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1155 lines
31 KiB
1155 lines
31 KiB
JMS (and coproducer George Johnsen) Usenet messages for February 1998.
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Date: 2 Feb 1998 09:20:32 -0700
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Subject: Re: ATTN: JMS - TVLNoLM
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>You have come so far in the last five years.
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>
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I do hope so...we've learned a lot doing B5 over the years, and this kind of
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intense writing tends to teach you a LOT in a very short amount of time.
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>And what's really amazing is I'm pretty sure you're going to top it at
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>some point this year!
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Hope so again...that's the other part. I think we all have to keep challenging
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ourselves on a daily basis, or what's the point of going on?
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jms
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(jmsatb5@aol.com)
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B5 Official Fan Club at:
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http://www.thestation.com
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Date: 2 Feb 1998 09:43:01 -0700
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Subject: Re: ATTN: JMS - Medium question
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It would've been 'way outside our budget capacity to produce it as an episode.
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jms
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(jmsatb5@aol.com)
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B5 Official Fan Club at:
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http://www.thestation.com
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Date: 2 Feb 1998 14:43:44 -0700
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Subject: Re: The Very Long Night of Londo Mollari ( *Spoilers* )
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Re: the idea that Londo has "apologized" before....
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Remember G'Kar's comment: that in other circumstances, Londo wasn't sorry he
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DID it, he was sorry he got CAUGHT. That was the point of the exercise.
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jms
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(jmsatb5@aol.com)
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B5 Official Fan Club at:
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http://www.thestation.com
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Date: 2 Feb 1998 17:03:24 -0700
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Subject: Re: The Very Long Night of Londo Mollari ( *Spoilers* )
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Bill is still on the show; there's a bit of a break as his character is off on
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anla-shok training, but he does come back, and in fact has a rather substantial
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arc of his own at a certain point later in the season.
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jms
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(jmsatb5@aol.com)
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B5 Official Fan Club at:
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http://www.thestation.com
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Date: 3 Feb 1998 09:50:50 -0700
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Subject: Re: Attn JMS: Upcoming titles
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Yeah, I've used that quote in other places, back to CP days, so it was in the
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back of my head.
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jms
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(jmsatb5@aol.com)
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B5 Official Fan Club at:
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http://www.thestation.com
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Date: 3 Feb 1998 09:53:45 -0700
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Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: Resolution
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>Now that you are in the process of writing the final script, I'd just
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>like to ask has the season shaped up the way you wanted it? And will 522
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>provide the same sense of resolution that 421 did?
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Yes and no...the last part of the season is very tight, 17-19 are very much of
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a piece, 20 sets up one final thread, then 21 and 22 are more designed to *lead
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up to* the held-over 422. That's one of the main differences...if it'd aired
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at the end of S4, it would've been a bit of a jump, but now can lead up to it
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more smoothly.
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jms
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(jmsatb5@aol.com)
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B5 Official Fan Club at:
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http://www.thestation.com
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Date: 3 Feb 1998 09:53:30 -0700
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Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: comment on "TVLNoLM"
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Thanks...we're slowly bringing Londo full-circle, and what an odd little voyage
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it's been. And so much sadness yet to come.
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jms
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(jmsatb5@aol.com)
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B5 Official Fan Club at:
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http://www.thestation.com
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Date: 3 Feb 1998 09:53:51 -0700
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Subject: Re: Attn: jms - How was the directing for 517?
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Haven't seen the director's cut yet, but Goran did a great job, based on
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dailies.
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jms
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(jmsatb5@aol.com)
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B5 Official Fan Club at:
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http://www.thestation.com
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Date: 3 Feb 1998 09:53:59 -0700
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Subject: Re: ATTN JMS- semi-silly No Comprimises question.
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That would be *terribly* self indulgent of me....
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jms
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(jmsatb5@aol.com)
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B5 Official Fan Club at:
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http://www.thestation.com
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Date: 3 Feb 1998 13:43:14 -0700
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Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: cats, CTS and clubs
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>Cats- I've always assumed that you don't like felines but a recent posting
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>made me wonder if maybe you do. So.... do you like cats?
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Absolutely. But with all cats, it's half affection, half psychological
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warfare. Goes with the turf.
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>CTS - are you still suffering?
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It comes and goes.
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>Clubs - can members of the UK fan club access "thestation" site?
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If by that you mean members in the UK of the B5 official fan club, then yes;
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but membership in the UK fan club (a separate organization) is not membership
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in the official organization. But of course anyone can access thestation.com,
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it's just that fans get certain areas and discounts others don't.
