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The Lurker's Guide to Babylon 5
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JMS (and coproducer George Johnsen) Usenet messages for January 1998.
Date: 2 Jan 1998 12:35:07 -0700
Subject: Re: Who Provides Lighting and Grip Equipment?
All our hard equipment for actual photography (lights, camera, related stuff)
is rented each season; same for most shows.
jms
(jmsatb5@aol.com)
B5 Official Fan Club at:
http://www.thestation.com
Date: 2 Jan 1998 12:35:14 -0700
Subject: Re: ATTEN: JMS Re: my delicate question(s)
No, I haven't yet, and I should. Thanks for poking me.
jms
(jmsatb5@aol.com)
B5 Official Fan Club at:
http://www.thestation.com
Date: 2 Jan 1998 12:35:36 -0700
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: Rewriting on cue?
>Do you work differently when you write for the stage? Would you send the
>B5 scripts through additional revisions if you had the time?
No, in writing my play now, and in those I've written before, I generally just
write it the way I hear it, and it's up to the actors to find a way to make
that work. (If something absolutely falls on its face and doesn't work and
it's the fault of the words, however, then you gotta fix it.)
As for question 2...understand that there isn't a frame of B5, or a page, that
I wouldn't keep tinkering with ad infinitum. Every time I look at ANYthing
I've done, I always want to go back and tweak something.
As somebody once said: art is never finished, only abandoned.
jms
(jmsatb5@aol.com)
B5 Official Fan Club at:
http://www.thestation.com
Date: 2 Jan 1998 12:35:59 -0700
Subject: Re: ATTN: JMS wait and see?
>I'm wondering if both you and WB are waiting to see the B5 ratings on
>TNT before finalizing a deal on Crusade.
>
>
Nope. The contract has been sent to me for signing several times, and each
time it has had some problem or another that needed fixing. (See, this is how
the process works: your agent and the studio negotiate over the phone. Come to
terms. Deal memos go out, which often don't reflect the conversations, but
they hope you won't notice. You catch the "errors" and send back the memos.
Next come the actual contracts, and sonuvagun, more "errors" have slipped
through, and now THEY need to be corrected, if you can find them in the 90
pages of 8 point type. So that's been the only real holdup. It's standard.)
jms
(jmsatb5@aol.com)
B5 Official Fan Club at:
http://www.thestation.com
Date: 2 Jan 1998 12:36:39 -0700
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: Oscar Season perks
>I have noticed that studios routinely offer free entry to theaters for
>Academy and Guild members during award season.
>Do you take advantage of the chance to see all your favorite flicks for
>free? Or is it no big deal?
Who has time to see movies?
jms
(jmsatb5@aol.com)
B5 Official Fan Club at:
http://www.thestation.com
Date: 2 Jan 1998 12:36:50 -0700
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS
Thanks, to you and your cat.
jms
(jmsatb5@aol.com)
B5 Official Fan Club at:
http://www.thestation.com
Date: 3 Jan 1998 12:52:13 -0700
Subject: Re: Attn JMS: Any future additions to Gold Channel?
Yeah, I gotta give Jeffrey more chapters...I keep leaving the disk at home.
jms
(jmsatb5@aol.com)
B5 Official Fan Club at:
http://www.thestation.com
Date: 3 Jan 1998 18:06:33 -0700
Subject: Re: JMS: sigs and baiting
>When I saw you and Claudia chatting live
>on AOL a few years ago, I read genuine respect and affection from both of
>you. It couldn't have been as simple as just losing an employee, and it
>really burns my britches people haven't stopped to realize that you
>probably took a personal shot to the gut when she failed to sign.
Steve...you have no idea.
Thanks. It needed saying.
jms
(jmsatb5@aol.com)
B5 Official Fan Club at:
http://www.thestation.com
Date: 4 Jan 1998 09:16:17 -0700
Subject: In the Beginning ( *Spoilers* )
Spoilers for In the Beginning
It's 35 years from the time in which Londo is speaking, and Anna and Sheridan
weren't married during the war, they were married after.
jms
(jmsatb5@aol.com)
B5 Official Fan Club at:
http://www.thestation.com
Date: 4 Jan 1998 09:19:08 -0700
Subject: Re: attn: JMS, The Official Babylon 5 1998 Calendar
I agree that Antioch should consider doing some of these as prints; the
calendar is just gorgeous.
jms
(jmsatb5@aol.com)
B5 Official Fan Club at:
http://www.thestation.com
Date: 4 Jan 1998 09:19:27 -0700
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS : The complete book of scriptwriting
Our first two seasons were roughly 40-50% freelance, which is a substantially
higher average than most shows. Years 3 and 4 were mine, mainly because of the
difficulty in farming out stories in that situation.
Crusade will almost certainly to back to the 40-50% freelance mode, which is
frankly my preference, and it's been that way on all the previous shows I've
done.
jms
(jmsatb5@aol.com)
B5 Official Fan Club at:
http://www.thestation.com
Date: 4 Jan 1998 09:19:43 -0700
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS- REAL dumb question.
