JMS conference on compuserve: full logged text
b5jms-owner at cs.columbia.edu
b5jms-owner at cs.columbia.edu
Sun Dec 3 07:30:45 EST 1995
Subject: JMS conference on compuserve: full logged text
* 1: Dec 3, 1995: kilgalen at tde.com (Green Meddler)
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
From: kilgalen at tde.com (Green Meddler)
Lines: 1158
hello all! I'm the Green Meddler, whose been posting JMS compuserve posts over
the last year or so. I've been away for a month due to a massive increase in
my personal workload, but now i'm back, sort of.
below is the full conference text of jms just finished conference on
compuserve. quite interesting, and i hope you enjoy it.
also, starting today, and presumably for the rest of the series, a
friend of mine, deanna miller, is now obtaining, formatting, and
posting the JMS posts from compuserve to internet groups. i will mail
them to this group's moderators, and will automatically post them on
the main ng each day, via her.
sorry about my absence, and i hope someone took over the slack while i was
gone.
enjoy!
--=======================================================================--
********** 12/2/95 2:52 PM Forum CO
R 3 : Ruth Ballam | Trev: are you using WinCIM or macCIM ?
SysOp Adrienne Chaf | Trevor> if you're using WinCim, click on
| Special, Preferences, Forums, More.
| set to Record Conference
Trevor Hart | Ruth,WinCim
Ruth Ballam | Chaos is my LIFE ! :-)
Neil Blevins | perfect
David Gosha | how do you set wincim to record?
Asha | Hi everyone!
Nathan Wallace | do you have to exit and reenter the
| conference to
TPAW | How do you know it is set.
SysOp Dupa | Yo!
Neil Blevins | hello asha
Nathan Wallace | start recording?
Marty | Hi Asha
Asha | :)
SysOp Adrienne Chaf | David> click on Special, Preferences, Forums,
| More. Set Record Room.
Ruth Ballam | Does the second number indicate how many
| people are here ?
SysOp Adrienne Chaf | Hiya Dupa!
Billl Lee | We (my wife & I) love your show, but WHERE
| did you find the
| uniforms that you use.? It looks like
| something from WWII. When
| we first started watching the show (a few
| years ago) the uniforms
| kind of put us off a little, and we have had
| the same reaction from
| people that we have reccommendedthe show to.
Ruth Ballam | Like Asha is 65 ?
TPAW | How do you know it is set?
Julia | Hi Dri.
Louise B | Hello/GO HOME:MAIL
Phil Herscher | hi Dupa!
Asha | Ruth:Looks like there are over 66 people,
| where's Joe?
Simon Bagshaw | In my version, there doesnt seem to be a
| record option
| after the more bit
SysOp Dupa | Hi, Phil
Neil Blevins | he will come.....
Ruth Ballam | Hidding I should think :-)
Brett Sherris | SYSOP - What is the name of the recorded file?
Asha | (giggle)
Mike Willmoth | If you open it...
SysOp Adrienne Chaf | 95 users and counting...
SysOp Dupa | Where's Kosh?
Mike Willmoth | Hi, Dri!
Louise B | hHello everyone
Julia | Hi Phil. Made it!
Neil Blevins | woooo!!
SysOp Adrienne Chaf | Brett> CHANNEL.LOG
Trev | Is JMS here or is he using a different name?
Bill Downs | Hi, folks...is this a free-for-all thing, or
| listen-only, once JMS gets here
SysOp Adrienne Chaf | hiya Mike!
| <waving>
Asha | (tinkle tinkle) He has always been here
| (chime ding)
Ruth Ballam | Ahhh ! it's all moving too fast
SysOp Dupa | Bill - Yes <g>
********** 12/2/95 2:59 PM Forum CO
*SYSTEM* | Switching to Babylon 5 Conference with J.
| Michael Straczynski
SysOp Lee W | % Room is moderated
| % Your moderator is [76044,502] SysOp Lee W
| % The floor is now CLOSED
| % Moderator recognizes [76170,1037] Sysop
| Mike Willmoth
jms | Good afternoon one and all.
SysOp Lee W | % Moderator recognizes [76711,2643] SysOp
| Adrienne Chafee
Sysop Mike Willmoth | Welcome, Joe!
SysOp Adrienne Chaf | Welcome, Joe!
SysOp Lee W | Welcome to the Babylon 5 conference,
| featuring J. Michael
| Straczynski, creator of the popular
| syndicated show
| "Babylon 5". This conference is hosted by
| the Science
jms | Good to be here. Good to be anywhere. Heck,
| just good to be had.
SysOp Lee W | Fiction & Fantasy Media 1 Forum (GO SFMEDONE).
|
| This is a moderated conference, so questions
| will be taken
| into the question queue and selected by the
| moderator.
|
| In ASCII, enter "/Question" to enter a
| question into the queue.
| in WINCIM, click the "Ask ?" box.
jms | Good to be.
| (my standards are dropping fast)
SysOp Lee W | Alright Joe, I'm going to start the questions
| flowing unless you have anything you'd like
| to say first.
jms | Never eat anything bigger than your head.
| And a fool and his money were
| lucky to get together in the first place.
| That's all the wisdom I have.