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jms
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(jmsatb5@aol.com)
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B5 Official Fan Club at:
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http://www.thestation.com
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Date: 4 Feb 1998 00:10:37 -0700
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Subject: Re: Attn:JMS Whatever happened to George Johnsen?
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George was a NDEI employee who worked with us on Babylon 5, and after spending
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4 years of no sleep getting the show together, decided to move on and pursue
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other opportunities, of which there are many.
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jms
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(jmsatb5@aol.com)
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B5 Official Fan Club at:
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http://www.thestation.com
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Date: 4 Feb 1998 15:03:26 -0700
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Subject: Re: Chrysalis Credits Intact!
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TNT has pledged to show one episode per season with out any kind of voice-over
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or crunching, as a nod to the fans. Usually the season ender.
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jms
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(jmsatb5@aol.com)
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B5 Official Fan Club at:
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http://www.thestation.com
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Date: 4 Feb 1998 15:43:27 -0700
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Subject: from jms: life meets art?
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Check out this site:
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http://www.cnn.com/TECH/space/9802/03/holliman/
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The photo of Node One, part of Nasa's new space station -- a city in space,
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they call it -- looks kinda like B5's core design.
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Just a little frisson...kinda fun.
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jms
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(jmsatb5@aol.com)
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B5 Official Fan Club at:
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http://www.thestation.com
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Date: 4 Feb 1998 15:53:56 -0700
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Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: Writing old ST:TOS comics
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I was always a fan of the original Trek, and really felt I had a handle on
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those characters; always wanted to write for them. So I managed to talk my way
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into the gig. It'sa favorite of mine, one of the better comics I did.
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jms
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(jmsatb5@aol.com)
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B5 Official Fan Club at:
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http://www.thestation.com
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Date: 5 Feb 1998 23:43:13 -0700
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Subject: Re: Declaration of Principles -- Spoilers for Paragon of Animals
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> No matter the pain
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> No matter the darkness
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> No matter the loss
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> No matter the fear
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>We are one, here, gathered together in common cause.
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>We agree to recognize this singular truth
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> and this singular rule:
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Just a typographical correction: this should be, at the midway point,
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No matter the fear:
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We are one.
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Here, gathered together in common cause,
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We agree...(etc)
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jms
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(jmsatb5@aol.com)
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B5 Official Fan Club at:
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http://www.thestation.com
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Date: 5 Feb 1998 23:59:04 -0700
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Subject: Re: from jms: life meets art?
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>Seriously, though... if an ant saw Node One, then asked another ant "What
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>was that?", what would the second ant say?
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>
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>
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>
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RUN FOR IT!
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jms
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(jmsatb5@aol.com)
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B5 Official Fan Club at:
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http://www.thestation.com
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Date: 6 Feb 1998 07:04:27 -0700
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Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: S5 script writing
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Peter and Bill's script didn't work out.
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jms
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(jmsatb5@aol.com)
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B5 Official Fan Club at:
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http://www.thestation.com
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Date: 6 Feb 1998 07:04:20 -0700
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Subject: Re: WHERE'S LOCHLEY?
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>Still, she's the new captain -- where is she?
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Settling in on station stuff...this is all Alliance stuff.
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She'll be in a run of several starting next week.
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jms
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(jmsatb5@aol.com)
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B5 Official Fan Club at:
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http://www.thestation.com
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Date: 6 Feb 1998 07:06:47 -0700
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Subject: Re: ATT JMS: Is Harlan going
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While we're not doing the Demon story this season, Harlan has co-story credit
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on two episodes this season.
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jms
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(jmsatb5@aol.com)
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B5 Official Fan Club at:
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http://www.thestation.com
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Date: 6 Feb 1998 22:15:53 -0700
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Subject: The Paragon of Animals ( *Spoilers* )
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Spoilers for The Paragon of Animals
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White Stars are not invulnerable. If they saw what they were told were a
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friendly fleet coming in, to join them in an offense, they would have their
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defenses down. And a full-scale Drazi fleet would also somewhat outnumber the
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White Stars. A Pearl Harbor style attack on White Stars would effectively
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decimate the fleet before they would have a chance to respond.
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jms
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(jmsatb5@aol.com)
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B5 Official Fan Club at:
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http://www.thestation.com
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Date: 6 Feb 1998 22:21:45 -0700
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Subject: Re: Attn jms : Where is SiL?
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>who has the copy of SiL, Warner Brothers, Bab. Productions, or TNT?
