
jms
Date: 13 Jul 1995 05:24:33 -0400
Subject: JMS: Question on Rangers
There are female rangers, yes.
jms
Date: 13 Jul 1995 05:24:38 -0400
Subject: Re: Looking for Captain Power
Thus far, SisBert do not seem to have noticed B5. Re: The Real
Ghostbusters, that 78 episode first season was a lot of fun...the first
opportunity I had to just go nuts and do anything I wanted to do, and the
producers stood by me, however nuts I got.
jms
Date: 13 Jul 1995 05:24:43 -0400
Subject: UK SPOILERS: Courtesy and Cons
What could also help is if there are specific questions among the
UK viewers based on the final four, what you can do is send it to me via
private email, I'll reply, and it can then be reposted openly to the UK
group.
jms
Date: 14 Jul 1995 03:14:09 -0400
Subject: JMS: A question about photos
There's no real hidden meaning in the photos.
jms
Date: 14 Jul 1995 03:14:20 -0400
Subject: Att JMS: Your Thoughts on the
The net is like any form of technology; it can be used for good or
ill depending on who's behind the keyboard.
On another level (if I can mix metaphors for a moment), the net is
like a large, and very capricious beast. If you show the least fear, it
will eat you. It's very clear that most of the folks at ST are afraid of
the nets, they HATE the nets, because info they don't want out GETS out,
the criticism can be very harsh...it's tough. In the case of B5, we work
WITH the nets, to the extent that even after showing an episode, giving
people new information, and information = power on the nets, if I ask that
it not be posted publicly until the show airs, in virtually every case
that request has been granted. Because you know who I am...and I know who
YOU are. That dialogue doesn't exist with ST.
For those not plugged in, it can be terrifying. Mira Furlan has
commented, in one on-line message, that the nets can be very cruel. This
is true. People forget sometimes that there's a person at the other end
of the keyboard, and especially when critiquing actors, do so in terms so
often cruel and unnecessary and hurtful. Michael O'Hare recently commented
at Chicago comic con that he was *deeply* hurt by many of the things said
about him on the nets...here in particular.
So it takes a *very* tough skin to stick it out here, lemme tell you.
jms
Date: 14 Jul 1995 03:42:57 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: A few quick question
Basically, G'Kar is both laughing and crying in that scene; in
essence, he's having a nervous breakdown right in front of your eyes.
jms
Date: 14 Jul 1995 05:23:54 -0400
Subject: Stupid question for JMS
Who she's attracted to depends on who bought dinner....
jms
Date: 14 Jul 1995 05:24:00 -0400
Subject: JMS: Comics spoilers #9+?
There are no spoilers that I'm aware of in the next 3 issues.
jms
Date: 14 Jul 1995 05:24:05 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: B5 comic #8 question
I think that non-memory of the event is a good assumption.
jms
Date: 14 Jul 1995 05:36:18 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: Licensing Pins/Patch
All somebody has to do is approach WB licensing and license the stuff.
jms
Date: 14 Jul 1995 05:36:24 -0400
Subject: Horns on the station..?????
The projections are for stabalizing, and repairing, ships bringing
in cargo.
jms
Date: 14 Jul 1995 05:36:35 -0400
Subject: Re: Looking for Captain Power
Yeah, I walked off the show when they a) decided to emphasize Slimer,
and b) make Janine a "mommie" character rather than the hard-as-nails,
sharp, sarcastic person she'd always been. It wasn't a show I wanted to
do anymore.
I've actually walked off a *lot* of shows in my time, something I only
really realized lately. Walked of The Real Ghostbusters when they softened
it down and knocked all the corners off; walked off Captain Power when the
toy company got too much control over the stories; zipped off Jake and the
Fatman when my exec producers got screwed over (if they went, I went);
finally left Murder, She Wrote to do B5. All but the last were over story
control/story integrity. My agent is frequently driven to distraction over
this. Money doesn't work to hold me. If it ain't right, it ain't right.
jms
Date: 14 Jul 1995 05:36:47 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: Don't forget us
You're right. Henceforth I shall be sure to separate Britain from
Scotland, to avoid upset.
Lord knows, you upset the Scots, you're likely to get kilt.
jms
Date: 14 Jul 1995 05:36:55 -0400
Subject: Rumors about character changes
I don't suppose you could give me the name of this particular SF
editor (I suspect I know who it is) who's spreading around this particular
bit of nonsense...?
jms
Date: 14 Jul 1995 05:37:03 -0400
Subject: JMS: Reruns during the long dr
Alas, ain't squat we can do about this, it's a PTEN decision.
jms
Date: 14 Jul 1995 05:51:20 -0400
Subject: B5 writer(s)
Re: "he writes at close to Asimov's speed."
One thing I miss here, and wish there was more of, was more on the
task of writing. I think there's a good opportunity here for more on the
technical side of all this...the writing, how the different departemtns
(departments) come together, all the production stuff nobody tells you.
So on the writing speed issue, a little something that may be of
use.
Mark Twain said, "Never write a scene until you have finished it to
your satisfaction." Meaning in your head. You should always play the
scene over and over in your head, filling it out further and further each
time, until you can play it like a movie. Then, when it's all worked
out, you sit down and transcribe it.
This is kinda how I work. I finish a scene, load up what I need to
do in the next scene...and distract myself, here on the boards, doing
something else, and gradually filling out the scene over and over until
it's crystal clear. Then when you sit down to write it, it goes quickly.
Also helps to type 120 wpm, but the other helps a *lot*.
jms
Date: 15 Jul 1995 00:26:07 -0400
Subject: JMS: Cause & Effect? (Comic 8
You didn't *really* expect a public answer on this one, did you...?
jms
Date: 15 Jul 1995 03:48:50 -0400
Subject: Quickie from jms
The weekend of July 29th, I'll be doing a presentation at San Diego
Comic Con that Saturday from 11 a.m. - 1 p.m. If you're anywhere in the
area, I suggest you try and be there. You may need to get there a bit
early; each time I've done one of these presentations, even though they
keep giving me progressively bigger rooms, they keep filling up.
Couple more merchandising items in the works, looks like they might
be kinda cool.
As noted in a side-topic, and thus probably missed, Dell has signed
to do 5 more B5 novels.
The B5 stage is getting busier every day, as more folks begi
reporting back to work. The first batch of scripts are being broken down
by the Assistant Directors into shooting schedules, construction is going
bigtime on a couple new sets and a total redesign of another (Medlab), all
continues on-track for day one of shooting on July 31st.
To the best of my knowledge, Michael O'Hare has *still* not been paid
the balance of his fee for appearing at Big Bang, a total of $5,000. Nor
has there even been any contact from them. Phone calls remain unreturned.
We hope, in a few weeks, to be announcing, finally, an official
Babylon 5 Fan Club, which will offer some items not available anywhere
else. (Some of them will be made by the same people who make the real
props themselves, thus guaranteeing 100% authenticity to what'd done in
the show.) (Make that *what's*.)
We hope that, within a year or so of the fan club getting going, to
put together a *proper* B5 convention, with not only the actors, but
people from every department, giving them the chance to show what they
do, and how, and allow a chance to interact with viewers.
Lately, from published figures, B5's overnights have been above those
of Voyager (3.4 compared to 2.7 or thereabouts). Much to the surprise of
people at PTEN, B5 episodes which have now aired multiple times are still
doing very well. This is very unusual in reruns.
There *may* be some movement on the videocassette issue. More on this
as it develops.
Finally, expect a big online presence/push for the October/November
period, possibly with a B5 web page and other new on-line resources
(multimedia and the like) provided by PTEN.
My sense is that right now, we're *just* about where X-Files was just
before it broke through. I think we'll finally break through that glass
ceiling in our third season.
jms
Date: 15 Jul 1995 06:08:12 -0400
Subject: Attn JMS - writing CGI ?
Nothing can be storyboarded until it's written in the script first;
so usually it's something like
EXT. NARN HOMEWORLD (CGI)
A giant space aardvark emerges from a jump-point, snarling and spitting.
