JMS CIS Digest: 26-Feb-96 18:30:07 through 27-Feb-96 01:47:27 (37 msgs)
b5jms-owner at cs.columbia.edu
b5jms-owner at cs.columbia.edu
Wed Feb 28 06:16:51 EST 1996
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
From: jhardin at wolfenet.com (John Hardin)
Lines: 831
RFC 1153 Digest of messages from
J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644 at compuserve.com>
26-Feb-96 18:30:07 through 27-Feb-96 01:47:27 (37 messages)
WARNING: This digest may contain information about episodes
you haven't seen yet. Proceed with caution.
Subjects in digest:
Membari souls
"Arc" eps
Deja Vu
I've got JMS's EAR!!!
<Messages from Earth>
<<Messages from Earth>>
Earthforce Ship Names
<Messages Question>
And Now...Reruns!
<Messages From Earrth>
< Messages from Earth>
<JMS: Msgs from Earth>
Prison Authors
Bacon and Eggs
Finished Writing!
Administrivia:
Contact me (John Hardin) at <jhardin at wolfenet.com> with comments
and requests. I am willing to do limited retrieval of files from
the B5 archives on CIS and posting of messages to the CIS B5 forum.
I reserve the right to delete story ideas from messages I am asked
to post on the CIS B5 forum.
I am not directly involved with any mailing lists this digest
may appear in. Other people are reposting this digest from rastb5
to the mailing list. If you have questions about the mailing list,
*please* send them to the mailing list owner. Mailing list owners
I am aware of are:
<b5jms-owner at majordomo.cs.columbia.edu> (B5JMS Poster, b5jms)
<judge at america.net> (Dirk A. Loedding, jms-posts)
<kcop-b5-info at babcom.com> (Alan Sheltra, kcop-b5)
Replies to this digest currently go to me.
obSpoiler-space...
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: 26-Feb-96 12:03:00
From: Lee McNeil <101611.1440 at compuserve.com>
To: JMS <71016.1644 at compuserve.com>
Subject: Membari souls
Message-ID: <forum.sfmediaone.459224 at compuserve.com>
I was watching "Soul Hunter" from S1 and then "Points Of
Departure" from S2. And come up with the following question:
Who is right about Membari souls ?
The Membari have seen/found out, by scanning Humans (Sinclair &
others) that thier souls are going into human bodies at The Battle
Of The Line. The Membari prophecy says that Humans and Membari
must unite in order to fight against the Shadows, this is
obviously the joining of the two races souls to combat the
Shadows.
But the Soul Hunters, say theat when the body/shell dies, that is
it. Unless the soul is saved, it goes forever. One stated when
the Membari leader died, "his soul, his dreams, his ideas, all
that he was, all that he could ever be, gone, wasted." All
because the Membari wouldn't let him save his soul. The Membari
prophecy says that Humans and Membari must unite in order to
fight against the Shadows, this is obviously the joining of the
two races souls to combat the Shadows.
Who is correct ? I'm confused.
Lee McNeil
--------------------------------------------- | I don't want this
Vorlon, It's KOSHed |
--------------------------------------------- | In Space, No-one
can hear you scream. |
---------------------------------------------
------------------------------
Date: 26-Feb-96 18:30:07
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644 at compuserve.com>
To: Lee McNeil <101611.1440 at compuserve.com>
Subject: Membari souls
Message-ID: <forum.sfmediaone.459540 at compuserve.com>
References: <forum.sfmediaone.459224 at compuserve.com>
Who is right? Who am I to define the rightness of others'
spiritual beliefs?
jms
------------------------------
Date: 26-Feb-96 12:15:55
From: Al Lipscomb <75204.2225 at compuserve.com>
To: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644 at compuserve.com>
Subject: "Arc" eps
Message-ID: <forum.sfmediaone.459230 at compuserve.com>
References: <forum.sfmediaone.457676 at compuserve.com>
What do you consider the pivot of the arc? The people or the
place? Something else? It seems that the war is a major turning
point for the story and after MFE it would seem that EA and maybe
the Centari are about to get their face spanked.
I wonder if the post war will show some of the manipulation
behind the events that lead up to the war and fall out from
hindsight.