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To make sure it didn't get out accidentally, we've held onto it, and have not
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yet put in the CGI to make sure it didn't get aired by accident.
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jms
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(jmsatb5@aol.com)
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B5 Official Fan Club at:
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http://www.thestation.com
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Date: 7 Feb 1998 10:15:55 -0700
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Subject: Re: attn jms: You've had a lot of fun writing these,
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If it weren't fun, wouldn't be no point in doing it....
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jms
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(jmsatb5@aol.com)
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B5 Official Fan Club at:
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http://www.thestation.com
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Date: 7 Feb 1998 10:16:44 -0700
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Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: Last 3 titles
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>Now that you have written the last 3 episodes, could you reveal their
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>titles?
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I could.
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jms
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(jmsatb5@aol.com)
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B5 Official Fan Club at:
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http://www.thestation.com
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Date: 7 Feb 1998 10:17:18 -0700
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Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: How do you feel?
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>Now that a major portion of your work
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>will be over are you not going to know what to do with all that free time?
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What free time?
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>You must feel relieved, sad, euphoric, and proud because that's what you've
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>done to me in just the first few episodes this season. I bet you'll be able
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>to identify with how Sinclair would have felt if he'd stayed after year one,
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>being outside the action a little more.
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Certainly all those emotions and still others raced through me when I finished
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typing the last words of episode 522 a few days ago. There's no way to
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describe it.
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>So what's left to do as Executive
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>Producer these next few weeks?
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Writing the next 2 movies, to be shot in April/May; doing all the other
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production stuff (working with the various departments -- costume, prosthetics,
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CGI, sets, directors, actors), post production stuff (doing the editing,
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working with the composer on music, others on sound, more CGI, other stuff),
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dealing with the mountain of licensing approvals that has piled up on my desk
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due to being more interested in the show than that stuff, and (one hopes)
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shortly gearing up for Crusade.
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Also just had a new 4-hour miniseries that I wrote optioned by a major company.
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Other than that, not much going on.
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jms
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(jmsatb5@aol.com)
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B5 Official Fan Club at:
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http://www.thestation.com
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Date: 8 Feb 1998 11:30:24 -0700
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Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: Curious phrasing
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No, I phrased it that way only because it isn't the last episode of the season,
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that's "Sleeping in Light," shot last year.
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jms
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(jmsatb5@aol.com)
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B5 Official Fan Club at:
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http://www.thestation.com
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Date: 9 Feb 1998 09:19:01 -0700
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Subject: Re: ATTN: JMS
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>-In season 2, we had all these cool 'exterior' kind of shots into
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>Sheridan's Office and Earhart's. (Ex: the shot of Londo at the window
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>of Sheridan's office in "Geo. of Shadows") What ever happened to them?
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>
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>
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Bottom line...I keep forgetting to write them in.
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>-I'm a columbia house guy, collecting all the tapes -I wonder what
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>versions of the shows you are using. For instance, in the US, we lost
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>the "Whole Garden Maze" in the ep with Londo and Morden in the Garden.
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>Are we gonna get the complete UK version or the US version?
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The US version was only for the first airing; all subsequent airings have been
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correct, and should be correct here (they told us they burned the incorrect
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master...we'll see).
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jms
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(jmsatb5@aol.com)
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B5 Official Fan Club at:
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http://www.thestation.com
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Date: 9 Feb 1998 09:35:58 -0700
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Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: How do you feel?
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>About which, of course, being the modest person you are, you will not tell
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>us anything unless we specifically ask.
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>
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>Hint? Itty bitty spoiler? even an "eep", huh, prettly please, huh? :-)
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Because it's based on a true story, and I'd rather not have anyone else jump
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the claim here, I'll be quiet for now.
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jms
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(jmsatb5@aol.com)
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B5 Official Fan Club at:
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http://www.thestation.com
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Date: 10 Feb 1998 14:27:29 -0700
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Subject: Re: I've got the B5 merchandise blues.
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You can also order all this stuff from thestation.com, and we'll get it out
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fast.
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But I'll send a note to Sonic about your situation.
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jms
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(jmsatb5@aol.com)
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B5 Official Fan Club at:
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http://www.thestation.com
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Date: 10 Feb 1998 14:27:49 -0700
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Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: your projectss
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>Vocabulary lesson, please.
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>"Optioned" means that a major company can make the miniseries, but doesn't
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>have to, correct?
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An option is the standard protocol in deal making. It is a fee paid to the
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writer allowing the studio or network to hold onto the material while it puts
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together the rest of the deal. Consider it a downpayment. Once the deal is in
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place, the rest of the money follows.
