JMS on AOL: 04/03/96 to 04/04/96
Kevin P Mooney
kpmooney at acsu.Buffalo.EDU
Thu Apr 4 15:40:01 EST 1996
The following is a compilation of the posts of JMS on AOL. If you have
comments or suggestions, please e-mail me at <kpmooney at acsu.buffalo.edu>
WARNING: Possible spoilers may lurk below.
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Subj: Re:Renewal & Howard Stern
Date: 96-03-29 00:55:27 EST
From: Jms at B5
Howard, who is a big fan of the show, spoke a bit out of turn, and WB has
since been in contact with him about it; he'll correct the statement soon,
I'm told.
jms
Subj: Re:*Where* Jms Learned *?*
Date: 96-03-29 00:57:13 EST
From: Jms at B5
I learned proper use of the * at a Shao-lin monastary after years of silent
meditation upon a drawing of * set before me on a wall.
jms
Subj: Re:B5 Fan Club and Newslette
Date: 96-03-29 00:57:57 EST
From: Jms at B5
Hang tight, we'll get out the word on this soon.
jms
Subj: Re:Morden and Bester
Date: 96-03-29 00:58:38 EST
From: Jms at B5
That would be telling, wouldn't it?
jms
Subj: Re:Continue
Date: 96-03-29 00:59:46 EST
From: Jms at B5
Just noticed the new folder after answering stuff here; can you either leave
it for a bit or move the stuff over?
jms
Subj: Re:When to Bring in New Peop
Date: 96-04-02 01:34:32 EST
From: Jms at B5
{What episode would be best to bring new peoplein to watch the show?}
I strongly suggest you try this week's episode, "Severed Dreams." I showed
it at a small con/fan gathering here in LA on Saturday, before the uplink,
and there were several folks there who hadn't seen or been moved to check out
B5...and by the time it was over, they'd turned around.
jms
Subj: JMS has one Great Damn Show
Date: 96-04-01 23:49:33 EST
From: MWaxman711
to JMS:
"I have always been here", do we finally get to find out what Kosh means in
War without end?
Mitch
Subj: Re:JMS-YOUR GREAT
Date: 96-03-29 01:01:03 EST
From: Jms at B5
{Good luck with the future sucess of the show}
Thanks....
jms
Subj: Re:B5 micro-machines/new & o
Date: 96-03-29 01:00:42 EST
From: Jms at B5
I have no idea what the deal is here on this; I think there may be an error
somewhere, but will try and find out. And thanks....
jms
Subj: Re:Sinclair is the First...
Date: 96-03-29 01:01:47 EST
From: Jms at B5
"Changes are coming; Sinclair was the first, there will be others." He was
referring to more changes coming.
jms
Subj: Re:JMS - another fan/questio
Date: 96-03-29 01:03:07 EST
From: Jms at B5
The thing about Ivanova, as noted here and there in the show, is that while
she was born in the Russian Consortium, she was raised mainly abroad, going
from school to school as her mother kept her one step ahead of the Psi Corps.
jms
Subj: Re:Observations
Date: 96-03-29 01:05:10 EST
From: Jms at B5
Thanks...and yes, soldiers are soldiers, female or male. I see no reason,
barring some small differences in upper body strength, which can be
compensated for, to make female characters any less active physically than
male characters.
Frankly, in watching the Tyson/Bruno match on Showtime the other night, the
best fight of the whole evening was the pre-fight with the two femal boxers
who went the distance and showed incredible heart and determination.
jms
Subj: Re:Line from AtSFoS?
Date: 96-03-29 01:06:16 EST
From: Jms at B5
Actually, Sinclair says "I know you" in the present, as Delenn comes toward
him, in referring to his remembering seeing her on the ship.
jms
Subj: Re:Keep up the RAD Work!
Date: 96-03-29 16:30:02 EST
From: Jms at B5
Thanks. The elements you cite are the reasons why it took us 5 years to get
this thing on the air; it's something a bit different, for the US at least.
We could've sold it a lot faster, and easier, if we'd taken some different
approaches -- dumbed it down a little, dropped the ongoing story, made it a
bit less ambitious -- but then it wouldn't be the story I wanted to tell.
