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JMS Usenet messages for November 1996.
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Date: 1 Nov 1996 23:07:17 -0500
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Subject: joe's heart (from jms)
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Honestly, people...I can't believe anyone still falls for this stuff.
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So there I was, over in the editing bays (away from the B5 stages),
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editing 406, merrily nipping and tucking and rearranging, when a phone
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call comes from the stage. In a harrassed voice, the person on the other
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end explains that they have been flooded with calls asking about a rumor
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that I'd passed out on the way to work and had been taken to the hospital
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with a heart attack.
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C'mon, people...this is the oldest gag in the book. It's been done to
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Harlan, Walter, Jimmy Doohan (which makes me thing a ST person is behind
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this) and others.
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Lemme put it to you this way: if anything should ever happen to me, you
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will never have to hear about it from someone else, or a rumor. I have
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people here who will post the information, and all pertinent details,
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direct from Babylonian on my behalf. If you hear this sort of nonsense
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from anyone else, you can totally ignore it.
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And to the person who says he "heard it:" you obviously did not hear
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anything of the kind, and you made it up deliberately to cause trouble.
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If you did hear it from someone else, let's hear a name. If not, then you
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are to be held responsible for this. And, frankly, for the grief caused
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to the set, the stage, and many other people who called out of concern,
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the person responsible for this is less than a creep. This is just
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another form of interneterrorism.
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jms
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Date: 3 Nov 1996 01:06:52 -0500
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Subject: Re: Sorry! (jms in hospital)
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James: let me explain why what you did was a Bad Thing. And let me now
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proceed to bust your chops over this.
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A rumor like that is started for only one reason: to hurt. By passing it
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along, you compound the problem. You become the instrument of their
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assault. Too many people have a tendency to take what they see on the
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nets as either true, or worth investigating, and they then pass it on to
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the next net, and the next net...it becomes a kind of interactive virus,
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spreading further.
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The result: the small staff at Babylonian were harried with endless
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numbers of phone calls. People got annoyed. Time was wasted. I got
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pulled out of editing to deal with this. I spent several *hours* last
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night tracking this down and posting messages to other systems putting
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people's minds to rest. Hours that could (and should) have been spent
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writing. Very close friends of mine overseas and elsewhere saw this and
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panicked, some were deeply emotionally upset, and would like to get your
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throat someplace near their fingers for posting this in the first place.
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Make no mistake: though it was not your intent, *you did harm*. As does
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anyone who takes what some jerk says in IRC or elsewhere like this and
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reposts it without doing the least amount of checking. And don't take the
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"I wanted more information" line with me, James. You want information,
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all you have to do is send email to the moderators of this forum, who can
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call the stage, and find out. Then you have your answer, real easy.
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Instead what you did was the effect of lobbing a hand grenade into a herd
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of horses.
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So don't blame the other person. You posted the original message, and
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added two more "clarifications" to it that were equally bogus. You
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started the stampede.
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"Sorry" doesn't cut it. "Sorry" doesn't restore the lost hours of work,
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the annoyed employees, or placate the friends of mine who you deeply
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distressed.
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Never, ever, ever do this to me again.
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Or I will be most upset.
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You wouldn't like me when I'm upset, James.
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jms
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Date: 3 Nov 1996 19:54:32 -0500
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Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: Censorship and "Wolf" (no spoilers)
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"In "The Hour of the Wolf" there are two scenes -- you know which ones --
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that seemed quite a departure from what one usually sees on TV. Did you
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write "Wolf" before or after your revelation that you were not bound by
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Standards and Practices. 'Cause if you wrote this *before*, then we're in
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for quite a ride."
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Aside from the desk scene, which was the other you're referring to?
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Oh...and the answer is...before.
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Hang on. It's going to be a bumpy night.
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jms
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Date: 4 Nov 1996 19:54:46 -0500
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Subject: Re: ATTN:JMS:Newsweek and E-Mail
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Darn, I was going to look for that one today and I forgot....
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Yeah, we're a fully wired show. Scary, innit...?
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jms
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Date: 4 Nov 1996 19:55:19 -0500
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Subject: Re: Hour of the Wolf (NitPick :)
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The ships provided by Delenn are White Star class ships, hence the useage.
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jms
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Date: 5 Nov 1996 08:16:51 GMT
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Subject: Re: ATTN:JMS thanks from a new viewer
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"Does it hurt to give birth to an entire universe?"
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Not really, but the post-partum depression is a bitch.
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jms
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Date: 5 Nov 1996 08:18:06 GMT
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Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: Great Book!! Thanks!
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Thanks. The script is a good example of how things work,and how the
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writer forms what the director does.
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I'll try to stop by Bix...it's just the pace of so much stuff makes it
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hard.
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jms
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Date: 5 Nov 1996 08:22:38 GMT
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Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: The lost hours of work and the worried people as a result of THE RUMOR
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"As much as you hate to admit it, you're an important person, not just out
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there, but in the lives -- right there, in our faces, guiding us for a
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small, or large part of the day -- in the lives of millions of people. We
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care about you enough to cause chaos. But it's not any one person's
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fualt."
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I'm not important. The story, yes, maybe...but not me.
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James was the one who initially posted it, having been exposed to the one
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person in IRC who wanted to do this. If B5 is about choices, consequences
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and responsibility, we have to own up to making a choice to go public with
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something rather than check it out, recognize that there are consequences
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to other people when you do this, and then accept the responsibility for
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those consequences.
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"Quite frankly, when it comes to B5, I find that the people are a lot more
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polite and honest than other 'netters, and I have come to trust people."
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This part I agree with. I can't tell you how often I've had convention
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organizers, from Worldcon and elsewhere, tell me how pleasantly surprised
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and pleased they were that the B5 fans were invariably well-spoken,
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polite, intelligent, and friendly. We've got a good rep, and I guess I
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want to protect that.
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jms
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Date: 6 Nov 1996 05:52:59 GMT
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Subject: Re: JMS's "Complete Book of Scriptwriting"
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The date stated obviously refers to the US, not to the UK. The US
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experiments in TV fell a bit by the wayside when the war hit. Some
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European communities kept at it. But question: are you sure, when the BBC
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refers to its founding in 1936, that they're not referring to BBC *radio*?
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jms
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Date: 6 Nov 1996 08:11:51 GMT
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Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: your reading list?
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I read him in college, but not much since then, I'm afraid.
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jms
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Date: 8 Nov 1996 07:04:33 GMT
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Subject: Re: B5 Filming/Studio Question
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No, we don't film on the Warner Bros. lot, and we're not set up to do any
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kind of tours.