There's only been one case where all I wrote was, "They fight. Ron,
go nuts." Other than that, it's always scripted shot-for-shot, often as:
ANGLE - SHERIDAN'S STARFURY
As it blows TOWARD CAMERA, and we
REVERSE - HIS POV
The giant space aardvark turns, prepares to fight.
jms
Date: 15 Jul 1995 06:08:55 -0400
Subject: JMS: Delenn Question
I'd suggest that, in "There All the Honor Lies," it's implied that
Delenn's reproductive system has come to function more closely to that of
a human female.
jms
Date: 15 Jul 1995 06:08:17 -0400
Subject: Attn JMS: About your writing
Sherry: er, uhm...yeah, that's...kinda...it.
Um.
In which tree would you like me to leave the money at midnight?
jms
Date: 15 Jul 1995 06:19:26 -0400
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: Real Ghostbuster
Yes, the events as described in the article you describe (it was in
"Penthouse") are correct, and happened as written. (I should know, I
wrote it.)
When I sent the article in to Penthouse (knowing full it would
forever firebomb any chance of ever working in animation again), they asked
why on *earth* I sent an article on kid's TV to *PENTHOUSE* for
chrissakes.
"Because I want the creeps at Broadcast Standards and Practices,
who turn white at the slightest hint of anything improper, to have to
flip through Penthouse to get to the article about them." The woman at
the other end of the phone just about croaked laughing.
jms
Date: 15 Jul 1995 06:19:33 -0400
Subject: Re: B5 writer(s) NOW ATT: JMS:
Yeah, I think that kind of educational approach would be a hoot.
jms
Date: 15 Jul 1995 06:36:03 -0400
Subject: ATTN: JMS Why all the dreams?
Dreams function on many levels. Some cultures use them as a kind of
second, or parallel reality. They make good literary devices. Also,
there's a fair amount of thematic undercurrent about free will vs.
predestination, and one of the ways to tap into that is to use dreams as
subtext and metaphor.
My own dreams are not particularly noteworthy, except in one respect:
about 90% of them take place in the same place. See, I always moved around
when I was a kid, spending as little as 6 months, sometimes a full year,
moving with my family from town to city to state from one end of the
country to the other. (Don't ask.) So I think in large measure to counter
that sense of rootlessness, my brain kinda created this "home town" and
that's where I spend much of my dreamtime. I know the layout of the
place, where the stores are, my favorite comics/magazine shop, the same
house (in which the renovations are *finally* finished to the second
floor, I'm happy to say, and now they've gone on to doing some landscaping
and suchlike outside), there are even a couple of theaters in which I see
movies I *almost* remember the next morning. (I actually wrote down one
of them in some detail, a Star Trek movie, belive it or not; did the
whole outline beat for beat from the dream. Not bad. Not good, but not
bad.) We had a third theater in town, but it got cobbled into a mini-mall
and it's just too much of a mess.
And *nothing* extraordinary happens there. It's pretty much just a
mirror for what I do in my waking hours. Story problems I'm working on
during the day, I'm working on "over there" at night, just in a different
mental place.
Back to the show...I have, at times, used early dream images. The
shot of Londo looking up to seeing huge ships passing overhead in "The
Coming of Shadows" is a direct dream-steal from years ago.
jms
Date: 15 Jul 1995 06:44:13 -0400
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: Selling your sou
There's always been a side-story that could spin off from B5, but the
main core story is over at the five-year mark.
jms
Date: 15 Jul 1995 06:44:18 -0400
Subject: JMS: The Process of Card Makin
Re: the Fleer process...I approve the selection of photos, and the
text, and will approve the final look of the cards as well.
The process has been wondefully painless, Fleer has been nothing
but helpful and cooperative. Not much has been omitted. And as for
why do them: I figured they'd be cool...and I think they will be.
jms
Date: 15 Jul 1995 06:44:23 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: Talk Show Help?
Frankly, our folks just aren't *asked* much, because the talk shows
think nobody's interested in B5.
jms
Date: 15 Jul 1995 06:44:27 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: WoH
I am woefully and dreadfully ignorant on virtually ALL anime, WOH
included.
jms
Date: 15 Jul 1995 06:44:33 -0400
Subject: + Attn: JMS - Shadows' Timel
All good answers come to those who wait....
jms
Date: 15 Jul 1995 06:46:40 -0400
Subject: Re: Looking for Captain Power
I have nothing but good things to say about Angela Lansbury. She is
probably one of the classiest performers I've worked with, fiercely loyal,
takes responsibility, wonderfully talented...I think she knew that I was
flattered and impressed to be working with her, and I kinda suspect she
thought it was kinda cute, in a dopey kind of way.
Our offices were not far from the shooting stages on the Universal
lot, and most of the time I was stuck behind the keyboard. But when it
was one of my scripts on the floor, I'd try to get out there once or
twice, just for a few moments. I'd slip in, watch for a little bit, and
then vanish again...and one day Angela came out and pulled me in, saying
that she was intrigued by the way I'd just materialize and vanish again,
that it was like some magical white horse appearing out of nowhere, and
then vanishing. She and her husband Peter were both very kind to me.
They even put my novel, OtherSyde, on the bookshelf in the set of
her New York apartment; it can be seen occasionally in some shots.
She's tough, but fair.
jms
Date: 15 Jul 1995 06:50:51 -0400
Subject: Re: B5 writer(s)
Putting the characters through pain is never a problem for me.
That's where all the *interesting* stuff happens. And growth only comes
through pain and struggle. So it's for their own good, really.
jms
Date: 15 Jul 1995 22:08:15 -0400
Subject: JMS - your agent?
I generally don't give out my agent's name. That information is
available to those who know how to find it, and have a reason for finding
it.
jms
Date: 15 Jul 1995 22:08:21 -0400
Subject: Attn. JMS: Novels, comics, etc
We've certainly had a substantial number of older actors and
characters on the show, from June Lockhart to Turhan Bey and Michael
Ansara and many others. My sense is that with advances in medicine,
you can be active a LOT longer than is currently considered to be the
case, so it isn't much of an issue in B5.
jms
Date: 15 Jul 1995 22:21:04 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: Re: UK Newsgroup gat
If it wouldn't be too much of a pain in the ass, if you could just
forward the reviews of the episodes (first one in each new string), that
would be more than sufficient, thanks.
jms
Date: 15 Jul 1995 22:21:23 -0400
Subject: Chrysalis - Did anyone notice?
The security guard's reaction was due to the chain of command solely.
We don't let our people off that easily, that it was due to being mentally
influenced.
jms
Date: 15 Jul 1995 22:37:41 -0400
Subject: ATTN: JMS! (from Elana) The B5
I'm sorry, the number you have just dialed has been disconnected,
and there is no new number. Please check your number and dial again.
jms
Date: 15 Jul 1995 22:39:53 -0400
Subject: B5 Blooper Reel.
If we can get the B5 fan club up and running (or when, as it looks
now), we hope to offer the blooper reel, or a version thereof.
jms
Date: 15 Jul 1995 22:40:03 -0400
Subject: JMS: How bad is the #8 spoiler
Alas, to tell how bad a spoiler it is, would be to put it into
context...to put it into context spoils the episode even FURTHER.
jms
Date: 16 Jul 1995 04:32:59 -0400
Subject: Re: Attn JMS - writing CGI ?
That was kinda the problem; Sinclair didn't really *have* a direct
or personal connection to the Shadows. I figured it'd be too much to do
that on top of his direct, personal connection to so much else of the B5
storyline. I figured he'd get into it by virtue of his involvement with
so many others touched by it; problem is, very soon that turns you into
an expositional sounding-board or a problem-solver, with the other person
at the core of the story. It's one of those things you don't really see
until you're well into the writing of the story, as with any novel.
jms
Date: 16 Jul 1995 04:33:05 -0400
Subject: Re: Attn JMS - writing CGI ?
The "They fight; Ron, go nuts" was in "Coming of Shadows," I believe.
jms
Date: 16 Jul 1995 04:57:54 -0400
Subject: Attn JMS:Online presence?
