JMS on CompuServe (Aug 26, 1996) *POSSIBLE SPOILERS*
Brent Barrett
bbarrett at speedlink.com
Tue Aug 27 01:07:53 EDT 1996
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WARNING !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The following posts may contain SPOILERS for
upcoming Babylon 5 episodes.
Continue at your own risk.
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THE FOLLOWING MATERIAL IS THE COPYRIGHT OF THE
RESPECTIVE MESSAGE AUTHORS AND CANNOT BE
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PERMISSION OF THE AUTHOR.
Note that JMS has expressed his public permission
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I give permission for my summaries to be reposted in
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[ Summary of subjects in this section: ]
Sb: #566948-Richard Hatch
Sb: #567071-#Questions
Sb: #567083-#WWOR in NY
Sb: #567159-Questions
Sb: #567162-B5 FAN CLUB INFO!
Sb: #567179-More pics here?
Sb: #567498-#First Day of Filming
Sb: #567414-#B5 FAN CLUB INFO!
Sb: #567194-SF as it should be
Sb: #567543-Newsletter
Sb: #567597-Chris Franke
#: 566948 S5/Babylon 5: General
25-Aug-96 15:59:03
Sb: #566300-#Richard Hatch
Fm: MR. TRACY SCHELL
>> 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. <<
Were these people you were just "considering" in your head, or had they
actually read for the part? Wasn't John Rhys Davies on Sliders at this time or
was this just prior to that? James Earl Jones is surprising to me in that I
don't remember him doing episodic television before. The most interesting
choice is A Martinez IMHO. He showed a wide range on the soap Santa Barbara.
You say Bruce looked like how you pictured Sheridan but just how well defined
was the character at this stage? It seems the only thing definate was the
characters sex. You have at least three races in those names and varied ages
and physical builds. If Moriarity or Jones had been picked I can't see Sheridan
being the "action" Captain he is today.
Is there any chance A Martinez might guest star in the future?
Mr.T- On Florida's Space Coast
#: 567705 S5/Babylon 5: General
26-Aug-96 17:20:44
Sb: #566948-Richard Hatch
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
Many of the names we were considering don't audition; you know their
work or you don't. Some did. (It's bad form to indicate which did what.)
While I had a certain idea of the look for Sheridan in my head, the one
thing you learn as a producer is to keep an open mind when it comes to casting,
because sometimes something will happen that you hadn't anticipated and you go
with it.
While I had the name Sheridan, I hadn't locked down his ethnic
background yet, and instructed our casting director accordingly. I wanted to
see a range of people. So we saw not just Caucasian actors, but hispanics,
african american, asian...I felt strongly after the first season that we didn't
have enough ethnic diversity, which is one of the reasons we changed casting
directors to one that had a wider background in this area. As it turned out
Bruce was the best person for the role, but we went into the process open to
whoever walked in the door.
jms
#: 567071 S6/Babylon 5: Spoilers
25-Aug-96 18:49:40
Sb: #566939-#Questions
Fm: JUANMA BARRANQUERO
> "In the Babylon 5 storyline do the Vorlons become a bigger enemy that the
Shadows?"
> Depends on your definition.
His definition of "bigger," or that of "enemy"??
#: 567706 S6/Babylon 5: Spoilers
26-Aug-96 17:20:47
Sb: #567071-#Questions
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
Well...yes, I suppose.
jms
#: 567083 S5/Babylon 5: General
25-Aug-96 18:58:52
Sb: #WWOR in NY
Fm: WILLIAM H. DIPAOLA
Joe,
I'm not sure if whether or not you've been advised of a schedule change for B5
in NY\NJ, but apparently the puttses over at WWOR have decided it's about time
to make a butt head move! Tonight when watching B5 they advertised a scheduling
change that is set to start on September 14th, at which time they intend on
airing B5 at 8:00 and Kung Fu at 9:00. What I need to know is if this means
that their Sunday night at 8:00 broadcast has been dropped, because if so I'll
be extremely pissed! B5 currently airs here on Saturday afternoons at 2:00 and
Sunday nights at 8:00, and my suspicion is that they've blown off the Sunday
night time slot and moved the show to Saturday. }:\ That means crap ratings
as well as a personal inconvenience for me where Saturday nights are concerned,
along with potential sports delays in getting the show on the air on time.