SysOp Lee W | OK, I'l start with the questions waiting in
| the queue.
Question: | From DJB:
Richard D. Bardini | Will Sinclair be back and will M O'Hare still
| play him?
jms | (I'd ask people not to SENd me messsages here
| privately; I've got a lot of
SysOp Lee W | % Moderator recognizes [103237,2771] Richard
| D. Bardini
jms | them on my screen now; ask publicly if you
| can, please.)
| Lee, is the question from Richard on my
| screen in public view to be answered
SysOp Lee W | Since this is a moderated conference, I will
| be processing questions through the message
| queue
| Yes, the one from Richard is the first one.
| Joe is on using ASCII, I believe, so please
| don't send him any private messages.
jms | Okay...the answer is yes, Sinclair will
| return, in a two parter that will
| be produced as 16/17 this season, and he will
| be played by Michael O'Hare.
| He will be returning to B5 as Head of the
| Rangers on a mission involving
| Babylon 4. And that's all I can say for now.
| ga
Question: | From NEWARK, NJ:
Mitchell A.Kaplan | I understand that the plots have all been
| essentially written, what about the change to
| Sheriden, was that anticipated at the
| beginning of the series
SysOp Lee W | % Moderator no longer recognizes
| [103237,2771] Richard D. Bardini
jms | There seems to be this notion in SF TV that
| you can't change characters
| once you're into it. This worked best for
| the story. Characters have
| to be free to grow and change and be
| replaced, if necessary. That adds
| a certain level of jeapordy.
| To answer now more specifically....
| The change wasn't specified *in* the outline,
| but came *out* of the outline
| (any writers in the audience know that an
| outline rarely survives contact
| with the finished product, the script or the
| novel....
Question: | From SEATTLE, WA:
Adam D | I wondered what is going on with peripheral
| merchandising for the show? Will there be
| other CDs, games, etc.?
jms | What I found in year two was that Sinclair
| was left off on his own a lot,
| holding everyone else's bags, because his
| ties were all to the Minbari,
| and I needed someone with a personal tie to
| the Shadows. That was
| Sheridan. To give that to Sinclair would be
| stretching credulity to the
| breaking point, I thought. (Not finished
| here yet.)
Question: | From LUBBOCK, TX:
JamesC | Which science fiction authors have influenced
| you the most? Who are your favorites?
jms | So by moving him off the chessboard, and
| bringing in Sheridan, I was able
| to do more with the storyline, and faster.
| Life is change. People complain
| when Riker doesn't change position for 7
| years, well, characters change
| here.
| Now, to the merchandising question....
| There will be a few other things here and
| there, I'm mainly dragging my
| feet on merchandising, 'cause I've seen
| situations where the tail begins
| wagging the dog. We'll do a few things, the
| screensaver, the books, the
| comic will return for 12 more issues....
| We're looking to do a cdrom of the show, and
| some other items of interest
| to collectors, some of which we hope to do
| through the B5 fan club, which
| will entail products made by the same people
| who make our props, so they
| will be 100% identical and authentic to
| what's in the show. But....
SysOp Lee W | % Moderator recognizes [70040,104] SysOp Dupa
jms | I really, really don't want this to become a
| franchise, a cash cow; I'm
| here to tell a story. Now, to what writers
| influenced me...
| I'd say: Bradbury, Corwin, Serling, Ellison,
| Lovecraft, Dunsany,
| Bloch, Eric Frank Russel, Tolkein...oh heck,
| just forgot the name of the
| woman who wrote The Haunting of Hill
| House....those are the biggies.
| GA
| Shirley Jackson.
Question: | From EXTERNAL NETWORK:
Rage & Tate | If G'Kar was involved in the last war against
| the Centauri, and that was
about 100 years
| ago, how *old* is G'Kar?
jms | The war wasn't 100 years ago; the Centauri
| were *there* for 100 years.
| The resistance finally kicked the Centauri
| off homeworld about 40 years
| ago. G'Kar is about 70-80 years old, which
| is young in Narn terms, given
| that they live to about 200 in many cases.
| ga
Question: | From EAJ:
Mark V. Urda | Will we ever get tp see the Vorlon Homeworld?
jms | But of course.
| This season you'll see Minbar, up close and
| personal. The Vorlons will be
Question: | From RICHMOND, VA:
Mark Pruett | You've said before that you built "trap
| doors" into the story for all the characters.
| The Talia Winters/Sleeper Agent sub-plot
| seems like it could have been used as a
| generic "trap door" for any of the
| characters. Any connection?
jms | a bit later.