And yes, the bits and pieces add up, and gain further weight by seeing how
they relate to different parts of the story. It's a very careful, elegant
little dance which I think will be seen even more clearly once we go to daily
syndication.
jms
Subj: Re:B5 is The One
Date: 96-03-29 16:31:36 EST
From: Jms at B5
James: good suggestions. One of the points of B5 is to encourage discussion
about these areas, to be informed, to lead the examined life. If we can add
some impetus to read, to explore myth and history and culture, then the
effort of making the show has been worthwhile.
jms
Subj: Re:bother??
Date: 96-03-29 16:33:50 EST
From: Jms at B5
If they're the music clips off Franke's BBS, as far as I know that's fine,
because they were made available as samples as part of his license. Other
sound clips...I can't endorse it, because past I think 20 seconds you run
into legal problems. (Actually, it's not within my authority to "endorse"
much of anything, it's WB's copyright, I can only offer suggestions or
guidance.)
jms
Subj: Re:conventions
Date: 96-03-29 16:35:41 EST
From: Jms at B5
The San Francisco con is at the Cathedral Hill Hotel; check the B5 fan events
folder here in this area for more info.
jms
Subj: Re:conventions
Date: 96-03-29 16:36:28 EST
From: Jms at B5
That's the Worldcon; it's the biggest convention in the world every year. I
don't have the info at hand, but I'm sure it's readily available.
jms
Subj: Re:Mood change or what?
Date: 96-03-29 16:38:18 EST
From: Jms at B5
The short version of the answer, as yes, I've answered this a lot: it was
done primarily for story reasons. I discussed the idea with Michael, to
accommodate some changes I wanted to make to the story, he at the same time
had some other options he wanted to pursue...so we parted ways very amicably,
on the theory that at some point we'd link up again for a bit. And we have,
in this year's two parter.
jms
Subj: Re:B5 Action Figures or movi
Date: 96-03-29 16:39:21 EST
From: Jms at B5
No immediate plans for action figures; WB has broached the idea of a movie,
but so far it's just an idle speculation sort of thing.
jms
Subj: Re:Question about Kosh & She
Date: 96-03-29 16:40:05 EST
From: Jms at B5
{What happened with Kosh teaching Sheridan to fight the Shadows?}
There's been some follow-up, but not a lot, and Kosh has kind of dropped the
ball on some of this. That will have to be dealt with.
jms
Subj: Re:G'Quon and Valen
Date: 96-03-30 03:32:57 EST
From: Jms at B5
Valen and G'Quan were not the same person.
jms
Subj: Re:It's Pat
Date: 96-03-30 03:33:47 EST
From: Jms at B5
I have no idea what this refers to, and suspect strongly that you're thinking
of someone else.
jms
Subj: Re:B-5's survival
Date: 96-03-30 03:35:32 EST
From: Jms at B5
It's always chancy on every show as you come to renewal time; the added
problem here is that the marketplace is fast running out of slots for
syndicated shows due to the committed time slots for WBN, UPN, Fox and
others. So there are a lot of factors coming at us from all sides, which
didn't exist when we first went on the air, but we remain cautiously
optimistic.
jms
Subj: Re:Season #1
Date: 96-03-30 03:36:40 EST
From: Jms at B5
I suggest you go to the opening menu here in the B5 area, for the www
jumpgate; then go to the Lurker's Guide, which has info on every episode of
the series to date, well presented. That should bring you up to speed on
year one, since they don't plan on rerunning anything from year one until
we've finished our run.
jms
Subj: Re:Narn battlecruisers
Date: 96-03-30 03:37:13 EST
From: Jms at B5
{Why are Narn warships painted in such a manner?}
It's just their culture's idea of a good paint job on a warship.
jms
Subj: Re:JMS: Kosh Assassination
Date: 96-03-30 03:38:50 EST
From: Jms at B5
No, it was covered in the pilot: the assassin was a member of a radical
military caste clan which was against Minbari involvement in B5, and figured
they'd sabotage the whole thing from within.
jms
Subj: Re:To JMS:RE: The One
Date: 96-04-01 18:37:46 EST
From: Jms at B5
No, the Triluminaries are simply not that important. This isn't a story
about a mcguffin, a thing that has to be acquired or protected or regained;
also isn't a quest story. If you look at any work of an epic, mythic or
saga-based construction, certain elements are universal. Those themes show
up in all such sagas...if you look for any kind of real story correlation
between B5 and LoTR you won't find them. They're not in any way parallels.
jms
Subj: Re:Keep up the RAD Work!