>So, I'm watching TNT's guide to B5 in the same room as my
>parents, and when they mention the Centauri's 6 genitals, my mom asks
>an all important question.... Which one do they use for urination?
That assumes the urinate out of the same organs they use for sex; ain't
necessarily the case.
jms
(jmsatb5@aol.com)
B5 Official Fan Club at:
http://www.thestation.com
Date: 4 Jan 1998 09:20:25 -0700
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: B5 theme question
> I finally caught "Guide to Babylon 5" this morning on TNT, and right
>after it was an episode of New Twilight Zone from 1989, penned by none other
>than you. Was TNT even conscious that they were doing this, or was it merely
>strange luck?
I certainly didn't know about it.
>The episode of NTZ was the one where a secret military project
>accidently opened up a wormhole. The lead character was sent through for
>"risk assessment" and also to find the others that had been sent through
>before him.
Ah..."The Wall."
>the general theme of the episode seemed
>very B5ish, in terms of personal responsibility, making sacrifices for the
>greater good, questions of duty and honor, etc. Which brings me to my
>question.
> Did these themes become important to you in 1986(?) when you first had
>the whole B5 story come to you in a flash, or did the B5 story come to you
>because you had been dwelling on these themes for much of your life?
I've always tried to deal with issues that matter to me in what I write. I
can't do it any other way. If you pull out any of my work, from whatever show,
I try to sneak in the issues that get caught in my filter. Hell, it's even in
the animated series I wrote.
I was with friends recently, and just for (as John Copeland says) shits and
grins, I fired up an old episode of He Man a few weeks ago, which was my first
TV staff writing gig of any substance. I picked up "Origin of the Sorceress."
And the friends commented that virtually all of the themes in B5 are right
there in that one episode. Not the plot, the characters, none of that...the
*themes*, the points of personal sacrifice, responsibility, on and on.
I believe, very strongly, that TV should not be just entertainment. It must
entertain, yes, because if it doesn't entertain ain't nobody gonna watch
it...but as Mark Twain said, while it must not overtly preach or overtly teach,
it must *covertly* teach and covertly preach.
It's there in about 95% of all my work...especially on The Twilight Zone, and
in other shows to varying extents. I don't tend to do moral shows -- if you
haven't figured out by now that racism is bad, a TeeVee show ain't gonna teach
it to you -- but I do try to do ethical shows, which get people to talk about
what's at issue.
No matter how dopey the show, as long as you approach it with, as Balzac said,
"clean hands and composure," and tell the stories that matter to you, about the
issues that count, the work is valid.
jms
(jmsatb5@aol.com)
B5 Official Fan Club at:
http://www.thestation.com
Date: 5 Jan 1998 00:35:44 -0700
Subject: Re: new edit of The Gathering ( *Spoilers* )
>So Kosh recognizes that Sinclair is the same person he knew 1000 years in
>the past as Valen; since Kosh didn't know that this wasn't really Sinclair
>(else why greet him so?) wouldn't this have given Sinclair a dangerous
>foreknowledge?
Internal dialogue...what he was thinking, his reaction.
jms
(jmsatb5@aol.com)
B5 Official Fan Club at:
http://www.thestation.com
Date: 5 Jan 1998 00:39:28 -0700
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: Cost question...
> I'm going to make this extremely brief; About how much has it
>cost so far in production costs so far, not including promotions?
If "it" means the series, it's always been under $900 thousand per episode. If
"it" means ItB, the production cost was just a tick under three million bucks.
jms
(jmsatb5@aol.com)
B5 Official Fan Club at:
http://www.thestation.com
Date: 5 Jan 1998 00:41:07 -0700
Subject: Re: San Jose Merc's Faint Praise for B5
The San Jose Mercury basically predicted our demise a long time ago, and
critics have a way of getting snippy when what they say will happen, doesn't.
We've seen that in a few other reviews as well. They don't like having their
noses (and their predictions) rubbed in our success.
jms
(jmsatb5@aol.com)
B5 Official Fan Club at:
http://www.thestation.com
Date: 5 Jan 1998 00:45:34 -0700
Subject: Re: Attn JMS: One Quick Question.
>Do you get nervous at times like this?
Nervous doesn't even come CLOSE to describing it.
jms
(jmsatb5@aol.com)
B5 Official Fan Club at:
http://www.thestation.com
Date: 5 Jan 1998 00:47:34 -0700
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS- Cameo questions- ITB and tG
> Was that you negotiating in the scene with Patricia and the
>crooked businessman in The Gathering?
Nope.
jms
(jmsatb5@aol.com)
B5 Official Fan Club at:
http://www.thestation.com
Date: 5 Jan 1998 00:59:50 -0700
Subject: Re: ATTN: JMS - Londo
>He really is going to hell isn't he? He's going to burn like newspaper
>dipped in sheep grease.
There's certainly a karmic point of no return, isn't there?
jms
(jmsatb5@aol.com)
B5 Official Fan Club at:
http://www.thestation.com
Date: 5 Jan 1998 08:50:50 -0700
Subject: Re: The Missing Third Question
"Why are you here?" asked by Lorien, is #3. The balance point between the two.