Question: | From BILLERICA, MA:
Jim Marshall | Was the exit of the Talia character planned?
| It seemed you where building her up into an
| important person (her gift from Ironheart
| ect..).
jms | No, I don't think the trap door there really
| would've worked as well; the
| whole operation was tightly Psi Corps, and we
| established in the comic that
| she was seen on Mars in a processing center
| of some kind...no, that one
| was set really for her.
| Quite correct, I was setting her up that way.
| Why, does everything that's
Question: | From BERLIN:
Magelone | Will we see Dwight Schultz again?
jms | set up have to actually work out? We have
| great hopes during any war that
| this thing or that thing will work, but often
| they don't. We're used to
| the TV convention that everything our heroes
| plan will work. Here, that
| ain't always the case. I wanted to knock the
| pins out of people a little.
| No immediate plans for Dwight, but if I come
| up with a good story for him,
| I'd love to do it.
| ga
Question: | From SANTA CLARA, CA:
Larry Rosenblum | Joe, recently you said that a twist in the
| story later this season "surprised you". How
| did that happen? Who is in charge here?
jms | Kosh.
| I dunno, it's just something that happens
| with writers....
| you're going along at a reasonable pace,
| everyone's doing what they're
| expected to do, then suddenly one of them
| sits up and says HEY! LOOK
| HERE, BUSTER, and you have to fall in line,
| because they're LIVING there,
| you're just writing about it.....
| which is why I've always built room into the
| outline for variations and
| changes, so it's fluid and can adapt.
| Suffice to say it startled the
| hell outta me and everyone else I've shown
| the script to.
| ga
Question: | From EXTERNAL NETWORK:
Gimli t. Dwarf | How much of the history did you plan? Further
| than the Minbari war? Back to our time?
jms | I've got a rough timeline that extends back
| to the year 2000, but as far as
| a detailed history, it's for the 20-30 years
| prior to 2256, and the 20 years
| after the events chronicled in B5. The
| Minbari war is pretty detailed,
| the story of the last few shadow
| wars...that's pretty thorough.
| ga
Question: | From COMPUSERVE REROUTED:
JohnE Johnson | What is Harlan's involvement?
jms | Whatever Harlan wants. He is free to wander
| into any department he so
| desires and make suggestions. He suggested
| the Ombuds, he added to the
| first season narration, did the voice over at
| the credits for year two
| (most of it), and has a big voice-over part
| in an upcoming episode called
| "Ceremonies of Light and Dark."
| ga
Question: | From LONDON:
Ian Plowman | JMS: Recent stories have been appearing on
| the internet about Stephen Furst leaving B5,
| can you clarify this.
Question: | From SAN MARCOS, CA:
Douglas S | Will we be seeing Steven Furst (Vir) as
| seldom as we now see Michael
| O'Hare
(Sinclair)?
jms | Stephen got a lead in "Misery Loves Company,"
| so we freed up his schedule
| (which we didn't have to do, we had first
| call on his services) to give him
| a chance to be a lead in a series; he did
| that, and the series went away;
| he just did a 2-part Chicago Hope, he is NOT
| joining that show; the piece
| in TV Guide is poorly worded. We've used
| Stephen in...
| about 5-6 episodes so far this season, and
| he's got a *huge* role in an
| upcoming script which we begin shooting next
| week, "Sic Transit Vir."
| ga
Question: | From NEWPORT BEACH, CA:
Orb | How many of the next block of episodes are
| 'serious arc' episodes?
The last block was
| light...
jms | Yeah, I'd intended to end with "Voices of
| Authority," which is a HUGE arc
| episode this week, but the EFX weren't ready
| yet (huge requirements), so we
| put "Passing" in its place. Of the next
| batch, we've got....
| "Voices" (big), "Exogenesis" (stand alone,
| mainly, some threads); "Dust to
| Dust" (an arc episode disguised as a non-arc
| episode), then three of the
| biggest arc shows of the series to date,
| which change the whole show:
| "Messages From Earth," "Point of No Return,"
| then "Severed Dreams."
| ga
Question: | From CALGARY, AB:
Jason Montgomery | Does the change in the B5 opening music for
| this year supposed to give us a feeling of
| impending doom? We know that the standard B5
| theme has been replaced with the music from
| the Battle of the Line, so does this mean
| anything?
jms | It's certainly intended to give a more
| serious, threatening, but heroic
| mood, yes. Things are getting Just A Little
| Nuts this year in the
| storyline, and that particular music is
| emblematic of sacrifice, struggle
| and change.
| ga
Question: | From REDFORD, MI:
Walter G. Tarrow | How does Delenn know she's a/the Chosen One?
jms | She knows the full prophecy. She has looked
| around at the world, at how
| the prophecy seems to be coming true around
| her, and if this person in the
| center of it all is a Chosen One, and she is
| that person, then quid pro quo,
| she is a Chosen One. Others, natch, don't
| believe her. Never do.
| ga
Question: | From BOISE, ID:
Randy L. | Lando seems to have gotten himself in DEEP
| doo-doo. Will he ever be able to get his
| reputation back, or will he eventually be
| written out of the series?
jms | No, Londo is planned to be present in the B5
| storyline for the full five
| years, so he won't be written out. Will he
| get his reputation back? Hmmm.
| Depends on how you define "reputation." Can
| he be redeemed? It's possible,
| but the deeper he goes, the greater the price
| that will have to be paid for
| redemption.
| ga
Question: | From ST. LOUIS, MO:
Joe M. | Is there any significance to the naming of
| Earth Force ships after characters in Greek
| tragedies?