------------------------------
Date: 26-Feb-96 18:30:09
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644 at compuserve.com>
To: Al Lipscomb <75204.2225 at compuserve.com>
Subject: "Arc" eps
Message-ID: <forum.sfmediaone.459541 at compuserve.com>
References: <forum.sfmediaone.459230 at compuserve.com>
The people have to be at the center of it, or it's meaningless.
jms
------------------------------
Date: 26-Feb-96 12:46:02
From: John R. Finnan (Ireland) <100012.3073 at compuserve.com>
To: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644 at compuserve.com>
Subject: Deja Vu
Message-ID: <forum.sfmediaone.459254 at compuserve.com>
References: <forum.sfmediaone.457076 at compuserve.com>
> Brief synopsis of episode edited out.
> Quick...is that a DS9 episode or a B5 episode?
Hmm.
Political machinations (which may be due to behind the scenes
manipulation of a secretive enemy race) cause the military to try
to seize power resulting in martial law being decalred on Earth.
Two earth ships (one from a distant space station) fight it out in
the solar system, though neither gets destroyed.
Is that a B5 episode, or a DS9?
(And for what its worth, Homeward / Paradise Lost aired before
Messages From Earth.)
John R. Finnan (Ireland) 26-Feb-96 @ 19:12:55 GMT "Imitation
is the sincerest form of television."
------------------------------
Date: 26-Feb-96 18:30:10
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644 at compuserve.com>
To: John R. Finnan (Ireland) <100012.3073 at compuserve.com>
Subject: Deja Vu
Message-ID: <forum.sfmediaone.459542 at compuserve.com>
References: <forum.sfmediaone.459254 at compuserve.com>
Yeah, given that our script was floating around for months
before this was shot, and Foxworth had *already agreed* to do our
episode, and his agent, and they brushed us off to do the DS9....
jms
------------------------------
Date: 26-Feb-96 12:46:19
From: John R. Finnan (Ireland) <100012.3073 at compuserve.com>
To: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644 at compuserve.com>
Subject: I've got JMS's EAR!!!
Message-ID: <forum.sfmediaone.459256 at compuserve.com>
References: <forum.sfmediaone.458898 at compuserve.com>
> I suppose you know there is nothing I can do to stop you.
Heh heh.
> I suppose you know that I will find you. Eeep.
> I suppose you know the drill. It begins with the words, "You
> will
know pain...."
Wait a minute! What about fear???? <quiver> Fear comes first! Not
pain! whimper
Boy, the themtamakur have *NO* sense of humour.
John R. Finnan (Hospital) 26-Feb-96 @ 19:37:00 GMT
------------------------------
Date: 26-Feb-96 18:30:13
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644 at compuserve.com>
To: John R. Finnan (Ireland) <100012.3073 at compuserve.com>
Subject: I've got JMS's EAR!!!
Message-ID: <forum.sfmediaone.459543 at compuserve.com>
References: <forum.sfmediaone.459256 at compuserve.com>
Fear implies enough time for a warning.
jms
------------------------------
Date: 26-Feb-96 14:01:49
From: Gregory Courtright <73420.2643 at compuserve.com>
To: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644 at compuserve.com>
Subject: <Messages from Earth>
Message-ID: <forum.sfmediaone.459316 at compuserve.com>
The WhiteStar looked different in this episode then in previous -
did you change the design? I asked a couple of co-workers and we
all seemed to notice a difference, it seems wider and sleeker.
------------------------------
Date: 26-Feb-96 18:30:18
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644 at compuserve.com>
To: Gregory Courtright <73420.2643 at compuserve.com>
Subject: <Messages from Earth>
Message-ID: <forum.sfmediaone.459545 at compuserve.com>
References: <forum.sfmediaone.459316 at compuserve.com>
Different camera work, mainly.
jms
------------------------------
Date: 26-Feb-96 14:50:45
From: Rowan Kaiser <74160.473 at compuserve.com>
To: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644 at compuserve.com>
Subject: <<Messages from Earth>>
Message-ID: <forum.sfmediaone.459363 at compuserve.com>
References: <forum.sfmediaone.458326 at compuserve.com>
> We found that the research division wasn't being updated on air
> schedules; the new reports now feature accurate ratings for
> accurate times, which gives us a *much* better understanding of
> what's going on.
Speaking of ratings, how are we comparing to DS9? Do we usually
beat them?
Rowan Kaiser Mistie, Montie, PITAS, Emperor of RPMC and Kidism
Patroler "It's uh . . . Homer Simpson, sir. Strangly enough, all
the major recent events of your life have revolved around him."