There's a fourth question coming, though.
jms
(jmsatb5@aol.com)
B5 Official Fan Club at:
http://www.thestation.com
Date: 5 Jan 1998 09:04:33 -0700
Subject: Re: Production Crew?
>You have freelance directors, freelance scriptwriters, freelance actors.. Are
>there any "normal" crew associated with a production, and if so, under what
>company do they fall? (Babylonian Productions?)
Those (actors, writers, directors) are all above-the-line people. The
below-the-line crew are all regular employees: camera operators and grips,
carpenters, costumers, others. Most of the company consists of regular
employees, under BP.
jms
(jmsatb5@aol.com)
B5 Official Fan Club at:
http://www.thestation.com
Date: 9 Jan 1998 09:23:33 -0700
Subject: Re: In the Beginning ( *Spoilers* )
>>> (But what happened to "No kids or cute robots"?)
>>
>> I was wondering that, too. It would have been
>>more like JMS to have Keepers on the kiddies'
>>backs.
Hello...is anyone there...? I always said that in relation to SERIES REGULARS
AND RECURS. Every time we have a kid on the show, and we've had several,
somebody throws this at me without once remembering that this applies to series
regulars/recurs, like Wesleys or the bots from Buck Rogers.
And then somebody gigs me for something I didn't say.
jms
(jmsatb5@aol.com)
B5 Official Fan Club at:
http://www.thestation.com
Date: 9 Jan 1998 09:23:46 -0700
Subject: Re: In the Beginning ( *Spoilers* )
No, the karmic point of no return is the whole of his life, from ItB's events
through the bombing of Narn, which led to the death of hundreds of thoudands or
more.
jms
(jmsatb5@aol.com)
B5 Official Fan Club at:
http://www.thestation.com
Date: 9 Jan 1998 09:25:49 -0700
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: Early shows...
Thanks...I agree, the efx have to stay secondary to the characters. You may
not remember the details of a plot, but you remember Captain Ahab....
jms
(jmsatb5@aol.com)
B5 Official Fan Club at:
http://www.thestation.com
Date: 9 Jan 1998 09:26:15 -0700
Subject: jms note re: tapings
There was a glitch in the Sunday broadcast of In the Beginning. They missed a
commercial break after the first act (as Lenonn goes to see Dukhat), and
inserted one in the middle of act 6. That will be corrected in the next run,
so anyone who wants to get a copy of the movie with the right act breaks should
tape the next one.
jms
(jmsatb5@aol.com)
B5 Official Fan Club at:
http://www.thestation.com
Date: 9 Jan 1998 09:26:51 -0700
Subject: Re: ITB - the Party in Portland - Afterwords (no spoilers)
At the LA party, there was a second level above the one where we were all
hanging out, and civilians were shooting pool and carrying on at the second
level until an employee went to talk to them. A beat later, one of them, a
woman, leaned over the rail to look down at what we were doing (having been
oblivious to it prior to this), saw the TVs showing ItB, and turned to her
companion, saying, "Oh...it's something to do with Star Trek."
jms
(jmsatb5@aol.com)
B5 Official Fan Club at:
http://www.thestation.com
Date: 9 Jan 1998 09:27:00 -0700
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: View into C&C from outside of stattion updside down?
Nope, they're in the right position. The central docking bay is in the center
of the station, and C&C is about one-third of the way away, so the head of the
person is pointing up toward the docking bay.
We don't make t hose kinds of mistakes.
jms
jms
(jmsatb5@aol.com)
B5 Official Fan Club at:
http://www.thestation.com
Date: 9 Jan 1998 09:35:13 -0700
Subject: Re: ATTN: JMS (In the Beginning)
Thanks...and it wasn't so much a case of Ulkesh turning against the effort, but
finally hitting the end of his patience with the humans, and his predecessor's
decision to let the "natives" get out of control.
jms
(jmsatb5@aol.com)
B5 Official Fan Club at:
http://www.thestation.com
Date: 9 Jan 1998 09:35:20 -0700
Subject: Re: ATTN: JMS Foreshadowing and "Infection"
That's the thing...I wrote this show for the long-term, and if you watch it in
the way it'll be shown in the long-term, daily, it becomes a whole different
show.
It was a bitch to pull off, too, lemme tell you....
jms
(jmsatb5@aol.com)
B5 Official Fan Club at:
http://www.thestation.com
Date: 9 Jan 1998 09:35:36 -0700
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS, congrats on ITB
The reactions were just terrific...and yeah, was very nervous and hoping it
went well.
jms
(jmsatb5@aol.com)
B5 Official Fan Club at:
http://www.thestation.com
Date: 9 Jan 1998 16:20:19 -0700
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: Writing Question
>That started me wondering -- just how much can you separate the
>characters from the plot? Maybe you have a character with the potential
>to be just fascinating, but if you don't give him anything interesting
>to do, how will your audience know?
People are fascinating by what they do or say, you can't have a character who's
fascinating but does nothing, so it's kind of a moot point.