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jms
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Date: 8 Nov 1996 07:06:25 GMT
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Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: B5 MIDI on Web Page?
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I cannot give permission for *anything*, as the copyright is owned by
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Warner Bros., not me.
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jms
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Date: 8 Nov 1996 07:08:18 GMT
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Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: HourOTWolf CGI *No Spoilers*
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The non-moving Centauri Prime shot is an original Foundation shot; the one
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where it's moving (with the cruiser fly-bys) is the new one, and there's a
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lot more detail now in the surface of the planet and other stuff.
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jms
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Date: 8 Nov 1996 07:11:54 GMT
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Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: Questions About Scriptwriting Book
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I debated long and hard about including a section about comics in the
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script book, and finally opted against it, on several grounds. 1) I
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wanted to specialize in performance-style scriptwriting, involving living
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people, and 2) while I've written some comics, I don't feel enough of an
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expert yet to set down my poor understanding in book form.
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jms
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Date: 8 Nov 1996 07:38:54 GMT
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Subject: Re: For JMS
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Thanks, and good luck with your own writing. Follow your passion; the
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rest will take care of itself.
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jms
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Date: 8 Nov 1996 23:08:05 GMT
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Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: Why is no one offended at BOTH old races?!?
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"After watching Z'ha'dum and "Wolf" (No spoilers here), my main thought
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was basically, who the hell are these old races who assume moral
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superiority based on technical superiority? How dare they interfere with
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our development as a species just to suit their own petty needs? I wonder
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if any character on the show will take that same line of thought and
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expand upon it?"
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Well, until now, that's been primarily unknown to the other species. Now,
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thanks to Sheridan's trip to Z'ha'dum, and stuff coming up, that
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information will start to get out.
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So yeah, you may find someone or someones picking this thread up....
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jms
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Date: 9 Nov 1996 06:19:18 GMT
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Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: WOLF reaction (no spoilers)
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I seem to vaguely remember the title "It's a Very Nice Day," but will have
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to work to connect it to a story.
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And thanks...it's a good start to the season.
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jms
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Date: 9 Nov 1996 22:56:49 GMT
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Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: Why the Theme Change?
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We change the theme every season to reflect the tonaity and direction of
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that season's story. Every season when it butts up against the previous
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season's intent, a lot of folks ask why change it, it was better
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before...and then, by the end of the season, when people see how it fits
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in, generally they like it a lot...and then ask why it got changed for the
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*next* season....
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jms
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Date: 9 Nov 1996 23:03:50 GMT
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Subject: Re: New FX
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"The first S4 episode (Hour of the Wolf) doesn't have nearly as many FX as
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the later S3 episodes, and what is there is mostly stock shots of the
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station rotating, etc."
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There are as many CGI shots in "Wolf" as in most of our episodes, and more
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than in "Rock," a later S3 episode. There's also the new establishers of
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Centauri Prime the planet, the revised Palace shots, new establishers of
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the station, a big new shot of the interior of the Garden that pans down,
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the beside-Z'ha'dum sequence...there's a LOT there. So a) your latter
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observation is, I gently point out, factually inaccurate, and b) most
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station shots have been recycled stock since year one, adding new ones
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each season then dropping them into rotation (so to speak).
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We always balance big EFX shows with smaller ones, building up to some big
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stuff. We're doing the same thing here this year as we've ever done.
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\
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jms
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Date: 9 Nov 1996 23:05:26 GMT
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Subject: Re: Hour of the Wolf: non-spoiler(?) question
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There's more to Lorien than meets the eye.
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jms
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Date: 10 Nov 1996 06:09:09 GMT
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Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: New Novels Known?
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The first book is by Jeanne Cavellos, following Anna Sheridan and the
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Icarus to Z'ha'dum; the second follows Vir and Londo to Centauri Prime at
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the time of the events in these first six episode; and the third follows
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Sinclair to Minbar after leaving B5 and setting up the rangers. This time
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out, I decided to assign out the stories, to make sure they were accurate
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and in continuity. The first one up may be the best to date, I'm 2/3rds
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through it and haven't made a note yet.
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jms
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Date: 10 Nov 1996 08:58:03 GMT
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Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: Another Hour Nit...*minor spoiler*
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"best I can tell from my (admittedly limited) knowledge of Centauri
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physiology, he would have been looking in the wrong place - kinda like
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looking down a human woman's socks, or something."
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Tell that to a foot fetishist.
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jms
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Date: 11 Nov 1996 06:53:55 GMT
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Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: Regarding B5 sets on 'FutureQuest'
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They asked if they could borrow our sets, and we said sure...anything to
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help.
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jms
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Date: 11 Nov 1996 03:57:14 GMT
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Subject: Re: The Hour of the Wolf -- homonym question (* Spoilers *)
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It's definitely born, not borne.
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jms
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Date: 11 Nov 1996 09:01:39 GMT
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Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: Spoilers in the "...Garibaldi" trailer for Ep #403
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Correct, I have no editorial control or influence over the trailers; I see
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them when everyone else does.
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jms
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Date: 12 Nov 1996 20:42:51 GMT
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Subject: Re: Wow! "Whatever Happened to Mr. Garibaldi" & a concern
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"when we were watching "Hour of the Wolf" G'kar had a line (when answering
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Zack) that caused all of us to bust out laughing because of it's relation
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to rec.humor. Was this intentional?"
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As I've no idea what this refers to...nope.
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And thanks.
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jms
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Date: 13 Nov 1996 00:31:23 GMT
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Subject: Re: Rumor of first season actually (finally) being released on video...
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No, like all WB rumors, this one isn't true either.
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Understand...if there were going to be a video release, I'd be all over
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the place announcing it.
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If you hear a rumor, and it didn't come directly from me, you can almost
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always discount it. What happens, I talk about.
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jms
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Date: 12 Nov 1996 20:41:13 GMT
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Subject: Re: To JMS and the gang
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Thanks, and yes, there was a hint of Gene in her dialolgue about Turhan.
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jms
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Date: 12 Nov 1996 20:37:41 GMT
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Subject: Re: Attn JMS: You Did It (WHt Mr. Garibaldi? *SPOILERS*)
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Thanks. The script was easy to write story-wise, I think it only took me
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a few days (in general, the faster the write, the better the script, when
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it comes to something like this...writing in white heat is best), but
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*very* difficult from an emotional standpoint. I was just about as wasted
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after writing it as you were after seeing it. There's a lot of stuff in
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there that's difficult or painful to touch, and you can only hope that it
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comes out okay. I'm happy it did.