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jms
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(jmsatb5@aol.com)
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B5 Official Fan Club at:
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http://www.thestation.com
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Date: 12 Feb 1998 06:30:00 -0700
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Subject: A View from the Gallery ( *Spoilers* )
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Spoilers for A View from the Gallery
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>In one scene Byron and friends combine to turn away an
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>invading soldier, but in another scene Byron alone places images into the
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>mind of the maintenance worker, Bo. Why did Byron need help with the
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>soldier but not with Bo?
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Because there's a substantial difference in will and intent in making a person
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who's come to murder you turn around, and creating a momentary illusion in
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someone's head. It's the degree of effort involved.
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jms
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(jmsatb5@aol.com)
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B5 Official Fan Club at:
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http://www.thestation.com
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Date: 14 Feb 1998 09:00:45 -0700
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Subject: Re: Attn JMS Gallifrey?
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Yeah, I'll be blipping into the Gallifrey convention Sunday afternoon for an
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hour-plus presentation and some autographing thereafter.
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jms
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(jmsatb5@aol.com)
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B5 Official Fan Club at:
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http://www.thestation.com
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Date: 14 Feb 1998 09:00:57 -0700
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Subject: Re: Lockley's hair was Re: First Take - A View from the Gallery
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Scoggins did exactly what you suggest, Diane. She figured, "This isn't about
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hair." She was awakened, and had to get to C&C fast, she ain't gonna do her
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hair, just ponytail it back.
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She didn't realize, in making that choice, that it would make her a) look that
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severe in the uniform, since she was still getting used to it, and b) give her
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the Ivanova "peanut-head" as she used to call it. She later realized this was
|
|
a bit of an error, and has never done it since.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
(jmsatb5@aol.com)
|
|
B5 Official Fan Club at:
|
|
http://www.thestation.com
|
|
|
|
Date: 14 Feb 1998 09:01:16 -0700
|
|
Subject: Re: A View from the Gallery
|
|
|
|
>Remember, with the gravity produced by the station's
|
|
>rotation, portholes must be in the floor. Hence, in _The Long Dark_,
|
|
>Schultz's character appeared to be looking through a floor drain. For
|
|
>Bo and Mack to have looked out the porthole in the lower wall, they must
|
|
>have been walking down a rather steep incline.
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|
|
Nope.
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|
|
|
Look carefully at the station. It is in segments; and at the outer wall of
|
|
each of those segments, as with the sanctuary, you can get an outer view. You
|
|
can see the lights from some of these areas that have portholes in the station
|
|
when it's dark.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
(jmsatb5@aol.com)
|
|
B5 Official Fan Club at:
|
|
http://www.thestation.com
|
|
|
|
Date: 15 Feb 1998 09:42:49 -0700
|
|
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: Claudia line...direct hit! ("AVFtG" spoilers)
|
|
|
|
Correct; it was never meant as a shot at Claudia, but rather at the folks out
|
|
there whose only interest is in rumors, and starting trouble, and feeding
|
|
feuds.
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|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
(jmsatb5@aol.com)
|
|
B5 Official Fan Club at:
|
|
http://www.thestation.com
|
|
|
|
Date: 15 Feb 1998 09:42:59 -0700
|
|
Subject: Re: Where is B5 getting all its starfuries/
|
|
|
|
This issue comes up in about a week.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
(jmsatb5@aol.com)
|
|
B5 Official Fan Club at:
|
|
http://www.thestation.com
|
|
|
|
Date: 17 Feb 1998 22:16:44 -0700
|
|
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: Now that it's all over...
|
|
|
|
>How do you feel?
|
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>
|
|
>
|
|
|
|
I've felt pretty much everything since finishing 522...but most of all, I guess
|
|
I feel relieved that we actually did what we said we were going to do, and went
|
|
the distance.
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|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
(jmsatb5@aol.com)
|
|
B5 Official Fan Club at:
|
|
http://www.thestation.com
|
|
|
|
Date: 17 Feb 1998 22:16:59 -0700
|
|
Subject: Re: To jms: Babylon 5 and other science fiction shows
|
|
|
|
>You have mentioned on many occasions
|
|
>that one of the things you wanted to do with this show was deviate from
|
|
>more "traditional" American science fiction, such as Star Trek. Do you
|
|
>actually not like these shows, or did you just want to make
|
|
>something different?
|
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|
|
It's the latter. To do something differently isn't to say that it wasn't done
|
|
right before. It's not a good/bad issue. I wanted to do something that
|
|
nobody'd done before, in part BECAUSE nobody'd ever done it before...where's
|
|
the challenge otherwise?