But in general, plot proceeds from character...it's from defining who the
character is, what he wants, how far he's willing to go to get it, and how far
someone else will go to stop him. From that comes all the rest.
jms
(jmsatb5@aol.com)
B5 Official Fan Club at:
http://www.thestation.com
Date: 9 Jan 1998 16:20:25 -0700
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: The Book Of G'Kar?
>Whatever happend to the Book Of G'Kar? Is he still working on it? Or
>did his imprisonment by the Centauri distract him? Will we hear more
>about it in the near future?
Quite a bit, actually, and very soon.
jms
(jmsatb5@aol.com)
B5 Official Fan Club at:
http://www.thestation.com
Date: 9 Jan 1998 16:23:46 -0700
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: How does it feel...
Relieved. Pleased. Tired. Proud. And very soon to be massively depressed as
5 years worth of post-partum depression kicks in.
jms
(jmsatb5@aol.com)
B5 Official Fan Club at:
http://www.thestation.com
Date: 9 Jan 1998 16:23:39 -0700
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: B5 Under-budget?
>B5
>seems to be alone in an place where most producers think that budgets
>are made to be ignored.
On every season, and on every one of the TV movies, we have come in a bit under
budget. Every time. Not by skimping, really, but simply by planning properly.
See, I have this silly notion that if somebody gives you $21 million bucks or
so to make a series, it kinda behooves you to act responsibly.
A little over $100 million will have passed through this company in making 5
years and 3 movies of B5...and every dollar has been accounted for, well spent,
and handled with sufficient responsibility that WB has gotten back its
underbudget on each season. We have periodic audits, as with every production
company working with a studio, and they're gone within a few hours of arriving,
proclaiming our books the best they've ever seen.
It's responsibility, a concept not often understood on this end of the coast.
jms
(jmsatb5@aol.com)
B5 Official Fan Club at:
http://www.thestation.com
Date: 9 Jan 1998 16:24:42 -0700
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: My Cat is a Vorlon!
GET OUT OF THE HOUSE! GET OUT OF THE HOUSE RIGHT NOW!
jms
(jmsatb5@aol.com)
B5 Official Fan Club at:
http://www.thestation.com
Date: 9 Jan 1998 16:25:37 -0700
Subject: Re: HEY JMS! Answer a couple of questions(****sanity**** warning)
>1. Have you finished writing the last three scripts for the 5th season?
>
No.
>2. Does Claudia Christensen have a guest shot anywhere in Season 5?
>
No, and who is Claudia Christensen?
>3. What exactly is Thirdspace supposed to be about? No spoilers please
>
Then don't ask.
>4. Do you find me attractive?
For what purpose?
>4b. Do you need a poorly paid lackey to beat people up and clean your boots?
No.
>4c. Can I be your friend?
Not without you contravening the restraining order.
>5. Well there be a security guard named Kenny who will die before the end of
every episode in season 5?
No.
>5b. If so can I play Kenny?
>
Only if you will consent to being eaten by rats afterward.
>6. Is your talent on loan from god like Rush Limbaugh's?
No, I get to keep mine.
>6b. Can I have some of the enormous sums of cash you must have?
What enormous sums of cash? This ain't a real network, son.
>
>7. Shoes. What's the deal?
>
They're supposed to make it harder for you to swallow your foot.
>Now that I am done with my serious questions I have a few that I am
>legally obligatted to ask under the terms of the 1988 Arms Reduction Act:
>
>Why?
Because.
>Frog's Ass: watertight or simply waterproof?
What you do in the privacy of your home is your concern.
>Wrestling: fake or pretend?
Kabuki Theater.
>
jms
(jmsatb5@aol.com)
B5 Official Fan Club at:
http://www.thestation.com
Date: 12 Jan 1998 20:29:25 -0700
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: In the Beginning?
You're most certainly welcome...the pleasure has been all mine.
What's a storyteller without an audience?
jms
(jmsatb5@aol.com)
B5 Official Fan Club at:
http://www.thestation.com
Date: 12 Jan 1998 20:31:51 -0700
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: Is this bogus mechandise?
I"ve never seen the extra-sized card, so I can't say. It doesn't sound
amiss...you may just have had the worst string of luck in the last decade in
terms of getting the righit boxes.
jms
(jmsatb5@aol.com)
B5 Official Fan Club at:
http://www.thestation.com
Date: 13 Jan 1998 11:16:11 -0700
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: "Excaliber" Similarities (Possible Spoillers)
>Anyway, as the movie "Excaliber" is at it's end, and Percival throws
>Excaliber into the river, and King Arthur is boated away to his final
>resting place. A possible similarity to what comes for Sheriden?
Who can say...?
jms
(jmsatb5@aol.com)
B5 Official Fan Club at:
http://www.thestation.com
Date: 13 Jan 1998 20:32:54 -0700
Subject: Re: ATTN: JMS - Has anyone asked you this?
>1) Who are YOU?
>
I am a writer.
>2) What do YOU want?
