JMS on AOL: 02/17/96 to 02/19/96
b5jms-owner at cs.columbia.edu
b5jms-owner at cs.columbia.edu
Tue Feb 20 11:23:26 EST 1996
Forwarded message to B5JMS list.
Originally From: Kevin P Mooney <kpmooney at acsu.Buffalo.EDU>
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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:Money Matters
Date: 96-02-17 05:20:36 EST
From: Jms at B5
Basically, it's a weekly bonus added onto their weekly salary; 50 creds is a
pretty enticing bump, equal to about 50 pounds British.
jms
Subj: Re:The Icarus
Date: 96-02-17 05:21:42 EST
From: Jms at B5
{Here is a question I've been thinking about for a while. If the Icarus was
sent to Z'Ha'Dum about 3 years ago, and the Vorlons and Minbari have known
about the Shadows return now for over 4 years, and it was also suggested
somewhere else that Earth Gov may be involved as far back as 5 years ago, is
it possible that Interplanetary Expeditions knew what would be found when
they sent the Icarus to that planet?}
The crew of the Icarus may not have known as much as they could've about
their mission.
jms
Subj: Re:MacBeth
Date: 96-02-17 05:25:23 EST
From: Jms at B5
{Just curious, but what was with all the MacBeth references in "Exogenesis?"}
Just figured I'd use that description of it rather than Macbeth, to make it a
bit more obscure, but also some actors do have a problem saying the name
Macbeth or being around it when it's said (note: Jason isn't one of them). so
it was also a courtesy. (Later on, while shooting "A Late Delivery From
Avalon," one of the hair dressers made the error of referring to Macbeth out
loud in front of Michael York, and had to go through the whole undo-the-curse
routine, walking around the stages three times, etc.)
jms
Subj: Re:The Capt's facial express
Date: 96-02-17 05:26:07 EST
From: Jms at B5
{Is it possible to tour the B5 set?}
Unfortunately, the B5 stages are off the WB lot, and we're not set up for
tours.
jms
Subj: Re:David Corwin
Date: 96-02-17 05:26:53 EST
From: Jms at B5
Yes, David Corwin was named for Norman Corwin, whose work you should
investigate if you do not know it.
jms
Subj: Re:Other TV Shows
Date: 96-02-17 05:28:48 EST
From: Jms at B5
Thanks. We have heard that more shows are starting to adopt both our
production methods, and doing more arc stuff, so that's a good thing.
Personally, I thought "Exogenesis" was okay, but not one of our best, mainly
for writing reasons (i.e., my fault). But from here on out, they're spiffy.
You're in for a real treat in a few more days when "Messages" airs.
jms
Subj: Re:Exogenesis: Corwin's name
Date: 96-02-18 19:17:13 EST
From: Jms at B5
"Corwin is the main character in Zelazny's Amber series.) Not that David
Corwin is very Corwin of Amber-like. That Corwin would more likely be a
ranger."
David Corwin was named after my friend and highly-regarded radio drama writer
Norman Corwin.
jms
Subj: Re:Eating Crow...
Date: 96-02-19 03:51:19 EST
From: Jms at B5
{A few weeks ago I posted a message stating that it would be nice to have a
few skirmishes before the final showdown with the Shadows. At the time I
feared you were saving too much for the end of the season.
I just watched MESSAGE FROM EARTH.}
Like we said, we know what we're doing. You just gotta trust us. Sometimes
we get cranky because someone says "nothing's happening this season with the
shadows," and we're looking at an episode like "Messages" or others
forthcoming, and we know what IS coming.
A little patience is a good thing.
But you need not eat crow over it; just nibbling at the feathers will
suffice.
jms
Subj: Re:Exogenesis: Corwin's name
Date: 96-02-19 03:53:29 EST
From: Jms at B5
Norman Corwin's work is nothing short of superb. I commend it to anyone
willing to trudge down to the local library and dig it up. It was by hoping
one day to grow up and become a writer like Norman that Ray Bradbury got
started as a writer.
Norman's what you call a Writer's Writer.
jms
Subj: Re:Exogenesis: Corwin's name
Date: 96-02-19 03:53:29 EST
From: Jms at B5
Norman Corwin's work is nothing short of superb. I commend it to anyone
willing to trudge down to the local library and dig it up. It was by hoping
one day to grow up and become a writer like Norman that Ray Bradbury got
started as a writer.
Norman's what you call a Writer's Writer.
jms
Subj: Re:B5 vs ST
Date: 96-02-18 19:15:53 EST
From: Jms at B5
Just one thing to bear in mind in all this, referring to ST bashing...you
don't have a situation here of B5 fans "bashing" ST. What you tend to have
are ST fans who've *always* had some concerns with the shows expressing their
concerns here, because they also watch B5, and because to express some of
this in other forums gets them yelled at.
While there are many ST fans who have not seen B5, there are no B5 fans who
have not seen ST. What you have here is an internal ST situation, not a case
of B5 fans hitting a show they don't know about or watch. I'd venture to
suggest that most of the concerns voiced here are ones they had long, long
before there WAS a B5.