jms | Here and there, yes. I like playing games
| with ship names, giving subtle
| little undercurrents and hints to those hip
| enough to pick up on them; we
| have a character who causes trouble in
| "Voices" leaving on the transport
| Loki...god of mischief...but yes, there's
| often significance there, to
| varying degrees.
| ga (give me 2 mins to go grab a pepsi real
| fast...zoom)
SysOp Lee W | OK, while joe is getting his Pepsi....
jms | ok, back, ga
SysOp Dupa | <Hey! No Product Placement in B5!>
SysOp Adrienne Chaf | <grin>
Sysop Mike Willmoth | <chickle>
| <chuckle>
SysOp Lee W | We've got quite a few messages in the queue.
| I'll try to get through most of them and then
| open it for some more.
jms | back
SysOp Lee W | OK, One quick one from me, what is the status
| on the fan club?
jms | We've been fighting WB to get it approved for
| almost *two years* 'cause
| they felt there wouldn't be any interest.
| (Sound effect: gun to own head
| going BANG) We *finally* got the final
| paperwork in this week, so we hope
| to have this finalized in the next week or so.
| ga
Question: | From INDIANAPOLIS, IN:
Lee A. Phebus | I truely enjoy the series, particularly the
| discrete references to the old "Prisoner"
| series...be seeing you! Are these your
| idea...do you understand the implications?
SysOp Adrienne Chaf | Great news!
jms | I've only done a couple, actually; others
| have interpreted a few things
| that aren't nods. But yes, I did a couple of
| them, including "be seeing
| you," as a fan of that show, and to again add
| an undercurrent of
| understanding to those who Get It.
| ga
Question: | From PHOENIX, AZ:
Sysop Mike Willmoth | Joe, what hardware and software do you use to
| access the online services and the net? With
| the new technology you use on the show, I was
| curious what you use yourself. Thanx.
jms | I'm an old timer around here; I've been
| online, first with CIS, since
| about 1984. You get into habits. So I use
| Smartcom for most stuff, like
| GEnie and a few others, Smartcom alternating
| with Tapcis here for CIS, and
| natch the supplied software for AOL.
| ga
Question: | From EXTERNAL NETWORK:
Julia |
Joe: Is Theo really as complicated as he's
| beginning to appear? One minute he is a
| fairly patient holy man and then he seems
| somewhat creepy. Or am I mistaking his
| beliefs for something else?
jms | Oh, hardware is a Courier v.Everything.
| I don't think there's anything creepy in
| Theo, he is very sincere in his
| beliefs. The "seems" is subjective;
| certainly isn't intended.
| ga
| (We've gotta have ONE certifiable good guy in
| the mix.)
Question: | From ROCHELLE PARK, NJ:
Mara K. Malovany | Do you have anymore light-bulb jokes or other
| B5 humor you can share with us?
jms | god i hope not
| ga
Question: | From CSK:
Herb/Carol Mattord | I have the mass market Franke CD and enjoy it
| very much. Will there be later versions
| released to incorporate new music from after
| the second season?
jms | (the other B5 humor is unrepeatable)
| To the second question, I've spoken to Chris,
| and he'd love to do another
| CD. We'll have to see. (And hi, Mara, just
| saw it was you.)
| ga
Question: | From EXTERNAL NETWORK:
Catherine Jones | Did you get an increased budget for B5's
| third season, and if so, how did you choose
| to spend the extra money?
jms | We got about a 3% increase in our budget,
| which was swiftly consumed by
| improvements in sets, costumes, standard
| actor/crew salary increases.
Question: | From LONDON:
Karl Antle | What was your inspiration to create Babylon 5?
jms | We're a lean operation.
| ga
| Define inspiration.
SysOp Lee W | I'll need to recognize Karl for that, hold
| on. Here's another question while I do that.
Question: | From FRANKFURT:
Convention | I want to know, if technical information abot
| Bab5 will be available in Germany
I also
| want to know if the will be a roleplaying
| game abot Bab5
I've read there will be Bab 5
| after the first 5 seasons
is this true?
SysOp Lee W | % Moderator recognizes [75377,724] Karl Antle
Karl Antle | Where did you come up with the idea for Bab5?
jms | If by tech info you mean a technical manual,
| no, nothing's planned for now
| in the US or overseas. There are discussions
| about an RPG, but so far
| nothing's concluded that I know of. Doug
| would love to do a side story or
| spinoff after the 5 years of B5, which has
| always been available, but I
| doubt if it'd happen.
| Karl: it ain't an easy answer. It came from
| knowing history, and modeling
| this after ancient Babylon; from wanting to
| do a Saga for TV; from feeling
| that so many TV SF shows are out of control
| financially; from wanting to do
| an SF show that would respect the
| intelligence of fans....
| I knew that the best series set up places
| where the stories come to you,
| in a police station or a hospital or a law
| office, and decided in an SF
| environment a space station would work well
| for that...added the backdrop
| of myth and archetype, constructed a Hero's
| Journey, and took it from
| there.
| ga
Question: | From HOUSTON, TX:
Kadota | It seems that Sheridan and Delenn are on
| their way to some sort of romantic
| entanglements. Is that part of why Delenn
| became more human?