>
To tell stories.
jms
(jmsatb5@aol.com)
B5 Official Fan Club at:
http://www.thestation.com
Date: 13 Jan 1998 20:33:16 -0700
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: Timing of Stories and Acts
One thing I always try to do is to not end the story at the very last second,
but rather give time for the implications of what we saw or eperienced to sink
in (consequences and responsibility), and/or to set up what's coming next.
jms
(jmsatb5@aol.com)
B5 Official Fan Club at:
http://www.thestation.com
Date: 13 Jan 1998 20:33:36 -0700
Subject: Re: JMS: Best of Season 5?
Actually, I say watch 'em all...usually each season we have one where you go,
"oh, well, it was a good effort." This time, so far they're all solid; in many
ways, I think it's our best season to date. There are a couple that will
doubtless split the fan reactions down the middle, as Deconstruction did, but
that's intended, just to keep folks from getting complacent...no, in general,
I'm pleased with them all.
I'll leave it to the viewers to determine which of them is best.
jms
(jmsatb5@aol.com)
B5 Official Fan Club at:
http://www.thestation.com
Date: 14 Jan 1998 07:00:58 -0700
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: What about the Vorlon homeworld
All I can say is that you'll hear about this more in S5.
jms
(jmsatb5@aol.com)
B5 Official Fan Club at:
http://www.thestation.com
Date: 15 Jan 1998 07:39:10 -0700
Subject: Re: JMS: Foundation Imaging authorizing models?
Foundation Imaging does not have the authority to license or authorize anything
of this nature.
jms
(jmsatb5@aol.com)
B5 Official Fan Club at:
http://www.thestation.com
Date: 15 Jan 1998 07:39:02 -0700
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: Re-use of clips in "In the Beginning"
I think if you add up all the footage from other episodes, it's probably less
than about 5 minutes total.
I figure, if we shot it right the first time, why redo it? Also, if we take
the position that this "happened," it should be identical, and a restaging
wouldn't be identical.
jms
(jmsatb5@aol.com)
B5 Official Fan Club at:
http://www.thestation.com
Date: 15 Jan 1998 07:38:51 -0700
Subject: Re: Attn JMS - And The Sky Full Of Stars Question *SPOILERS*
>1. Who was the Minbari who was in Delenn's shower?
A member of the Grey Council, seen in later episodes.
>2. And, why would his order be: "He must never know what happened. If
>he should find out, he must be killed. Do you understand, Delenn?"
Because if the word about the Sinclair/Valen/soul issue got out before their
people could be prepared, it could rip Minbari society apart...and since the
Minbari also believe in reincarnation, better to "recycle" Valen's soul than
see the world he cared so much about torn asunder.
jms
(jmsatb5@aol.com)
B5 Official Fan Club at:
http://www.thestation.com
Date: 15 Jan 1998 07:45:16 -0700
Subject: Re: Attn JMS: B5 copyright
Warner Bros. owns B5.
jms
(jmsatb5@aol.com)
B5 Official Fan Club at:
http://www.thestation.com
Date: 16 Jan 1998 07:20:44 -0700
Subject: Re: Attn. JMS: Room for Improvement - Kitchen? Bedroom? Living Room?
>While you are obviously a *very* gifted professional writer, I'm sure
>that there is still at least one area in which you're specifically,
>consciously working to perfect your skill. I'm wondering what that area
>(those areas?) is - what do you find the most difficult to do well
>writing-wise? What tends to disappoint you the most about your writing?
>And what are you doing to try and improve that area (those areas?) that
>give you trouble?
There isn't any part of it that I think I've totally whipped...and I hope I
never do, because the moment you think you've got it all sussed, you've stopped
trying, and the work stultifies.
So there isn't really any one area, just a general sense that I have to
continue to get better...and the only way you get better is to keep trying new
things, in different combinations.
jms
(jmsatb5@aol.com)
B5 Official Fan Club at:
http://www.thestation.com
Date: 16 Jan 1998 07:21:50 -0700
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: "...Sky Full of Stars" (*SPOILERS FOR ALL SEASONS*)
>Joe, as I was watching "And the Sky Full of Stars" I was struck by
>something that seemed like the hand of the Great Maker was involved (and
>you did write the ep). Specifically, I was struck by the three questions
>Sinclair asked of the Grey Council during his abduction:
>Who are you?"
>
>"What do you want?"
>
>"Why are you doing this?"
The first two definitely; the third is a bit of a stretch, though it may be my
subconscious is again being smarter than I was at the time. Note also that the
"what do you want?" question is echoed over and over...as it would later be
echoed all over by Morden. If you go back over the actual logic of how the
scene would have played, that bit only works if you allow for the
hallucination. That was the hand of the author showing where, frankly, it
probably should not have showed.
>P.S. Is the (as you stated will be coming) *fourth* question located in
>your Sierra reference guide?
Could be....
jms
(jmsatb5@aol.com)
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Date: 16 Jan 1998 07:22:15 -0700
Subject: Re: Attn JMS: Write how many episodes?
>>* Do you know yet how many episodes you will write
>>in season 5?
Because a couple of freelance scripts didn't work out, it's come in at 21.
>>* To what number will your record-breaking string of
>>consequitively written episodes extend?
60
>>* Counting all five seasons, how many of the
>>110 episodes will you have written?
I think it's 91. If you put all the episodes, the pilot, and the 3 movies
together, it's equal to 50 full-length feature films in 5 years.
jms
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Date: 16 Jan 1998 07:22:26 -0700
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: So that's why . . .
>It gave me goose bumps and made me feel wistful all
>at the same time. Excellent job, sir.
I have the same reaction to it...thanks.
>BTW, so that's why we never saw the back of the station! I must ask,
>whose idea was that? I thought it was hilarious.
I confess it was my idea...damn taggers are everywhere...it's my one indulgence
in 5 years. Doesn't any good artist sign his work?
jms
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Date: 16 Jan 1998 18:35:11 -0700
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: Disappointed by Season 5 Credits (Credits Spoilers)
Re: the voices in the mov file...
1) The separation left-right isn't correct, so it muddies the sound.
2) We had to do audoi grabs from episodes for the first pass at the main
titles, since there wasn't opportunity to revoice the lines and make them
clearer. Starting around episode 7 or so, we dropped in the re-do's and made
the thing clearer overall.
jms
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Date: 17 Jan 1998 13:11:30 -0700
Subject: Re: Attn. JMS: Verse drama? WAS Room for Improvement - Kitchen?
I've tried verse drama, even tried to do it with the new play I'm writing, then
finally had to abandon it...it's just hideously difficult and I find gets in
the way of my saying what it is that I want to say; I concentrate more on the
how than the what, the pattern rather than the content. I guess my brain can
only work in one direction at a time.
jms
(jmsatb5@aol.com)
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Date: 18 Jan 1998 16:54:13 -0700
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: Are you the Universe? (minor random spoilers)
>the show) has come from your mind. You've stated on many
>occations that you talk to them regularly to find out how each would react
>to the situations you give them. All of them (and their interactions) are
>expressions of YOUR thought processes. You are the universe!
>
>Is this what you were going for as you wrote the series?
>
Heavens, no...if I'm the universe then it's a low-rent galaxy, lemme tell
you....
jms
(jmsatb5@aol.com)
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Date: 18 Jan 1998 16:54:33 -0700
Subject: Re: JMS: R-M Starfury Models; Thank You!
Thanks...still haven't gotten mine yet, but we're very happy about the models.
Revell did a great job and was very open to our corrections and notes and nits.
jms
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Date: 18 Jan 1998 16:54:44 -0700
Subject: Re: Attn: JMS Season 5 Intro
>I was wondering though if the way the intro is done (and that is all I will
>say to prevent spoilage)
>is not your way of getting to those who said B5 wouldn't last 5 years.
>
>
No, I dealt with that lot in 5 seconds of 422...no reason to give them any
further attention.
jms
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Date: 21 Jan 1998 06:29:12 -0700
Subject: Re: Attn JMS: When others write B5 episodes
>
>How much influence do you have when others write the occasional B5 episode?
>I
>am particularly curious about the Kosh scenes. Do you write up a thorough
>outlines and assign them out, or are the writers give the guidelines and told
>to think something up?
Kosh often tended to get revised in-house to make him consistent, mysterious
rather than a fortune-cookie, which often happened.
Writers got variously verbal notes, a page or two, or in some cases, several
pages of notes/outline material on an episode. But a script is very long, so
they had to come up with a lot to fill in the gaps.
jms
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Date: 21 Jan 1998 06:29:19 -0700
Subject: Re: Attn: jms Theatre?
I have a modest theatrical background, with about a dozen one-acts and a
handful of full-length plays produced. That's where I cut my teeth as a
dramatic writer, so that tends to sneak out every once in a while.
jms
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Date: 21 Jan 1998 06:29:29 -0700
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: Not reshot?
Nope, we didn't reshoot that.
jms
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Date: 21 Jan 1998 06:32:33 -0700
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: Who wrote this line?
>"The avalanche has already begun. It is too late for the pebbles to vote."
>
>Is that Gerrold, or Straczynski?
That was Gerrold, as I recall.
jms
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Date: 21 Jan 1998 18:07:39 -0700
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS : Thirdspace -- Novelization?
Haven't seen the manuscript yet on the Thirdspace novelization, so I can't
comment, though I suspect he added stuff there to fill it out.
jms
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B5 Official Fan Club at:
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Date: 23 Jan 1998 16:51:10 -0700
Subject: Re: Ratings for B5 first season; how do they compare?
> However, I lack a frame of reference for
>pre-prime time syndicated strips. In particular, how is B5 doing
>compared to Lois and Clark, especially how did Lois and Clark do last
>month when it ran in B5's current time slot?
The daily ratings have been substantially higher in both number, and in the
demographics, which is crucial for advertisers who want to reach a specific
audience. L&C did about a 1.4 or 1.5 average, which they'd be happy if B5
reached or equaled. The first 3 B5 eps of this week, for instance, all I have
so far for this week, were all 2.0...so TNT is delerious.
jms
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Date: 23 Jan 1998 17:08:09 -0700
Subject: Re: No Compromises. ( *Spoilers* )
>> I'm not sure exactly what it is about them...it just felt too contrived,
>too
>> much the "gotta add the new plot device here". Especially with Sheriden's
>> comment to Garibaldi along the lines of 'we both know there's going to be a
>> telepath war any day now.' Huh? Did they watch "Deconstruction"
This is hardly a new plot element...this has been brewing for 4 years now, with
the growing telepath underground. As for the latter part of that comment...did
you already forget that in "Rising Star" there was a conversation between
Sheridan and Bester about the coming telepath war?