-Waylan Smithers
------------------------------
Date: 26-Feb-96 18:30:20
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644 at compuserve.com>
To: Rowan Kaiser <74160.473 at compuserve.com>
Subject: <<Messages from Earth>>
Message-ID: <forum.sfmediaone.459546 at compuserve.com>
References: <forum.sfmediaone.459363 at compuserve.com>
Depends on the market. Sometimes we beat DS9, sometimes they
beat us. It varies considerably from place to place.
jms
------------------------------
Date: 26-Feb-96 14:51:16
From: Rowan Kaiser <74160.473 at compuserve.com>
To: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644 at compuserve.com>
Subject: "Arc" eps
Message-ID: <forum.sfmediaone.459374 at compuserve.com>
References: <forum.sfmediaone.457676 at compuserve.com>
> Because they best convey the "arc" of the storyline.
I'm still not following this. Why arc?
Rowan Kaiser Mistie, Montie, PITAS, Emperor of RPMC and Kidism
Patroler "It's uh . . . Homer Simpson, sir. Strangly enough, all
the major recent events of your life have revolved around him."
-Waylan Smithers
------------------------------
Date: 26-Feb-96 18:30:24
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644 at compuserve.com>
To: Rowan Kaiser <74160.473 at compuserve.com>
Subject: "Arc" eps
Message-ID: <forum.sfmediaone.459547 at compuserve.com>
References: <forum.sfmediaone.459374 at compuserve.com>
Story arc.
Climax
Complication Denouement
Rising action Introduction
An arc.
jms
------------------------------
Date: 26-Feb-96 19:16:36
From: Tom Knudsen <72347.1626 at compuserve.com>
To: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644 at compuserve.com>
Subject: Earthforce Ship Names
Message-ID: <forum.sfmediaone.459600 at compuserve.com>
References: <forum.sfmediaone.459219 at compuserve.com>
Joe,
<Not with Alpha, since that isn't a name out of Greek
mythology. But the first one off the production line probably
would've been the Achilles.>
I think maybe I misstated my question. So far all the
ships you've mentioned in the Omega class start with the letter
"A". Since the Greek letter "A" was "alpha", I was wondering if
you had purposefully named all the Omega ships to start with
"alpha" or "A" sort of as a play on "I am the Alpha and the
Omega". Or is this just a happy coincidence?
Tom^^^^
Guardian of The Republic
General Pain in the Butt
Ranger
------------------------------
Date: 26-Feb-96 21:18:36
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644 at compuserve.com>
To: Tom Knudsen <72347.1626 at compuserve.com>
Subject: Earthforce Ship Names
Message-ID: <forum.sfmediaone.459758 at compuserve.com>
References: <forum.sfmediaone.459600 at compuserve.com>
Oh. Sorry, yes, we started with the A's.
jms
------------------------------
Date: 26-Feb-96 19:17:35
From: Neil Blevins <102226.3566 at compuserve.com>
To: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644 at compuserve.com>
Subject: "Arc" eps
Message-ID: <forum.sfmediaone.459610 at compuserve.com>
References: <forum.sfmediaone.459547 at compuserve.com>
I assume your explanation for story arc is refering to the entire
series, or else you forgot the "JMS drives everyone nuts" step.
BTW, a friend was wondering what's the aspect ratio on the
credits? Is it letterbox or cinescope?
- Neil
------------------------------
Date: 26-Feb-96 21:18:37
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644 at compuserve.com>
To: Neil Blevins <102226.3566 at compuserve.com>
Subject: "Arc" eps
Message-ID: <forum.sfmediaone.459760 at compuserve.com>
References: <forum.sfmediaone.459610 at compuserve.com>
It's letterbox ratio.
jms
------------------------------
Date: 26-Feb-96 20:06:22
From: SysOp Lee Whiteside <76711.2660 at compuserve.com>
To: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644 at compuserve.com>
Subject: <Messages Question>
Message-ID: <forum.sfmediaone.459649 at compuserve.com>
Joe, here's a question for you from Dan Wood:
Shortly after you wrote "Messages," you posted a note indicating
the trouble you had seeing the "shape" of the story, when you were
suddenly hit "with all the force of a meat axe right smack between
the eyeballs." Now that we've seen the episode, I think it would
be interesting to know what was the exact problem and the
revelation that put the plot into focus.
Care to comment?
------------------------------
Date: 26-Feb-96 21:18:40
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644 at compuserve.com>
To: SysOp Lee Whiteside <76711.2660 at compuserve.com>
Subject: <Messages Question>
Message-ID: <forum.sfmediaone.459762 at compuserve.com>
References: <forum.sfmediaone.459649 at compuserve.com>
....i don't remember anymore....