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
(jmsatb5@aol.com)
|
|
B5 Official Fan Club at:
|
|
http://www.thestation.com
|
|
|
|
Date: 19 Feb 1998 08:42:42 -0700
|
|
Subject: Re: Attn. JMS: Many thanks for your help
|
|
|
|
>Thanks much for helping out with my question a week or two ago regarding
|
|
>Sonic Images' customer service. My friend got his Christmas gift at last,
|
|
>with apologies (and a little something extra) from the gang at Sonic Images,
|
|
>and justice is done.
|
|
|
|
I live to serve.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
(jmsatb5@aol.com)
|
|
B5 Official Fan Club at:
|
|
http://www.thestation.com
|
|
|
|
Date: 19 Feb 1998 08:42:50 -0700
|
|
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: No liscensed White Star models? What's This...?
|
|
|
|
It is most definitely and emphatically NOT licensed, and NOT official, and
|
|
anyone buying this is being ripped off if they are being told otherwise.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
(jmsatb5@aol.com)
|
|
B5 Official Fan Club at:
|
|
http://www.thestation.com
|
|
|
|
Date: 19 Feb 1998 08:43:02 -0700
|
|
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS Re: TNT Cuts scene from V-in W part 1
|
|
|
|
Yes, this is true...an engineer punched in the wrong time-code on the act-in.
|
|
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
(jmsatb5@aol.com)
|
|
B5 Official Fan Club at:
|
|
http://www.thestation.com
|
|
|
|
Date: 19 Feb 1998 08:43:12 -0700
|
|
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: The New TNT Movie Story Ideas
|
|
|
|
They asked what I'd like to do in a couple of movies...I thought about it, and
|
|
sent on a couple of brief premises...they read 'em said they loved 'em, and to
|
|
go and do. Creatively, they're leaving us completely on our own, something
|
|
we've earned with them.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
(jmsatb5@aol.com)
|
|
B5 Official Fan Club at:
|
|
http://www.thestation.com
|
|
|
|
Date: 20 Feb 1998 13:19:24 -0700
|
|
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: Marcus Cole
|
|
|
|
There are no current plans for anything further from Marcus this side of the
|
|
grave.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
(jmsatb5@aol.com)
|
|
B5 Official Fan Club at:
|
|
http://www.thestation.com
|
|
|
|
Date: 20 Feb 1998 13:21:18 -0700
|
|
Subject: Re: Learning Curve ( *Spoilers* )
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
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|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
> please
|
|
>please please don't throw in a typical jelousy-based story line with the
|
|
>little woman mad about a prior relationship. Geeeez.
|
|
|
|
It's amazing to see how many people (not speaking directly to you, but the
|
|
flood of email and public posts on this) who go right for cliche in how
|
|
something like this would be handled, and then have jumped to the conclusion
|
|
that that's what would be done *here*.
|
|
|
|
Believe me, that aspect ain't what this thread is about.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
(jmsatb5@aol.com)
|
|
B5 Official Fan Club at:
|
|
http://www.thestation.com
|
|
|
|
Date: 22 Feb 1998 01:11:00 -0700
|
|
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: Another Quickie on further TNT movies
|
|
|
|
Thirdspace is set in the 4th season, about one-third in.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
(jmsatb5@aol.com)
|
|
B5 Official Fan Club at:
|
|
http://www.thestation.com
|
|
|
|
Date: 22 Feb 1998 01:15:23 -0700
|
|
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: My Take on Season 5
|
|
|
|
Charles, at risk of being terribly unproducerish...will you for chrsissakes
|
|
relax?
|
|
|
|
Everything you're saying about Lochley here -- and I mean EVERYTHING -- was
|
|
said about Claudia Christian when she came on board as Ivanova. "Oh, she's
|
|
wooden, she's trying to hard to be tough, get rid of her and bring back
|
|
Takashima."
|
|
|
|
I told people to give her time, they'd learn that there's more there than meets
|
|
the eye. They said I was making excuses for a poor casting choice. So let's
|
|
all just give the woman and the character a chance, okay? You've seen her now
|
|
in a total of 3 episodes, which were designed to put her toe-to-toe with
|
|
Garibaldi. There's more there.