I think the coming B5 web page will have links with other pre-existing
web pages, though there will probably have to be understandings and
the like made before any such site can be even nominally "endorsed" by the
link. Like a minimum of non-authorized uploaded material (in terms of
avi files and the like).
jms
Date: 16 Jul 1995 04:57:59 -0400
Subject: Re: Att JMS: Your Thoughts on
Jeannette: I saw a great commencement speech today by Tom Brokaw on
CSPAN...he had a lot to say about the Internet, interestingly enough,
and a great term for the more offensive among us...the "petty
dysfunctional."
jms
Date: 16 Jul 1995 04:58:03 -0400
Subject: Re: ATTN: JMS Why all the drea
Yeah, I've discussed this here before; sometimes things come up more
than once around here in answer to questions.
jms
Date: 16 Jul 1995 04:58:07 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: Just a Few Questions
All our CGI was being done on Amigas; I think they've now totally
transitioned to a PC base.
Re: my computer...I have two, one at my home office, the other at the
B5 main stage office. They're both pretty much the same, though: Dell
Pentium 90s, 32 megs ram, 1 gig drive (office) vs. 2 gig drive (home),
4x CD Rom, 17" monitor (Nanao vs. Supermatch), 28.8 modem, Imagine 128
bit video card (office) vs. 64bit #9gxePro (home), Soundblaster 16....
these systems didn't just arrive, guys with orange vests and cones helped
them taxi into place.
If B5 runs it total five years, I'll most likely retire from TV.
None of the other B5 actors are on the Internet that I know of,
though some do get printouts from folks.
Currently, I watch X-Files (though lately it has seemed much in need
of a good fourth-act every episode), which is about the only genre stuff
I have time to watch consistently.
To the last question, authors I'd recommend: Michael Bishop, Jonathan
Carroll, Connie Willis, Ed Bryant, any of James Blish's stuff (though he's
no longer with us)...that's all that comes to mind offhand, but there are
a bunch more I'll think of the second I get offline.
jms
Date: 16 Jul 1995 06:19:47 -0400
Subject: JMS: does Sheridan have a thou
Joseph Campbell is good if you're looking to analyze something AFTER
the fact; to do so before the fact, or while you're creating, makes the
result too by-the-numbers. You have to try NOT to become too aware of the
myth-process in fiction, or you become like the centipede asked which leg
goes first.
jms
Date: 16 Jul 1995 06:37:31 -0400
Subject: JMS: Script ownership
This is a grey area. The WGA says that the show owns the characters
and the situation unique to the show; but the writer owns the physical
script. The studios say they own it ALL. This will probably never be
clearly resolved.
jms
Date: 16 Jul 1995 06:37:38 -0400
Subject: Attn. JMS: Planning B5 Music
We have an Audio Spotting Session. At this, I sit down with John
Copeland, Chris Franke, George Johnsen, and screen the newly-finished
episode (it's been edited and on-lined). I call out the time-code for
the beginning and endings of sections where I want music. E.g, "Okay,
in at 03:23:15 (three minutes, 23 seconds, 15 frames), out at 04:15:23."
Sometimes I will have specific ideas on the kind of music ("I think we
need to go soft here, mainly strings, some brass, but *light*"), other
times I just leave it to Chris to get what the sense of the scene is. If
there is a big EFX sequence going on at the same time, as in a battle
scene, the sound design people (also in the meeting) and I go over the
scene with Chris, and decide which elements will be carried by sound, and
which by music, making sure each carves out sufficient space in either the
high-end or the low-end to accommodate the other.
jms
Date: 17 Jul 1995 04:50:00 -0400
Subject: Attn JMS: In your copious free
Probably the author I'm biggest on in general, with a very few
lapses, is Jonathan Carroll, a contemporary dark fantasist who does things
with language I can't figure out for the life of me; the closest thing in
literature to close-up magic. It's *right there* but you can't see how he
created that image. Beyond that, alas, I don't have much time for reading
right now....
jms
Date: 17 Jul 1995 05:07:23 -0400
Subject: ATTN: JMS About the Emmys...
What're the odds of B5 getting anything other than a technical Emmy?
Oh...about the same odds as B5 ever getting produced, back when I
came up with it in 1986/7.
Didn't stop me then, either.
jms
Date: 17 Jul 1995 05:09:33 -0400
Subject: Re: Attn JMS - writing C
Oh, there's a scripted CGI sequence from "Twilight" that I think
you'll like even MORE, Scott....
Two, actually.
jms
Date: 17 Jul 1995 05:09:37 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: More to the music???
I work very closely with Chris Franke. As for themes, most of hte
(the) major characters have their own themes, and there's a B5 theme
which often gets interpolated in various ways, sometimes in minor chords
(as in "Signs and Portents"), here and there.
jms
Date: 17 Jul 1995 05:11:44 -0400
Subject: Re: ATTN: JMS Why all the drea
I think I picked up 1 or 2 books of the "Worlds Collide" series,
couldn't make heads nor tails of it, and moved on.
jms
Date: 17 Jul 1995 05:16:46 -0400
Subject: Big Bang Con Reports, Please?
Just heard that, on top of Michael getting stiffed for $5,000 of his
speaking fee, Mark Hammil's second check for the balance of his fee, a
remainder of $10,000...bounced. As did the check for his travel
expenses. As did Walter Koenig's second check (though in his case he was
lucky in that it happened *before* the convention and he was able to get
it, at threat of not showing up). These people are amazing.
jms
Date: 17 Jul 1995 05:16:51 -0400
Subject: B5 theorys & thoughts
"I'd come to the conclusion that we were witnessing the continuing
battle between good and evil."
Half-right. The other half involes *defining* what good and evil
ARE, and are not.
jms
Date: 17 Jul 1995 05:16:55 -0400
Subject: Re: JMS: Script ownership
It is conceivable that WB, owning the rights to B5, could take and
create a sequel of its own, without my participation, except that there
would have to be payments/arrangements made. I *may* have some clause
regarding ancillary programs in my contract as far as participation is
concerned, but not in preventing it from happening in the first place.
jms
Date: 17 Jul 1995 05:19:02 -0400
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: Real Ghostbuster
I've written something on the order of maybe 500 published articles;
far too much for anyone to start going after or organizing.
jms
(And most of 'em were stupid, in retrospect.)
Date: 17 Jul 1995 05:19:06 -0400
Subject: JMS: Souls & God in B5
Be careful in ascribing too much of an author's work to an author's
personal beliefs. I do not have to believe in Minbari to write about
them. Ditto for souls, god, or anything else.
jms
Date: 17 Jul 1995 05:19:10 -0400
Subject: Attn JMS: How did you develop
My main thought on developing Sheridan was to make more of an arc
to him; Sinclair had already gone on the hero's journey to some
extent, and where he was was pretty much where he was...in the case of
Sheridan, I wanted someone who would at first not be up to the challenge
of what was ahead, and who would grow into that. (Look at Luke
Skywalker in the first SW movie, then in Jedi; that's the hero's
journey.)
jms
Date: 17 Jul 1995 10:20:05 -0400
Subject: Re: Quickie from jms
(first progress on tapes, then:) "What about the laser disks...?"
Let me first move this mountain to Mohammed, then we'll worry about
that one over there....
jms
Date: 17 Jul 1995 10:20:20 -0400
Subject: Re: Quickie from jms
Some smaller sets, called "swing sets," do get dismantled at various
times, including hiatuses (hiatusi?). This is called a "fold-and-hold."
The bigger sets stay up at all times. They only came down once, briefly,
after the pilot, because we changed facilities.
jms
Date: 18 Jul 1995 07:26:41 -0400
Subject: 2 Questions for JMS (or anyone
We're still negotiating/discussing tapes; definately would like to
get more into what future-music might sound like.
jms
Date: 18 Jul 1995 07:27:18 -0400
Subject: ATTN: JMS - Congrats on Progre
Thanks. We keep trying, every season, to make it better than the
one before....
jms
Date: 18 Jul 1995 07:27:14 -0400
Subject: JMS at San Diego Comic-con
It'll be that Saturday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Be there.
jms
Date: 18 Jul 1995 07:31:28 -0400
Subject: Re: Joe and the Forces of Mark
Y'know, I really wish I could agree, and say yeah to the "correct
spelling of integrity is straczynski" notion, but the god's honest truth
of it is..."the correct spelling for pain-in-the-ass is straczynski."
jms
Date: 18 Jul 1995 07:31:35 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: Naming Babylon
Not bad, not bad....
jms
Date: 18 Jul 1995 07:33:44 -0400
Subject: JMS: CGI cover for comic #9?