SysOp Lee W | % Moderator no longer recognizes [75377,724]
| Karl Antle
jms | That's about 50% of the reason. The other
| reason will be revealed later
| this season.
| ga
Question: | From SACRAMENTO, CA:
STEVE MARQUIS | What exactly happened to the Shawdow ship
| chasing the White Star when the jump gate
| blew in "Matters of Honor"?
jms | Blowed up real good.'
| ga
Question: | From BIRMINGHAM:
Andrew Lunt | What are your thoughts on making Babylon 5
| movies should the TV stations kill the show
| before the end of its natural life?
jms | I can't even allow the thought that we won't
| get the full 5 years without
| my head exploding...this series has been an
| act of sheer will. The only way
| it will get finished is if I decide it
| *will*, period...so the question is
| one I really can't consider. (Doug also
| wants to do a movie...but then Doug
| wants to conquer Latvia, so go figure.)
| ga
Question: | From SEATTLE, WA:
Randy Petersen | Would you like to comment on your resignation
| from the rastb5 Usenet newsgroup, and on what
| conditions would need to be met to allow you
| to return to an active role on Usenet?
jms | There is, in my mind, a difference between
| critical, negative opinions,
| which are fine, and outright personal
| attacks, defamation of character,
| libel, fraud, deception, and outright lies.
| I exposed myself to that for
| a year and a half, thanks to a few disturbed,
| dysfunctional individuals,
| and finally couldn't stand it any longer. If
| there....
| were a moderated newsgroup that allowed for
| free discussion but prevented
| the psychopathic abuse of others, the net
| stalking we've seen in usenet,
| the personal attacks and villification, then
| I'd be there in a hot minute.
| But for now, with the rules of the group as
| they currently stand...
| If these individuals are there, I won't be
| there. I refuse to tolerate
| that kind of behavior any longer, and there's
| no reason on earth why I
| should, or why the group itself should
| tolerate being taken hostage by a
| disturbed few individuals and having the
| place become toxic. That, for me,
| is the bottom line.
| ga
SysOp Lee W | Spoiler Warning on this next question!
Question: | From SEATTLE, WA:
Charles Keith-Stanl | What *were* Kosh and Lyta doing at the tag to
| PtG?
jms | Good question.
| ga
Question: | From PORTLAND, OR:
Phoenix Polymorph | How much of the story are you writing, and
| how much is writing itself?
SysOp Dupa | <I hate it when he does that>
Sysop Mike Willmoth | <good>
jms | Well, I'm writing it in one way or another,
| there's nobody else behind the
| keyboard...but in terms of the story taking
| control of itself, I'd say it's
| about 70% to 80% what I'd planned starting
| back in 1986/7, and the rest is
| coming out of the story as you actually write
| it, and the characters begin
| talking back to you....
| Writing is a *living* process, once you get
| into the work, it ALWAYS
| surprises you; if it doesn't, you're not
| doing your job right. You can't
| ever predict everything that happens. A
| general can plan his strategy to
| the nth detail, but that strategy rarely
| survives contact with the enemy.
| Same here.
| ga
Question: | From PRINCETON, NJ:
Kevin F | Joe, first let me congratulate you on the
| best show on TV! My question - How much of
| the plot arc do you let the actors in on?
jms | Only as much as is required for a scene. We
| shot the year 1 cliffhanger
| 1/2way through year 1; to make it make sense,
| I had to explain what had
| happened in between (in scripts not yet
| written), and what was going to
| happen down the road several years for
| "Coming of Shadows." Most of them
| really don't want to know the details...
| because then they end up playing the *result*
| rather than the *process*.
| ga
SysOp Lee W | Couple of related questions here....
Question: | From DUBLIN:
Jim Kirk | How much of an influence was Tolkien in the
| germination of the B5 story?
Question: | From GRAND RAPIDS, MI:
Anne and Scott Cald | Is Babylon 5 supposed to be a parallel world
| to Tolkien's Lord of the Rings?
jms | None, really, except that it was one of many
| sagas that I loved. There is
| no 1-1 corrolation. No. Why should I want
| to do that, instead of telling
| my own story? He and I used the same tools
| in our writing; archetypes and
| mythic structure, and the hero's journey, so
| some tools are reflected, as in
| sagas going back to the Illiad and the
| Odyssey and Sir Gawain....
| and Camelot and endless other mythic stories.
| You're mistaking *tools* for
| *story*, two different things. I constantly
| get mail from people saying, '
| "Oh, you're doing WW II, or you're doing
| ancient Babylon, or you're doing
| Kennedy, or Camelot," and they're all sure
| they're correct, and they all
| find evidence...but they can't be all
| correct, and they're not....
| you tend to see whichever Big Mythic Story
| you're most familiar with.
| And that's the extent of it.
| ga
Question: | From COMPUSERVE REROUTED:
JohnE Johnson | Are all those fantastic outside shots still
| produced on personal computers?
jms | On Dos machines now, yes.
| ga
Question: | From HARTFORD, CT:
Dawn M. Swingle | Will there be more B5 magazines, Quarterly or
| otherwise?
jms | We hope so, haven't heard a final
| determination that.
| ga
| (btw, dupa, how long is this scheduled for,
| just curious.)
SysOp Dupa | JMS - ask Lee
Question: | From BILLERICA, MA:
Jim Marshall | In the opening of the show you show several
| scenes, most of which are from season 2, a
| couple from season 3, and one that I can't
| place. It shows a starfury blowinf away
| another starfury. When will this happen?
jms | Sooner than you might expect.
| ga
SysOp Lee W | Joe, however long you want to go. If needed,
| I can compile the remaining questions and
| have you answer them at your leisure.
jms | is 3:30 (my time) a reasonable end point?
| don't want to leave folks hanging if can be
| avoided
SysOp Lee W | That should work.
jms | ok....NEXT?
Question: | From BIRMINGHAM:
Simon Bagshaw | I read somewhere that Londo will later be
| redeamed in his own private arc. Will Morden
| have his own happy ending/redemption?
jms | Not if I have anything to say about it. (And
| I do.) The character deserves
| what's coming to him.
| ga
Question: | From REDFORD, MI:
Jerry G. Anning | What do you plan to do after the B5 story
| runs its course? Continue it? Independent
| material in the same world? Unrelated SF?
| Something completely different?
jms | If B5 runs its full 5 years, barring a
| side-story/spinoff (highly unlikely),
| the plan is to retire from TV and go back to
| writing novels and plays.
| Maybe move to England and teach on the side.
| ga
Question: | From FAIRFAX, VA:
Mike DeSisto | Will we ever have a chance to see the pilot
| show again?
jms | In the fullness of time, yes. I'm sure it'll
| end up in the TNG syndie
| package with the rest of the series beginning
| in 1998.
| ga
Question: | From SALT LAKE CITY, UT:
Preston Anderson | I missed the entire first season and haven't
| seen a single episode. I was in the Orient.
| Is there anywhere to get copies of the
| episodes.
thanks...
jms | ER, TNT, not TNG. (urk)
| Not currently, no; WB doesn't think anyone
| wants to buy them, so we're
| investigating the possibility of doing it
| ourselves.
| ga
Question: | From DJA:
Mark P. | You referred to a "throw away" statement
| about "souls" in the beginning of year three.
| Was the statement by Lennier regarding Valen
| being Minbari but not being born of Minbari
| this statement?
jms | Who can say?
| ga
Question: | From HONOLULU, HI:
Ambard | Will the spiritual significance of the Vorlon
| to the religions of the universe be explored
| more?
jms | Most definitely.
| ga
Question: | From JERICHO, NY:
Brett Sherris | You state that you've had a hard time getting
| WB to approve the fan club. How come WB is
| so unaware of the shows popularity?
jms | Studio execs often come from different,
| non-mammalian evolutionary chains;
| I think squid rather than fish came onto land
| and evolved, mutated, and
| began running networks and studios and have
| kept this fact from us. I
| dunno, Brett, I wish I had a clue. I've
| considered shipping 'em all off to
| Lourdes to see if it'd help.
| ga
Question: | From AUSTIN, TX:
Drew Stephens | When will we be seeing Kosh out of his "suit"
| again?
jms | Very very definitely. And maybe other
| vorlons....
| ga
Question: | From BRISTOL:
Trev | JMS, will we see the creature/ship from Mind
| War, at Sigma 957 ever again. Is it one of
| the 'first'?
jms | You will see this ship again, yes, and soon.
| ga
Question: | From RICHMOND, VA:
Mark Pruett | You've said that around mid-third-season, a
| lot of what we know about the current
| characters and situations gets turned on its
| head. Could you give us a bit more of a
| hint, or point to scenes we've already seen
| that may have more meaning than we
| thought?
jms | Hmm...well, there's a reason "Hunter/Prey"
| was chosen out of the rerun
| block to precede the new episodes. So watch
| it to re-acquaint yourself
| with some of the plot elements that are going
| to resurface swiftly in the
| next batch of eps. Suffice to say that we've
| been setting up a lot of
| growing conflict between B5 and the EA, and
| that sooner or later....
| SOMETHING has to be done about this,
| something has to give, and that will
| happen, in a big way...and when the dust has
| settled, it aint' the same
| show no more.
| ga
Question: | From ATLANTA, GA:
Freedom | Will there be more women representing other
| worlds in B5? There seems to be a galaxy wide
| theme that puts women in an inferior role.
| Thanks for a great show.
jms | Yes, and we have a female political officer
| arriving in the next new
| episode, who's quite intersting. I love
| strong female characters like
| Ivanova and Lyta and Delenn and others, so
| they'll continue to be there.
| ga
Question: | From EDINBURGH:
Toni | All your characters are quite deep and
| complex - lots of shades of grey! Do you base
| your characters on people you know?
Question: | From MINNEAPOLIS, MN:
Wendy Sarrett | How much of your inspriation for the
| characters is based on people you've known???
| BTW - absolutely LOVE the show!!!!!!!
jms | Not really; often I slice off parts of my own
| character (what there is of
| it) and invest it into all of my characters.
| There's a lot of me in
| Ivanova, Delenn, G'Kar, and the others.
| ga
SysOp Lee W | Some Kosh related questions for which we may
| get Kosh-like answers.