Not my fault if you're not paying attention.
>> I would think that these guys would believe exactly the opposite, that the
>> peep/human conflict had been eliminated, since Edgars (the guy who planned
>to
>> direct the war) was taken out of the picture.
No, Edgars wasn't trying to *start* a war, he was trying to solve it BEFORE it
started. He knew it was coming, is coming, and was trying to give normals an
edge. That edge is now gone. Again, you're misinterpreting or misremembering
what's been established and saying it's an error on our part.
>>
>> * Why did the telepaths need permission to come to Babylon 5? I
>though it
>> was open to anyone who could pay the rent.
Individually, yes...but again, pay attention, we're talking about a COLONY,
which means you've got several hundred people living in one area, under one
authority (Byron), with an unknown or unspecified agenda, whose presence might
bring problems from the Psi Corps and elsewhere. So yeah, they're going to
need somebody's permission.
>> * Why did Sheriden promise a "hands-off" relationship (with
>exceptions) in
>> regards to Lochley's responsibilities and powers, and then, in the very
>same
>> episode, break that promise by finding an exception? It seemed too
>> convenient, too pat.
He didn't break his promise...he moved this into a political decision, which is
his purview. He said specifically, "If it's a political problem, or involves
the Alliance, it's my turf." This is a strategic decision on behalf of the
Alliance.
>> * Where the heck did this "image projection" power come from? Can
>Bester
>> (one of the most powerful peeps we know) do it? If so, why has he not? If
>> not, are these peeps more powerful than Bester?
Well, now you've got a contradiction. Either we have seen this before, or we
haven't seen it before. You say where did it come from, then cite an example
of where it's been seen before. And if you'll go back and rewatch that
episode, you'll see that teeps can act collectively and be very strong.
>It took an entire mob of
>> peeps, in "A Race Through Dark Places", led by the Ironheart-intensified
>> Talia and the rogue peep that Ironheart brought on board (previously seen
>in
>> "Chrysalis") to project visions into Bester's head.
No...again, you're distorting the situation. The task wasn't just to send an
image into his head, it was to CONVINCE HIM that this image had really
happened, and it took a lot of them to do this to a Psi Cop. That's why it
took so many of them; he's a strong target. It ain't the same as doing it to a
normal. You're not thinking through what you're saying.
>Bester, a single
>> powerful peep, was able to manipulate Garibaldi's personality and integrity
>> in such a profound way that Garibaldi betrayed all his friends.
No, he wasn't...they had to drug him, and do all kinds of work on him to make
that happen. Again, you're in error.
>Here we have
>> a whole colony of peeps with the ability to vanish, create a sound-vacuum,
>> and project visions. And they need to ask permission to stay on the
>station?
>> Why don't they just move in, set up shop, and turn silent and invisible as
>> necessary?
Maybe because they are (or are trying to be) the good guys? Maybe because they
don't actually vanish, or turn off sound, they can individually manipulate
somebody by pressing on receptors and distorting things like their time
sense...but they're going to show up on cameras, and on sensors, and unless
they want to constantly try and control every single person on the station in
large groups as they pass by, they're going to be discovered, and booted off
the station. So they may as well do the right thing and ask. Just because
someone *can* steal doesn't mean they *should* steal.
Besides, where are they going to live? Quarters have to be assigned, and
they're always short on space. Food has to be paid for. On and on. Your
contention doesn't make sense...they're not gods.
jms
(jmsatb5@aol.com)
B5 Official Fan Club at:
http://www.thestation.com
Date: 23 Jan 1998 17:22:21 -0700
Subject: Re: Attn: JMS Michelangelo
Folks...the opening credits are where we show the real names of the people
involved. They're not part of the show per se. We went into the central
docking bay to reveal the jms credit before; do we assume it's there? It was
revealed in a Starfury flyby, was it there? We always place it somewhere in
the shot.
jms
(jmsatb5@aol.com)
B5 Official Fan Club at:
http://www.thestation.com
Date: 23 Jan 1998 17:24:07 -0700
Subject: B5 comic out now!
The first issue of the B5 comic is now out, the first part of the 3 part story
done by me (#1) and Peter David (2&3). "In Valen's Name" is on stands now from
DC Comics.
jms
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Date: 25 Jan 1998 08:49:00 -0700
Subject: Re: My take on No Compromises (Beware of Spoilers)
>Agreed. It's almost as if they were doing a first episode for a new
>series...almost, except that we know most of these characters and know
>where they've been and what they've been through.
One note: due to the TNT ad blitz, we went into this on the assumption that we
were (and did) pick up a LOT of viewers who had never before seen B5. These
folks would need to be brought up to speed on the returning characters and
situations, and the regular viewers would need to be brought up to speed on
Lochley...so I wrote it with that intention.