Yes, Ron did a CGI cover, though I've only seen a B&W repro, and
can't vouch for it in detail.
jms
Date: 18 Jul 1995 07:33:53 -0400
Subject: STAR TREK/BABYLON 5 ratings?
Lately, our overnights have been slightly better than Voyager's,
interestingly enough.
jms
Date: 18 Jul 1995 07:52:17 -0400
Subject: JMS: Dumb Trivia Query re: Mur
No idea on the Bill Mumy question. Re: M,SW...yes, I believe that
Cabot Cove was fairly close to Portland.
jms
Date: 18 Jul 1995 07:54:28 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: CHICAGO COMICON QUES
Individuals paid anywhere from $600-$900 in the auction, designed to
help make up the shortfall when Big Bang stiffed Michael to the tune of
$5,000. The total from the auction raised $3,800, to which I added
$1,200. This does not, in my mind, defer CMC's responsibility to make
good on the balance of his payment; my hope is that it would show what the
fan community is REALLY made of, and to shame CMC into doing the right
thing. So far, from CMC...dead silence.
jms
Date: 18 Jul 1995 07:54:34 -0400
Subject: TV guide B5 art.out
Here's how my karma works, though...we *finally* get a good article
on B5 in TV Guide. That kind of press has a brief, week-long effect on
raising ratings in many cases. So I learn that in quite a few markets,
including LA, B5 is pre-empted next week, so it's a wash.
I must've *really* pissed somebody off in a prior life.
jms
Date: 18 Jul 1995 07:54:39 -0400
Subject: Re: B5 writer(s)
Re: your (Vinay's) experiences lately with doctors and x-rays, here's
one I don't know if I've mentioned or not before.
About, oh, a year ago, I went in for my usual checkup, and my doctor
took a chest x-ray (I was kinda stressed, and he wanted to take a look).
So the x-ray comes in, and he says, "You have a shadow across your
heart."
"What the hell does THAT mean?" I asked.
"I don't know," he said, "I've never seen anything quite like it. I
can't tell if it's an enlarged vessel casting a shadow, or some unusual
muscle tissue, or what. So I took it downstairs to a cardiologist and
asked for his opinion."
"So what'd he say?"
"He said, "The guy's got a shadow across his heart."
There've been several x-rays since, no change, nothing ominous,
except they can't quite figure it out.
Ah, modern medicine....
jms
Date: 18 Jul 1995 08:03:40 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: Happy Birthday, Joe!
That was *just* good enough that I'll probably let you live.
jms
Date: 19 Jul 1995 03:36:13 -0400
Subject: Re: Attn JMS - writing CGI ?
No, there was never a one-to-one correspondence between Sinclair and
Sheridan. Catherine Sakai would never have developed the shadow link.
Bear in mind, if it's a straight transposition from A to B, then there's
no NEED for B. The whole idea was to bring in someone who could be put
into situations Sinclair couldn't without straining credulity.
jms
Date: 19 Jul 1995 03:36:20 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: Questions from book
The starfuries drop for the same reason a bucket flies away from
you when you're swinging it and let go; the rotation causes the pressure
of gravity, which pushes the fighters out the bays. Very simple, and
factually based.
The scan of Ivanova in the book was a bit more than I'd wanted, but
that one bit slipped by me.
jms
Date: 19 Jul 1995 03:48:49 -0400
Subject: JMS: animals on b5
Haven't really gotten into this question on the show; probably should.
jms
Date: 19 Jul 1995 03:48:59 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: opening narration
Laurel was transferred; the narration was always intended to change
between characters each season.
jms
Date: 19 Jul 1995 17:00:16 -0400
Subject: Curious about JMS thoughts
I think I generally get a good sense of fan thoughts here without
having to poke the bear to excess....
jms
Date: 19 Jul 1995 17:00:30 -0400
Subject: ATTN: JMS What's it like befo
It's really kind of hard to explain; it's a mix of many things, some
tension (everything has to be ready to go on July 31st, no delays, no
revisions, no backsies); it's a bit like going back to school after a long
summer break (less so for me, since my "summer break" is filled with
the summer school of writing scripts)....
A dead stage is a dark, depressing thing. No actors, no sound, just
H 8xX[Jedifices standing and waiting for someone to give them life. Now, slowly,
you have carpenters appearing, set dressers appearing, lighting crews
appearing, and there's sound, hammers banging and cranes lifting and drills
whirring...people walking from set to set discussing revisions,
improvements...the previously empty halls are populated by runners, PAs,
directors, staff, crew...it's like this huge engine slowly beginning to
turn, and every day you hear the turbine whine growing just a little
louder until you know the sucker's about ready to take off.
So there's a LOT to do; but overall it's a very good time. As of
now, five scripts have been published in-house and in WB, and everyone is
nuts about them; the set improvements are great; the actors are excited,
and everyone's ready to kick butt. It's cool.
jms
Date: 20 Jul 1995 02:52:32 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: Your dream....
"You seem to accept the concept of dream predictions."
Nope. Dreams are ways of working out elements of one's day, problem
solving, self-analysis and escape. I don't believe they can predict much
of anything. I used it because it was a very striking image, and the
subconscious can come up with stuff that resonates. And yes, the image
long predates B5.
jms
Date: 20 Jul 1995 03:25:41 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: Ambassadors
Londo: nobody else wanted the job, it was considered low-priority.
Delenn: it was the calling of her heart. G'Kar: a good career move to
ally new forces, and he was an up-and-comer. Kosh: is.
jms
Date: 20 Jul 1995 04:01:11 -0400
Subject: ATTN jms : Some questions...
The eagle is a traditional Russian eagle/symbol, commonly used in
Russian heraldry. Draal is, indeed, the minbari who took custody of
Epsilon 3. We stomped the noisy cricket.
jms
Date: 20 Jul 1995 04:06:48 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: The comic book again
Last I heard, we're still on for 24 issues.
jms
Date: 21 Jul 1995 04:29:13 -0400
Subject: Re: Why is Ford in rastb5?
There are any number of simple reasons why Ford is on the nets.
He is here because he is a petty, vicious, vindictive person who takes
personal joy in assaulting his "victims" as he puts it on AOL. You want
to see the true face of FT? Go over to the Neutral Zone in the Star Trek
main area on AOL. He uses that phrase to describe those he disagrees
with.
He's here because he likes the attention, because if he can make you
angry, it somehow validates his existence, makes him feel important, gives
him a sick thrill. It is the same mentality witnessed in the juvenile
who throws a stink bomb into the girls locker room to watch them scurry
and get mad.
He's here because he's offended by the very notion that the opinion
of ANYone else should be considered in any way more valuable, informed or
popular than his own. If a question is asked of me, he's upset and stamps
his little foot...why should I be asked for an opinion if HE wasn't? My
opinion *can't* matter any more than his, the very notion is abhorrent to
him. He is that sort of creature noted by Kurt Vonnegutt in "Welcome to
the Monkey House," who if he cannot see well, insists that others be
blinkered; if he cannot run quickly, others must be hobbled. There is
just room enough in Ford's universe for Ford; anything else must be
attacked, dismissed, ridiculed, abused.
He's here because he's a net-stalker after someone with notoriety,
no different than the kind of person who follows around celebrities and
leaves harrassing notes, and when he doesn't like what they say, snarls
and accuses them of one thing or another. He is here because he's a
bigot, stating that because of someone's job description -- producer or
writer -- that person is, de facto, a liar, untrustworthy. A socio
economic racist. If he were to say such things about jews, or african
americans, as a class, he would be instantly seen for what he is, but he
can hide his bigotry behind the notion of accepted cliche.