|
|
|
|
And yeah, I wanted to give viewers a rest-up for a bit after the excesses of
|
|
S4. Okay, so you can't see where it's going. That's okay by me (you don't see
|
|
the coming telepath situation, for starters?)...people were saying in seasons 1
|
|
and most of 2 that they didn't see it then, either...then they saw it when I
|
|
chose to let it be seen.
|
|
|
|
This year has one of the most intense series of arcs we've ever DONE. And by
|
|
the end of it you'll be happy you HAD these few lighter episodes because I'm
|
|
going to kick the crap out of the viewers. We have not just one, but two and
|
|
maybe (depending on how it comes out) three episodes this season I'd put toe to
|
|
toe with Coming of Shadows for intensity, for arc, for major shifts.
|
|
|
|
Further:
|
|
|
|
People saw "By Any Means Necessary," and said it wasn't an arc episode...it was
|
|
just about a strike. But later, after what came up, this was seen as the FIRST
|
|
EPISODE in the real turn-around and reversal of Londo/G'kar...here Londo was
|
|
being the bad guy for the first time, and here G'Kar was showing a spiritual
|
|
side. That one episode marked the absolute start of that reversal...which only
|
|
became clear well AFTER the fact. DURING the fact, I had to put up with people
|
|
assuming that it had nothing to do with the arc.
|
|
|
|
How can you say you don't think it's going anywhere when you haven't seen where
|
|
it's gone?
|
|
|
|
Y'know if I were just an audience member, I'd be sitting back and enjoying this
|
|
show and wondering where it's going to go without making judgements based on
|
|
ZERO information on where it is or isn't going. Have you read the scripts? Do
|
|
you know what's in 518?
|
|
|
|
Have you seen the shot where a tearful Delenn embraces Londo for what may be
|
|
the last time? Have you seen the phoenix that rises out of Byron's actions?
|
|
Have you heard about the bombing of Psi Corps back home? Have you seen what's
|
|
living under the palace on Centauri Prime? Have you seen what the regent sees
|
|
when he looks up on the very last night of his life? Have you seen the
|
|
terrible darkness that Lennier discovers at the worst possible moment of his
|
|
life? Have you seen the REAL other side of Lyta, and what she can do? Have
|
|
you seen the Drazi homeworld, and the terrible secret they're hiding there?
|
|
|
|
Have you?
|
|
|
|
Because that's only a FRACTION of what is coming this season, the smallest
|
|
part.
|
|
|
|
Maybe you're getting reruns of episodes...I'm getting reruns of comments from
|
|
past seasons...which were shown to be wrong then, and they're wrong now.
|
|
|
|
Let's talk about Season 5 as a whole once you've actually SEEN it, shall we?
|
|
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
(jmsatb5@aol.com)
|
|
B5 Official Fan Club at:
|
|
http://www.thestation.com
|
|
|
|
Date: 22 Feb 1998 23:18:27 -0700
|
|
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: My Take on Season 5
|
|
|
|
As long as I'm being unproducerish....
|
|
|
|
>Still,
|
|
>continuity is earned and not promised; it develops organically and not
|
|
>merely retrospectively. Insisting that there is an arc on the basis of
|
|
>future developments amounts to a cheat, and an embarassing one on the part
|
|
>of a writer of JMS's stature.
|
|
|
|
I'm sorry, but this comment ranks in the top ten percentile of astonishingly
|
|
paralogical remarks I've ever seen. What you're saying here is that the ONLY
|
|
thing that constitutes an arc is if the audience sees it before it happens, if
|
|
it's told it's there...as opposed to an arc that becomes clear in the light of
|
|
FUTURE EVENTS.
|
|
|
|
But an arc IS A STORY THAT GOES INTO THE FUTURE EVENTS. That is the very
|
|
DEFINITION of it. How many people here said they started watching B5 in its
|
|
first season and didn't know there was an arc until "Signs and Portents?"
|
|
Plenty, I've seen them. So unless it's *predictible*, unless you've been
|
|
briefed ahead of time that something's coming, paying it off in the future,
|
|
which is how I'm writing it, doesn't count.
|
|
|
|
Yes, I referred to future developments because THAT IS WHAT AN ARC IS, future
|
|
developments.
|
|
|
|
This is the most astonishing conversation I've had on the nets in months.
|
|
|
|
Excuse me, I think I'll go get a ball peen hammer and bang myself between the
|
|
eyes for a couple of hours, it'd be easier and less painful in the long run....