A Side note: I was also under the impression that the awful "Kung fu:
the Legend Continues" had been cancelled. What's the deal??
#: 567707 S5/Babylon 5: General
26-Aug-96 17:20:50
Sb: #567083-#WWOR in NY
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
I don't know specifically what's going on for Sunday...but I do know
that the station group to which WOR belongs has stated it will keep the second
airing, and they are working to move the show into better time slots. So going
from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. gives us a prime time slot, which is *much* better for
us. I don't know if they'll keep the Sunday rerun where it is, but there will
be a rerun somewhere.
jms
#: 567159 S6/Babylon 5: Spoilers
25-Aug-96 20:49:40
Sb: #566939-#Questions
Fm: BRIAN A. THOMAS
>> "In the Babylon 5 storyline do the Vorlons become a bigger enemy that the
Shadows?"
Depends on your definition. <<
You realise it is responces like this that frustrate us to the point of making
the Feeder and others want to put on thier little Show White thing. :)
Okay, this brings me to the question I was going to ask.
Why do the Vorlons hate the Shadows so? Will this be ansered later in the
show?
We know why the Narn hate the Centari, but as to why all the old ones are so
upset at one another is still a mystery. I suppose the mystery of what the old
ones are so upset with one another won't be known until year 5? We know from
WWE2 that there are Shadows left at the end of the war, but beyond their attack
on Narn, we don't know the implications of that, or what the rest of the fall
out will be (since Delenn said the peace will last another 1000 years, not
forever). -Brian A. Thomas ^^^^
#: 567708 S6/Babylon 5: Spoilers
26-Aug-96 17:20:51
Sb: #567159-Questions
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
After "Z'ha'dum," I think you'll have your answer to this.
jms
#: 567162 S5/Babylon 5: General
25-Aug-96 20:52:42
Sb: #566935-#B5 FAN CLUB INFO!
Fm: REBECCA ESCHLIMAN
<< We got about 6,000, >>
Do fan club applications still continue trickle in, flow in or downpour in?
- rje - Beware the Revenge of Unanticipated Consequences...
#: 567709 S5/Babylon 5: General
26-Aug-96 17:20:53
Sb: #567162-B5 FAN CLUB INFO!
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
The flow of applications have slowed a little, in large measure because
we've stopped putting the information out there until we get caught up on what
we've got. Once we've caught up -- and I think virtually everything has either
gone out last week or will be out this week -- then we'll go out and start
beating the drum again.
jms
#: 567179 S5/Babylon 5: General
25-Aug-96 21:09:20
Sb: #More pics here?
Fm: BURHAAN AHMAD
Joe, I visited the B5 site on AOL (using free trial time, of course) and the WB
Official B5 site on the web, and I discovered a plethora of truly fantastic
screen shots there. I've got to ask, why aren't we getting these sort of
pictures here?
_____ _____
--->ba<---
/ \
#: 567710 S5/Babylon 5: General
26-Aug-96 17:20:56
Sb: #567179-More pics here?
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
No reason...just the upload time involved to do it all. Anything there
can be reposted here. I keep meaning to do it, but end up tying up my computer
with writing. The folks at WB do the uploads to AOL and the WB B5 site; here
it'd have to be me, and it's just a question of finding the time.
jms
#: 567498 S5/Babylon 5: General
26-Aug-96 11:46:02
Sb: #First Day of Filming
Fm: BRENT BARRETT
Joe,
So, how was the first day of filming? Are you still alive? :-)
-- Brent
#: 567711 S5/Babylon 5: General
26-Aug-96 17:20:59
Sb: #567498-#First Day of Filming
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
It's frenetic, nuts, lots of running around and little fixes, we all get
a little crazy on first days...but it'll be okay.
jms
#: 567414 S5/Babylon 5: General
26-Aug-96 08:53:20
Sb: #565971-#B5 FAN CLUB INFO!