He's here because he feels he has a *right* to be here, to say
anything he wants, and anybody who says otherwise, who squeaks any kind
of protest, is attacking his freedom, is a kneejerk worshipper of
the object of his hateful obsession...but who has no compunction
against sending faxes of my messages to Warner Bros., as he has done, to
try and force them to force me off the nets and shut off MY opinion.
Because the universe should rightly favor the opinion of Ford and nobody
else.
He's here because he can enjoy the privilege of striking from
the shadows, of making statements without the least factual proof behind
them, vanishing when convenient and lashing out when convenient, all from
the warm recesses of blessed anonymity, because nobody here monitors his
activities, his words, his job, his off-line truthfulness.
He makes pretense of being open-minded and fair...but again, those
on AOL, just go check out the messages referenced above to see his true
face. He posts ratings when they show B5 not in the top 20, because
it's rerun time, and carefully omits noting that B5's overnights are now
higher than Voyager's (1.7 from Voyager to 2.9 for B5, both in reruns),
because he has staked his opinion on the often-repeated assertion that
ratings = quality, and the universe of Ford cannot allow, cannout
countenance, the notion that B5 might be rating higher than Voyager.
Hence the telling omission.
He does not sow, neither does he reap. He exists here only to be
difficult, to insult, to enrage, to inflame and excorciate and belittle
because it makes him feel like a big man, makes him feel like he's done
something with his life...he *enjoys* it when the folks here get mad. He
gets off on it. The worst thing you can do is get upset because that's
what he likes. You're doing *exactly* what he wants you to do.
The only thing to do with him is to simply ignore him, and do not
respond directly. I do not read his messages, I only sometimes run into
bounce-backs in a quoted message from somebody else. Because he is, in
the end, a sad and pitiable figure, our resident Gollum who bites and
snaps because he can do no other, because he sees in the world at large
only a reflection of himself...it fills his world, and reinforces what he
believes the world to be.
If I were to ask *anything* of this group, and I've rarely asked
much of anything...it'd be to simply ignore him. Don't respond, because
no matter what you say, however logical or reasoned your argument, it
will be twisted and turned and distorted, returned with insult and
derision, regardless of your statement's merit. If you know that going
in, then it becomes clear that there's no point, really, in writing or
saying anything to him, because you know what the response will be
even before you write it. Just leave him be. If he consistently fails
to find the sustence his obsession demands, he will soon enough leave to
lick his wounds elsewhere, and complain about the mean people who
refused out of spite to validate his existence and his opinions by virtue
of response. He is that kind of person who must verify his existence by
the echo produced by his shoutings. Do not be that echo.
(And perhaps this should be reposted when next he comes round, if
anyone cares to archive it; I frankly can think of nothing else to say
to or about him or his ilk. If I say anything, it's "Why should HIS
opinion matter?" If someone else says anything, it's "Why are you talking
on his behalf?" No win. So maybe keeping this around, and pointing to
his more obvious tricks, will help keep this a tidier and more pleasant
place to hang out.)
jms
Date: 21 Jul 1995 04:31:25 -0400
Subject: B5's emmy nominations
Three Emmy nominations is great, from where we sit; we got one on
the pilot movie (and won), two on the first season (won another), and
now three on the second season...and there are several vital categories
we haven't heard from yet, which won't be decided for another couple or
three weeks: directing, sound editing, music and visual EFX, and we have
hopes of nailing at least one more in that group.
It's sobering when you stop to realize that of all the shows on
network and syndication, only *eleven* dramatic series were chosen for
nomination in various categories...with B5 earning as many nomations, or
in some cases more than, Lois And Clark, Murphy Brown, Murder She Wrote,
The Tonight Show, DS9 (with 2), the Simpsons and many others.
Actors *always* get overlooked in genre shows, that's unfortunately
the nature of the beast. So that aside, we're nothing but pleased.
jms
Date: 21 Jul 1995 04:37:38 -0400
Subject: ATTN: BABYLON 5 EMMY NOMINATIO
Which reminds me...I wanted to note that just about everyone
involved with B5 is *ecstatic* over X-File's nomination as best series.
It's a terrific show, and deserves the nod. It's also maybe only the
second or so time a genre/nominally SF show has gotten that nomination,
and that bodes nothing but good for the SF-TV business.
jms
Date: 21 Jul 1995 04:55:18 -0400
Subject: Attn JMS: Your thoughts on TV
The lead paragraph notwithstanding...I'm quite pleased by the TV
Guide article, all things considered. There are a few things one can
nitpick, but the overall tenor and tone is very complimentary, and after
all the hassles with Jarvis (now gone, I hear), I think we have a chance
to get a leg up on next season and some decent PR.
jms
Date: 21 Jul 1995 05:06:12 -0400
Subject: JMS: Evidence and *witnesses*?
Certainly a lot of people would like to get to the Vorlon homeworld
sometime and look around....
jms
Date: 21 Jul 1995 05:06:20 -0400
Subject: Adventures of Petey and Joey a
I was kind of aghast when I saw that Peter had printed what happened
in the dealer's room at ComicCon, when I helped tackle and bring down a
shoplifter, holding him for the cops for about ten minutes while he was
hoping to get away. I found out about it when I went into my local comics
store and the owner came over and said he felt a lot safer seeing me
there...and I wondered what the hell he was saying, he was obviously
kidding on the square...then I found out. Ah, well....
jms
Date: 21 Jul 1995 05:20:42 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS -- Comic #8 Design yo
I didn't get too much into that one shot in the comic; it seemed
reasonable under the circumstances. The one panel where I *did* get
screwed was saying, "Hey, look, this here episode's going to air just
before the book comes out, so why don't we REALLY tie the book and the
show together by inserting this one panel I came up with here...."
Sometimes I outsmart myself.....
jms
Date: 21 Jul 1995 05:20:49 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: Full or part time o
It really depends on the breaks. Sometimes a regular cast member
can be there every day; sometimes they get a day or two off here and there
within the course of an episode.
Guest actors are booked by days needed, or if it's a major part, then
a full-week deal is made.
What most folks probably don't know is that when you shoot an episode
you first begin by doing a production board, and what scenes are shot in
which order is determined by *where the scenes take place.*
For instance: we have 3 stages. So in the morning, we'll shoot all
the scenes that take place in medlab. If that takes all day, then that's
how long we're there. Once we finish, if it's say around lunchtime, we'll
generally try and stay in the same stage to minimize the hassles of going
from stage A to C, because then you've got to re-rig and set up and that
kills time. Sometimes you'll change stages if you've got Actor B only for
3 days under contract, and you have to adjust.
We take it as a matter of pride that in 44 episodes, we've had only
about 8 days of overtime on a shoot, and never once have we done a forced
call on an actor.
jms
Date: 21 Jul 1995 05:49:57 -0400
Subject: JMS: The Child is Father to Th
I've just written...oh...about 20 messages in the last hour, from
questions here...none of them stopped me. This one did. I guess I
didn't see it coming. Some personal stuff I don't generally get into on
the nets. I'll sometimes talk about it at conventions, but I try not to
drag it in here. But since it's come up, I guess I can handle the
answer.
No, I didn't have a particularly great upbringing. I grew up within
an abusive, alcoholic, wife-beating environment. We moved every six
months or every year, trying to stay one step ahead of creditors, used the
last name "Stark" when Straczynski was too "hot." I really didn't
understand the situation much; I figured every family was like this. I
didn't begin to really get a sense of how crummy it was until I began to
see how other families *did* have normal lives.
My feeling about it overall is...don't whine or whinge about it,
deal with it and move on. Too many people use crummy childhoods to
explain away crummy behavior in the present. That doesn't wash with me.
Does that "emotional baggage" still "haunt" me, to use your terms? No,
not really. Am I still pissed about some of it? Hell yes. Why not?