Date: 96-04-01 18:39:24 EST
From: Jms at B5
The show will eventually be stripped daily on TNT when the show's finished.
jms
Subj: Re:Previews
Date: 96-04-01 18:43:36 EST
From: Jms at B5
I don't know what the situation is, but will inquire.
jms
Subj: Re:Dolby Stereo
Date: 96-04-01 18:45:01 EST
From: Jms at B5
Hrmm...usually we're pretty good about that stuff...I know there was *so
much* audio we were mixing for "Dreams" that that one element may have been
placed center simply because we were so busy with everything else that it
didn't get noticed.
jms
Subj: Re:Kung Fu, The Legend Ends
Date: 96-04-01 18:46:02 EST
From: Jms at B5
I haven't heard anything more on this, but would doubt that we'd end up on
the WB network because of jurisdictional considerations.
jms
Subj: Re:Insane?
Date: 96-04-01 18:46:57 EST
From: Jms at B5
That depends on how you define "the real thing." Check back with me after
the next 2 episodes.
jms
Subj: Re:Life force...
Date: 96-04-01 18:48:25 EST
From: Jms at B5
No, I wouldn't say there's a corrolation to life force and the shadow ships;
they need a living organism as the central processing unit because an organic
unit can think faster than most computer systems, and react faster in terms
of formulating strategy and the like.
jms
Subj: Re:ATTN JMS: Extra
Date: 96-04-01 18:49:24 EST
From: Jms at B5
You need to be a member of the Screen Actors Guild, belong to Central
Casting, and be on their lists for extras.
jms
Subj: Re:Minbari friend quote
Date: 96-04-02 01:31:26 EST
From: Jms at B5
Hrmm...I'd have to drag out the script for that, and it's tucked away in
storage. Will try to drag it out when I get a chance.
jms
Subj: Re:Gun camera
Date: 96-04-02 01:32:45 EST
From: Jms at B5
The images continued to be broadcast to the distress probe after it was
jettisoned. The ISN team mentioned on-air they were attracted to the
time-delay distress beacon on the probe.
jms
Subj: Re:JMS: Headline in New Sci
Date: 96-04-02 01:33:12 EST
From: Jms at B5
I think the case is greatly overstated.
jms
----
End Compilation
The following is a compilation of the posts of JMS on AOL. If you have
comments or suggestions, please e-mail me at <kpmooney at acsu.buffalo.edu>
WARNING: Possible spoilers may lurk below.
ObSpoiler space:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
Subj: Re:JMS - WOW! - and a ?
Date: 96-04-03 02:25:37 EST
From: Jms at B5
{What type of guns are used on B5, and how do they function?}
The guns are Phased Plasma Guns, PPGs, which fire superheated helium bursts
(in limited amounts, you have to swap out energy caps after a fairly brief
period) rather than slugs to avoid puncturing the hull.
jms
Subj: Re:SD: Author! Author!
Date: 96-04-03 02:26:38 EST
From: Jms at B5
{Severed Dreams was the best episode to date}
James: thanks...I'm just endlessly pleased by the reaction to this episode;
we worked *awfully* hard on it.
jms
Subj: Re:SEVERED DREAMS
Date: 96-04-04 01:18:32 EST
From: Jms at B5
{When will there be models for purchase?}
Nothing's been firmed up yet about models that I know about; soonish, though.
And thanks.
jms
Subj: Re:Next episodes
Date: 96-04-04 01:18:59 EST
From: Jms at B5
You'll have new episodes all through April and May.
jms
Subj: Re:Next episodes
Date: 96-04-04 01:20:02 EST
From: Jms at B5
Oh, I've got plenty of ideas for other shows after B5...just don't know if I
want to do them; if I'd've said all I want to say for TV in B5. It's very
tempting to go back to writing novels and plays.
jms
Subj: Re:Hyperspace vs.Normal Spa
Date: 96-04-04 01:21:26 EST
From: Jms at B5
Once in hyperspace, you can ride the navigational beams between beacons
(narrow beam stuff, to cut through the interference, as noted in "Distant
Star"), and by corrolating the beacons, know where you have to come out.
That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
jms
Subj: Re:PPGs
Date: 96-04-04 01:22:15 EST
From: Jms at B5
{How many shots to an energy cap?}
I'll have to check my notes, but I seem to recall you get about 12 PPG shots
to a standard cap, with some recharge time. A PPG rifle gets about 20-25
shots, with faster recharge.
jms
----
End Compilation
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