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jms
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Date: 13 Nov 1996 09:46:20 GMT
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Subject: Re: ATTN: JMS "The" Tony Dow?
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Yup, it's him. He's also directing "Atonement" for us this season.\
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jms
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Date: 13 Nov 1996 09:53:11 GMT
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Subject: small jms email rules
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Okay, it's time for the usual recitation of email rules.
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1) Please do not send me inquiries about the storyline in private
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email. You may think, "Well, it's just me," but at last Neilsen count
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there were about 15 million of you out there, and only one of me. I can't
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get into lengthy discussions about the plot or storylines in email. I end
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up answering the same questions multiple times, and the answers go to only
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one person at a time. If you have a story question, ASK IT IN A PUBLIC
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FORUM, NOT IN EMAIL, so that others can benefit from the answers.
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(Here's where this gets silly. Often, when I'm speaking at a
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convention, I'll ask, at the end, "Any other questions?" And nobody puts
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their hands up, even though we've got a few minutes left. Then, as soon
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as the presentation is over, 50 people rush the stage with questions they
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want to ask...many of them very good, and which the audience would've
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loved to hear answered. You tend to be a very smart, perceptive
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bunch...don't deny others the quality of your questions.)
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2) Please, please, PLEASE do not send me story ideas in email.
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3) Do not send jpgs or anything else that requires downloading; I
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was hit by a trojan horse and virus lately, and consequently I have a very
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firm no-download policy on anything else coming into me via email.
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4) Private email should be used for things you cannot discuss in a
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public forum, or for which confidentiality is needed for other reasons.
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I'm swamped with 500 messages a day...if it doesn't have to be sent email,
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please don't do so.
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5) Requests for agent suggestions, or requests to read your scripts
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or stories, will be met by stony silence.
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6) We cannot give studio tours, or afford to send out scripts, or
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story bibles, or actor photographs. When the actors do this, bear in mind
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that it is a kindness *that comes out of their own pockets*, as there is
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no budget from WB to send photos.
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I hate to be as brusque as this, but I'm starting to get overloaded
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with email, and an occasional advisory seems necessary.
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Many thanks.
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jms
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Date: 13 Nov 1996 23:32:08 GMT
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Subject: Re: Attn JMS: What ever happened to Quality?
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The characters figure it out later this season.
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jms
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Date: 13 Nov 1996 23:37:20 GMT
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Subject: Re: ATTN: JMS Stealing scenes from other works
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But the thing is, I wasn't *thinking* of LoTR...I was thinking of Orpheus
|
|
going into the underworld, of the classical notion of descending into hell
|
|
to find oneself or something else...it just bugs me when someone assumes
|
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that they know what was in my head at a time when I wrote something, and
|
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then take that as a given and start making me explain it or acting as if
|
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this is true, when it ain't.
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jms
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Date: 13 Nov 1996 23:33:29 GMT
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Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: Faith in Future Eps?
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Belief in one thing or another is *always* important. Only the subject is
|
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sometimes worrisome.
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jms
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Date: 14 Nov 1996 06:00:53 GMT
|
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Subject: Re: Whatever Happened to Mr. Garibaldi (* Spoilers *)
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|
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"I watched _What Ever Happened to Mr Garibaldi_ last night and was struck
|
|
by the scene where Mr. G was being questioned by the disembodied voice.
|
|
That scene was very similar to the style of another one of my favorite
|
|
shows _Homicide: Life on the Streets_. I'm just wondering if that was an
|
|
intentional nod to that show."
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This is kind of embarrassing, but...see, I don't watch much TV anymore. I
|
|
don't have time. I think I've seen maybe two episodes of Homicide, total.
|
|
So we were in with the editor to do our producer's cut of 402, and I was
|
|
trying to describe what I wanted...jarring, disorienting cuts, don't worry
|
|
if it matches, use conflicting takes or overlaps of takes...and finally
|
|
the editor said, "Oh, you mean the Homicide look." And it'd been so long
|
|
that I asked them to explain to me what that meant, and John got into it,
|
|
me with him, and ended up with what we've got. I've got to start watching
|
|
TV again, beyond X-Files, 60 Minutes and Simpsons. (Well, I've added
|
|
Millennium, so that helps.)
|
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|
|
"Second question. Last year on ABC the show _Murder One_ tried having one
|
|
main story, like an arc, through the whole season. It was following a
|
|
single
|
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trial (I assume you know this). That show basically got a "that's nice"
|
|
from the crowd and not much else. Do you think that the concept of an
|
|
ongoing story works better in a science fiction show than say a cop show?
|
|
Was it more the execution of _Murder One_ that did in the idea of one
|
|
trial per season? I would be curious to hear your thoughts."
|
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|
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No, I don't really think it's genre specific. Frankly, I think the
|
|
viewing audience was *so* sick to death of the OJ trial that the idea of
|
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watching ANOTHER homicide trial take a week was just too much for them.
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jms
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Date: 15 Nov 1996 07:54:25 GMT
|
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Subject: Re: *SPOILERS* [ATTN:JMS] Observations after 'Whatever Happened ...'
|
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|
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"They are being made to choose between life and death, action and
|
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inaction, hope and despair. They are in the position of having to either
|
|
lose faith, or keep it."
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|
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Yup. Got it in one....
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jms
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Date: 15 Nov 1996 07:57:27 GMT
|
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Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: Expanding Symmetries (No Spoilers)
|
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|
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I briefly considered giving G'Kar a second, after the revolving door
|
|
Na'Toths, but as I looked at it...as you say, the others all DO have one
|
|
like that, and I figured it might be good to have someone *without*
|
|
that...especially after the fall of Narn, when the staff would be
|
|
canceled. And there's something I like about G'Kar being alone in all
|
|
this. Anyway, it varies the mix a bit.
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jms
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Date: 15 Nov 1996 08:01:19 GMT
|
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Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: I was right...
|
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|
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Good luck to you. In doing what you're doing, you are removing yourself
|
|
from the system, and the system always objects to that. Follow your
|
|
voice, and your passion, and you will never go wrong.
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Again, good luck.