There's a line in a Billy Joel song..."You still have a rage inside
you / That you carry with a certain pride / It's the only part / Of a
broken heart / You could ever save." That's kinda it, but not quite so
maudlin or self-indulgent. Anybody who had a perfect, blemish-free
youth and adolescence raise your hand....
That's what I figured. So we deal with it.
(Great joke...when Jesus intervened in the stoning of a woman and
said, "Let you who are without sin cast the first stone," and suddenly a
rock comes flying into frame, and he says, "Mommmmmmmm!")
I do tend to use some of it in my work, because it grounds me in
reality, and the reality of *the scene*. I used a lot of it in an
episode I wrote for TWILIGHT ZONE, "Acts of Terror," about a wife
beater...which ended up being used (and is still used) at some shelters
for battered women in counseling centers, about how to find your own
power and authority. But that's what a writer does; I've used bits and
pieces of my life all over the show, including the scene between Sinclair
and Catherine Sakai when they get back together for the first time, which
is almost verbatim from stuff I've gone through.
If there's anything that has stayed with me, it's manifested itself
in a fierce loyalty to friends, because when you move every 6-12 months,
you don't get much chance to find them. I grew up in the streets of Newark
and less terrific places, and you learn a little something about sticking
together when you grow up in the streets. Anytime somebody wants to take
on a friend, they have to go through me first. Hurt me and I'll hurt you
back in equal proportion; hurt a *friend* and I'll tear your fucking head
off. And then I'll get nasty.
Is that a particularly salutory trait? No, not really. It sounds
good on paper, but it puts me into constant trouble. I've tried to
moderate that a little...but how do you moderate loyalty? When the phone
rings at 3 a.m. and it's someone you know in pain or in trouble or in
jail...how do you quantify and decide *this* time you'll go but *next*
time you won't?
So yeah, I've had a tough ride. I sacrificed a lot to get here; I
have zero social life, except for my pal Harlan. I haven't been to a
party in something like two years; don't get out to see movies but maybe
4-6 times a year; when I was breaking in, I had to choose often between
food and writing supplies...and always chose the latter, and if you look
in one of the back issues of WD, you'll see a picture of me from taht
period, at 6'5" weighing about 150-160 pounds. But that was my *choice*.
We all gotta do what we gotta do; I decided that I'd either make it as a
writer, or I wouldn't make it at *all*.
Because sometimes, kiddo, that's what it takes.
But with all of that...the present-tense reality is that I'm pretty
reasonably content. I'm doing the only thing in the world I'm the least
goddamned good at, and people are actually *paying* me to do that which
I'd have to do for free otherwise, because I can do no other. I have a
nice house, and I work on a show I enjoy, I write what I want...so I'm not
angry all the time, as I was once before. Most days I figure that's a
good thing; other times, I worry if it's taken the edge off the work. But
in the interim consideration...I'm content.
As for pursuing a Psychology degree...wasn't out of any particular
desire to understand myself. Hell, at that time, I hardly even wanted to
associate with myself, much less understand myself. No, I just went in
with the assumption that you should never major in writing if you really
want to BE a writer...learn other stuff, read other books, see other kinds
of lives...become a generalist, so you can apply a little bit of everything
to the work. That seemed most conducive to being a generalist.
Until Skinner came along and suddenly math was involved.
But that's another story for another time....
jms
Date: 21 Jul 1995 05:50:06 -0400
Subject: JMS, JV, et al.: Writing
The two keys in creating characters for TV are: allies and enemies,
you create people who you know will come into conflict with one another,
because conflict is a huge part of drama, not the whole of it, but a
necessary ingredient. So you also build some who can be sympathetic, or
funny by turns, but you don't want to minimize or throw away a character,
you add a layer of depth to it to give meat to the humor when used.
It's kind of like planning a military campaign, really.
The world and the characters of B5 kind of came together at the
same time, one feeding off another until they took on a life of their
own. And building both was a joy.
jms
Date: 21 Jul 1995 05:50:12 -0400
Subject: Re: ATTN: JMS What's it like
The tracking of people, notifying and confirming hirings is the job
jointly of the Unit Production Manager (Kevin Cremin last season, Skip
Beaudine this season), and the Line Producer (John Copeland). When we
gear up, everyone is checked on availabilities, and if there's nay
(any) problem, they have plenty of time to adjust. Usually there are
lots of folks in that department who can give recommendations, and there
is quite a list of folks who want to work with us.
When there *is* a major change in crew or staff, Doug and I are
brought into it, to confirm and ratify. If it were a really big change,
as in a cinematographer, then WB would get into the approvals process.
jms
Date: 21 Jul 1995 05:50:17 -0400
Subject: Attn JMS: non-television B5 be
Ask me again in 3 years; I'll probably have a good answer then.
jms
Date: 22 Jul 1995 01:49:55 -0400
Subject: Re: JMS: The Child is Father t
No, I don't really think trauma is a requirement for artistry; I
know a number of writers who had nearly idyllic backgrounds.
jms
Date: 22 Jul 1995 02:21:01 -0400
Subject: JMS:Openning music
Chris: the point you make is exactly right. The music for each
season is designed to reflect the progression of that season; some feel
they don't like season two as much as one, because it doesn't summon up
the same feelings. But that's the intent; it's not supposed to summon
up the same emotions. It's kind of the equivilant of creating a
different cover for every new installment of a series of connected
novels.
What do I have in mind for season three? What I indicated to Chris
Franke was to look at a piece of music he did in "The Long, Twilight
Struggle" and interpolate some elements of that into the main theme, with
a very hard sound. The piece in question is about the middle of the
first really...um...busy scene after the act break.
jms
Date: 22 Jul 1995 02:25:05 -0400
Subject: Attn:JMS:Emmys in Promos?
We do hope the noms are used in promos, yes.
jms
Date: 22 Jul 1995 02:25:08 -0400
Subject: Eastern Washington - B5 Is Bac
Are you *sure* they're not going to show the final 4? Last I heard,
all the stations were going to show them. Could this be a mis-heard
bit of info about the delay to October?
jms
Date: 22 Jul 1995 02:37:16 -0400
Subject: ATTN: JMS Questions on Ghostbu
"Ulysses" is probably the most moving of Tennyson's work, for my
money. It speaks to something profoundly entrenched in the human
spirit. It's something I try to put in front of people at any
opportunity.
As for Janine...the change bothered the hell out of me, to go from
a strong, smart, fashion-aware (in a weird way), independent woman...to
a mommy-character. And, in time, they kinda realized that I was right,
and the consultants were wrong...mainly when the mailbags filled with
angry letters from mothers and young girls raising ten kinds of hell.
But by then they didn't have any solution except just change her
without explanation *again*...which is when I chimed in and said, "I
can fix this. But you've got to let me do this MY way." They did, and
it was done.
I was somewhat disappointed by Ghostbusters II. It took an awful
long time to get going, and then just fell back on much of what it had
done in the first movie. It made the producers nuts when they got
audience responses from lots of people saying that they like the TV
series better than the movie, and that the movie was "just for kids."
One of my favorite moments from that was writing an episode called
"Take Two," in which Hollywood producers come to the guys and say they
want to make a movie about the team...so they go to LA, have a little
adventure...and the episode ends with actual footage from the first
movie...with the result that millions of kids were convinced, totally
conVINced, that the series *preceded* the first movie.
It was one of the more wonderfully sick things I've done.
jms
Date: 22 Jul 1995 02:37:18 -0400
Subject: Re: Why is Ford in rastb5?
John: I don't think FT cares about winning the argument at all;
it's just pissing in other people's tea that gets him off. And yes, he
has as much *right* to be here as anyone; that wasn't my point, so much
as pointing out the contradiction between his feeling that he should be
here, and his actions to get me off because I don't have that same
right. The operative term is hypocrisy.
jms
Date: 22 Jul 1995 02:20:58 -0400
Subject: BABYLON FIVE BEEF!
This was one of the problems created early on by reporters looking to
create a feud. What I *said* was, "We hope to kick Star Trek's butt, by
providing some real competition, and they can kick ours, and in this
process of each trying to out do the other, the ultimate beneficiary is
the audience." It's the same point I've made here again and again.
