JMS on CompuServe (Apr 11, 1996) *POSSIBLE SPOILERS* 3/3

[Brent Barrett]

 [ Continued from previous section -- BB ]


 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WARNING !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 The following posts may contain SPOILERS for
 upcoming Babylon 5 episodes.

 Continue at your own risk.

 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 S
  P
   O
    I
     L
      E
       R

         P
          R
           O
            T
             E
              C
               T
                I
                 O
                  N

 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 THE FOLLOWING MATERIAL IS THE COPYRIGHT OF THE
 RESPECTIVE MESSAGE AUTHORS AND CANNOT BE 
 REPRODUCED IN ANY FORM WITHOUT THE EXPRESSED
 PERMISSION OF THE AUTHOR.  
 
 Note that JMS has expressed his public permission 
 that all of his messages may be reproduced freely.

 I give permission for my summaries to be reposted in
 any form, however I reserve all rights to them and
 the right to revoke this permission at any time.


 [ Summary: A poster is asking everyone for source material for his new 
   fanzine for Trek, Star Wars and "and other Sci-Fi stuff . . ." ]

 #: 485627 S5/Babylon 5: General
    11-Apr-96  00:37:38
Sb: #485346-#WRITERS WANTED
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI

      Be advised that we are definitely and strongly opposed to the publication
of Babylon 5 fan fiction, and discourage it in the most vigorous terms
possible.

                                                                     jms


 #: 485411 S6/Babylon 5: Upcoming
    10-Apr-96  19:21:21
Sb: #The Original Storyline
Fm: RANDALL A. SCHANZE

a bit of speculation on my part. Bear with me.
Obviously, JMS has had to make a lot of rather fluid changes to the b5 "Grand
Arc" to adjust to cast changes and so on, right? Some of these are major, some
are not. So I've been wondering what the ORIGINAL arc was like, and I've put
together what I think is a fairly good idea of what the first draft was
like..this is NOT authoritative, it's just a guess. Check it out and  let me
know what you think-

Season 1---
Characters:      Commander Sinclair
                Lt. Commander Takishima
                Tech 1 (Ivonova)
                Dr. Ben Kyle
                p-5 Lyta Alexander
                Garibaldi
                Lou Welch
                Londo
                DeLenn
                G'kar
                Kosh
                Caroline
Note the absence of any ambasadorial aids. According to Bill Mummy, they were a
late addition to the story. According to Patricia Tallman, P-5 alexander was
originaly supposed to be a guy, though JMS denies this. The Mimbari were
originaly concieved of as hermaphrodites, and JMS has on occasion said he
thought about casting 1-st season DeLenn as either a man, or a very masculine
hermaphrodite.
Anyway, this season progresses prety much as we saw in OUR version, with a lot
of stories about Takishima, and the occasional line thrown to Ivonova, who's a
corwinesque minor character. When Kosh and the Vicar grill someone, it's
Takishima, and not Lyta.
The Season ends with President Santiago being killed, Garibaldi shot in the
back and comatose, and G'kar leaving the station and Delenn entering a cocoon.

Season II:
Clark becomes president. Garibaldi comes out of his coma. Sinclair STAYS on the
station. Delenn emerges, and we're shocked to see how feminine she is. Again,
the events of this season are largely the same, though the faces are different.
Dr. Kyle is running the underground telepath railway. The Narn/centauri war
comes and goes. Lyta discovers one of them is a spy, and reveals Takishims,
then goes rogue to save her own life. Kosh spirits her away to Vorlon Space.
Lou welch joins nightwatch.

Season iii:
the white star shows up. Tech 1 (ivonova) becomes the new Lt. Commander. Clark
declares martial law. Lou Welch betrays nightwatch.
Higgaldy piggaldy ensues.

I have no idea about the various romance angles, as most of them seem rather
late additons, given the uncertin gender of several characters.

Opinions?
Admiral Randy


 #: 485628 S6/Babylon 5: Upcoming
    11-Apr-96  00:37:39
Sb: #485411-The Original Storyline
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI

      No, the "romance angles" aren't "late additions," but you don't just leap
into a romance right off.  You couldn't have had the Delenn/Sheridan thing
right in the beginning of year two, it had to be built, and grow gradually.
Things are introduced as it is time for them to be introduced. The shadows
weren't even named until season two, and didn't make their first appearance
until late in season one.  Is that a late addition?

      To your other points...a commanding officer needs a second, it's that
simple.  So it's not so much recasting the same part as filling what's required
in a military role.  Draal--Drall2 isn't a different character, it's the same
character.  Also, Lou Welch wasn't Garibaldi's second in command, that was the
guy who shot him.  He goes away, now you need a new second who is a very
different character.

      In real life, things change.  What I *like* about B5 is that people come
and go, the credits aren't the same from year to year.  Otherwise you end up in
a situation like folks complained about on TNG where Riker didn't get a decent
promotion in 7 years.

                                                                     jms


/*********************************************
 * Brent Barrett    brent.barrett at 24stex.com *
 * Senior Software Engineer   Automedia, Inc *
 *           http://www.ailink.com           *
 *********************************************/

-***
-*** B5JMS SUBSCRIBERS: Messages to this list come from various sources.
-*** Replies to them, automatically to go the maintainer of this list
-*** <b5jms-owner at majordomo.cs.columbia.edu>.  If you want to reply to
-*** someone else, make sure the "To:" header line is correctly set.