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jms
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Date: 15 Nov 1996 08:10:43 GMT
|
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Subject: Re: ATT JMS: personal ? SPOILERS for Walkabout and after
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|
|
"Are you *still* dealing with this, in Sheridan's situation on Z'ha'dum,
|
|
and the decision he has to make? Is this where you get your strength of
|
|
will, that you've faced this decision yourself?.....You've been dealing
|
|
with the whole issue of finding something worth living for, rather than
|
|
something worth dying for, since when, "Infection"? "
|
|
|
|
In retrospect, that was something I probably should not have mentioned,
|
|
and would not have, had the thing not just utterly blindsided me in the
|
|
middle of the conference. What got me through the attack, and its
|
|
aftermath, those years ago, was sheer unadulterated rage...that I would
|
|
not allow them to take my life because I had stories left in me to tell.
|
|
And no matter what, I'd tell those stories. At first, I'd made my peace
|
|
with myself...I'd never gone out of my way to hurt anyone, had helped
|
|
where I could, had done some good work...I had a few things on the shelf,
|
|
not a lot, but a start...but then I just started to get mad about it, and
|
|
pulled myself back from the edge.
|
|
|
|
So yeah, in a sense, I've faced that black, implacable wall...and it does
|
|
drive you, after a while. And I do think, to a large degree, I'm still
|
|
trying to define myself, to find what it is that's at the center for me,
|
|
beyond the work. But then, I don't think that's terribly special...it
|
|
seems to be the standard dilemma in an industrial society.
|
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jms
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|
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Date: 15 Nov 1996 08:11:53 GMT
|
|
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: Claudia Christian & Episode 402 (spoilers for "Whatever...")
|
|
|
|
No, those scenes were always written with Franklin in mind. There was a
|
|
brief scene with Ivanova originally in the ep, but it was snipped for
|
|
time.
|
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jms
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|
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Date: 15 Nov 1996 09:35:02 GMT
|
|
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: General B5 question
|
|
|
|
"Does reading through all these Internet discussions of your work,
|
|
speculations, and analyses help you not only generate ideas but maintain a
|
|
higher level of cohesion and complexity in the saga?"
|
|
|
|
No, for one primary reason: there is no continuity of opinion about much
|
|
of ANYdamnthing among the netizens out there. Which is the good thing
|
|
about all this; no two people see the same show.
|
|
|
|
But from this end, the story is the story is the story.
|
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jms
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|
|
Date: 15 Nov 1996 09:39:35 GMT
|
|
Subject: Re: JMS: Archetypes in B5?
|
|
|
|
---->*My question, then, is this: "Is babylon5 intended to be a modern
|
|
myth? If so, what influences might have lead to the scripting of the B5
|
|
saga? Jung? Campbell perhaps?"*<----
|
|
|
|
Yes and no. I'm aware of Campbell's work, and have read much of it...but
|
|
bear in mind that his analyses came *after* the creative fact. If you try
|
|
to consciously implement that during the writing, it can start making the
|
|
writing feel artificial. It's the difference between the first two Road
|
|
Warrior movies and Thunderdome...in the gap between 2 and 3, he read
|
|
Campbell, and started doing things by the numbers rather than following
|
|
his gut instinct. Consequently, 3 feels the least natural.
|
|
|
|
It's the job of the storyteller to provide myth, or perhaps more properly,
|
|
to reinterpret and reinvent myth, since myth tends not so much to be
|
|
created as to be newly understood, as we remake the world in our own image
|
|
every 15 years.
|
|
|
|
This is one responsibility that TV has, for the most part, abrogated. So
|
|
I'm trying as best I can to draw some archetypes and myths out of the
|
|
collective ether and stitch them together into new patterns for new
|
|
audiences....
|
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jms
|
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|
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|
|
Date: 15 Nov 1996 09:32:45 GMT
|
|
Subject: Re: ATTN: JMS "Poss. Spoiler for next ep after Whatever Happened..."
|
|
|
|
The scene was snipped for time.
|
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jms
|
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|
|
Date: 16 Nov 1996 06:42:25 GMT
|
|
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: sory if you got this before, but I'm not sure it went through
|
|
|
|
No, I didn't write for the V series, only did a 4-hour miniseries that was
|
|
not produced because it was too costly for syndication...and no, haven't
|
|
read the Niven book.
|
|
|
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|
jms
|
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|
|
Date: 16 Nov 1996 06:41:01 GMT
|
|
Subject: Re: jms and TV was: Whatever Happened to Mr. Garibaldi (* NO Spoilers *)
|
|
|
|
I love the history channel. I end up landing there late at night and
|
|
watching whatever's on, especially the newsreel stuff. Just terrific.
|
|
Interestingly, of all the new channels, THC is the one growing the fastest
|
|
right now. It gives me a small glimmer of hope....
|
|
|
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jms
|
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|
|
Date: 17 Nov 1996 10:23:27 GMT
|
|
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: WHTMG Timeline inconsistencies? (SPOILERS)
|
|
|
|
No, this is a case where jms screwed up.
|
|
|
|
Originally, the script read, "It's now 14 days since Captain Sheridan left
|
|
for Z'ha'dum and was presumed killed. Nine days since Mr. Garibaldi
|
|
disappeared while on patrol."
|
|
|
|
I went to edit the first sentence to make it active rather than passive
|
|
syntax. In handwriting on the page (after the first draft, the typists
|
|
take revisions and implement them), I meant to write, "It is now 9 days
|
|
since Captain Sheridan was presumed killed at Z'ha'dum." I either missed
|
|
changing the days, or the typist didn't put it in (it happens), and that
|
|
draft of the script is long gone. But without knowing which, I'll just
|
|
take the rap for it.
|
|
|
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|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
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|
|
Date: 17 Nov 1996 10:24:05 GMT
|
|
Subject: Re: JMS:Contract with Foundation dropped?
|
|
|
|
We were unable to make a deal with Foundation this season. All the new B5
|
|
effects for fourth season, including the first two aired, were done
|
|
in-house.
|
|
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
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|
|
Date: 17 Nov 1996 10:14:27 GMT
|
|
Subject: Re: Attn JMS: More Homicide/B5 similarities of technique . . .
|
|
|
|
"HANNAH: It's all trivial . . . It's wanting to know that makes us
|
|
matter. Otherwise we're going out the way we came in. -Tom Stoppard,
|
|
"Arcadia""
|
|
|
|
Saw this play while I was in London about a year and a half ago. Liked
|
|
parts of it, but as much as I like Tom Stoppard's work overall, I think
|
|
that if they're going to produce a play like this they should at least
|
|
have the politeness to TELL you that there's math involved. I didn't know
|
|
there would be a test.
|
|
|
|
(And since somebody's bound to ask...in addition to Stoppard, I'm very
|
|
fond of the work of Joe Orton, Harold Pinter (though a little of that goes
|
|
a long way), and Alan Ayckbourn (whose "Norman Conquests" is/are
|
|
wonderful). I also saw "Dancing at Luhnasa," and to this day don't
|
|
understand what all the furor was about, though it was a fine enough
|
|
play.)
|
|
|
|
Whenever I'm in London, I try to see as much theater as I can, because so
|
|
much of it is so well done there. Though, I must confess, I dozed off
|
|
halfway through a Restoration period sex farce (well, an attempt at same)
|
|
at the RSC Swan Theater that was dry as sawdust. "The Woman in Black"
|
|
remains one of the most entertaining small plays in London, a terrific
|
|
little ghost story that draws you in whether you want to be drawn in or
|
|
not. (The Buddy Holly autobiographical play is thin on plot, great on
|
|
music. But then, so was "Return to Forbidden Planet," and that was a hoot
|
|
also.) And the new staging of "An Inspector Calls" is just terrific.
|
|
|
|
This has been your theater review for the day. Thankyew.
|
|
|
|
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jms
|
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|
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|
|
Date: 19 Nov 1996 02:04:16 GMT
|
|
Subject: Re: Universe Today #2 ???
|
|
|
|
I have the new edition on my desk, in final form, and it's going out now.
|
|
The problem is that normally, when licensed stuff comes through for
|
|
approval, I get it in and out the door in 48 hours. But since this is our
|
|
own license, I can't approve our own stuff, and it has to go through WB.
|
|
WB sat on this thing for about two months. We're trying to work it out
|
|
with them to get things approved more quickly. It's kinda ridiculous.
|
|
|
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|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
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|
|
Date: 19 Nov 1996 02:06:51 GMT
|
|
Subject: Re: Attn: JMS, videos, e-mail, 'n stuff
|
|
|
|
The problem is in getting WB to kick loose of the rights to the videos.
|
|
We've been negotiating endlessly with them to let us do them...but they're
|
|
kinda like a monkey with its hand around a nut in a jar...it can't get it
|
|
out, but won't let go, either.
|
|
|
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|
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jms
|
|
|
|
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|
|
Date: 19 Nov 1996 02:08:27 GMT
|
|
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: Have you read...
|
|
|
|
Nope, haven't read it, have no intention of reading it.
|
|
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
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|
|
Date: 19 Nov 1996 02:07:43 GMT
|
|
Subject: Re: Att JMS: Yes, I know you don't celebrate Christmas ... :-)
|
|
|
|
Oh, I know Levenger's, believe me...they have whole barrels of my money
|
|
over there.
|
|
|
|
Great catalog, and nifty stuff.
|
|
|
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|
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jms
|
|
|
|
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|
|
Date: 19 Nov 1996 02:10:27 GMT
|
|
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: How far away is the rim from B5?
|
|
|
|
They are separated by an infinite number of plot points....
|
|
|
|
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|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Date: 19 Nov 1996 02:05:22 GMT
|
|
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: Pythonesque cat in episode 402?
|
|
|
|
The cat was my idea. Cats are endless sources of humor.
|
|
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
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|
|
Date: 19 Nov 1996 20:31:57 GMT
|
|
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS (and everyone else) : Why reruns after only four eps?
|
|
|
|
Yes, it was just 4 of 4, but you also had the last 5 of season 3, so
|
|
that's 9 in a row.
|
|
|
|
Basically, WB airs the show during sweeps periods. That means you've got
|
|
November, February, May and sometimes July. They've always done this.
|
|
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
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|
|
Date: 19 Nov 1996 20:37:16 GMT
|
|
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: Okay, this is dumb, but we've always wondered about it
|
|
|
|
The "teeth" sections, which overlap the door, have metal dowels that slide
|
|
into place into the door itself, holding it absolutely tight in case of a
|
|
hull breach or other decompression.
|
|
|
|
|
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|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
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|
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|
|
|
|
Date: 19 Nov 1996 20:52:11 GMT
|
|
Subject: Re: The Summoning: Welcome back to the 50's, kids! (Spoilers)
|
|
|
|
Re: "magictech"...I believe it was Arthur C. Clarke who pointed out, "Any
|
|
sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."
|
|
|
|
You wanna go argue with Clarke, feel free.
|
|
|
|
Lemme just make one point here. In the handful of decades between the
|
|
discovery of the atom, and its use at Hiroshima, we learned how to blow up
|
|
substantial portions of the planet and render it uninhabitable. But it
|
|
would've taken a lot of them, hundreds, to do the job. In the 50 years
|
|
since then, with the development of thermonuclear weaponry, the job is
|
|
even easier. It's been reckoned that you'd only need about 75 really
|
|
decent sized thermonuclear detonations to render the entire continental
|
|
United States dead and uninhabitable.
|
|
|
|
The shadows and the vorlons are *millions* of years ahead of us. We're
|
|
talking differences in technology that are orders of magnitude beyond what
|
|
we can hope to comprehend.
|
|
|
|
I think a planet killer eminently achievable.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Date: 19 Nov 1996 20:45:09 GMT
|
|
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: Season 5 rumor
|
|
|
|
I've been repeating this time and again...and I'm going to stop now for a
|
|
while, because I don't want to keep doing this 5 times a week.
|
|
|
|
Nothing has been firmly decided by WB yet. If there were, you would've
|
|
heard it.
|
|
|
|
Every season, we're barely into the new stories, and everyone asks, "Is
|
|
this it? Is it? Huh? ANSWER ME? WHAT ARE YOU HIDING? WHY WON'T YOU
|
|
CONFIRM OR DENY THIS?"
|
|
|
|
Because I don't know. Because WB doesn't know. Nobody will know ANYthing
|
|
for sure until probably February. Which is what I said last year, and the
|
|
year before.
|
|
|
|
I don't mean to be sharp about this, your message was fine, I'm just
|
|
getting a bit worn down by this every year.
|
|
|
|
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|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
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|
|
Date: 19 Nov 1996 20:40:07 GMT
|
|
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: WHtMG music (spoilers!)
|
|
|
|
During the music spotting session, where I indicate where music comes in
|
|
and goes out, my main note to Chris on that final sequence was, "Break our
|
|
heart."
|
|
|
|
He did.
|
|
|
|
|
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|
|
jms
|
|
|
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|
|
Date: 19 Nov 1996 20:41:41 GMT
|
|
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: WHtMG music (spoilers!)
|
|
|
|
"Was this scene redone for WHtMG? I'd have to compare, but I think I
|
|
would've noticed that hopeful smile at the end of Z. It would've been
|
|
just a -little- out of place, under the circumstances."
|
|
|
|
It's *exactly* the same footage, frame for frame. Only your perspective
|
|
has changed.
|
|
|
|
Sort of like Shroedinger's TV show.
|
|
|
|
|
|
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|
jms
|
|
|
|
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|
|
Date: 21 Nov 1996 00:10:08 GMT
|
|
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: Scripts?
|
|
|
|
Dunno if they'll ever be released...currently the only commercially
|
|
available copy of a B5 script is in my Complete Book of Scriptwriting, for
|
|
"The Coming of Shadows."
|
|
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Date: 21 Nov 1996 00:12:29 GMT
|
|
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS : Spoiler credits!