It's amazing what can happen to a quote when you leave off part of
it.
jms
Date: 23 Jul 1995 01:54:15 -0400
Subject: Re: JMS, JV, et al.: Writing
Yes, you're correct, the alignments in B5 vary depending on whose
agenda is in force at that moment; and they change with time. But in
general you always need conflict, especially in TV, and to varying degrees
in other works. It's the seed from which drama emanates. When I was on
Murder, She Wrote, you couldn't just have Jessica go to somebody and get
the information easily. There had to be some conflict involved, there had
to be *work* to pry it loose. Otherwise it just falls flat.
jms
Date: 23 Jul 1995 01:56:34 -0400
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: Full or part ti
Recurring actors can be dealt with in any number of ways; if it's
a person who appears in, say, 8 episodes, we make a deal for that number
in general, and have first call on them when needed; if it's a part that
occurs maybe 2-3 times in a season, you can't make that deal, but in our
case, I tend to know which episodes a character will appear in long before
the scripts or outlines are ever written, so we make a deal for those
specific dates.
jms
Date: 23 Jul 1995 01:56:43 -0400
Subject: Attn JMS - The ship that got S
No, the ship at Sigma 957 was definitely NOT a shadow vessel.
jms
Date: 23 Jul 1995 11:35:13 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: Episode title questi
"The Geometry of Shadows" seemed to me a good metaphor for the
technomages; a mix of science with something dark and mysterious. How do
you work out the geometry of something that in one sense doesn't really
exist, but is a projection of something else that DOES exist? That
seemed to me as good a notion of technomagic as anything else.
jms
Date: 23 Jul 1995 11:38:21 -0400
Subject: Attn JMS: Speaking in Parables
I think that, by all rights, anybody should be able to "get" each
episode. The only thing that varies is their degree of..er...getness.
Getnosity?
Whatever.
The stucture is fairly straightforward: the primary story in any
given episode is relatively self-contained and self-explanatory. You can
see that one episode, and no others, and be able to follow it. If you
CANNOT do this, then the episode has failed. The key, as I've noted from
the start, is that the MORE you see, or know, the MORE you can get out of
any episode.
The impact of Talia's situation should be the same whether you saw
the comic or not. (And, remember, the idea was that the comic would come
out AFTER the remaining year 2 episodes, as a nice little frisson, not as
required data.)
I continue to get email and snail mail from people who are still just
now finding the show...and they watch one episode, and that's fine, then
they watch a couple/three more, and THEN they realize that there's an
overall arc, that this is a bigger story than first appears. For those
who dig out every last detail, it's hard to imagine following the shw
(show) minus all this...but it's absolutely possible, and happens
consistently. It's your *perception* that has altered by virtue of now
knowing what more is there. If you don't know the rest, you can still
enjoy pretty much everything there on its most basic level, as an action
or character story.
jms
Date: 24 Jul 1995 00:06:25 -0400
Subject: Even Quicker Notes from jms
Last reminder: next Saturday is San Diego Comic Con, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
and if you're in the area, you may want to drop by for the B5 presentation
scheduled for that time.
A company is in the process of licensing a slick, full-color B5
magazine; looks pretty good. More as this develops.
For those into this sort of thing...the literary SF review,
FOUNDATION, published out of England, is doing a whole issue on media SF,
with particular attention to B5. I've turned in what they say will be the
ceterpiece of the issue, a 28 page, 7600 word article titled "Approaching
Babylon." Although it contains a few things mentioned on the nets, about
90% of is it new stuff, background info, personal observations and the
like.
Finally, one week from tomorrow, we start filming on year three, with
episode #301, "Matters of Honor," which also introduces a new recurring
character named Marcus.
jms
Date: 24 Jul 1995 02:52:03 -0400
Subject: Attention JMS Re: increasing
There is generally an increase in action when large groups of
populations go to war....
jms
Date: 24 Jul 1995 02:52:26 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS - Long Twilight Strug
As noted here a while back, yes, the title derives from Kennedy's
speech.
jms
Date: 24 Jul 1995 02:52:13 -0400
Subject: Re: JMS: Passing Through Geths
Before one judges the relevance or applicability of a given title to
a given episode, it might be wise if one first SEES the episode, don't
you think...?
jms
Date: 24 Jul 1995 02:52:40 -0400
Subject: JMS - Actors?
If I had an unlimited budget...Sean Connery, Peter O'Toole, Jerry
Lewis, Arnold Schwarzeneggar and Sigourney Weaver.
jms
Date: 24 Jul 1995 03:10:57 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: Re Babylon quiz
I can't really get involved with the quiz on any level.
jms
Date: 24 Jul 1995 03:48:58 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: Scripting
Eventually we may sell scripts of the show; we'll see.
Re: fourth acts...they're difficult to pull off on the best of days,
because you've got to pull together a lot of stuff in a very short amount
of time, and make everything make sense. And sometimes, in the last season
or thereabouts, I kinda got the feeling that some of the X-Files eps I saw
somewhat fell apart in the fourth act, where it didn't come together, or
things happened too conveniently, or what it WAS was less interesting than
it was SUPPOSED to be. It happens.
jms
Date: 24 Jul 1995 03:49:25 -0400
Subject: JMS: A comment
Thanks; I've tentatively decided to keep the beard, I think it's okay.
jms
Date: 24 Jul 1995 03:49:14 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: Patrick McGoohan on
Nothing would make me happier than to someday use Patrick in an ep.
Well, maybe 10 million dollars in small bills....
jms
Date: 24 Jul 1995 17:27:08 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: Cap. Power writing
No, I pointedly had zip to do with anything concerning CP
merchandising.
jms
Date: 24 Jul 1995 21:44:18 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: Any clues to Final F
Yeah, several of the elements you raise will be dealt with in the
final four.
jms
Date: 26 Jul 1995 01:08:31 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: Sinclair Focus?
Delenn is not Sinclair's "romantic consort," to use the phrase you
invoke. There was a closeness between them, and a relationship there,
but not romantic. Several of your questions are based on assumptions
that are not necessarily correct.
A goodly portion of the Sinclair/Minbar thread will be dealt with
this coming season.
jms
Date: 26 Jul 1995 11:28:11 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: Dreams (again)
There's a difference between what I believe dreams mean, what the
Centauri believe dreams mean, and what dreams mean to the Centauri, in
that universe, and what they mean to me in our universe.
I suspect the truth lay somewhere between Shroedinger and Jung.
jms
Date: 26 Jul 1995 12:19:10 -0400
Subject: Attn JMS: Episodes away from B
We do plan to continue our practice of getting more ambitious each
season; we saw virtually none of the homeworlds in year one; in year two
we began to see more of Narn, and Centauri Prime, with some locations in
the latter. We will continue to expand in each following year; in year
three, we plan to show Minbar, more of Centauri Prime, the Narn
homeworld, Earth and *maybe* the Vorlon homeworld, if I can figure out how
to do it at this stage without totally imploding the show.
jms
(Oh, yeah, and Z'ha'dum....)
Date: 26 Jul 1995 11:48:33 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: ReadMe!
I think the Kosh stuff is *very* cool...but I don't want to over-sell
it; best to see it cold.
jms
Date: 26 Jul 1995 11:09:36 -0400
Subject: Re: Even Quicker Notes from jm
I think that's mainly because I hadn't settled on a name at the time.
jms
Date: 26 Jul 1995 11:37:32 -0400
Subject: Re: Why is Ford in rastb5?
Well, I see that the individual who goes by the handle Rev.
Commander Wayne has come into the fray, fresh from fabricating nonsense
on AOL. For those not aware, they're quite a clique these three: Wayne,
Ford, and a fellow named Randy Hall. Those of you with AOL access should
go check out their screeds in the Anti-B5 topic on the ST Neutral Zone
board, and in the ST vs. B5 area in the TV section. Basically, you've
got 3 people who write dozens and dozens of messages to each other, in
open forum, as though by doing so they create a sense of there being
others of similar inclination.