It all blurs, Lee.
jms
------------------------------
Date: 26-Feb-96 20:07:39
From: JOHN GRAVES <102735.1124 at compuserve.com>
To: JMS <71016.1644 at compuserve.com>
Subject: And Now...Reruns!
Message-ID: <forum.sfmediaone.459650 at compuserve.com>
Joe, Say It Ain't So! After watching Point of No Return may wife
and I groaned when we saw the teaser for next week. So, before I
ask for a glass of whiskey, a gun, and two bullets, please give it
to me straight up: how many weeks of repeats before we resume with
new episodes? By the way, I've watched a lot of tv for a lot of
years (47 of them) and NEVER have I been as captivated as I am
with your series. The writing is breathtaking. Keep taking the
chances! Thanks again..
------------------------------
Date: 26-Feb-96 21:18:41
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644 at compuserve.com>
To: JOHN GRAVES <102735.1124 at compuserve.com>
Subject: And Now...Reruns!
Message-ID: <forum.sfmediaone.459764 at compuserve.com>
References: <forum.sfmediaone.459650 at compuserve.com>
Just next month; we come back with new eps on April 3rd.
jms
------------------------------
Date: 26-Feb-96 21:01:51
From: John M. Kahane <102664.773 at compuserve.com>
To: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644 at compuserve.com>
Subject: <Messages From Earrth>
Message-ID: <forum.sfmediaone.459742 at compuserve.com>
References: <forum.sfmediaone.457601 at compuserve.com>
Hullo, Joe,
> It's Nightwatch.
Thanks. I thought that it was spelled that way, but I've
seen it spelled as one word and two words, and just wanted the
official clarification. Either way, they're a dangerous
organization, and one that I am fond of (in a twisted way, of
course). <g>
> The thread will diminish for a while, then return down the road
> in later seasons, after the story takes its third major turn.
I wondered whether the Nightwatch would be destroyed
relatively qucikly in the story of the third season, or whether
their role would diminish once the station declares and achieves
its independence. This answers that question. This seems to
imply that the Nightwatch won't reappear until some time in the
fourth season of B5, unless the third major turn occurs late this
year.
> By the last few episodes, pretty much all of my cards are on
> the table. But by the last episode of this season, we find that
> the game we've assumed we've been playing ain't necessarily the
> game at all. The show takes a fairly subversive direction, and
> of all the seasons so far, the one that follows, year four,
> represents the greatest writing challenge to make this actually
> work.
That's pretty much what I assumed, as I think a lot of us
have realized that things are not what they seem, the more the
series goes on. Season Three has been a good indicator of that,
since we've seen some changes and some directions for the story
that we didn't really expect or anticipate.
That raises another question, however: What do you
consider the greatest challenge in writing B5 right now? The
seasons themselves have had different directions for one thing,
and the types of stories that you've told in the seasons so far
have been very much indicative of what direction the story seems
to be moving in. There's no doubt that there's a freshness to
the stories, especially the ones that are arc-related, but some of
the weaker episodes seem to be stories that don't have all that
much arc in them.
> Which is another reason why it's important to get the B4
> storyline and several other threads out in the open, and clear
> the decks, because this is gonna take every bit of whatever
> talent I've got to pull off.
Most of us are pretty confident that you have the ability
and the talent to tell the story that you want to tell and to do
it with creativity and all. The B4 storyline is one that a lot of
us are looking forward to, I think, but we're leery of what might
happen to Jeffrey Sinclair.
> Year four is the point in the novel when you're just past the
> halfway mark; you know the reader thinks he or she has got the
> story sussed out. The reader knows all your tricks by now, or
> thinks he/she does. You've been pulling doves out of your hat
> for 243 pages.
That's just it, isn't it? The viewers of the tale so far
have got a lot of speculation going on the nets and in the
fanzines and all, but we *don't* really know the story. I'm under
no illusion that I know what's going on completely, although I
like to think that I've figured a few things out. One of the
biggest challenges that a writer faces (and I *do* consider you
to be a writer) is that the audience must be kept "in the know" to
the point where their interest is retained, but at the same time,
must be of the level where the unknown elements of the story and
the plot - and what is going to happen in the story and to the
characters - keep the reader interested... And that's something
that you've managed to do so far with BABYLON 5.
> Now you'd damned well better be able to pull out an alligator.
