=========================================================================== | This text is compiled from posts by J. Michael Straczynski on the Usenet | group rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5. This document contains material Copyright | 1994 J. Michael Straczynski. He has given permission for his words to be | redistributed online, as long as they are marked as being copyright JMS. | This document, as well as other Babylon-5 related material, is available | by anonymous FTP at ftp.hyperion.com. =========================================================================== From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 1 Nov 1994 03:16:11 -0500 Subject: Re: USA TODAY and the Truth ab Someone should point out to Ford the article appearing this week (out in many newspapers already) for the Tribune Syndicate, in which she states that, based on her interviews and sources, it WAS a mutual and amicable parting, that Sinclair is NOT gone, and basically reinforces every single point made here. Assuming anyone really cares anymore...frankly, I'm getting pretty fucking tired and disgusted with the whole discussion. Ford is an idiot, pure and simple. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 1 Nov 1994 03:16:30 -0500 Subject: ATT JMS & PAD: (Re: Ignore Fo The idea of, "ask a member of the WGA" why one should never trust a television producer is moronic in the extreme, because for the most part, the majority of producers in TV ****ARE WRITERS**** and members of the WGA. I've been a member of WGA since 1978 or so, and have been a writer a lot longer than I've been a producer. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 1 Nov 1994 04:46:58 -0500 Subject: Re: Bab 5 in USA Today *sigh*...I was up writing all night long, I meant to say that the Tribune Syndicate and TV Guide got the story more accurately than USA Today in that one respect (though the rest of the article seemed fine); unlike Ford, I have a life, and sometimes it gets tiring. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 1 Nov 1994 06:23:19 -0500 Subject: Re: Ignore Ford Thaxton (was Woody Harper: you have ended your messages with a "quote" from me stating, "I'm foolin' 'em with these funny footprints!" As with much of what comes out of your and Ford Thaxton's mouth, this is a lie and a fabrication, I never made that statement. Just what the hell is your problem, anyway? You put info out that I'm fired, you misquote me, you lie to others on systems about me...this is stalking behavior on your part, and I'm getting very, very tired of it, and I'm not going to stand for much more of it. You may consider that I am now putting you on formal notice. Henceforth, all further fabrications and downright lies that you post, all harrassing messages sent by you, all rumors and deliberate distortions will be forwarded from me to my attorneys, and gathered to be filed with an attorney in your state for potential prosecution under libel laws and anti-stalking laws. Further, I may be forced to take personal legal action against you. Remember that I have your address. You have deliberately manufactured quotes from me. You have stated, as fact, that I was fired from my job. You have told others that I tracked you down for disagreeing with me, when in fact (as others here can and have agreed to testify), it was incidend #1, the firing story, that prompted this action. You (and now, our latest homunculus, Ford Thaxton) deliberately distort and misrepresent and simply lie about matters injurious to my (and in the latter case, Michael O'Hare's) career. I would also request the sysop of the system from which you are logging in to be aware of your stalking behavior, and to reconsider your continued access to this forum. I have had enough of this obsessive behavior from you. You are now under formal notice to stop it and stop it now. I don't know what the reason is for this sick fixation of yours, but get some help for it. If you don't stop, you, and your family, and your employer will be hearing from my attorneys in very short order. Enough is enough. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 1 Nov 1994 19:13:31 -0500 Subject: USA TODAY WRITER STANDS BY STO So now why don't you call the bunch of other reporters who say the opposite of USA Today and ask if *they* stand beside *their* story? You seem obsessed with Michael O'Hare's personal employment conditions...like I said, why don't you give me YOUR personal employment history and let ME make some phone calls? Or shall I go ahead and answer my own question...that you're a sick, obsessed little fuck who has no appreciable life, and thus has to meddle in the lives and careers of others. Get this straight: you are entitled to *nothing*. Not even this reply. Leave Michael O'Hare, and his career, alone. You are trying to turn a pleasant situation between me and someone I call a friend into something that will, by rumor and innuendo, harm Michael O'Hare's career. The degree of your obsession is becoming an area of great concern to us at Babylon 5. I hear that someone posing under an assumed name started calling here the other day, trying to worm out information about Michael and his employment. Coincidence? Get this straight: LEAVE MICHAEL ALONE. Nothing here is any of your goddamned business. It is a PRIVATE matter, everyone is content with life...who the fuck are you to try and distort and screw around with people's careers? You are a viewer, who is entitled to what we put out over the air, and not one bit more. Okay, you don't buy what happens to be the truth. So the fuck what? I don't care, no one here cares; the concern raised is because you are openly trying to harm me, and Michael, through your messages. How about you get your OWN fucking life and leave everybody else alone? And until YOU are willing to provide, here, your OWN employers, so that we can do to you (a public figure on these boards) what YOU are doing to MICHAEL, as far as I'm concerned you're nothing more than a coward and a loudmouth who gets off on causing other people psychological distress. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 1 Nov 1994 19:26:50 -0500 Subject: Re: Before There Was B5 There In my view, Blake's 7 is a *terrific* show, and if we can come even close to that quality, I'll be happy. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 2 Nov 1994 00:20:21 -0500 Subject: ATTN JMS: Political opinions o The similarity to the Kennedy situation, and the use of the LBJ swearing-in photo as reference for the Earthforce One shot, were definitely intentional. Remember, we're trying to construct a metaphor here, as one of the levels on which the show operates. What do *I* personally think re: the Kennedy situation? I can't think of anything less interesting, and less grounded, than my own opinion on this subject. I've done an awful lot of reading in this area, but there are a lot of folks who know a hell of a lot more than I do, with probably many of them on this system. The House Subcommittee that investigated this issue some time ago came to the conclusion that there most likely *was* a conspiracy of some sort, but couldn't find any overwhelming evidence to any other shooter (these being two different but important issues). Do I think there was some sort of conspiracy (and to qualify as conspiracy you only need one or two other people)? Yes. Were there other shooters? My sense is probably, but not necessarily. Will we ever know the full story? No. Should we ever stop trying? No. jm("Back, and to the left.")s From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 2 Nov 1994 00:20:46 -0500 Subject: Kill files! Unfortunately, the GEnie gateway I use does not have a killfile feature. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 2 Nov 1994 01:09:28 -0500 Subject: Re: USA TODAY WRITER STANDS BY What is most hurtful about this is that Michael O'Hare has been out there *really* pulling for the show lately, talking it up at the Big-E Con over the past weekend, wishing everyone well, looking to the future, reinforcing everything said here, he's been nothing but nifty...and along come people obsessed with poisoning the well and hurting Michael in the process. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 2 Nov 1994 05:44:46 -0500 Subject: USA, JMS, and YKW. At this juncture, as you say, I have no further interest in responding to these people, since their agenda is quite clear. So much crap has been said about this show, so much misinformation put out by people, that it can make you crazy. (Several newspapers and stations said point blank that there were NO plans for Sinclair to return, that he would NOT return...and here I am in my office, looking at footage we shot which we're about to use for season two.) To your comment about personalities entering the fray and/or getting targeted...I guess I keep forgetting that part of it. I have never really considered myself a *PERSONALITY*...wasn't altogether sure I *had* one outside of the work.... jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 2 Nov 1994 05:45:01 -0500 Subject: Some ACTUAL SHOW questions WAS We try to accommodate our actors where we possibly can. For instance, one of our actors will tentatively be doing a CD Rom movie project, and will need two days off in the middle of shooting. So while we can't guarantee (we just got in the script and are now breaking out the shooting schedule), we're certainly going to try our best to work this out, and probably will be able to. Actors need to take every free chance they have to work; the more work they do, the better they get; the better they get, the better my show gets. As long as it doesn't interfere with production, I have no problem with it. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 3 Nov 1994 01:45:16 -0500 Subject: JMS (and others): Babylon 5 co By the time B5 hits the UK, only the first 2 issues of the comic should be out, and there's nothing in any of those that could be considered a spoiler, so you should be okay. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 3 Nov 1994 06:53:51 -0500 Subject: Re: Ignore Ford Thax Well, well...I've been getting some very interesting information on our friend Ford A. Thaxton, who is involved with a little enterprise called Silva Screen Records. Perhaps Mr. Thaxton wouldn't mind discussing some of *his* personal business, like how why he has been using Christopher Franke's music in his released (remixed) without paying Chris any royalties...? Apparently he has some real business problems with Chris, and I would think he has considerable motivation to smear anything that Chris is involved with. Didn't mention that li'l old conflict of interest in your quest for the "truth," did old Ford. And some of the things recently conveyed to me by some who've worked with, and for Ford, in HIS business practices, are quite illuminating, to say the least. But I suppose he would think that was a private matter, not to be discussed on a network. Maybe I should go and contact Edgar Froese in Germany, and ask about some of *his* recent dealings with Ford, so that I can post them here. Nice little place Ford has, out there in Olympia, Washington.... My, but Ford's had such an *interesting* life...at least, so say the many people who've dropped me messages in the last few days, who have worked with him. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 3 Nov 1994 18:38:29 -0500 Subject: Re: Points of Departure -- SPO Next week, in "Revelations," you get G'Kar, Londo, Delenn, Lennier, Na'Toth, Kosh, Garibaldi, Talia and everybody else. Because there was SO much happening in #1, that got slid back a bit; also, there's a fair amount of time required for everything to do what they're supposed to be doing. (Note that we're operating pretty much in real-time; "Points" is around 8 days after the events of "Chrysalis," and "Revelations" is about another week after that.) One thing I noted here some time ago, as a large part of the reason I dropped "to be continued" from "Chrysalis" is that this is more of a three-parter than a two, and some threads pulled in "Chrysalis" won't be fully resolved in some ways until the third and fourth episodes. There is a LOT going on, and if we try to cram it all into one episode (as I at first tried with "Chrysalis, Part Two") you don't give ANY of them the proper time to have any impact. Finally, we're getting new people sampling the first episode of the season, as is true of most shows. Thus, you have to put into dialogue a fair amount of stuff that otherwise you could just imply or rely on past experience/prior knowledge. So you kind of introduce the newbies to the situation, and that requires a fair amount of exposition. This is pretty much localized to "Points," however; with the next episode, we're up to full speed. Episode 2 deals with as many issues/plotlines as "Chrysalis," with the main difference being that here, they're *resolved* rather than left hanging. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 3 Nov 1994 18:38:47 -0500 Subject: Church of JMS Speaking as an atheist, if there is to be a church of jms, then I must become its first apostate and refuse to believe in myself (adding further insecurity to my life), and nail a whole bunch of theses to the front door on the way out.... jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 4 Nov 1994 08:39:53 -0500 Subject: The new "Tech #1" (no Just as an advisory...the woman who spoke up in PoD (the tech who told Sheridan that Security wanted him) is not a Tech 1 replacement; she was there just for that one episode. We have a number of folks floating through that area now, because logically you would have rotating crews. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 4 Nov 1994 21:47:59 -0500 Subject: Re: Ignore Ford Thaxton (was Well, well, well....y'all remember how for weeks and weeks old Ford has been in here, arguing that he had a right to know the inner workings of Michael O'Hare's business, his career, his employment, "the truth is out there," on and on and on ad infinitum? Message after message after message, smearing by implication and innuendo, demanding the truth, that he was entitled to know, that this was the right forum to discuss such matters? Well, after my ONE message here about *his* business, guess who has gone right up the flue and started whining to Warner Bros. about how it is unfair and wrong for me to discuss someone's business in a public forum...? And buttressed it with threats (veiled and otherwise)? I guess there are rules that apply to Ford, and rules that apply to everyone else. I guess there are those who like to dish it out, but don't much like it when EXACTLY the same thing is done to them. Fortunately there is a long, LONG trail of messages here from Mr. Thaxton which present a very clear picture of who started what, and why. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 4 Nov 1994 23:09:52 -0500 Subject: Re: USA TODAY and the Truth ab This to Ken Schroder...a very good analysis of the situation re: Sinclair/Sheridan. One other element, which will become clearer with the passage of time, is that Sinclair's main tie was to the Minbari storyline, which though not *resolved* per se in "Points," gets pushed back as the Shadowmen story advances. So his impact on that storyline would have been second-hand. Sheridan, on the other hand, has a direct tie-in to this latter storyline, though he does not know it yet. Also, there are some military aspects coming that only someone commanding a starship recently, and working with some other aspects of the military, would have access to, and that is also something Sheridan brings to the story. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 4 Nov 1994 23:11:33 -0500 Subject: JMS: Mea Culpa (was : What I d Jeremy: you are forgiven; go, and sin no more. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 5 Nov 1994 03:16:16 -0500 Subject: JMS: Good Choice! The nice thing is that Bruce's likeableness (is that a word?) isn't just confined to the camera. He's honestly a nifty guy. He's friendly to everyone on the set, even casual visitors. He's what's called a "team player," in that his concern is for the other actor, and gives as much off camera for the actor to play against as when he's on-camera. He's charmed the hell out of just about everyone involved in making B5, and that's not an easy task. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 5 Nov 1994 03:37:33 -0500 Subject: Another B5 media mention I would be *profoundly* grateful if you could send a copy of the article to: 14431 Ventura Boulevard, Suite 260, Sherman Oaks, CA 91423. Thanks if you can oblige.... jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 6 Nov 1994 03:27:59 -0500 Subject: ATTN JMS: Assorted questions o Laurel Takashima was not a psi, no. Valen did have something to do in the struggle against the Shadows at a prior time. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 6 Nov 1994 03:32:34 -0500 Subject: ATTN JMS (nagging question & a Valen's prophecy is something that will have to be revealed with time; if I gave it out now, it would ruin too much yet to come. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 6 Nov 1994 05:09:00 -0500 Subject: JMS: PoD Plusses (Minor Spoile To your points...yes, we definitely plan to do more with Dr. Franklin this year. My goal is to get Ivanova OUT of Ops, and Franklin OUT of Medlab on occasion, to see their real lives, and do other things with them (and I think you'll find some real surprises coming up very shortly). The Earthforce lounge (EA personnel only) is Earhart's, named after the famed aviator. (Consequently, as tradition, only swing or big-band music is ever played in Earhart's.) Yes, we brightened things up a notch, but only a notch, because we discovered that a lot of the good work being done on the sets and the costumes wasn't being seen because we were too dark. So we went up about one f-stop, but at the same time began using more shadows, textures and colors, so the show has a denser look to it. Definite agreement on the CGI this year. There are a couple of big, honking CGI episodes coming up fairly soon that're just terrific, the best Ron and Kevin have done to date. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 6 Nov 1994 09:01:30 -0500 Subject: JMS: Thanks for the good trans An interesting summation; good stuff. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 6 Nov 1994 18:29:42 -0500 Subject: JMS? New info on New Series ?! I'd rather speak to the new projects when there's more concrete news to convey. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 6 Nov 1994 18:29:58 -0500 Subject: ATTN JMS: why do aliens lust a Actually, it's mainly just G'Kar who's big into human females (so to speak); Lennier was more astonished than anything else. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 6 Nov 1994 18:31:42 -0500 Subject: Will we ever see... You will see hyperspace from the inside briefly in episode 2, and bigtime in episode 4. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 6 Nov 1994 18:33:30 -0500 Subject: ATTN JMS: Do YOU have any info It's my understanding that Seven Network in Australia will begin carrying B5 around December or thereabouts. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 6 Nov 1994 21:28:59 -0500 Subject: B5's music Christopher writes the B5 music here; faxes it to Berlin, and the Berlin Symphonic Film Orchestra, which he works with. The next day, he gets on a high-compression audio/video link (via phone and fiber optic lines) and conducts the orchestra in Berlin from his home here in LA. The finished music is then sent here via those same high-compression lines, and transferred to DAT. In some cases, if we need something fast, and it's fairly simple, he does it on his studio equipment. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 7 Nov 1994 04:24:01 -0500 Subject: "Things cannot hold..." One aspect of the Yeats quote, and the Lincoln quote, and the Tennyson quote(s), and the many others, is that I think a lot of folks at some point tuned out of, or aren't interested in, literature and poetry because they've never really been exposed to it. So just to be a little subversive, I work some of it into the show. I choose that which has meaning to the show, and the characters, in the hopes that (as has happened here), viewers will dig out the original material and be exposed to some *really* nifty writing. Granted that television must entertain at minimum; it should also elevate and ennoble and educate, and this is too good an opportunity to waste, provided one does not become didactic about it. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 7 Nov 1994 04:24:14 -0500 Subject: Mysticism (PoD Spoilers) The fact that Minbari believe in souls does not make it so. If a story is rigorously SF, but some of the people who inhabit the story have belief systems, does that automatically invalidate it as SF? I don't think it's the position of this show to state whether or not a belief system is true but rather to explore the actions of those who THINK it's true; not to resolve arguments, but to start arguments. (See "Believers" for more on this one.) What the characters believe is subjective, and is their business. Or, as Sheridan says in a later episode, "I'm not saying what I'm saying. I'm not saying what I'm thinking. For that matter, I'm not even THINKING what I'm thinking." jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 7 Nov 1994 10:02:00 -0500 Subject: Sheridan didn't tell Clark !!! This is correct. Sheridan did NOT tell President Clark about the Minbari soul situation. Clark already knew about it. Sheridan's line is, "I spoke with the president. He is the only other person who knows why the Minbari surrendered." Also, in the first issue of the comic, this prior knowledge on Clark's part is clear as well. jms Article 37979 of rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5: From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 7 Nov 1994 19:03:34 -0500 Subject: ATT JMS: Comments from my wif Tell your wife I'm getting kickbacks from the AMA. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 9 Nov 1994 02:03:54 -0500 Subject: JMS: Yeats The Second Coming- Let's just say that I've read a lot of British literature, and quite a bit of Yeats and Keats and Shelley and others, and let it go at that for now. Re: Lennier, the Grey Council fellow said, "Tell them what we've told YOU," not someone else. Just to clarify. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 9 Nov 1994 02:12:56 -0500 Subject: ATTN JMS: Damn you, Mr Straczy Let me reassure you. It's all a carefully woven covert plot to destroy your attention span so you can't study. Look! Over there! A comet! jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 9 Nov 1994 02:13:09 -0500 Subject: CHRYSALIS, blooper? (SPOILER) Sorry, this isn't a blooper. Garibaldi says, into the Link, "Garibaldi to Sinclair," which tells the Link to find Sinclair. Then we have Sinclair's response. No blooper. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 9 Nov 1994 18:50:23 -0500 Subject: Attn JMS Thanks for the support, and the story; I kinda like that.... jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 9 Nov 1994 18:52:11 -0500 Subject: JMS! HELP! RE: B5 -Capt Power I had very little to do with Captain Power after walking off the show because I thought there was too much power being given to the merchandising aspect. And I'm not sure how much to reveal; I can say that Larry DiTillio, who came in after me as story editor, edited an entire season worth of scripts; 24 scripts are lying around, waiting to be filmed. I kinda gave him the elements I wanted to see dealt with, and left. (I seem to remember a Starlog interview with Larry a couple of years back where the arc is pretty much spelled out for year two.) jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 9 Nov 1994 18:52:23 -0500 Subject: ATT JMS: Casting the pilot Oddly, the only name I remember from casting the pilot, in looking for a Sinclair, before we found Michael, was John Rhys-Davies. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 9 Nov 1994 20:37:03 -0500 Subject: ATTN:JMS spoiler for revalatio The platform seen in the opening of "Revelations" is a hazardous materials platform, which is still cleaning up the radioactive debris and other stuff from the blown Minbari cruiser in the last ep. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 9 Nov 1994 20:47:40 -0500 Subject: JMS : who won the court case ? The human won the case, but damages awarded were minimal. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 9 Nov 1994 20:50:52 -0500 Subject: ATTN JMS: New Officer's Lounge Basically, I decided to name the EA Lounge "Earhart's" because she is an important figure in aviation history, and I wanted a 40s art deco style to the place, down to big band music, and it fit perfectly. There have been more women aviators, civilian and elsewhere, than we know, particularly during WW II at home, and they deserve recognition. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 10 Nov 1994 00:09:48 -0500 Subject: CHARACTERS CHANGING Somebody posted the other day that this is as if you're reading a novel, and something happens to a character, so you stop reading at chapter three. Me, I'd want to keep reading to see what happens next... jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 10 Nov 1994 00:10:01 -0500 Subject: Attn JMS: Chrysalis and JFK (S Actually, I was born in 54, so we're about the same age. Oddly, I don't remember the day of the shooting; what I *do* remember is watching JFK's funeral, and not entirely understanding the depth of the event, but fully grasping the emotions around me. That will linger forever. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 10 Nov 1994 01:11:44 -0500 Subject: ATT JMS: Comments from my wif AMA = American Medical ASsociation. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 12 Nov 1994 00:31:50 -0500 Subject: "Revelations" blow by blow (SP Re: inconsistent writing and Narns...please bear in mind that there are two ways to encounter shadowmen: going out there, and them coming in to see YOU. The Narns need not be (and were not) spacefaring when they encountered the shadowmen. Or, more accurately, were encountered BY them. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 12 Nov 1994 00:38:16 -0500 Subject: JMS : Sheridan in from beginni Sheridan, or more specifically the need for someone *like* Sheridan began to get through clearly toward the latter part of last season, as I began planning out season two's progression, and kept looking at elements of the story and trying to find ways to get Sinclair into the heart of them. They felt contrived, for the most part; and the other characters, like Londo and G'Kar and Delenn, were *really* moving forward in a big way. The role of Sinclair was becoming primarily that of a "problem solver," and when that happens, a sort of glass bell falls down around the character, and you can't do much with him. So what the writer has to do is break that bell in one way or another; do something totally unexpected to him, and bring in someone who has a direct, personal connection with the storyline emerging in season two, so it's not contrived or forced. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 12 Nov 1994 00:38:28 -0500 Subject: JMS: Question and a comment [n It's G'Quan (or G'Quon, my notes aren't in front of me). jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 12 Nov 1994 06:06:12 -0500 Subject: ATTN JMS Insofar as I know, no, wasn't on Alternative Possibilities BBS. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 12 Nov 1994 06:54:40 -0500 Subject: Revelations and Tolkien (spoil "it is hard to explain how the Narns...could travel faster than light one thousand years ago." Indeed, it would be, if that were what had happened. Fortunately, it isn't. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 12 Nov 1994 06:54:49 -0500 Subject: Lawyers? Evolution notwithstanding, there are still lawyers in the future; we've shown them (alongside defendants) but not given them any lines yet. But they're there. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 12 Nov 1994 06:54:59 -0500 Subject: ATTN: JMS...Opening music No, we're not going to change the music. The season one music was right *for that season*. The events in year two are different; the music reflects where this season is going. The complaints mainly come because it isn't the same. It isn't *meant* to be the same. It's not an inferior version of year one, it's a different cue, meant to evoke different emotions. They say it isn't evoking the same feelings in them as the first year. Good. That's the intent. It will be changed EVERY season to correspond with the general sensibility of that season. (And while you note some who think it's lighter and airy, most others I've heard from say they think it's darker and more ominous. It's all subjective.) The only constant in the B5 universe is change. I've written novels as well as TV. Often, in my published novels, I include classical quotes at various points as chapter openings. I pick my quotes to correspond with that section of the book. Should I use the same quote over and over instead? I am absolutely thrilled with the music as it is, and it's staying. jms (And btw, I remember getting LOTS of complaints on the nets about the first season music, how nobody liked it, how they couldn't hum it, it was not symphonic enough, on and on and on. Now everybody likes the old one and some don't like the new one. Next year, folks'll be lamenting the loss of the second year theme. Lots of folks complained about Sinclair. We took him off the chessboard. Now a number of folks are complaining that he's gone. What does all this mean? It means you can't do a show by committee, whether that committee is a studio, a network, or a netgroup. The alternative is chaos and lowest-common-denominator programming.) From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 12 Nov 1994 06:55:08 -0500 Subject: JMS: What might have been... The only problem with answering how things would've been different is that some information might get out by inference about how things might still *be*. However, to do what I can with the question (never let it be said I don't try to accommodate....). If Lyta had stayed on B5, her arc would be pretty close to that of Talia, except that she would have begun to form a strong link to Kosh, first in the form of dreams, then something with implications that could be read as menacing or benign. If Dr. Kyle would have stayed around, he would have moved more into the position of advisor/paternal figure for Sinclair. He also would have continued to be more scientist than doctor. Takashima would have been revealed as having been in on the Vorlon assassination attempt by season's end, and would have betrayed Garibaldi in the events in "Chrysalis," either giving him over to those involved with the coup, or pulling the trigger herself. While we would know this, our characters would not, for as much as another full season. Carolyn Sykes would've gotten into major trouble with one of the major EarthCorps. Finally, if Sinclair had stayed with B5 at this juncture, the events in "Points" (the reveal of the Minbari surrender) would've taken place in episode 3 instead of 1. Episode 1 would've consisted mainly of the events in "Revelations," which was mainly as a bystander to the events around him, since the sister aspect specific to Sheridan obviously wouldn't be there. Basically, with all the events surrounding Delenn, Londo, G'Kar and others, he didn't have one whole hell of a lot to *DO* in the first six to eight episodes, since that segment was set aside primarily to introduce the Shadowman war and get that cranking, and Sinclair had no real direct connection to that. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 12 Nov 1994 06:56:44 -0500 Subject: JMS: A few odd bits The changeling net face belonged to Ron in that sequence; not the same as that in the boarding area. And the new VO in the end credits is done by Harlan Ellison. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 12 Nov 1994 20:17:21 -0500 Subject: JMS: Forever Babylon! Thanks. Positive feedback is always welcome. Best to you and to your associates. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 12 Nov 1994 20:24:46 -0500 Subject: Too much net influence? My sense has always been that no one hanging thread should be allowed to hang more than one season. And all information needed to understand any thread must be included in the episode. When I work here on the nets with notes about foreshadowing, it's basically to play and allow some folks to start to figure out stuff before it happens. This is something that, from talking to many non-netted viewers, the regular audience member doesn't really try to do. The emphasis in the minds of most viewers is tuning in to see what happened. The emphasis here on the nets is to try and figure out what's going to happen BEFORE it happens. The influene on the show by the nets is really minimal, if at all. Mainly the purpose of the nets, from my perspective, is a) to help educate people about how a show is done, b) to show respect for some of those linked in who are in the SF community, and c) to get barraged by questions about my characters and universe, knowing that when I get hit by a question I hadn't considered, and answering it, I've learned a bit more about my own story, which helps round it out. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 12 Nov 1994 20:43:58 -0500 Subject: Dear JMS-Question? I tried to develop a basic language structure for each of the races on B5. There are certain commonalities to the structure of names. I came up with some prefixes and suffixes, and assigned meanings to them, the same as real names. For instance, Rathenn (referred to by Delenn in "Voices") and Delenn have the same suffix, which has a specific meaning. You can break it down; Ner-oon (Legacies), Del-enn, Rath-enn, Der-onn, and so forth. The various parts do have specific meanings, but I generally keep that to myself, just for amusement. No Irish ancestry here that I'm aware of. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 13 Nov 1994 07:42:00 -0500 Subject: Revelations -- Wham! Speaking of looking into the abyss...which comes from "Revelations," it's a partial quote. Neitzsche: "When you look into the abyss, the abyss looks also into you." jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 13 Nov 1994 09:02:19 -0500 Subject: Underwriting + Underacting = Q "Whoever wrote 'Points of Departure.'" That would be me. The first three ("Points," "Revelations" and "the Geometry of Shadows") are mine. The next three are by D.C. Fontana ("A Distant Star," Scott Frost "The Long Dark," and Larry DiTillio ("A Spider in the Web"), with Peter David's "Soul Mates" rounding out the first seven new eps to be broadcast in a row. We then hit late December, and reruns through the Christmas holidays when nobody's home. We'll come back then with "A Race Through Dark Places" (jms); "The Coming of Shadows" (jms); "GROPOS" (ld); "All Alone in the Night" (jms); "Acts of Sacrifice" (jms), then some more freelance scripts. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 13 Nov 1994 19:03:35 -0500 Subject: Attn: JMS: Shadowmen and Narns "my question is who, what or how where (the shadowmen) beaten back then?" All in good time.... jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 13 Nov 1994 22:10:38 -0500 Subject: DUMB SCREW-UPS She's not seeing the shooter from outside Garibaldi's POV. That shot in particular is *exactly* from Garibaldi's POV. It's a lot like what is done in hypnosis, going back into somebody's memory and dragging out details they might have seen but not noted; the eye sees more than the brain recalls at any given moment. When we shot that scene, I was on-set, and the camera was put *exactly* where Garibaldi was standing, so we'd be very careful that it WAS his point of view. So though I hate to contradict you, it's not "a stupid plot hole from hell." jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 15 Nov 1994 09:34:55 -0500 Subject: ATTN JMS: Fighting in Hyperspa They can fight, after a fashion. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 15 Nov 1994 09:40:55 -0500 Subject: Re: Underwriting + Underacting Oddly enough, while I always had just one title for each of the first two season, I have several competing titles for year three, and haven't quite decided which to go with. Somewhere near the top of the list is, "I am become Death, the Destroyer of Worlds." May be a bit too much, though.... jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 15 Nov 1994 19:56:00 -0500 Subject: RE: B5 & Tolkien The only problem with this discussion is that it begins on the assumption that there is *any* kind of one-to-one correlation between B5 characters and LoTR characters. There isn't. There are, however, many aspects that they share in that they both are moving toward creating myth of a sort; if you've read Campbell's "Hero With a Thousand Faces," you know that there are some constants that work throughout mythic-based fiction. The Foundation books, the Lensman books, Childhood's End, all worked on a kind of myth-structure; so does B5 (at least in theory; how well it actually succeeds at that task will have to be seen with time). jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 15 Nov 1994 19:59:04 -0500 Subject: Chelo Stew! This is really getting distressing. This hate campaign is sick in the extreme. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 15 Nov 1994 23:00:02 -0500 Subject: (JMS, your thoughts?) Re: Real Y'know, I'm really getting sick of Theron's whining and constant second-guessing and "personal observations" about me, Michael, and how this show works when he is absolutely without any information on which to base these suppositions. No, Michael wasn't in the first episode. Why? Because after we went our separate ways in the spring, he headed back to New York for some pending offers there. HE WAS NOT AVAILABLE TO SHOOT. Okay, Theron? CAn we be clear on this? Can I be *ANY* clearer on this? We DID grab a piece with him before he left, which will be dropped in later in the season. I don't know which world you live in, Theron, but I live in the real world that has to consider cross-continental flights, shooting schedules, and a thousand other areas. Further, in episode one, from a strictly creative point of view, I had to a) introduce a new character and make him interesting, b) tie up some important war threads from season one, c) come up with a present time/foreground story (the Tragati) to make the episode self-contained, d) keep all of the other characters moving...and a zillion other things. If I had dropped a piece with Sinclair into the midst of this, it would have royally screwed up my structure. I COULD NOT HAVE GIVEN THAT SCENE THE TIME AND ATTENTION AND IMPORTANCE IT DESERVED. When we *do* see Sinclair again, it will be in a context where it will be important, and can be handled properly. I *really* don't like people second-guessing me; worse still when they imply motivations and engage in personal speculations that have NOTHING WHATSOEVER to do with the real world, or the story that I'm trying to tell. Okay, Theron, YOU wouldn't have done it this way. So go make YOUR show. This is mine. And I'll do it as I see fit, in order to tell the story that I want to tell. Can we now resolve this and move on? jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 15 Nov 1994 23:00:12 -0500 Subject: ATTN JMS: Music and Harlan Harlan is not actually *in* the story as a character, and the opening VO is for those IN the story. It's not a merit thing, it's a story thing. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 16 Nov 1994 01:29:18 -0500 Subject: Why is B5 syndicated? Real simple, non-tech answer: none of the networks wanted it. They didn't think it could be contained and shot for a budget; they didn't think there was an audience for SF space stuff outside Star Trek (and many still don't); they didn't think the EFX could be done using CGI. Every single one of them passed on it on the grounds that it couldn't be done. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 16 Nov 1994 08:28:21 -0500 Subject: JMS: RE: Underwriting + Undera I scuttled my story for "The Customer is Always Right," a stand-alone, because I decided it wasn't up to par, and walked over some of the turf ST had walked over. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 17 Nov 1994 02:45:31 -0500 Subject: JMS: Utility Actor???? In order to create more involved alien makeups, and because many actors have a hard time with prosthetics, we created what we call the Babylon 5 Alien Rep Group; last year about five, and this year about 12 actors who we have taken full head and (in some cases) body casts, so we can use them in mid-level speaking roles as aliens and rotate them in and out. Since we had fewer last year, you saw Mark more than you'll see him this year. Green Drazi #1 in "Geometry" is one such rep group alien. We keep trying to find interesting solutions to interesting problems. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 17 Nov 1994 04:09:18 -0500 Subject: ATTN JMS: Re: Why is B5 syndic No, neither B5 nor *any* of the ST shows get enough ratings to come near the basement in terms of network ratings. So B5 will either survive where it is, or vanish. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 17 Nov 1994 04:39:26 -0500 Subject: ATT JMS! How can we help "save The best thing to do, really, is to a) let the stations know, in writing, that you like the show, and why, and b) keep bringing in others to discover the show. Near as I can tell, most of the new viewers we're now getting are coming not through ads or promos, but word of mouth. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 17 Nov 1994 04:55:23 -0500 Subject: 14 words If I told you what the 14 words were, they wouldn't mean anything anymore. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 17 Nov 1994 04:55:35 -0500 Subject: Geometry of Shadows [SPOILER] You hit on the head *precisely*. When Garibaldi was popping the energy cap in and out of the PPG, he was on the floor, nominally in the dark, thinking of killing himself. I didn't want to play it up, didn't want to make it what the story was about...just show him doing it, over and over. And from Sheridan's face, seeing the last of this, it's clear he got it...and I thought he handled the scene *perfectly*, by his whole demeanor, but NOT talking about it except indirectly. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 17 Nov 1994 04:55:48 -0500 Subject: ATTN JMS: Vir and Londo (small Be assured, Vir's position continues to be important, and he moves a bit closer to the limelight as he does so...remember, he's the one who has to watch Londo's actions like a man watching an accident in slow motion, and try to do what he can to stop it. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 18 Nov 1994 00:40:25 -0500 Subject: Historical models for B5 empir Certainly, when I sat down to construct Minbari society, I looked into various historical models, and overall, though there are bits and pieces of one or another, I tried not to model it after any one group wholecloth. Certainly there's allegory all over the place.... jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 18 Nov 1994 02:12:29 -0500 Subject: Noises in space and Harlan Harlan, like many others who've bought the no-sound-in-space okeydoke, did ask for that, yes. Then I figured I'd try and get the straight skinny on this, and sent messages around to folks at JPL, NASA, and elsewhere, and y'know what? There IS sound in space. The conditions and circumstances are fairly specific -- proximity to nebulae, proximity to the air-bubble contained in a big ship when it explodes, such that it can reach you and provide sound -- but there's a LOT of grey in this discussion, and lots of reason to think there IS sound. We've just all bought into it without really doing the math. Freeman Dyson, who currently hold Einstein's chair, came back with many circumstances in which you'd hear sound in space (and we've used them). Folks from JPL and the High Altitude Observatory reported that when Pioneer broke the speed of sound, it registered a bow-shock of a sonic boom *while in space*. I've got something like two dozen email messages from credible and well-grounded scientists who said, in essence, everybody ASSUMED this, but nobody ever really bothered to ASK if it were true, and do the math. I'll eventually upload the file when I get around to cleaning it up. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 18 Nov 1994 02:14:13 -0500 Subject: ATTN: JMS: Organization, Man! This is gonna sound really awful, and I'm not sure if this is good or bad, but my "method of organization"...is just basically that I keep it all in my head. I've tried day timers, calendars, planners, and I tend to forget to write stuff down in it. I just tend to keep all this stuff in my head. Sometimes I forget something, but usually it's all there. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 18 Nov 1994 02:15:55 -0500 Subject: Does Harlan really have any in Yes, Harlan and I are friends. His role on the show is whatever he wants it to be, as he wants it to be. He describes it as being a mad dog nipping at my ankles. I describe him as alternatively a free-floating agent of chaos, or Jiminy Cricket, depending. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 18 Nov 1994 02:16:20 -0500 Subject: Re: GoS costumes (no spoilers) Actually, Londo has two coats, a cloak, several different colored vests (blue, black, others), often wears just his shirt, we've seen him in his PJs...he's got a fairly large wardrobe. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 18 Nov 1994 02:16:34 -0500 Subject: Re: "The Geometry of Shadows" Ivanova did NOT take the kerchief off either of the Drazi leaders in the council chambers; she walked PAST them, and signaled for two of the regular Drazi to come down out of the cheap seats. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 18 Nov 1994 02:16:49 -0500 Subject: "GoS" blow by blow (SPOILERS) "A race that speaks in macros" referred to the Drazi constantly repeating their stance, Green must fight Purple, Purple must fight Green, over and over...macros. Sheridan wasn't so much talking to himself at the end, as he was to the Tech who'd just asked about clearing the Technomages for jump. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 18 Nov 1994 02:17:10 -0500 Subject: GoS costumes (no spoilers) Ann Bruice did a great job on the technomage costumes; I agree. She found ways to implement what was described in the script that were both creative and wore well, and fulfilled the function. I wanted black, with fine silver lines, and an almost circuitboard look to the patterns in places, but not *obviously* that, stylized. She took that and came back with a true niftyness.... jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 18 Nov 1994 05:08:36 -0500 Subject: Re: THE GEOMETRY OF SHADOWS -- I have yelled, frequently and consistently, about the trailers for the series, *especially* the use of prior episode's footage, since in my view it makes it look like a rerun. The trailers are assembled by PTEN marketing, which is hooked on the idea of flashy visuals, and if they're not there, they borrow or cobble them. And sometimes their version of the story doesn't touch reality at any two contiguous points. It's got nothing to do with me, except that it annoys the hell out of me. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 18 Nov 1994 05:10:15 -0500 Subject: Re: Ivanova's Foot (minor spoi Nope, that really was Claudia walking on her broken foot in the council chambers. She's a trooper.... jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 18 Nov 1994 17:02:24 -0500 Subject: ATTN: JMS A question No major significance, no; the person doing the narration will, in theory, change each year. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 19 Nov 1994 01:39:22 -0500 Subject: Londo's fate (A DISTANT STAR s This thread is also bogus. The poster, enigma2336@AOL.com is screwing with everybody here. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 19 Nov 1994 01:39:34 -0500 Subject: Sheridan sux Here's why I'm troubled by this discussion not at all. I've been here before. Last season, in the first handful of episodes we aired, some folks were screaming that they hated Sinclair, O'Hare was a terrible actor, on and on and on (many of them now the ones yelling about how he was the great thespic center of the story, and is irreplaceable). Same thing now with Sheridan. You get to know a character OVER TIME. I made a conscious decision at the top not to go for broad-strokes characterization, but rather peel back layers over time. Lots of folks hated Londo at first. Then they got to know him *over time*, and turned around to the favorite character for many people. This was made clearest to me after "Infection" aired, number four to be broadcast, when lots of people said that they felt O'Hare was finally settling into his role and had improved. Only later they discovered that "Infection" was actually the FIRST episode we shot, it just aired later than it was produced (4 rather than 1). It wasn't that O'Hare had settled into Sinclair, it was that the AUDIENCE was settling into Sinclair. One of the things I've seen most often on the nets is a certain lack of patience...if the actor doesn't grab one right off with some folks, it's "he's a bad actor!" No, you don't work as much, and as successfuly, as Bruce and be a bad actor. He's not. It's just taking time -- as with ALL our characters -- to get to know the audience, and vice-versa. I've been here before...heard some yelling that they hated Ivanova, Claudia was a rotten actor, space her (now one of the most popular characters on the show), same for Garibaldi and others at varying times. But by season's end, once we got to KNOW who these people WERE, then that changed. As it'll change here. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 19 Nov 1994 03:47:01 -0500 Subject: Londo being tortured in A Dist Everyone who reads this thread...this is a bogus thread, the so called "spoilers" are fakes and have nothing to do with the episode. I would, however, suggest that perhaps the poster of this original bogus storyline go work with the PTEN marketing people making trailers for our show...couldn't be any less accurate than they are now.... jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 19 Nov 1994 17:51:28 -0500 Subject: Technomage: Shadowrun homage? The techno-mages were not a homage to ShadowRun games, since I've never seen the game, and have never heard of it prior to seeing this message. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 19 Nov 1994 17:51:38 -0500 Subject: Five years!! That's it?????? I've mentioned before that there's a side-story that could go off, within the B5 universe, with a few of our characters, once the Babylon 5 story itself comes to an end in its fifth year, but that's a long ways off, and I don't know if that's realistic. You have to understand...I never came in wanting to be a producer. I'm a *writer*, and I only got here because it was the only way to protect the words...create and run the damned show so nobody can mess with it. Once I've finished the Babylon story, assuming it runs its full length, (5 years alone, more if there is that doubtful spinoff), the story is over. Every story has a beginning, middle and end, and the story's over when it's over. I've also made no bones about the fact that, should the Babylon story run its full term, I will have said just about everything I want to say in television, and plan to get out, go back to writing novels. My philosophy: find what it is you want to say, walk in the room, say it, and get the hell out. (Second philosophy behind that one: when in doubt, roll in a grenade and come in firing.) jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 20 Nov 1994 16:36:03 -0500 Subject: B5 It was mainly for story reasons. In any event...your support and kind words are appreciated. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 20 Nov 1994 18:26:42 -0500 Subject: A Distant Star Yes, now that we had the images in hand, Bruce re-did the opening narration, and was able to nail it perfectly. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 22 Nov 1994 02:25:29 -0500 Subject: ATTN JMS: Centauri Emperor The role of the Centauri emperor has been cast, and performed with marvelous skill, in the person of Turhan Bey. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 22 Nov 1994 02:56:59 -0500 Subject: ATTN JMS: New Director? We've signed a few new directors for year two; Mike Vejar, who did GoS, will return to do another one or two; have also brought in Mario Di Leo and a couple others. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 22 Nov 1994 14:22:37 -0500 Subject: Evidence (Revelations SPOILERS Copies of the evidence were made, but the question is what is the available evidence to BE copied? Frankly, there isn't much. There are no witnesses, very little physical evidence. If you tried to make a case with what they've got, you'd be laughed out of the courtroom. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 23 Nov 1994 00:52:01 -0500 Subject: The Geometry of Shadows (SPOIL "Somehow the idea that her first assignment as Commander is successful only because of Garibaldi's competence and on a piece of blind luck is perhaps just a bit sexist." There were *substantial* differences made between the first draft and the final, based on the fact that a lot of the physical stuff I'd written for Claudia -- getting herself out of the problem she was in with the Drazi -- had to be dumped because the actress had a broken foot. So that aspect has to be remembered. We pushed her to the limits, and I didn't want to push further. I don't feel Sheridan was downplaying her promotion; he was sneaking it up on her to surprise her, making it more of an unexpected delight. Re: the techno-mages being the "alien of the week"...they're humans. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 23 Nov 1994 01:32:26 -0500 Subject: ATTN JMS: *PLINK* for TV Guide The plink got deleted for time; will do it later. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 23 Nov 1994 02:01:37 -0500 Subject: Why didn't C-prime conquer Ear The question isn't so much "Why didn't the Centauri conquer Earth?" as, "Why would they have WANTED to?" We're kind of off the beaten track, and there's little logistical or tactical value to a base here; up until the last couple hundred years, we didn't have a technological base they could exploit, and when we finally did get one, the Republic was already beginning to shrink and lose its tendency toward expansionism. Basically, we fell between the cracks, and for something as substantial as acts of conquer, there have to be solid goals, either real or imagined. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 23 Nov 1994 02:06:14 -0500 Subject: jms: Geometry comment The idea behind the title "The Geometry of Shadows" was in a sense a metaphor for the techno-mages; geometry bespeaking the use of math and equations, the latter being generally something dark, or mysterious, or mystical. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 23 Nov 1994 03:07:57 -0500 Subject: