JMS on AOL 12/3/95 - 12/10/95 [SPOILERS]
b5jms-owner at cs.columbia.edu
b5jms-owner at cs.columbia.edu
Sun Dec 10 13:08:41 EST 1995
Forwarded message to B5JMS list.
Originally From: Lisa Freeman <lefreeman at sunbelt.net>
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JMS's AOL postings for 12/3/95 (p.m.) through 12/10/95 (a.m.)
The following contains spoilers for the 3rd season, including
Matters of Honor, Passing Through Gethsemane, and Convictions.
[Also "Coming of Shadows" (major spoiler)! -- mod.]
Proceed at your own risk!
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Subj: ATTN JMS: Feeelthy Pirates
Date: 95-12-06 17:53:02 EST
From: Seafox01
Upon attending my local Sci-Fi/comics convention, I happened upon someone who
was selling obviously counterfeit merchandise. He had Medical and Security
Patches, Links(!), Plastic/plaster-like B5 logos/badges, Earthforce badges of
the same material, and laminated badges for Medlab, Psi Corps, and Station
boarding passes.
I have the person's card, as well as shipping info from their packing boxes.
Would this info be of use to you?
Subj: Re:ATTN JMS: Feeelthy Pirate
Date: 95-12-07 05:31:04 EST
From: Jms at B5
All info on feelthy pirates gladly accepted so that we may go and whomp
them.
Thanks.
jms
___________________________________________________________________________
Subj: Epic Parallels
Date: 95-12-04 19:47:55 EST
From: MAKagle
I noticed something when I last saw CoS (or whatever the one where the
Narn/Centauri War started). The episode has a great deal of similarity in
structure to La Morte D'artur.
In Mallory's work, Arthur and Morden's (oops Mordred's) armies are poised for
battle but make one last attempt to talk it out. However, a soldier raises
his sword to kill a snake and everyone attacks. Now compare this to...
SPOILERS
<spoiler space snipped>
In the CoS episode we see G'Kar planning to kill the emperor (starting a war)
but he has a heart attack and for one moment G'Kar considers peace, but the
Centauri start the war instead.
When I studied this part in Mallory, my teacher said "If you have two armies
poised for war, can you really just stop them with a peace talk? Wasn't the
war inevitable?"
I think this applies to the Narn and Centauri. Anyone else notice
this?
Subj: Re:Epic Parallels
Date: 95-12-07 05:25:59 EST
From: Jms at B5
There's another applicable metaphor for the sword story; you'll see it
a little later this season. Very good catch, btw.
jms
___________________________________________________________________________
Subj: The "Core"
Date: 95-12-04 23:52:47 EST
From: Filops
Now, here's something I found interesting.
In the *excellent* "Passing Through Gethsemane" episode, did anyone else
notice the dialogue between Delenn, Lennier, and Dourif's character (Brother
Edward, right?), about their faiths?
Delenn says something like, "Tell me about the defining moment of your
faith. Not the history, not the doctrines, but the emotional core of your
faith." Then Bro. Edward launches into his somewhat off-base version of
Gethsemane.
And then, when Bro. Edward mentions Valen, what does Lennier say? Does
Lennier discuss the "defining moment," the "emotional core" of his faith?
Not at all. Lennier says, "He was the greatest Minbari. He came from
nowhere 1000 years ago and formed the Great Council, making peace. Some say
that he wasn't born a Minbari, but..." -- and around then Delenn cuts him
off.
So: what is Brother Edward politely *forbidden* to discuss? Doctrines,
and history. And what *does* Lennier bring out, at the mere mention of the
name of Valen? Doctrines ("the greatest Minbari"), and history.
I find this interesting, because it touches on something I have observed
in a great many posts, in some of JMS' thoughts, and in a recent post by
PigDog. It is the failure to understand that the essence of Christianity in
particular is not emotions, biases, experiences, and whimsical notions.
Rather, the *essence* of Christianity is a Person: the Triune God, who can be
known in Jesus Christ, who is God the Son. And the unchanging *core* of
Christianity is a complex of statements of truth (doctrines), and
unchangeable, epoch-making events ("history"). Christianity is events like
the Creation, the rebellion of man, God taking on humanity through the virgin
conception and birth of Jesus (merry Christmas, by the way), as well as His
life, death, burial, resurrection, and ascension.
So, people sometimes like parts of our faith (love your neighbor, and
don't kill -- except unborn babies, in both cases), and they don't like other
parts (Jesus Christ is the only mediator between God and man; certain
practices are wrong; God judges sin, etc.). When they don't like those
parts, they often tell us we're "intolerant," or other contentless
buzz-words. The underlying assumption is that our faith is like a suit of
clothes; we can put it on, or take it off, as the mood strikes us. If part
of it is unpopular or untrendy, well, we should take it off. If we don't
take it off on request, then that must be because we're bad, stupid,
fanatical people.
No, we're just Christians. And Christianity is based on unchanging
epochal events (history), and verbal statements of their significance
(doctrines). If we could change it at will, we would not be serving God --
we would be trying to *be* gods.
Now, why is that OK for Lennier in his enthusiasm for someone who never
existed, but it isn't OK for Christians, who serve someone who did exist, and
who does exist?
Dan
Subj: Re:The "Core"
Date: 95-12-07 05:28:11 EST
From: Jms at B5
Filops: take it to the religion topic. That's what it's there for. If
you wish to write long polemics on religion, that's fine, but do it in the
appropriate place. I really don't want bunches of topics to get filled up
with rehashings of this stuff. Thanks.
jms
Subj: Show me to my ghetto?
Date: 95-12-07 11:23:50 EST
From: Filops
JMS,
Okay, so "Religion" is the ghetto where I'm to be shuffled off whenever a
religious topic comes up? Is that the ghetto for all people of faith, or
only for Christians? Is that where we're all to hide, and speak in hushed
tones to each other so that we don't bother all those nice secular
materialists? And, every time a poster wants to mention his religious faith,
is that his ghetto? And so, are the other rooms to be "God-free
environments"?
Are there plans for creating similar ghettos for people who believe in
evolution, vs. people who do not? For people who want more lesbian
characters, vs. people who do not? For people who like the Vorlons, vs.
people who do not?
Wasn't your first post about how you only ask questions, you don't have
answers? Were we supposed to interpret that to mean that only people who
have no answers are welcome in this folder?
What a great solution. Keep all of us people of differing viewpoints nice
and isolated from each other, so that we are never challenged. And you
single me out as the most suitable target for this objection, while I make a
conscious study of keeping my posts civil and content-full.
Your creativity astonishes me. Your attitude disappoints me.
Isn't "tolerance" great?
Dan
Subj: Re:Show me to my ghetto?
Date: 95-12-09 02:17:58 EST
From: Jms at B5
The issue at hand is courtesy. I know that a lot of people here want
to discuss other areas than religion; there is a religion topic that is where
religion messages should go, just as notes on merchandising go in
merchandising, and items on ratings go in ratings...it makes it easier to
find the topics that interest you, and keeps the conversation from being
monopolized across various folders.
As I told you in private mail, very often your messages on religion
really have *nothing* whatsoever to do with B5, but rather with the issues
that are of importance to you about religion, gays, whathaveyou...and you
thus shoehorn them in...you do it here, you've done it over in the B5 folders
in the SF-Television areas...and what happens is that the religion wars that
erupt, due in some measure to some of the rather inflammatory tone you use,
tend to keep other users away who just don't want to see it One More Time.
But there are religious elements in the show that can be
discussed...hence I made it a point to open such an area. Use it. That's
what it's there for. If someone were to put up a long note on ratings, I'd
point them to the ratings folder, simple as that. Yes, it is your right to
say anything you so choose...and it is the right of myself and others to ask
you to show courtesy to your fellow users by doing so in the appropriate
forums. Is not courtesy usually considered the christian thing to do?
jms
Subj: Re:Show me to my ghetto?
Date: 95-12-08 19:17:41 EST
From: MythoPhile
<<How 'bout the "Pointless Griping just to create some chaos" folder? If I
had "authority" to start the folder, I would. :-)>>
Aww, Amber, you take all the fun out of everything... ;)
My basic point is that I really don't understand the "get that post out
of my sight" mentality. Course, if it were up to me, there'd be just one
folder for B5 - five or six at the most. There's very little room for the
unexpected. I never even particularly minded clicking over the Ireland
debate, the political debate, the lesbian debate, or Songo's profound
political insights (which seemed to be a half-step above "NEXT SUX!"). I'm
not calling for the removal of any of those or other topics or even that they
be relegated to somewhere I can just avoid; I just find it interesting that
so many people who sat through that drivel started foaming at the mouth when
the topic of religion came up.
BTW, JMS, (predicting a possible future here) don't think about writing
a real "religion-slammer" episode just for the sake of getting even with a
crowd you don't particularly like to read (or click over). If we want to
know how close-minded and misguided religious people are, we can watch
practically anything else. If it had never entered you mind to do that,
good.
Subj: Re:Show me to my ghetto?
Date: 95-12-09 02:22:17 EST
From: Jms at B5
Mythopile: okay, maybe you don't care about keeping topics to their
intended use. That's fine. I have received mail from people who stress that
they are on limited incomes, and when they come in here, they only go into
specific forums because they can't afford to spend a lot of time on AOL. And
they like to be able to know that when the click into a topic on Clams In B5
that they won't have to wade through a bunch of messages on other subjects to
find what they're looking for.
I have never, at any time, "thrown some guy" out of a folder. I have
asked, simply, and only in a very few cases, that people try the folders
where their comments will reach the widest audience, since someone interested
in religion will go there first, and someone interested in ratings will go to
tha topic first, as a courtesy to the other users here. Nobody here is going
to force you to be courteous. I cannot do anything about it. I can only
suggest courtesy.
jms
Subj: This folder's name again...
Date: 95-12-08 14:07:23 EST
From: Filops
Mytho is exactly right, of course. We are experiencing (being subjected to?)
a hyper-categorization. That's one reason why I keep going back to the SF/B5
folder -- it's a catch-all, and thus a money- and time-saver. Yeah, Amber,
I've read all your posts there about shuffling us all off to a "religion"
ghetto, so that you and your friends can concentrate on the Deep Stuff --
like how cute Jason Carter is, how many MPG you can get on fictional
interstellar vehicles, where the Nightwatch goes to get a tan, and that sort
of thing. ;^>
I'm just not going to be escorted off, that's all. Don't mean to be
unpleasant about it -- just "No, thanks."
Why? "Real simple," as JMS is fond of saying. This folder is called "Themes
in B5." Is "religion" a theme? Undeniably; that fact is one of B5's unique
facets. Then there you go: it fits.
But if the religion THEME doesn't fit here, then where is the rationale for
singling out that THEME alone? Is war a THEME? Genocide?
Treachery/loyalty? Love/rapacity? Guilt/redemption? The meaning and value
of personal identity? Yep, arguably, all of those are THEMES IN B5 -- and so
is religion! So either we need seven different folders, and should
*eliminate* this one -- or they all fit here. All!
Including religion.
Subj: Re:This folder's name again.
Date: 95-12-09 02:24:35 EST
From: Jms at B5
Yes, religion is a theme in B5, Filops...unfortunately, you never
*address* it...you only use this as a pretext to get into one of your long
diatribes about what you consider acceptable behavior, acceptable social and
sexual mores. You use this only as a way to springboard into those
discussions. I've seen you do it repeatedly over on the SFTV forums, and it
troubles me to see you doing it again here.
jms
___________________________________________________________________________
Subj: JMS: TNT syndie question
Date: 95-12-04 17:46:58 EST
From: DementoMan
I always thought syndication packages were a great idea until I discovered
how badly most shows would be mauled in the transition. This could be fatal
to an intricate show such as B5... are any cuts going to be made in the
episodes when they're packaged for TNT in 1998?
Subj: Re:JMS: TNT syndie question
Date: 95-12-05 03:31:37 EST
From: Jms at B5
I don't know; my guess is that we're pretty close to the right time as
it is, so I can't see what would be accomplished by cuts.
jms
___________________________________________________________________________
Subj: Post to rastb5 (re:Who Works
Date: 95-12-05 03:08:01 EST
From: RKawakami
Damn subject line limitations :)
Do you mind if I re-post your original article to rastb5 on Who Works For
Whom or do you think it will just give TF another reason to shoot his mouth off?
BTW, thanks for being here. I *knew* my AOL account was good for something!
Raymond Kawakami
Subj: Re:Post to rastb5 (re:Who Wo
Date: 95-12-05 03:36:02 EST
From: Jms at B5
Yeah, I suppose it can be reposted. May stop some of this. I hear
people are saying, "Hey, it's okay if he makes money being on AOL," defending
it, when it isn't true to *begin* with. If I were doing so, if AOL thought a
B5 presence were important enough to pay for it, heck, I'd be taking out ads
in the Times. But as far as AOL is concerned, I'm just one more subscriber,
and I pay my way same as everybody else.
I just hope somebody's called the little twit on the fact that he went
around calling others liars, then went out and posted his message about my
alleged "contract with AOL" as though it were an absolute fact, even referred
to a clause *within* that contract...and clearly, obviously, flatly lied
about the existence of a document that isn't there. It's a *deliberate*
lie...it isn't a speculation, wasn't phrased in the form of a question, he
deliberately went out and posted an out and out *verifiable lie* to the
entire usenet, knowing it was a lie.
Never ceases to amaze me....
jms
___________________________________________________________________________
Subj: jms:X-files w/ B5
Date: 95-12-05 09:01:49 EST
From: Jimrudd
Dear JMS
I was a heavy poster on the usenet groups the first year of B5, but became a
lurker for the reasons that you left. I know you are a fan of the X-files.
Wanted to let you know that someone over there is a fan of yours. In the
most recent 2-parter, Fox and Muldar are looking at the japanese prisoner
they got and they look down the hall and see their boss, the asst. FBI
director coming down the hall. Fox says, "Look, a beacon in the night."
Homage to your show, me thinks sir.
Glad to know you are still around. Sorry you have to leave the usenet. I
stopped reading anything from the trinity of evil over a year ago. Don't
understand why people kept going and reading their stuff.
By the way, my wife and I loved the elevator scene with Lando and G'kar.
When Andreas softly says, "I hear you." we couldn't stop laughing.
Increadibly well written.
Do you have something with elevators? G'kar's die, die, die speach; Lando
and G'kar agrueing and missing the elevator, Lando is caught by Modorn at the
elevator, etc. Just wondering
James
Subj: Re:jms:X-files w/ B5
Date: 95-12-07 05:05:41 EST
From: Jms at B5
Don't know if the beacon reference was toward us or not; but it's
still a great show, though it's getting a little convoluted even by their
standards lately. Still, I'll keep watching....
Re: elevators...at risk of repeating stuff I've said elsewhere...every
so often, I'll see a note from somebody saying that this show only gets by
because of its effects, that without that part it ain't nothin'...and just to
honk 'em off I'll sit down and write a killer scene with just one or two
characters in a room, no EFX, sometimes not even any music...and I often go
for the smallest room in the station...and that happens to be the transport
tube.
jms
___________________________________________________________________________
Subj: Re:Who Works For Whom
Date: 95-12-05 13:31:16 EST
From: PUMUKL
>> There is no contract, and no cause in that contract. I'm happy to
bring my AOL bill to the next convention to prove this. (I think it was $80
last month.) <<
That's all?? (heh. lightweight ;)
just kidding, Michael (still not sure which name to call you)
Pumukl
Subj: Re:Who Works For Whom
Date: 95-12-07 05:08:37 EST
From: Jms at B5
"(still not sure which name to call you)"
It's just Joe.
jms
___________________________________________________________________________
Subj: JMS:Matters of Honor
Date: 95-12-05 20:27:48 EST
From: TMorisak
JMS,
I would like to confirm a minor point. In the third season opener, MoH, in
the early scene between Londo and Morden, was there some communication
between Morden and the shadows when he rose from the bar, crossed behind
Londo and said he needed to confer with his associates. In the sound track
of the episode there appeared to be a shadowlike screech that did not seem
like background noise. Could you please confirm or deny this?
Thanks,
Todd
Subj: Re:JMS:Matters of Honor
Date: 95-12-07 05:09:28 EST
From: Jms at B5
Yes, that was a little hint of the shadows around Morden for those
sharp enough to catch it.
jms
___________________________________________________________________________
Subj: A very different question
Date: 95-12-05 22:40:48 EST
From: Darrkman
Yep I felt like being different so here it goes.... Jms what type of
computer are you using and how fast is your modem?
Subj: Re:A very different question
Date: 95-12-07 05:12:24 EST
From: Jms at B5
I'm working on a Dell Dimension 90mhz Pentium, 2 1-gigabyte drives, 4x
CDrom, 32 megs memory, 17" Nanao monitor, Soundblaster sound card, #9GXEpro
64 bit video (identical system in office, I'm at home now, except office
system has 128-bit Imagine video card)...and I'm using a US Robotics
v.Everything Courier modem at 28.8 speed.
jms
___________________________________________________________________________
Subj: Question about the actors
Date: 95-12-05 22:42:35 EST
From: Darrkman
JMS I was just wondering how do the actors on your show get paid?? Is it
one lump sum when the sign the contract or is it a weekly check like the rest
of us?? Hey include yourself in the question.
Subj: Re:Question about the actors
Date: 95-12-07 05:14:43 EST
From: Jms at B5
In the case of the regular actors, and the producers, you are paid a
certain fee per episode contracted for (22 episodes for regulars, 13 or 8 for
recurring cast members, 22 for producers). That amount is then broken up
into about 50 weeks (I think maybe 40 or so weeks for actors, John Copeland
can probably be more specific on this), and you thus get a weekly check based
upon that.
jms
___________________________________________________________________________
Subj: Re:B5 and DS9
Date: 95-12-05 23:40:07 EST
From: Rick9719
By now we all know about the 'connection' between B5 and DS9 in the creation
of the two series. My question is this: Have there been recent apparent
similarities between the two series which you can definitivly state are
entirely coincidental. When I hear people talking about B5 'copying' the
White Star from the Defiant, I have to wonder if we aren't getting too
parinoid. I doubt the initial storyline for B5 was THAT detailed or that you
would intentionally copy anything from ST. Maybe its all the conspiracy
theories floating around B5.
Subj: Re:B5 and DS9
Date: 95-12-07 05:16:48 EST
From: Jms at B5
The White Star was always in the plans for the series; it's an
outgrowth of everything that has gone before. We've seen big warships,
dreadnoughts, smaller ships, and personal fighters. This fits right in. If
you're going to have a war over a long distance, you kinda need something to
get in and out with.
I actually don't watch DS9 as a rule, so I really can't comment on its
current storylines.
jms
___________________________________________________________________________
Subj: To JMS
Date: 95-12-05 23:53:50 EST
From: STUDIO GO
Love the show, and we all miss ya over on rastvb5. It's nice to know you're
hangin' in there here on AOL. But please, please, PLEASE don't a few no-life
losers get to you! Several years ago I did a ROBOTECH comics series that
stretched the boundaries a little--and the reader reaction was generally
good. However, a tiny minority of the "hardcore" ROBOTECH fans really gave me
the business for the "sacreliges" I'd committed with their precious ROBOTECH.
I got hate mail, phone calls, even a death threat. But the ONLY WAY to deal
with the kind of person who freaks out over a TV show or comic book is to
TOTALLY IGNORE them. I mean 100%, flat-out ignore them in every way. All they
want is attention, and by denying them that you defeat them. In time, such
people simply "dry up", then the tumblebugs emerge from the cracks of the
Earth and roll them away. I understand why you left Usenet, but should you
ever desire to return to the ivy-covered halls of rasftvb5, I hope you'll
simply killfile or just refuse to acknowledge people like the Unholy Trio.
Honest criticism is fine, but the kind of crap I saw them posting about you
is psychotic, plain and simple. Anyway, love the show! Keep up the good work!
Bruce Lewis
Studio Go!
Subj: Re:To JMS
Date: 95-12-07 05:20:30 EST
From: Jms at B5
Thanks. If it were just me, I could try to ignore some of the
nonsense; but the problem was that it soon involved vast numbers of other
people, who were being flamed or driven off the system, and every thread was
contaminated by it. A number of folks came to hang out at rastb5 because I
was there, as many of them have stated since; that wasn't/isn't the only
draw, theres' lots of good conversation, but that was a component...so my
being there put people in the position of being available to be attacked,
derided, flamed, insulted and assaulted, and I can't allow that to happen.
And it began to have an impact on my writing, and that I *definitely* can't
afford.
One way or another, that particular chapter in the experiment will find
a way to continue, in the fullness of time. I'm a patient man.
jms
___________________________________________________________________________
Subj: JMS:- Throwaway Dialogue
Date: 95-12-06 09:43:31 EST
From: StarFuryD4
Joe,
You mentioned awhile back that some very important throwaway dialogue
was coming up. Was it Ivanova's "know all, see all" line, or Lennier's
"Minbari, but not born..." line?
Or did I miss it altogether?
If so, Which Ep.?
Thanks
Dave
Subj: Re:JMS:- Throwaway Dialogue
Date: 95-12-07 05:21:18 EST
From: Jms at B5
Ah, now I can't make it *too* easy, now can I...?
jms
___________________________________________________________________________
Subj: JMS, I commend you...
Date: 95-12-08 23:20:10 EST
From: EarthDome
JMS,
I have for the better part of the show been lurking on rastb5, and most
recently here on AOL. From reading your posts and hearing how you grew up, I
find it fascinating that you didn't: 1) go crazy 2) climb to the top of a
tower with a rifle 3) start taking pot-shots. I am just glad you found the
inner-strength to perservere <sp?> and create a show with depth and clear
understanding of the human struggle.
I thank you for a show that should have been here a lot sooner, and I thank
you for your originality and imagination.
Thank you.
EarthDome
<pca>
Subj: Re:JMS, I commend you...
Date: 95-12-09 01:09:27 EST
From: Jms at B5
Thanks, though I'm not entirely sure I emerged from all this totally
sane...if I had, I wouldn't be working in TV....
jms
___________________________________________________________________________
Subj: Re:Star trek still rules
Date: 95-12-06 08:54:49 EST
From: DelennV
Also remember, if it weren't for Star Wars back in the mid-70's, Star Trek
or any other sci-fi movie, TV show would not enjoy this popularity they all
have at this point in their life. Lucas and company helped pioneer the age
of technology for the sci-fi genre today. So major kudoes and thanks to SW
for setting the ball rolling for great sci-fi TV we haven't seen in years.
Karen
Subj: Re:Star trek still rules
Date: 95-12-07 04:59:35 EST
From: Jms at B5
FWIW, I've seen most of the episodes of Space, and I quite like it.
The last one was especially good, in that I couldn't figure how they were
going to get out of this one, and I like being surprised. Well done; the
show has promise.
jms
___________________________________________________________________________
Subj: JMS Rocks
Date: 95-12-07 22:34:31 EST
From: GigSims
JMS, I'm glad that you have the courage to praise someone else's work and to
listen to the ideas of your audience. Be honest, have you incorporated any
ideas provided by the Internet or AOL? How about a futuristic concert with a
future "rock" star who plays B5?
Subj: Re:JMS Rocks
Date: 95-12-09 01:07:11 EST
From: Jms at B5
In general, I've really had to stay away from anything even resembling a
story idea on the nets, so I don't use them, and haven't. As for other
shows, my sense as a fan myself is that the more quality SF on the air, the
better; we've actually given tours and provided information on how we make
this show to other producers so that they can use the "Babylon 5 Model" in
helping to bring more SF to television. The more the merrier.
jms
___________________________________________________________________________
Subj: Ratings and Bruce
Date: 95-12-06 04:00:30 EST
From: Jms at B5
Just a note to mention that due to the lengthy lead times required by
national magazines, espeically those with an entertainment bent, that some
pieces are considered evergreens, and can be published anytime. You build up
material until you're ready to go. The piece in EW with Bruce came via an
interview conducted toward the end of the long summer slump caused by reruns.
Hence his comments. They improved once the new episodes came back on again.
jms
___________________________________________________________________________
Subj: Re:Ratings
Date: 95-12-06 00:12:07 EST
From: AcDec
<< I've never intended this show to be a Huge Landslide Success, a
*FRANCHISE* a la ST. I want to tell this story, and it's the kind of story
that kinda grows on you. If you want to get the really big numbers, you have
to dumb up the show, bring in kids, have lots of women in skimpy outfits, and
make it into something other than what it is. And once you *become* a
franchise, you get Noticed by the studio types...when you get Noticed by the
studio types, suddenly they want to protect you...protect the show...and any
stories with teeth in them get knocked down, all the corners get filed
off...and you've got something soft and inoffensive and essentially
meaningless.>>
In the first line he calls ST a franchise (no one can doubt this). In lines
4-5 he says once a show becomes a franchise it gets noticed by studio heads
(no doubt on this one either). In the final three lines he says <<want to
protect you...protect the show...and any stories with teeth in them get
knocked down, all the corners get filed off...and you've got something soft
and inoffensive and essentially meaningless.>>. Follow the chain of logic; ST
is a franchise, Franchise gets noticed by studio guys, "stories with teeth in
them get knocked down......... you've got something soft and inoffensive and
essentially meaningless".
Sure sounds like he was talking about shows including ST; in my previous post
I gave examples to refute his statements. Let me make it clear that I am not
attacking B5 (I am actually actively involved trying to get it back on the
air in San Antonio), or JMS (who I think made a wonderful show). I am just
questoning the statement that he made.
THANK YOU
--AcDec
Subj: Re:Ratings
Date: 95-12-06 04:03:34 EST
From: Jms at B5
AcDec...all I can say is that you should talk sometime behind closed
doors, as I have, with many of the writers and producers who have worked, and
still work, on the various ST versions, who WANT to tell stories with teeth,
that challenge, but who are prevented from doing so by the suits eager to
preserve ST as an inoffensive franchise. Sorry, but the logic still parses.
jms
___________________________________________________________________________
Subj: Why I watch
Date: 95-12-07 13:26:17 EST
From: Lisala
I love the visual appeal of the show, but for the first two years I listened
to it more than I watched it, because I was using a very small B and W tv. I
think the characters and the narrative are more important, to me, than FX.
Now that were in re-runs, try just listening to the show. Notice how all the
characters sound different in terms of the words they use and the syntax of
their sentences. Listen carefully; there's a lot of implication and innuendo
(ask yourself what Kosh and Delenn really mean). Notice the beauty of the
soundtrack, and the background noise.
I must admit that the real reason I think the show works so well comes down
to the traditional story tellers' mysterious art. It's good stuff.
I finally feel like my generation has a mythic cycle to point to, to
incorporate into popular culture and one that will appeal to a large number
of people. I've been jealous of those who reached adolescence in the sixties
(it just didn't seem fair to have J.R.R. Tolkein, the Beatles, Trek. Though
they did have Vietnam...hmmm); now I feel a bit better.
Subj: Re:Why I watch
Date: 95-12-09 01:03:00 EST
From: Jms at B5
Lisala: Thanks. We try to emphasize the voice of the storyteller as
much as possible, that we are creating...well, I don't want to say creating
new mythologies, because I don't think they are really created, they stretch
back to the foundations of civilization, and show up repeatedly in works of
literature...but reinterpreting and reinventing and clarifying the structure
of myth for a new generation.
jms
___________________________________________________________________________
Subj: B5 *is* shot widescreen
Date: 95-12-07 04:55:04 EST
From: Jms at B5
Two series, and insofar as I know, *only* two series are currently being
shot widescreen: B5 and Lois and Clark. Here's easy verification: fire up
the first season tape of "The Parliament of Dreams." Fast-forward to the
Minbari ceremony that's also used in the main title sequence. Now compare
the two; you see more of the shot in the widescreen opening than in the
regular shot.
We generally compose for widescreen but protect for regular aspect
ratio, which is how the show is broadcast currently in the US. Sometimes it
gets a little glitchy; in "Matters of Honor," when Marcus hands off the
minbari fighting pike to Delenn, it's very visible in the widescreen shot,
but you barely see it on the edge of the regular shot.
BTW, Germany and France have signed on to follow us through the
post-production process for (trying to remember now) either season 3 or
season 4, re-telecineing the negative stock back to the original widescreen
aspect ratio for broadcast in letterbox format in those countries. The UK,
via Channel 4, is still in negotiations over this.
jms
___________________________________________________________________________
~~~~~~~~~~~~~ THE END! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~
--
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