Question: | From COMPUSERVE REROUTED:
Gayle Yetter | Can you tell us any more about Kosh's ship?
| We know it's alive, but will we ever see
| inside it?
jms | Yes, but distantly.
| ga
Question: | From PORTLAND, OR:
Phoenix Polymorph | Why didn't Londo see Kosh out of his
| encounter suit..... Or *did* he....?
jms | He's gone over too far to the shadows.
| ga
Question: | From EXTERNAL NETWORK:
ED | Do you think REAL aliens will be a lot like
| KOSH?
jms | I think they'll be a lot like Andy Rooney.
| Especially the eyebrows.
| ga
Question: | From EXTERNAL NETWORK:
Sarah Johnson | Will we see Talia again or find out any more
| of why Kosh had her mind probed during that
| business transaction early on?
jms | Yes and no.
| ga
| (and I won't tell you which parts are yes and
| which no)
Question: | From DENVER, CO:
Steve W. | You probably won't answer this Joe, but I
| will ask anyway! I Kosh using Lyta to travel
| where he/she would not otherwise be able to?
jms | An *inspired* question!
| Next question.
Question: | From ATLANTA, GA:
Al Kuntzler [Zenith | Have you ever had a scene which looked/felt
| perfect while writing it but which just would
| not work when attempting to shoot it?
jms | nope.
| ga
Question: | From LOMBARD, IL:
Mark "Miles" Musant | How did you get conned into having your
| picture in the B5 card set, and how come
| Bester doesn't have a card of his own?
jms | WE had room for ne psi corps card, and that
| one has Walter's wife Judy, so
| it was a good tradeoff for Judy, as a nice
| thing. Me, I just fell for the
| okeydoke, would've preferred a better pix of
| me for the card, but that's
| all WB *has* because they don't generally
| think the writer/creator is very
| important, so who'd want pictures?
| ga
Question: | From CHEADLE:
Si | When will we be seeing season 3 in the UK ?
jms | Spring sometime, I hear.
| ga
Question: | From BILLERICA, MA:
Jim Marshall | Will the dream sequence from "All Alone int
| he Night" be fully explained at some point?
| If so when?
jms | (Bug C4 to pay for the widescreen versions,
| like Germany and France)
| It's been explained a bit here and there, but
| yes, there will be a fuller
| explanation coming.
| ga
Question: | From JOHNSON CITY, TN:
Rae & Craig | After the 5-year run of the B5 TV show is up,
| will you still allow novels and comics to be
| published? Will you open them up to more
| speculative sorts of fiction?
jms | I'm open to the idea, depending on what the
| stories are. I may be able to
| turn loose of my notes and let others do
| canonical stories.
| ga
Question: | From MONTREAL, PQ:
Neil Blevins | Are there many Inquisitors, or just sebastien?
jms | Other inquisitors, for varying needs.
| ga
Question: | From AUSTIN, TX:
Drew Stephens | My earlier question was misread.
My question
| was WHEN will we see Kosh out of his "Suit"
| again.
By the way, love the show. It's my
| fav.
jms | In the next batch of new eps.
| ga
Question: | From DJB:
Richard D. Bardini | Any word on being picked up for season 4. Or
| is it still to early to know?
jms | Still too early to know.
| ga
| (but they've been encouraging to us)
Question: | From FRANKFURT:
Convention | will we see the shadows in their 'real'
| form?
I have to say, that I'm really
| 'addicted' to Bab5
It's a great
| show!
Your answers sound sometimes like
| Kosh <grin>
jms | Good.
| My answers have always been here.
| ga
Question: | From CZO:
Martin Shaw | How large a role will Sinclair now take in
| the story arc.. Will he still be around by
| year 5 ?
jms | Wait for the two-parter, then we'll talk.
| ga
Question: | From NEW ORLEANS, LA:
William R. Francis | With developments indicating a great war, how
| long do you think the series can last? I
| would like to see it be viable for a long
| time, but we know it is the last of the
| Babylon stations. I recall Cmdr. Sinclair in
| an episode indicating future battle too.
jms | The series can last 5 years. That's all that
| it's meant to last. And
| that's how long it will last, if I have to
| throw down heaven and hell to
| make it happen.
| ga
Question: | From PORTLAND, OR:
Phoenix Polymorph | Since you admited you put in the Prisoner
| references, will we see McGoohan in the
| series?
jms | I'd love for that to happen, and he's up for
| it, depending on the script.
| ga
Question: | From CZA:
Phil Stracchino | Thanks for confirming my theory about Kosh
| "riding" Lyta. Is there a connection between
| the Vorlons and the energy creature which
| entered Sheridan in Knives, and subsequently
| left him in exactly the same way that Kosh
| left Lyta to return to his suit at the tag of
| PtG?
jms | No, not a direct connection per se. (And
| Phil, talk to Ron about your
| notion re: a server.)
