JMS on CompuServe (Aug 25, 1996) *POSSIBLE SPOILERS*
Brent Barrett
bbarrett at speedlink.com
Mon Aug 26 00:00:58 EDT 1996
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 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 of subjects in this section: ]
Sb: #566108-#B5 FAN CLUB INFO!
Sb: #566103-Private JMS Viewing!!!!!
Sb: #566141-Quakers on B5?
Sb: #565967-Richard Hatch
Sb: #566368-B5 FAN CLUB INFO!
Sb: #566313-Christianity in Babylon5
Sb: #566452-#Fan Club Site
Sb: #566476-Richard Hatch
Sb: #566456-#Private JMS Viewing!!!!!
Sb: #566661-B5 FAN CLUB INFO!
Sb: #566830-Fan Club Site
Sb: #566893-Lyta--Season 4
Sb: #566839-#Questions
[ Summary: A fan club member asks how much time is left before all the
packets are mailed. ]
#: 566297 S5/Babylon 5: General
24-Aug-96 15:46:22
Sb: #566108-#B5 FAN CLUB INFO!
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
That's the question that's hard to answer, because stuff is going out the
door as fast as possible. One batch of 1500 went out on Thursday. Was yours
in there? I don't know. Part of the consistent problem we're having is the
Post Office. They told us what the postage should be for each packet and
newsletter, first class (we sent the first batches off bulk, and they got
dumped, lost, delayed...never again, we'll just take the loss and deal with
it). So we use that, and turn it in at the post office. Depending on which
postal worker takes the parcels, it goes through, or they send them back for
more. So now we're increasing the postage to make sure they don't do this to
us again. It's making Jim crazy.
jms
#: 566103 S5/Babylon 5: General
24-Aug-96 08:37:17
Sb: #565972-#Private JMS Viewing!!!!!
Fm: ANNE L. WARNER
Joe,
Even those of us who only know one word of Polish were ROFLASC! By the way, do
you have a cat?
Anne
#: 566298 S5/Babylon 5: General
24-Aug-96 15:46:25
Sb: #566103-Private JMS Viewing!!!!!
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
Well, there's a neighborhood cat who comes around, sort of a rent-a-cat
that gets fed and tolerated, but that's all.
jms
#: 566141 S5/Babylon 5: General
24-Aug-96 09:54:00
Sb: #565969-#Quakers on B5?
Fm: PHILIP HORNSEY
>>Yeah...ten minutes after I sent the message I did a Simpson "D'oh!" and
realized I was talking about the Amish. Ah, well...we're all entitled to one
screw-up...
I have but two words...
"West End"
GD&RVVVVF
Phil ^^^^
FREE EARTH!
#: 566299 S5/Babylon 5: General
24-Aug-96 15:46:27
Sb: #566141-Quakers on B5?
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
Just increased your insurance policy, didn't you? I can tell....
jms
#: 565967 S5/Babylon 5: General
23-Aug-96 23:51:24
Sb: #565641-#Richard Hatch
Fm: MR. TRACY SCHELL
>> Trying to remember...Bruce was our first choice, but we had to have
some backups in case he wasn't available...yeah, we saw Hatch, and felt he
wasn't right for the role, though he's a good actor. Saw a bunch of actors,
most of whose names have fallen out of my head. <<
What was it about Bruce that made him your first choice? Was it a particular
quality or characteristic he expressed in a previous role, or did he just have
"the look"?
Mr.T- On Florida's Space Coast
#: 566300 S5/Babylon 5: General
24-Aug-96 15:46:31
Sb: #565967-Richard Hatch
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
It was a number of things. He looked like what I thought Sheridan would
look like, and had the right attitude. He had a reputation for being an actor
associated with lightweight dramas (though he was capable of much more), and I
knew this would play in my favor in that people would be set up for one thing,
and then I'd yank it in the other direction; even made sure that I gave him
lightweight dialogue, had a jolly attitude, for most of his first few episodes
on the show (exempting "Revelations").
So when the first eps aired, and people were going on about "smiling
jack," I knew I had them set up for the whack-upside-the-head that was coming
down the road at them, and the character.
(It's sometimes like an elaborate game of chess...I try to anticipate the
viewer reaction so I can, well, turn this on them and use it to my own
advantage. Look at folks' initial reactions to Londo and Vir as another
example of this. I've said before that I'm not averse to taking aspects of the
actor -- Mira's background in Yugoslavia -- and using them for the benefit of
the story, so you can bet I'd be willing to do that with the audience as well.
I say if people are going to apply their preconceptions to a character or an
actor, then it's perfectly fair game for me to turn this around on them. So
those who saw depth in Londo or Vir -- and were ploinked for it -- got to see
their suspicions confirmed (good result) and those who thought they were just
buffoons got to have their brains splattered when they saw the depths that
emerged (also a good result). So why not do this with Bruce?)