|
|
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
(jmsatb5@aol.com)
|
|
B5 Official Fan Club at:
|
|
http://www.thestation.com
|
|
|
|
Date: 23 Feb 1998 11:45:03 -0700
|
|
Subject: Re: Strawmen, irritation with
|
|
|
|
Russ:
|
|
|
|
You're setting up just as many strawmen as those you cite.
|
|
|
|
Basic and fundamental truism: if somebody doesn't like an episode, I'm
|
|
absolutely okay with that. Some episodes, like the Mack and Bo show, the
|
|
coming Psi Corps show, Deconstruction, those are written with the full
|
|
knowledge that it's going to divide people's opinions. I *expect* that it'll
|
|
be cleanly divided between those who hate it, and those who love it.
|
|
|
|
Basic and fundamental truism #2: No show, no single episode, will appeal to
|
|
everyone. It's a bell curve: some at one end will hate it, some at the other
|
|
will love it, most will be generally in the middle. It's if that bell curve
|
|
starts to skew one way or the other that you have to watch.
|
|
|
|
All that I and others have been doing is pointing out realities to those who
|
|
have, in essence, said that something isn't there when it is. How many times
|
|
lately have I read, here or on other nets, "Now that we're in reruns we see all
|
|
the threads that tied the show together that we didn't see before, all the
|
|
foreshadowings of what was to come."
|
|
|
|
There's a lot of stuff seeded in these early episodes that will, as with the
|
|
first several seasons, be more apparent in retrospect. That's ALWAYS been the
|
|
case with B5.
|
|
|
|
I'm also trying to provide a historical perspective. People jump on Lochley
|
|
saying she's wooden (meaning she doesn't overact and chew the scenery as with
|
|
so much of what passes for TV acting)...and preferring Ivanova...completely
|
|
forgetting that for most of the first season, and then some, people were
|
|
complaining that Ivanova was wooden, they didn't like her Russian accent (which
|
|
she didn't even have), they said "dump her." They did the same thing with Vir.
|
|
"Flounder in space! Throw him out an airlock."
|
|
|
|
Then, later, as the characters continue on, the opinions change. This has been
|
|
the pattern from the very first day of this show. I see nothing wrong with
|
|
noting this. If it's proper to critique the show, and it is, good or bad, why
|
|
is it bad to critique the criticisms and bring a historical perspective to the
|
|
discussion?
|
|
|
|
Look...if somebody doesn't like an episode, I'm fine with that, always have
|
|
been. It's when it enters into the sweeping generalizations category,
|
|
paralogia or downright silliness about the season as a whole, which nobody's
|
|
seen yet, that I finally have to say "c'mon..."
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
(jmsatb5@aol.com)
|
|
B5 Official Fan Club at:
|
|
http://www.thestation.com
|
|
|
|
Date: 24 Feb 1998 11:34:41 -0700
|
|
Subject: Re: To jms: Babylon 5 and other science fiction shows
|
|
|
|
|
|
I've actually heard from some other folks on other SF style shows that our
|
|
tendency to push things has make it a bit easier for them to get tougher
|
|
stories through. This is a Good Thing. The more quality SF series, the better
|
|
for everybody.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
(jmsatb5@aol.com)
|
|
B5 Official Fan Club at:
|
|
http://www.thestation.com
|
|
|
|
Date: 24 Feb 1998 11:43:25 -0700
|
|
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS - Seven Days In May and the Earth arc
|
|
|
|
|
|
Thanks...Seven Days in May is an excellent movie, one of several that, if I'm
|
|
channel-surfing and come across, I can't *not* watch it. They did a more
|
|
recent version of it for cable -- HBO, I think -- but the original will always
|
|
be my favorite.
|
|
|
|
And yeah, Rod had an amazing way with words...still holds me in awe.
|
|
|
|
BTW, if you liked that one, I commend Fail Safe to you as well as The
|
|
Manchurian Candidate.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
(jmsatb5@aol.com)
|
|
B5 Official Fan Club at:
|
|
http://www.thestation.com
|
|
|
|
Date: 24 Feb 1998 11:43:47 -0700
|
|
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: What are you hiding?
|
|
|
|
|
|
> WHAT ARE YOU HIDING?
|
|
|
|
That would be telling.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
(jmsatb5@aol.com)
|
|
B5 Official Fan Club at:
|
|
http://www.thestation.com
|
|
|
|
Date: 24 Feb 1998 11:43:57 -0700
|
|
Subject: Re: Attn: JMS: Silly questions
|
|
|
|
|
|
>- My husband wants to know if there are really 10 Zathrai, or whether it is
|
|
>just one that has been time travelling *way* too much.