Fm: JONATHAN KASS
Thank you for the response...
I don't follow the usenet stuff, and frankly forgot about subscribing to the
Zocalo publication when I saw the original note about the "official" fan club,
so I missed both of these... I have seen the occaisional note from you
regarding new shipments, but that hasn't much helped the frustration level,
since I have no idea how far down the list my name may be... I realize that in
April, when applications started showing up, response might have exceeded
expectations, but to have no visible change in the situation in August (and
believe me, reading about other people receiving their stuff doesn't markedly
change your viewpoint when you have received nothing) is unexpected from my
personal perspective.
I do appreciate your note, and will go look for a way to find the Zocalo with
his letter... I believe, however, that it should not have been a "hideous"
problem for Jim to have sent that letter en masse to those of us who inquired
about our status... once the email address was published, someone should have
been ready to respond (why else publish it? clearly the email in and of itself
can't be significantly altering the the process of shipping the product, unless
there is some problem identifying whose orders have already been fulfilled).
Like others here, I truly do not wish to offend you... in the big picture, $12
for a fan club is not a life or death problem... but the flip side is, most of
us probably wouldn't accept this kind of response from any normal mail-order
transaction...
I do hope all is going well on the 4th season planning / production, and am
looking forward to the resumption of the 3rd season!
Jonathan
#: 567712 S5/Babylon 5: General
26-Aug-96 17:21:02
Sb: #567414-#B5 FAN CLUB INFO!
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
Lemme ask you a question...did your check get cashed? Because I just
went down the hall and asked Jim what the status was on Jonathan Kass'
membership, and it wasn't in any of the files, so what I'm wondering is if it
just never got to us.
jms
#: 567194 S5/Babylon 5: General
25-Aug-96 21:46:28
Sb: #567141-#SF as it should be
Fm: ELYSE M. GRASSO
I think people also need to be careful about what they define as 'doing things"
for an actor. I believe Jimmy Doohan did a lot of voice work (commercials,
voices for animation, etc.) both before and after original Trek. And George
Takei spent some time as a city-councilman in addition to stage acting, and
playing miscellaneous nationalities of oriental guest villains on half the
drama shows on TV.
People also tend to forget how old some of the Trek actors were, even then:
James Doohan was some kind of senior non-com at D-Day and had bypass surgery
not too many years after he worked on Trek, and I once heard Nichelle Nichols
tell an anecdote about her father encountering one of the famous Chicago
gansters while her mother was pregnant with her (which added a good 10 to 15
years to my estimate of her age).
It makes sense that some of them have been at least partly retired in recent
years.
#: 567717 S5/Babylon 5: General
26-Aug-96 17:32:00
Sb: #567194-SF as it should be
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
All of them wanted to work more after ST; very few did, many of the cast
couldn't get arrested. They deeply resented it. It's not as if they said,
"oh, well, I'm old now, I can retire." At the time, most were in their 40s,
with Kelley being the oldest one there. One doesn't retire at 40 as an actor;
you go on. They've all talked about it.
jms
[ Summary: Received his fan club newsletter and asks for confirmation that
the first four years worth of newsletters were lost at the printers. ]
#: 567726 S5/Babylon 5: General
26-Aug-96 17:49:46
Sb: #567543-Newsletter
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
Yes, the first three volumes, as noted in the newsletter, were destroyed
at the printer's; the fourth mysteriously vanished. Who knows, perhaps in
years to come, the fourth one will make a reappearance....
jms
[ Summary: Asks when Christopher Franke plans to release the new B5 CD. ]
#: 567727 S6/Babylon 5: Spoilers
26-Aug-96 17:49:47
Sb: #567597-Chris Franke
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
I think he's decided to time it to come out at the same time as the
November debut of season 4, so he can piggyback the publicity.
jms
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