Other reasons...Doug and John had worked with Bruce before, and knew him
to be a stand-up guy, loyal and honest and hardworking, a team player, and a
genuinely nice man who was far more talented than the roles given to him before
had let him show, more range and more colors than he had previously had a
chance to display. He's also a stone SF fan, both in media and literary SF, so
I knew he'd have a great respect for the story.
I've been remembering some of the other choices we were considering for
Sheridan...James Earl Jones, John Rhys Davies, Barry Bostwick, Michael York,
Michael Moriarity, A. Martinez...but for me, Bruce *was* Sheridan, and when it
came time to make a decision, it was him, hands-down.
jms
[ Summary: Comments on JMS' mention of inconsistent Post Office behavior
with regard to the fan club packets. ]
#: 566425 S5/Babylon 5: General
24-Aug-96 19:56:16
Sb: #566368-B5 FAN CLUB INFO!
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
"Our great government efficiency at work again! Do you think THEY think it's
coming FROM Babylon 5?!"
Dunno about that...but it sure looks to me like the Post Office is being
run by the Shadows.
(Hmm...I wonder if they saw "Avalon" and are still smarting over the Post
Office humor...?)
jms
[ Summary: A poster comments on the religion thread and mentions that
he has a friend who claims to respect all religion, yet talks about
how religion should be abolished. ]
#: 566426 S5/Babylon 5: General
24-Aug-96 19:56:19
Sb: #566313-Christianity in Babylon5
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
"...he preaches all day on why religion should be eliminated, his future goals
of ruling the world and wiping out such religion, and not only that, but arts
as well, thinking they are "useless"."
Mr. Stalin, meet Mr. Hitler. Mr. Hitler, meet Mr. Stalin.
"his future goal of ruling the world"
First though he has to stop living in his mom's basement and collecting
balls of string and wrapping aluminum foil around his head to keep out the
Martian death rays....
jms
#: 566452 S5/Babylon 5: General
24-Aug-96 21:37:18
Sb: #565968-#Fan Club Site
Fm: SYSOP DUPA T PARROT
Joe,
I sussed it.
I neglected to RTFM and while on The Station today, I realized I was using a
name of less than the required six characters. Once I upped my character
count, everything worked as advertised. I noticed a few notes in the message
board that a few people with long enough names still experienced a problem.
Is the area affiliation (Earth Force, PsiCorp, etc.) going to do more than
affect the graphical gizmos on the BabCom window? The animated GIFs are nice
(I almost said "cute") <g>.
-Dupa T. Parrot, Team SF/F
[Tech. Support SysOp] O-
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/dupa
#: 566536 S5/Babylon 5: General
25-Aug-96 00:53:41
Sb: #566452-#Fan Club Site
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
We'll do more with the affiliations later on once more parts of the
station go on line. For instance, we'll have various chat areas set aside. If
you're Earthforce, you can get into Earharts...if you're a Centauri, you can't,
but you'll have another area you can get into. When you get your quarters set
up on B5 (you'll be able to actually rent a residence on the station), if
you're a Narn it'll be in the alien sector, if you're Psi Corps it'll probably
be Red Sector...basically, we'll try, as much as possible, to replicate what it
would be like to actually live there. Eventually we hope to introduce avatars
in the chat area so you can appear visually in the room as the species of your
choice...with the thought that, in time, people will be able to upload images
of themselves and use those in the chat area with the avatars...it's going to
grow into something very elaborate.
jms
#: 566476 S5/Babylon 5: General
24-Aug-96 22:32:14
Sb: #565641-#Richard Hatch
Fm: WILLIAM H. DIPAOLA
>>Trying to remember...Bruce was our first choice, but we had to have some
backups in case he wasn't available...yeah, we saw Hatch, and felt he wasn't
right for the role, though he's a good actor. Saw a bunch of actors, most of
whose names have fallen out of my head.<<
Wait a sec ...you wanted Bruce first??? Well, obviously this little
tidbit somehow escaped me all this time. Nevertheless, what made you go with
O'Hare? The two are like night and day for a variety of reasons, and was Bruce
unavailable initially? How did you learn that he was interested in coming
aboard?
BTW, I think that Bruce is "The Man" in the role of Sheridan.
<g> I like your first choice, and your instincts were most definitely correct
in my book(for whatever that may be worth to ya). ;-)
#: 566537 S5/Babylon 5: General
25-Aug-96 00:53:45
Sb: #566476-Richard Hatch
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
Let me clarify, so I won't be misunderstood...Bruce was our first choice
after the change-over from Sinclair. Bruce would not have been right for the
choice of Sinclair, but was right for Sheridan. Michael was right for
Sinclair, would not have been right for Sheridan.
jms
#: 566456 S5/Babylon 5: General
24-Aug-96 21:37:26
Sb: #566119-#Private JMS Viewing!!!!!