|
|
|
|
Yes, there are ten Zathri...despite the restraining order.
|
|
|
|
>- I was wondering if you could explain a bit more about how you manage to do
|
|
>things like bring in new major characters. You have said that you know what
|
|
>threads need to be continued somehow, so I imagine you start with that.
|
|
>What
|
|
>needs to be accomplished and can any of the regulars take that over? If not,
|
|
>I
|
|
>picture in my mind your going to the B5 universe and saying " I need someone
|
|
>who can, for example, run the station, keep the major characters on their
|
|
>toes
|
|
>and handle emergencies with minimal violence - who do we have that can handle
|
|
>it?" Then a few people show up and you pick the one that suits your needs
|
|
>best.
|
|
|
|
That comes pretty close...it's a matter of looking at the logistics and
|
|
backgrounds of people and, if a thread has to be adjusted ("What do you MEAN
|
|
Wayne Alexander just got hit by an asteroid?!) you look at the next logical
|
|
person in the show whom you can then beat up even further.
|
|
|
|
It's not quite "one of you step forward," but it's close.
|
|
|
|
And sometimes it's a situation where you know that actor X hasn't had as much
|
|
to do as might've been the case, and an opening in thread A lets you do more
|
|
with that person.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
(jmsatb5@aol.com)
|
|
B5 Official Fan Club at:
|
|
http://www.thestation.com
|
|
|
|
Date: 24 Feb 1998 11:44:07 -0700
|
|
Subject: Re: Very Interesting Experiment/Suggestion
|
|
|
|
|
|
What the experiment also does, which you touch on, is to show how changing an
|
|
angle on an actor, making it a close-up rather than a long shot, can make the
|
|
scene more or less dynamic...how you can get out of scenes earlier than in the
|
|
first version, and thus pick up the pace.
|
|
|
|
It is, as you say, most educational.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
(jmsatb5@aol.com)
|
|
B5 Official Fan Club at:
|
|
http://www.thestation.com
|
|
|
|
Date: 25 Feb 1998 14:06:29 -0700
|
|
Subject: Re: attn. jms: one pass viewing or 2 pass?
|
|
|
|
>When you write the episodes with foreshadowing and other such puzzle
|
|
>pieces to be clarified later, do you do so with the intent of the viewer
|
|
>watching reruns of old episodes on a second pass and seeing how all the
|
|
>pieces fit together, or do you write with the intent of the first
|
|
>viewing pass, with the foreshadowing having more of a subliminal effect
|
|
>preparing for the further denouement? You couldn't have known that TNT
|
|
>was going to pick up the show and run all the back episodes could you?
|
|
>
|
|
>
|
|
Whether it was TNT or someone else, it was inevitable that someone would pick
|
|
up the reruns of the show; so I put stuff in to work both ways, as
|
|
foreshadowing, and things you could pick up on later, on re-viewing, that
|
|
suddenly jump out at you.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
(jmsatb5@aol.com)
|
|
B5 Official Fan Club at:
|
|
http://www.thestation.com
|
|
|
|
Date: 26 Feb 1998 15:47:31 -0700
|
|
Subject: Re: Attn: JMS - History - Season 5 spoiler (sort of)
|
|
|
|
>Will we get to learn more about the history between Byron and Bester?
|
|
>
|
|
>
|
|
|
|
A-yup.
|
|
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jms
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(jmsatb5@aol.com)
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B5 Official Fan Club at:
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http://www.thestation.com
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Date: 26 Feb 1998 15:47:41 -0700
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Subject: Re: Nothing in this place is as it appears.
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>But then again, he could be the cigar who's just a cigar.
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I thin Corwin's more of a tiparillo....
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jms
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(jmsatb5@aol.com)
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B5 Official Fan Club at:
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http://www.thestation.com
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Date: 27 Feb 1998 00:55:15 -0700
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Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: SR song
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No, I came up with that song for the episode, and designed it to sound like any
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of a zillion other such songs out there, so it'd sound familiar.
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jms
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(jmsatb5@aol.com)
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B5 Official Fan Club at:
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http://www.thestation.com
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Date: 28 Feb 1998 18:12:08 -0700
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Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: When is the final day?
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>1. When is the final day of Season 5 shooting?
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>
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It's either March 20th or 21st, I forget....
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>2. If the existing B5 cast is appearing in the currently planned movies,
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>when are they scheduled to finish shooting?
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We'll likely shoot in April through May.
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jms
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(jmsatb5@aol.com)
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B5 Official Fan Club at:
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http://www.thestation.com
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