| ga
SysOp Lee W | Joe, any other things you want to mention
| before I give you the last batch of questions?
jms | Not offhand. ga
Question: | From SPRINGFIELD, MA:
Kim Schneider | Have we heard the last of Talia Winters, or
| will we see her in a future episode (perhaps
| complicating matters with PsyCorps)?
jms | You'll certainly hear *of* her in some
| surprising revelations in the next
| batch of episodes.
| ga
Question: | From ST. LOUIS, MO:
Joe M. | Will we discover the origin of the berserker
| probe?
jms | Probably not.
| ga
Question: | From BILLERICA, MA:
Jim Marshall | Is WB going tobreak up the season lioke they
| have the past 2 years? In that the last 3 or
| 4 eps are held until the fall (in the US)?
jms | I haven't heard a final schedule yet; I hope
| not.
| ga
Question: | From EXTERNAL NETWORK:
Rage & Tate | Has the feedback from the various computer
| networks helped you refine your
show? Did
| the public perception of various things
| sometimes differ from
what you had
| expected/intended?
jms | Actually, the public opinion polls of
| episodes has always been very close
| to my own perception. And the bbs's haven't
| changed or shaped the show,
| the story is the story, you can't do this by
| committee or be swayed from
| your own vision, or you're betraying the show
| they've come to like.
| ga
Question: | From CHEADLE:
Arwel Parry | Has the 2-parter been filmed yet? (So I can
| ask Michael O'Hare when he's in London in 2
| weeks!)
jms | No, it'll be filmed after the first of the
| year.
| ga
Question: | From DENVER, CO:
Steve W. | Are you still planning on attending Babcom 96?
jms | No, not at Babcom, at the Encounter, later,
| in June.
| ga
Question: | From LOMBARD, IL:
SysOp Dupa | Joe, how much of you is in Zathras?
jms | Wasn't invited to Babcom.
| Self-analysis not Zathras...er...jms strength.
| ga
Question: | From EAL:
The Thing & Meeeeee | Does anyone apart from yourself know what is
| going to happen in B5 and if not then how can
| you give actors contracts if for example
| their character is going to die?
jms | Actors have contracts for *options* on years,
| not guarantees. Standard in
| Hollywood. Only 2-3 other people know the
| arc in any detail. If they
| talk, I keel them.
| ga
SysOp Lee W | I'll summarize a couple of questions on the
| Widescreen issue.
| When will Germany, etc. have widescreen
| episodes and how does that fit into the UK
| getting them (as well as the US)?
jms | Season 4. They're paying, with France, part
| of the money required to follow
| us through post-prod and re-telecine the film
| stock back to its original
| aspect ratio. If the UK jumps in, they can
| have it as well.
| ga
SysOp Lee W | OK, I think time is up.
jms | Okay, gotta go, Harlan's waiting.
SysOp Dupa | <waving to Harlan>
jms | My best to all the CISers who showed up;
| you've been my bunch ever since
| 1984, and it's been great.
SysOp Lee W | I will attempt to capture the messages still
| in the capture buffer (can one of the SYSOPs
| with WINCIM do that?)
Sysop Mike Willmoth | Thanks again for everything, Joe!
jms | take care, and watch out for shadows....
SysOp Adrienne Chaf | Thanks, Joe! <applause>
Sysop Mike Willmoth | Lee, I have it in ASCII...
SysOp Dupa | Thanks, Kosh!
Sysop Mike Willmoth | Suits him :)
SysOp Lee W | Thank you Joe!
| OK, we will have a transcript available soon
| in SFMEDONE. I will see about getting the
| unanswered
| questions to Joe.
SysOp Adrienne Chaf | Lee, will you open the floor now to general
| discussion?
SysOp Lee W | AS always, you can log onto SFMEDONE and
| leave Joe a message there.
| I'm about to open things up for any general
| questions.
SysOp Dupa | <and get a cryptic answer <g>>
Sysop Mike Willmoth | <plug plug>
SysOp Lee W | % Moderation of this conference has ended
| % The floor is now OPEN
S ille o <f> | hi
Trev | Gosh
COMALite J | Well, this was fun!
rickholt | /exit
Neil Blevins | freedooomm aatt lastt!!!
Randy Petersen | ah, freedom!
s j n | It was wonderful
Ruth Ballam | Trev, Carol back in the open again :-)
some bloke | stimulating
David Harris | Does anyone know why jms left rastb5?
SysOp Adrienne Chaf | Good job, Lee!!
joel | Missed the whole thing. when will the
| transcript be available?
Scott Perschke | Does anyone have the lyrics to "While my
| G'Kar Gently Weeps?
_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/
_/ Green Meddler kilgalen at tde.com Nathan F. Wallace _/
_/ http://www.webcom.com/~kilgalen/welcome.html _/
_/ http://www.webcom.com/~kilgalen/nerelon.html _/
_/ C.I.U.P.K.C. Software -- Unleashing the Power! _/
_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/
--
rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.info | a service of ISN mars bureau
submissions to: b5-info at callisto.pas.rochester.edu
contact to: b5-info-request at callisto.pas.rochester.edu
More information about the B5JMS
mailing list