>I personally liked Lochley a lot more than I thought I would. Scoggins
>really can act. <g>
>
>
Yup.
jms
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Date: 25 Jan 1998 20:50:37 -0700
Subject: Re: Well if "No Compromises" sucked:
>Urm, FOUR in a row being bad, actually -- I forgot In the Beginning. The
>last two episodes of season four were tripe, ItB was tripe, and NC was
>tripe.
You forgot one very important phrase: "in my opinion."
Because there other opinions out there, and in the case of ItB you are
outnumbered around 99 to 1. Just because you say it doesn't make it so.
Because all-encompassing general comments based on one person's subjective
opinion is tripe...and surely you would not wish to commit tripe, woud you?
jms
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Date: 25 Jan 1998 20:51:03 -0700
Subject: Re: JMS needs a technical advisor, was Re: Regarding "No Compromises"
Excuse me, folks, but he was using a B5 starfury, which is programmed like all
starfuries there to sync up with the station's rotation for purposes of
docking, ejecting, and holding position for repair purposes. All a pilot would
have to do is tell the on-board computer to sync up the thrusters with the
station's rotation, and it'd be done.
This is a no-brainer...which is why I didn't specify it in dialogue (also it
would've killed the drama of the momen).
jms
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Date: 26 Jan 1998 17:20:49 -0700
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: Ohhhhh.. you stinker.
>When Garibaldi is walking into Lochley's new room, an
>aide is hanging the symbol of the Earth Alliance on the wall. Garibaldi
>looks at it and states, "Hmmm.. it's a little crooked." Somehow I
>think that he meant more than how the symbol was hung on the wall. Is
>that a hint of things to come?
No, but it was certainly meant as a subtle double-entendre, given his recent
experiences.
jms
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Date: 29 Jan 1998 03:14:46 -0700
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: Original "The Very Long Night..." Question (spoilers)
Nothing like this was planned for Susan; I just liked the title and adjusted
it.
And in Russian, it's Ivanov for males, Ivanova for females.
jms
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Date: 29 Jan 1998 03:17:21 -0700
Subject: Re: Cats: Shadows or Vorlons?
>The setup:
>
>1. One of our cats has decided that the cable box is a great place to
>sleep. It's warm, it's in a cozy spot.
>
>2. We're taping B5. We have choir rehearsals on Wednesday nights
>(we're supplying our cantor with copies of seasons 1-3 as he didn't pick
>up on B5 until late.
>
>3. We get home, we get our snacks, we plop down to watch the episode.
>
>The payoff:
>
>We get approximately 10 minutes into "The Long Night..." and suddenly
>we're watching a preschool thing. I fast forward thinking it was a
>problem with our cable company. No--it switches a few minutes later to
>some Charles Bronson movie.
>
>Now, I don't know if we're being made to pay for some transgression
>(okay, we did throw him and the other felines into the garage while the
>realtors were tramping through), but here's what he did: he turned the
>box on, switched channels twice, and turned in off!
>
>This is not normal feline intelligence. You tell me, is this a Vorlon
>or a Shadow we've got here?
>
>
Neither. He's like all cats: he's a Keeper...they sit on your shoulder,
they're invisible unless they want to be seen, they glare at you out of one
baleful eye, and gradually they take over your life.
jms
(jmsatb5@aol.com)
B5 Official Fan Club at:
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Date: 29 Jan 1998 03:20:30 -0700
Subject: Re: Season 5 quotation marks? (no spoilers)
I never wanted the quotation marks, so it'd be like a novel first page...but
each season, before I could catch it, some went through and I had to eat it.
So this season I made sure to clarify that up front.
jms
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Date: 29 Jan 1998 21:37:29 -0700
Subject: Re: The Very Long Night of Londo Mollari ( *Spoilers* )
>It seems to be a shame (to me at least) that an atheist should have a
>better grasp of spiritual truths than many Christians.
Only Nixon could go to China.
jms
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Date: 29 Jan 1998 21:38:02 -0700
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: TVLNoLM Directing/Camera Shots (Spoilers)
>1) Was it just me THINKING that the lighting had changed or did it actually
>do so?
>
We did the light change, and enhanced it further in post.
>2) Was the scene shot with a steady cam mounted to someone or was
>that some sort of boom (or was it the floating cameras that ISN uses)?
We attached the camera to his body.
>3) Was the long single shot the idea of the director or was it spelled out
>in the script by JMS?
>
It was in the script.
jms
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Date: 30 Jan 1998 07:19:18 -0700
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: Londo Mollari, G'Kar, and my grandmother
Thank you for saying all of that; if we can be witnessses for hope, for the
possibility of joy and dignity, to one another, then there's a chance for *all*
of us.
And my sincerest condolences on your loss. From your comments and
observations, I think she did a great job, and you should be proud.
jms
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Date: 30 Jan 1998 07:22:24 -0700
Subject: Re: Cats: Shadows or Vorlons?
>So--since there are 6 cats in the house (don't ask), just how much trouble am
>I
>in?
I can't say exactly, but one of them just logged in under your account.
jms
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