Another one for those with killfiles. Anyone with the *least*
suspicion that maybe they have something open-minded to say about
anything, check out the areas noted above. They're trolls pure and
simple, folks. We just wasted a lot of time with them over on AOL,
believe me.
jms
Date: 26 Jul 1995 11:48:59 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: Rangers in Season 3?
Yes, the Rangers will play a more important part in year three, and
Sinclair's part in it will be revealed.
jms
Date: 26 Jul 1995 11:54:48 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: What are your inspir
I didn't look to any writers or other works for inspiration for B5;
I came up with the story mine own self. To "look for inspiration" always
sounds deliberate to me, "Hmm...whose template can I use...?" I don't
work that way. It's basically the product of all the stuff I've seen and
read over the years, my interest in politics, philosophy, literature,
sagas, SF, language, culture, history...it's this huge, honking stew
which I more or less fitted into the B5 statin.
jms (station)
Date: 26 Jul 1995 19:30:46 -0400
Subject: JMS: Telepaths in prison?
Expect more on this topic in third season.
jms
Date: 26 Jul 1995 19:43:36 -0400
Subject: Clearing the air.
Good heavens, I was virtually unaware of the degree to which this
had escalated. To add, quietly, my two-cents...when I found one of my
posts had been edited by Jay for spoilers, I inquired of him privately
and indicated that this might not be A Good Thing, since I'd been fairly
careful in my phraseology. He accepted that, and apologized, and was
quite gracious about it.
For my money, you can't keep spoilers out of here, protected or
unprotected, except by virtue of shared kindness and understanding. The
whole REASON for my getting a moderated newsfeed, as I now do, was to
PREVENT the need to moderate the newsgroup for content. It thus seems
to me slightly unproductive that it's now done for spoilers when we took
this step of moderating my feed, and inconveniencing many of the rastB5
Rangers, to avoid moderation.
jms
Date: 28 Jul 1995 03:51:41 -0400
Subject: JMS: imposed tv sf format?
Most TV shows in the 60s were one-story episodes. The medium became
a bit more complex as time went on, and people wanted to learn more about
the characters and the world. We've done some episodes that didn't have
a B or C story at all; it's whatever the story requires.
jms
Date: 28 Jul 1995 02:52:30 -0400
Subject: ATTN: jms non-B5 Ques
My scriptwriting book is not currently in print, though a) it's
still available in many libraries, and b) I hope to have the new edition
turned in shortly. Yes, it deals with the agent/writer relationship.
And currently we're not looking at specs for B5 due to the fact that the
stories are all pretty much worked out.
jms
Date: 28 Jul 1995 03:21:19 -0400
Subject: Attn jms: Suspension of Disbel
I dunno...one can make the argument, as you do, that because I don't
believe in relgion, or telepathy, and have thus no axe to grind or agenda
to advance, I can do so equitably...but something about that logic sounds
a little too slick and self=contratulatory...so I'll just leave it at...
I dunno....
jms
Date: 28 Jul 1995 03:21:26 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: SD ComicCon: will "s
I don't think there'll be much problem getting in the door or getting
comic con tickets; but: come early, because the con has 27,000 people or5
more attending, and the lines to buy tickets can be absolutely hideous.
Arrive at *minimum* an hour early (10 a.m. or better).
jms
Date: 28 Jul 1995 03:23:38 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: OtherSyde
It was okay for a second novel; I can do better, though, I think.
jms
Date: 28 Jul 1995 03:23:44 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: Season 3 Q's & Div.
My guess is that C4 will begin carrying season 3 in the spring.
jms
Date: 28 Jul 1995 03:23:51 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: SPOILERS for Divided
No, nothing was edited out by C4 or anyone; the footage we had to
work with in editing had a *slight* matching problem.
jms
Date: 28 Jul 1995 03:23:57 -0400
Subject: JMS: Pronunciation of "Straczy
struh-zin-ski
jms
Date: 28 Jul 1995 03:24:03 -0400
Subject: How do I submit story ideas?
We *have* our story ideas for the show. Five years worth. Bear in
mind that Star Trek is the exception to the rule of how TV series work;
no other show accepts story ideas from folks out there.
(I'm speaking specifically of non-established writers. Spec scripts
can sometimes get through on shows, but nobody else really looks for just
story ideas. On B5, all but 2 freelance scripts have been based on
story ideas I've assigned out.)
jms
Date: 28 Jul 1995 02:47:58 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: Zack Allen
You'll be seeing more of Zack next season, definitely.
jms
Date: 28 Jul 1995 02:48:04 -0400
Subject: ATTN: JMS Psicorps badge
No, the Psi Corps symbol is not based on the Cummunist hammer and
sickle; it's the Greek letter psi which stands for the mind.
jms
Date: 26 Jul 1995 19:48:32 -0400
Subject: + Attn: JMS: Thanks! +
Just doin' what I do, don't know no other way....
jms
Date: 26 Jul 1995 20:03:45 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: Divided Loyalties
Absolutely *nothing* from prior seasons/episodes has been discarded.
So if that's your concern...don't worry about it.
Nothing was trimmed by C4. There was a slight matching problem in
the footage, that's all.
In very tense situations, some people feel compelled to somehow break
the tension. Hence, that sequence.
jms
Date: 29 Jul 1995 03:54:30 -0400
Subject: Attn JMS: Your secret writing
I'm not *sure* I wrote that episode of TRGBs; I know I story edited
it, but it may have had another writer.
jms
Date: 30 Jul 1995 23:59:19 -0400
Subject: JMS: "Pitching a Winner"
The short story I'd done in high school -- god, do you *really* want
to know this? -- was a comic story about the Lady of the Lake popping up
again in the present to offer Prince Charles Excalibur...and him not quite
knowing what to do about it, then security was called and...well, it got
quite interesting, particularly since she'd popped up in his bathtub.
jms
Date: 31 Jul 1995 00:04:08 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: Favorite Dictionary?
For everyday use, I tend to yank out the Oxford American Dictionary,
which is nearest at hand, and I find it very complete; for real, serious
writing stuff, then I go to my copy of the Oxgord English Dictionary,
which is sort of the Mount Olympus of dictionaries, both in complexity
and sheer weight. Other books...Roget's Thesaurus, What's What, and a
shelf load of books on mythology, history, politics and psychology.
jms
Date: 31 Jul 1995 17:36:45 -0400
Subject: Re: Attn jms: Suspension of Di
Although there have been many interesting anecdotal studies on
telepathy, in any laboratory model it has not yet been shown consistently
and reliably to exist. So I'm holding the subject in personal abeyance
until the day when somebody can walk into a research lab at MIT or
elsewhere and get 10 out of 10 cards right *consitently* and *repeatedly*
under strict laboratory conditions.
jms
(consistently, that is)
Date: 31 Jul 1995 17:37:09 -0400
Subject: ATTN: JMS Will Peter David be
Peter is currently busy doing not just his comics, but co-writing
every episode of HIS new TV series, Space Cases, with Bill Mumy...but if
there's room in there somewhere, we've discussed the possibility.
jms
Date: 31 Jul 1995 17:37:37 -0400
Subject: Attn:JMS Face on Mars
It's actually a pak'ma'ra butt.
jms
Date: 31 Jul 1995 17:39:05 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: X-Files et al
Actually, my guess is that X-Files does have a larger budget than we
do, since they do a LOT of location filming, which is very expensive (als0
David Duchovney just got a bump in salary to $100,000 an episode). And
yes, one may discuss "Twilight" with those across the pond who've seen it
here.
jms
Date: 31 Jul 1995 17:43:06 -0400
Subject: Correspondence Note from jms
To all those who've sent, or are planning to send, any mail to the
actors, crew or others involved with Babylon 5 at the snail mail address
14431 Ventura Boulevard, Suite 260, Sherman Oaks, CA 91423....
BE SURE to have somewhere on the envelope the words C/O BABYLON 5,
or it may very well be returned. This is not the main studio address,
which is not disseminated, and sometimes the addresses/names get kind
of obscure. This will allow the mail to be routed properly. If you do
not include this line, it may never reach its destination.
jms