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Credits are done through screen actors guild regulations, and thus can't
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be helped if they appear in inconvenient places, I'm afraid.
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jms
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Date: 21 Nov 1996 00:15:13 GMT
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Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: Summoning (minor spoilers)
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"Joe, as I just said to a friend, you're spreading a madness with your
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writing. Have you no shame, sir? No conscience? No compassion for the
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minds you're destroying?"
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Don't be silly...remember, I'm a television producer....
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jms
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Date: 21 Nov 1996 02:58:16 GMT
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Subject: Re: JMS' Purpose for B5 (Philosophical)
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"JMS leaves us to find our own answers and that looks like, to me, his
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message in Babylon 5. You can't just have someone give you all the
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answers. At some point you have to break away and find your own answers
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to your own questions. This seems to be the idea in a lot of his
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scriptwriting and his posts. In fact, the essence of B5 revolves around
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it. You don't know what other people are thinking, the good guys arent
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always what they appear to be, and life is NOT black and white. Relying
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on others for answers makes you a slave to them because you believe
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whatever they tell you."
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DING!
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Give that man a ceegar.
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jms
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Date: 21 Nov 1996 20:53:13 GMT
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Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: The Summoning (* Spoilers *)
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Actually, to your question, I've taught before, and would enjoy doing so
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again in some kind of university environment. (I taught writing at San
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Diego State University for a semester as well, but the other instructors
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didn't much like that a working writer was teaching writing instead of an
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academic doing it, as they felt it sullied the program and made it too
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commercial.)
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jms
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Date: 21 Nov 1996 22:57:42 GMT
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Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: B5 Jackets
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Those jackets are exclusively for cast and crew.
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jms
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Date: 21 Nov 1996 22:56:19 GMT
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Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: Who, What, Why (Philosophical)
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That only works if you define yourself by what you do...not what you are.
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But as Lorien says, there's never a good answer to it.
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jms
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Date: 22 Nov 1996 09:21:29 GMT
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Subject: Re: Pasadena Convention
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"And please JMS, don't be hard on Andreas--he's had a hard time the last
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few eposides, and with the stress of Peter messing with his nipples, you
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could see why he broke and did the gag."
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Oh, no...he doesn't get off that easy. I've got 9 episodes left to write
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this season, and that's ample opportunity to make his life a living hell.
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"Let's see...he's my employer...he can make me do ANYthing he wants me to
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do...I've got an idea, let's fuck with his mind!"
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Oh, but I'm going to enjoy this *mightily*.
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jms
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Date: 22 Nov 1996 09:22:11 GMT
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Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: New B5 Advertisement!!!!!
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Cool, I gotta see that! Thanks, I didn't know.
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jms
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Date: 22 Nov 1996 09:22:49 GMT
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Subject: Re: Attn. JMS: Kevin Dobson?
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No, this Kevin is an Australian director.
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jms
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Date: 22 Nov 1996 09:33:47 GMT
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Subject: Re: Attn JMS: A Thank You
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Thank you, your words are most kind.
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I guess you have to understand...I come at this from the perspective of
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having been an SF fan myself, I've *stood* in those lines. And been cut
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off. I swore, up one side and down the other, that if I should ever get
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my chance to do something of merit, if I ever got known (outside of
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America's Most Wanted), that I wouldn't allow ANYone to experience that
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feeling. I've signed for sometimes 3, 4 hours at a time. Doesn't matter.
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Nobody leaves emptyhanded. Nobody.
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This has infected many members of our cast, who feel as I do...and they go
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far, far, FAR beyond the call of duty.
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'Cause, basically...it's the right thing to do.
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jms
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Date: 22 Nov 1996 09:26:34 GMT
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Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: Frightening Speech in Summoning (spoilers for same)
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Yup, I'd say it's very likely that some people close to Sheridan are going
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to be wondering about his attitude...and maybe even acting on it.
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jms
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Date: 22 Nov 1996 09:53:21 GMT
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Subject: Audio Advisory (from jms)
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So earlier this week we did the audio mix on almost all of 404, "Falling
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Toward Apotheosis," which airs this coming week. We did all but 7
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minutes, because they were seven...big...minutes.
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Last night, after working at the stage from early morning on, John
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Copeland, George Johnsen and I left about 7 p.m. to go and mix the audio
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for those seven minutes.
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We finished at 2:30 a.m. (And I had to get up at 7:30 a.m. for a meeting,
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no less.)
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Point being...if you've got a friend with a good TV and a spiffy audio or
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surround sound system, you may want to watch this next one over at their
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place.
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Just a thought.
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jms
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Date: 23 Nov 1996 02:55:30 GMT
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Subject: Re: JMS over on CIS
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It's a combination of the ease of the CIS interface, that I can do it
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offline more easily, and the type of questions.
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jms
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Date: 24 Nov 1996 05:21:28 GMT
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Subject: Re: Question to JMS about the background of developing the alien nations & organizations
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Yes, I certainly tend to draw on historical parallels for parts of the B5
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universe backstory.
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jms
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Date: 24 Nov 1996 03:26:25 GMT
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Subject: Re: ATTN: JMS Ode to JMS: In honor of season four
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....hrmpfrh....
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jms
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Date: 24 Nov 1996 03:34:34 GMT
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Subject: jms conference on Monday
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Just a quick advisory...I'll be doing the first major online conference on
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the B5 website at 6:00 p.m. Pacific time this coming Monday. That's
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http://www.thestation.com for the official B5 fanclub site.
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jms
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Date: 25 Nov 1996 00:17:12 GMT
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Subject: Re: Attn:JMS Babylon 5:Crusaders-Reality check
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Actually, I've said pretty much from the very beginning of the first
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season, that there was a side-story that could go off, which I'd be
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interested in telling. And that may be a possibility.
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And it's not Crusaders (which always makes me think of Crusader Rabbit);
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it's The Babylon Project: Crusade. (That's the working title, anyway.)