Fm: SYSOP DUPA T PARROT
> I think Andrea Thompson and Pat Tallman should host the flight,
> yeah, that would help put things right.
Rick,
It'd be a whole lot funnier if Ed Wasser hosted the flight. He could serve
eats and drinks to the passengers. As he pushed that cart down the aisle, he'd
ask each and every passenger ... (no, it's much too easy, I won't say it <g>).
-Dupa T. Parrot, Team SF/F
[Tech. Support SysOp] O-
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/dupa
#: 566538 S5/Babylon 5: General
25-Aug-96 01:03:28
Sb: #566456-#Private JMS Viewing!!!!!
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
"It'd be a whole lot funnier if Ed Wasser hosted the flight."
Tell that to the crew of the Icarus....
jms
[ Summary: A poster re-states his question about the fan club packets and
would like to know how many are left to go out. ]
#: 566935 S5/Babylon 5: General
25-Aug-96 15:36:06
Sb: #566661-B5 FAN CLUB INFO!
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
We figured we'd get an initial membership of about 1,000-1,500, and
staffed accordingly. We got about 6,000, so all our planning has gone straight
to hell in that regard. Last I heard from Jim, the last batches of stuff
should be out by mid-week.
jms
#: 566830 S5/Babylon 5: General
25-Aug-96 12:52:12
Sb: #566536-#Fan Club Site
Fm: SYSOP DUPA T PARROT
> Eventually we hope to introduce avatars in the chat area so you
> can appear visually in the room as the species of your choice...
> with the thought that, in time, people will be able to upload
> images of themselves and use those in the chat area with the
> avatars...it's going to grow into something very elaborate.
Joe,
It really sounds fascinating.
Some of us may want to "roll our own" species, have you given thought of how
that could be done?
BTW, I notice that there appears to be no login security at this time. Are
there plans for that using security "certificates" or plain old passwords? I
can imagine someone coming into chat and impersonating you, one of the show's
staffers or the actors.
-Dupa T. Parrot, Team SF/F
[Tech. Support SysOp] O-
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/dupa
#: 566936 S5/Babylon 5: General
25-Aug-96 15:36:08
Sb: #566830-Fan Club Site
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
Yes, there will be security once it's all officially online.
jms
[ Summary: Asks if JMS has ever considered doing a "recap" show like the
X-Files did last year. ]
#: 566937 S6/Babylon 5: Spoilers
25-Aug-96 15:36:10
Sb: #566893-Lyta--Season 4
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
We suggested it to WB, and were turned down, on the grounds that as a
network, Fox can just go ahead and program what the want in those hours, if
it's a secrets-of special or something else; but PTEN isn't really a network,
it's a syndication division, and in syndication you have to sell each item
separately, so they'd have to go out and sell that one hour special the same
way they'd sell a series, and they were loathe to do that.
jms
#: 566839 S6/Babylon 5: Spoilers
25-Aug-96 13:16:05
Sb: #Questions
Fm: ALAN MULVIE
Hi,
I know your busy so I'll keep these short, only Yes/Nos are required.
If you don't answer or reply like Kosh I'll understand :-)
In War Without End:-
Is the "keeper in Londo, 17 years in the future, a Shadow?
Is the "keeper in Londo, 17 years in the future, a Vorlon?
The war that Dellan refers to (17 years in the future) where the enemies The
Shadows?
The war that Dellan refers to (17 years in the future) where the enemies The
Vorlons?
In the Babylon 5 storyline do the Vorlons become a bigger enemy that the
Shadows?
One that you can answer non cryptically :-)))
Do you think the Vorlons are cheats using time as a weapon?
Mlv
#: 566939 S6/Babylon 5: Spoilers
25-Aug-96 15:36:15
Sb: #566839-#Questions
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
"Is the "keeper in Londo, 17 years in the future, a Shadow?"
No. One of their dark servants, a leftover from the war.
"Is the "keeper in Londo, 17 years in the future, a Vorlon?"
No.
"The war that Dellen refers to (17 years in the future) where the enemies The
Shadows?"
No.
"The war that Dellan refers to (17 years in the future) where the enemies The
Vorlons?"
No.
"In the Babylon 5 storyline do the Vorlons become a bigger enemy that the
Shadows?"
Depends on your definition.
"One that you can answer non cryptically : Do you think the Vorlons are cheats
using time as a weapon?"
No.
jms
-***
-*** B5JMS SUBSCRIBERS: Replies to messages in this list go to the list
-*** maintainer, <b5jms-owner at cs.columbia.edu>. If you want to reply
-*** elsewhere, adjust the "To" field. The best way to reach JMS is to post
-*** to rastb5m, which can be done by sending email to <rastb5 at solon.com>.
More information about the B5JMS
mailing list