That said, I've noted from the beginning that there was no reason to hold the
shows up side by side; they're different series, and that just puts ST at the
center of the fictional universe. Let this show be its own creature.
jms
Subj: Re:B5 vs ST
Date: 96-02-19 03:48:10 EST
From: Jms at B5
Actually, Voyager is not IN the top 50. They're generally in the basement of
the network ratings.
jms
Subj: Re:Babylon 5 The MOTION PIC
Date: 96-02-18 00:49:27 EST
From: Jms at B5
{Why noy free ourselves from syndicators and go for the big screen?}
At the moment, that's not my choice, you need a big studio backing you for a
big movie. Also, B5 was primarily *designed* for TV, this is the venue I'd
prefer to work in for this. You'd have to do 55 movies to tell the whole
story, and you couldn't do much arc stuff in it, because it would have to be
fairly self-contained. The good wishes are appreciated, though.
jms
Subj: B5 Ratings Info
Date: 96-02-18 01:00:52 EST
From: Jms at B5
The figures have come in for our first non-rerun episode, "Voices of
Authority." The numbers of any show always drop in reruns; something that
some folks tend to avoid mentioning when they just post figures without
noting these things. But moving on....
While KUNG FU, in its new episode, went from #50 to #61 for the week in
syndicated shows (this is out of 257 syndicated shows total, btw), B5 surged
from #54 to #41, with a 3.5 rating, well above that which is guaranteed to
advertisers.
(DS9 continues to wobble; #16 last week, and #15 this week; they haven't been
in the top ten for a while now. This in reply to some who asked for a
relative positioning.)
At #41 out of 257 shows, B5 is in the top 1/6th of all syndicated shows
overall, about the top 16% or thereabouts. In terms of drama shows, B5 is in
the top 10 of all drama shows for that period, at #8.
So far, so good.
jms
Subj: Re:Trek
Date: 96-02-18 19:10:32 EST
From: Jms at B5
"...without Star Trek there probably wouldn't be a Babylon 5...."
This is one of the biggest misperceptions we've had to try and correct over
time; if anything, ST has been an obstacle to getting B5 on the air. The #1
reason we were given, time and again, during the 5 years it took to sell B5
for not going ahead with it, was that "There isn't room in the marketplace
for another space show other than ST. There's not an SF marketplace; there's
a ST marketplace, but that's all. ST doesn't create more SF, ST creates more
ST."
Right up until the day we aired the pilot, some folks at WB were saying,
"This isn't gonna work, there's not enough room in the market for another SF
space show other than Star Trek." And suffice to say that Paramount didn't
make things any easier for us in their inimitable fashion.
If the premise as advanced in the first line were true, then why in the 30
years since ST:TOS has there not another space-SF series that's lasted more
than three seasons? Why have there been so very few shows even TRYING this
venue? In those 30 years, with the exception of Quantum Leap, which was more
an anthology show really, no hardcore SF series has gone beyond 3 years; that
alone mitigates against SF being a viable market.
Trust me on this; for the five years it took us to sell B5, ST was one more
obstacle to overcome. It's not their fault, it's the fault of the
marketplace that doesn't understand SF. It's unfortunate that, when a cop
show fails, industry folks just say, "Well, that show didn't work," but when
an SF series fails, they say, "There's no market for SF."
jms
Subj: Re:Psi Corps and the Shadows
Date: 96-02-18 00:43:56 EST
From: Jms at B5
Wait and see...but you're close to some stuff.
jms
Subj: Re:Costuming
Date: 96-02-18 00:44:35 EST
From: Jms at B5
We have used them a bit, just haven't had to use them much until now.
That's about to change.
jms
Subj: Re:sending artwork
Date: 96-02-18 00:47:43 EST
From: Jms at B5
Thank you. In general, the best contact for now on B5 is the mail drop,
which is located at 14431 Ventura Boulevard, Suite 260, Sherman Oaks, CA
91423. Send it along to my attention. If it's show-related, I'll try to
find a nice home for it at the stage.
jms
Subj: Re:Was Exo censored?
Date: 96-02-18 19:19:32 EST
From: Jms at B5
No, the only graphic scene is in the beginning, at the end of the teaser.
Nothing was cut that I know of.
jms
Subj: Re:Addition to Pilot
Date: 96-02-18 19:20:29 EST
From: Jms at B5
All the narratives are from a future point in time, but no one lives forever.
How far into the future that person is telling the story will vary.
jms
Subj: Re:JMS, Night Watch, etc.
Date: 96-02-18 19:24:01 EST
From: Jms at B5
DLyulkin...exactly. You don't just take something and transplant it
wholecloth...you change and modify it. Nightwatch was never meant to be on a
one-to-one corrolation to the SS, or Stasi, or McCarthy...the whole POINT is
that this kind of mentality crops up in new forms from time to time, in
different names, different approaches, but at its heartmeat core the same
thing. By saying it's "That over there," we can relax, since that specific
incident can't recur...making us vulnerable to the next version.
jms
Subj: Re:JMS:Ivanova's left earrin
Date: 96-02-18 19:24:40 EST
From: Jms at B5
It's a tribute to her dead brother, both as a character, and in real life.
jms
Subj: Re: JMS
Date: 96-02-19 03:43:37 EST
From: Jms at B5
{Ivanova is supposed to be Jewish, right? ( Tells you I haven't been
watching all of your episodes-grin ). Then how come her last name is
Ivanova as opposed to Greenberg or something?}
She was born in the Russian Consortium, to Russian parents, with Russian
surnames. No big mystery there.
jms
Subj: Re: preview
Date: 96-02-19 03:44:16 EST
From: Jms at B5
Many things are inserted into previews by WB that aren't actually in the
shows. We have no control over what they put into the previews.
jms
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