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jms
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Date: 25 Nov 1996 00:15:52 GMT
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Subject: Re: Falling Toward Apotheosis (* Spoilers *)
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Remember, they do have a certain physicality about them, even in that
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form, and the nature of the poison was such that it would affect that kind
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of life form using a crystalline base (note in the pilot the screen reads
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analyzing crystallne structure, and you filter light or refract or distort
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it using a crystalline structure).
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jms
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Date: 25 Nov 1996 09:08:54 GMT
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Subject: Re: ATTN: JMS (B5 Videos)
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Yes, we shoot widescreen, and hope to release in that form eventually.
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jms
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Date: 26 Nov 1996 01:15:33 GMT
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Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: Arc ending this season?
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"I then pick up a copy of TV Zone(UK Magazine for sci-fi etc) and read in
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it an interview with Bruce Boxleitner which clearly states the shows 5
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year arc is ending this year. And then I pick up a copy of Cult TV, with
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an interview with JMS in it, and this also features the same info, except
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this time it states quite clearly that Warner Brothers have asked JMS to
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resolve the shows 5 year arc this season."
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Yes, I have those two magazines as well, both from the same publisher.
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And I was rather upset when I saw them, because, if you will go back and
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read them again, you will see that nowhere are Bruce or I quoted as SAYING
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that there is only going to be 4 years. The *magazine* says that, the
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writer says that, but they nowhere provide a quote from anyone backing
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that up. I *sure* as hell didn't say that, and Bruce has indicated the
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same thing to me.
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The magazine is making assumptions. Let me state this again: nothing has
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yet been decided for certain. If it had been, I would tell you.
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Look...let's be logical about this, shall we? If I knew this would be the
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last year, what possible mileage is there in keeping this secret? I'd
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want to put this info out there in hopes of either a) getting a campaign
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going, or b) bracing the fans for the inevitable, if it were inevitable
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(the joke about your mom's on the roof and we can't get her down).
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Let me repeat this: I DON'T KNOW. WB DOESN'T KNOW. Nothing has yet been
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decided for certain.
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jms
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Date: 26 Nov 1996 05:59:14 GMT
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Subject: Monday chat screwup
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Just a note to apologize to those who showed up at thestation.com for the
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chat Monday night. DirectNet, the people who handle the server (and as of
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this moment we are giving strong consideration to going elsewhere, after
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this fiasco), figured (without asking us) that they'd get maybe about 100
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or so people, based on other chats. They allocated memory and other
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resources accordingly.
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So when about 2,000 people showed up...it blew the system to hell and back
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again. Result: chaos, confusion, lock-outs, angry calls to DirectNet,
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server errors...a mess.
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(It's always the same deal...at conventions, online...they always
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underestimate how many people are going to show up. It's almost funny
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enough to make me reconsider gouging out the eyes of several DirectNet
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personnel and feeding them to hamsters. Almost.)
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I can only apologize, and say that as with all things we try for the first
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time...this will *not* happen again.
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jms
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Date: 26 Nov 1996 09:44:18 GMT
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Subject: Re: ATTN:JMS: A 5 Year Universe Done in 4 Years?
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The story will be finished, one way or another.
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jms
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Date: 27 Nov 1996 01:48:14 GMT
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Subject: Re: JMS: Next time, use IRC. =)
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No, it wouldn't have been as bad if they'd been prepared for us.
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Also, while many boast about IRCs being the end-all of these things, the
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IRC that I did while in Tampa had just as many servers blow up, all over
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the place.
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Final figure was that 6,000 tried to get into this thing...there ain't a
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server on the planet that can handle that.
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jms
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Date: 28 Nov 1996 01:03:15 GMT
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Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: how we spend Saturday evenings
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Thanks. I'm happy that the show can provide a bridge between so many
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diverse and interesting people. It makes the efforth worthwhile.
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jms
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Date: 28 Nov 1996 01:04:51 GMT
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Subject: Re: ATTN: JMS Bright Mountain Range
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Those are city lights, visible as any big city is visible from space by
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the lights.
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jms
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Date: 28 Nov 1996 01:14:08 GMT
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Subject: Re: Paradigm shifts and B5/Trek
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"I felt as if I had been *deprogrammed,* and stopped thinking of the
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future in terms of that one vision of it, and being a hard scientist,
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that's a pretty embarrassing admission to make. But it was stunning
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to*feel* it happen to myself. After a lifetime of watching Trek as the
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*only* vision of the future that most people were aware of, it's amazing
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to become fully aware of the depth of the belief suspension, until it
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seems like the "real" future is the one with the Crayola uniforms and the
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communicators on the chest."
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This was something I began to really understand during the first season,
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and was something I hadn't anticipated going in. Some of the reaction
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against B5 was so strong from some groups of ST fans...it wasn't just one
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show vs. another, there was a vehemence in it that was coming from
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something deeper.
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Eventually I began to figure it out, that it was also two competing
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visions of the future. I've mentioned before the angry letter I got that,
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among other things, said that the person was thrown every time one of our
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characters used a hand link when "everyone *knows* that by then we'll be
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using chest communicators." It was a vision thing (to use a fairly recent
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campaign slogan). The problem then becomes, for lack of a better term, a
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religious problem...competing ideologies, notions to which one has
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committed oneself. And the most heated wars are always religious wars.
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It's been...interesting.
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jms
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Date: 28 Nov 1996 04:35:52 GMT
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Subject: Re: What's happening this season?
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Deanna: thanks. Your words are most kind, and eminently appreciated.
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jms
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Date: 28 Nov 1996 04:44:32 GMT
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Subject: jms & co at LosCon (LA)
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This Thanksgiving Sunday, from 2:30-4:30 p.m., there will be a B5
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presentation at LosCon, an annual fan-run convention here in Los Angeles.
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LosCon was the very first convention to get behind B5 and support it, and
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our appearance there every year is something that means a lot to all
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involved. It also tends to be the biggest event of each year's
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convention.
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For the first hour it'll be me, with clips from episodes as yet unaired,
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the first pass at the season four bloopers (shown here for the first time,
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still in rough form, some elements of which will be cut as we get further
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along), a music video or two, and the like. The second hour I'll be
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joined by producer John Copeland (aka pigdog13 on AOL, frequent SF Vortex
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guest, and resident Media Sex God), co-producer George Johnsen, and
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conceptual consultant Harlan Ellison. Peter Jurasik may make it by,
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contingent upon family obligations, but that's unconfirmed. We always try
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and debut stuff there.
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LosCon is a good sized (1,000 or so) fan-run convention that's been going
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on here in LA for decades, and a great deal of fun. This year it's taking
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place at the Burbank Airport Hilton, just abaft from, well, Burbank
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Aiport.
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Because the B5 presentations are the biggest thing at each year's LosCon,
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you may want to show up a bit early.
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jms
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Date: 29 Nov 1996 06:43:59 GMT
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Subject: Re: Paradigm shifts and B5/Trek
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"No one's claiming Trek doesn't have its failings. The issue at hand is
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the B5 folk who feel compelled to constantly ridicule Trek. There's not
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much point, and the attitude is suspiciously cult-like, even if they
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aren't really a cult."
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One fallacy in your thinking: while there are many ST fans who haven't
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seen B5, there are insofar as I know *no* B5 fans who haven't seen ST, and
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in most cases, began as ST fans. These are the same complaints many of
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them have had with ST for a time long before B5 ever came on the
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map...only now in some cases they have a show which is doing what they
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have been saying should be done for some time now.
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This is not a B5 problem...it's an internal ST problem.
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jms
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Date: 29 Nov 1996 09:44:24 GMT
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Subject: Re: ATTN JMS- Ever Been to Toronto?
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"I have noticed that you make appearances at many conventions and even
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went overseas but I have yet to hear you make an appearence in Toronto or
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any other part of Canada. Is it a matter of being invited or is it a lack
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of free time?"
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Yes, no, and none of the above.
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There is a time question, in that that's a LONG flight from L.A., and
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getting away is tough. I do happen to like Toronto, I was there several
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times while working on Captain Power and The Twilight Zone, and when I was
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nominated there for a Gemini Award (the Canadian equivilent of an Emmy).
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I've always enjoyed my time there, so it's nothing against the city,
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believe me.
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The other problem is venue. I've been invited by Toronto Trek, for
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instance, by some very nice people there...but I have kind of a standing
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policy about not going to any conventions whose names relate to Star Trek,
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because when I did them I always got gigged for "poaching" by many ST fans
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who still perceive this as a zero-sum game. I don't put this onto my
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cast, who can go as they choose, but again they don't have the same onus
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in this regard that I do.
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Aside from that one, I haven't heard from any cons of sufficient size to
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make the long trip worth doing. Going that far for less than about 1500
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people is hard to justify in the midst of filming. (That's turned into
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one of my few rules about conventions...the further away it is, the more
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there has to be a goodly number of people to justify it...because I *hate*
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traveling, and really long trips also cut into my work on the show...so
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the more time away from the show, the more I have to justify it
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logistically.)
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jms
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Date: 30 Nov 1996 00:06:09 GMT
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Subject: Re: ***ATTN JMS: Atonement***
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Thanks...I really do think that this show will be around for a long, long
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time....
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jms
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Date: 30 Nov 1996 00:07:43 GMT
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Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: Londo and "Falling Towards Apotheosis"
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Thanks. The Londo stuff is nice, and you do get a sense of the kind of
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person he was before the empire began to slip, and his fortunes with it.
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He can definitely pull it out when he wants to.
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jms
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Date: 30 Nov 1996 00:08:26 GMT
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Subject: Re: Attn: JMS: Does this apply (Andreas/Peter)
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Suffice to say you'll hear about it.....
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jms
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Date: 30 Nov 1996 00:10:00 GMT
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Subject: Re: ATTN JMS another compliment (possible *Spoilers*)
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"What I like most about B5, I guess, is this: Shit happens. Shit happens
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to us, not the guest aliens of the week. Shit STAYS happened."
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That's a great last line...I may refer to that in future, thanks.
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jms
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Date: 30 Nov 1996 06:13:33 GMT
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Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: Biggus Headus
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"I have been wondering for a while...with the constant inundation of
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respect, adoration and awe from most on this newsgroup(not to mention
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conventions and fan mail), just how do you keep it all from going to your
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head? I would personally find being dubbed 'Great Maker' a little
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intoxicating."
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I guess it's easy to not let that happen since, for me, it's all for the
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show, not for me personally. I have a very hard time applying that to
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me...the show is the show. I'm still the same goofball I was before I
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made B5. And I find that whenever I start getting cocky, the universe
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whaps me upside the head, and makes me humble *real* fast.
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Example...the other day, we were finishing up the editing on 408, "The
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Illusion of Truth." Making the producer's cut is the hardest thing I do,
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and I'm just exhausted at the end of it. So I'm taking a five minute
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break, waiting for the elevator to go downstairs and grab a coke, just to
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wake up...and I'm alone, walking back and forth in the hall...in that
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kinda dopey way you do when you're just utterly whacked...I go a few
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paces, swing my leg around, half/stagger back the other direction, go a
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few paces, repeat...my mind elsewhere....
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And the door opens, mid-swing...and I start for it...and being off-balance
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I end up doing this drunken-looking stagger right past the elevator
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doors....
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The way it would've looked from the inside is as if the elevator doors
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opened up on the fourth deck of the Lusitania, tilted and going down, and
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some crew member was tumbling down the angled deck....and the door closes
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again.
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I was too embarrassed to get into it, and waited for the next one.
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So it's real easy for me to keep modest...I don't think I have much
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choice.
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"Do you ever find it affecting your writing? Your dealing with the cast &
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crew?
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No, they also have their ways of keeping me modest...hence Andreas' recent
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little gag...for which he will pay dearly....
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jms
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Date: 30 Nov 1996 09:10:13 GMT
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Subject: Re: JMS makes my wife squeal Saturday Nights!
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"My petite, demure wife, a professional woman of letters, turns the lights
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down on Saturday nights (when the show airs), sprawls on the floor,
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demands total control, and then when some piece of dailoge strikes her
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just so, shreeks, holding in laughter, so she can hear the rest. Then
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when there is a great space scene, load moaning commentary like, "No, no,
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no... YES! Yes, yes!!!" is shouted."
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(laying back, lighting a cigarette)
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I'm sorry, what were you saying?
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Okay, who wants pizza?
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jms
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Date: 30 Nov 1996 09:16:51 GMT
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Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: Congratulations on your current ratings trend!
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Yeah, the rankings sometimes drop even when the hard numbers increase when
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you're in sweeps period, and everybody's fighting it out and there's a lot
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of stunt programming going on. To stay in the top 25 is a great thing,
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and the growth in households is even better. That's between 10-15 million
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core viewers, and that's very good for a syndicated show, especially when
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other dramatic shows like the ST series have seen definite drops (as per
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the latest Entertainment Weekly). And our demographics remain the highest
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for any syndicated series, so that makes the show extremely attractive to
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advertisers.
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jms
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