This *worries* me, you know... We haven't seen the
alligator yet, and I think that it's going to be something that
gives us even more food for thought. For that, you have this
reader/viewer's appreciation and respect. You haven't treated us
like mindless idiots, as another sf series that is currently in
syndication has done. And for that, you have my thanks.
jmk
------------------------------
Date: 26-Feb-96 21:18:45
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644 at compuserve.com>
To: John M. Kahane <102664.773 at compuserve.com>
Subject: <Messages From Earrth>
Message-ID: <forum.sfmediaone.459766 at compuserve.com>
References: <forum.sfmediaone.459742 at compuserve.com>
I think probably the hardest thing in the writing this season
has been in pulling the story through the next level, around the
corner, and into a new relative shape. Some things are the same, and a
lot of things are different the deeper you go into this season. It's
been a real tough act to get this boat where it needs to go, but I
think we pulled it off.
jms
------------------------------
Date: 26-Feb-96 21:18:59
From: Rowan Kaiser <74160.473 at compuserve.com>
To: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644 at compuserve.com>
Subject: < Messages from Earth>
Message-ID: <forum.sfmediaone.459772 at compuserve.com>
References: <forum.sfmediaone.458909 at compuserve.com>
> I think they know the White Star (aka the unidentified ship)
> got away, but they put the best face on it back home. Which is
> one more reason why Clark's declared martial law. Things are
> spinning out of control, he's in increasingly hot water back
> home, and he has to seize control. Whoever was in that alien
> ship knows too much about his operations...if that were to come
> out, he's finished.
OK, something I want to confirm here. Ganymede would have
security cameras, research cameras, etc, right? So there would be
a very high chance of one of these cameras recording that it was
the shadow vessel and not the White Star, right? Right?
Rowan Kaiser Mistie, Montie, PITAS, Emperor of RPMC and Kidism
Patroler "Conservatives wouldn't even change their *underwear*
unless they had too."
-Aphrael/Danae/Flute
------------------------------
Date: 27-Feb-96 00:07:25
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644 at compuserve.com>
To: Rowan Kaiser <74160.473 at compuserve.com>
Subject: < Messages from Earth>
Message-ID: <forum.sfmediaone.459841 at compuserve.com>
References: <forum.sfmediaone.459772 at compuserve.com>
Of course. But who controls those cameras? Answer: the very
folks who wouldn't want it to get out what they had there.
jms
------------------------------
Date: 26-Feb-96 21:32:22
From: Harry R. Keller <103464.3722 at compuserve.com>
To: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644 at compuserve.com>
Subject: <JMS: Msgs from Earth>
Message-ID: <forum.sfmediaone.459793 at compuserve.com>
References: <forum.sfmediaone.457063 at compuserve.com>
I watched messages from Earth twice...not sure if I took a breath
either time! I have the oxygen tank ready for this weeks episode!!
------------------------------
Date: 27-Feb-96 00:07:26
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644 at compuserve.com>
To: Harry R. Keller <103464.3722 at compuserve.com>
Subject: <JMS: Msgs from Earth>
Message-ID: <forum.sfmediaone.459842 at compuserve.com>
References: <forum.sfmediaone.459793 at compuserve.com>
Thanks.
jms
------------------------------
Date: 26-Feb-96 23:18:52
From: Joe Salemi [ZD Net] <72631.23 at compuserve.com>
To: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644 at compuserve.com>
Subject: Deja Vu
Message-ID: <forum.sfmediaone.459822 at compuserve.com>
References: <forum.sfmediaone.459542 at compuserve.com>
> ...and Foxworth had *already agreed* to do our episode, and his
> agent, and they brushed us off to do the DS9....
Does this mean that General Hague was originally supposed to be
in MfE, or are you refering to something else?
------------------------------
Date: 27-Feb-96 00:07:27
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644 at compuserve.com>
To: Joe Salemi [ZD Net] <72631.23 at compuserve.com>
Subject: Deja Vu
Message-ID: <forum.sfmediaone.459843 at compuserve.com>
References: <forum.sfmediaone.459822 at compuserve.com>
Foxworth was slated for "Severed Dreams" when he bailed on us.
jms
------------------------------
Date: 26-Feb-96 23:32:00
From: John Hardin <74076.22 at compuserve.com>
To: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644 at compuserve.com>
Subject: Prison Authors
Message-ID: <forum.sfmediaone.459830 at compuserve.com>
{ Posted on behalf of Ed Dravecky III <dsheldon at netcom.com> }
Joe:
The first two literary works written while in jail that I can
think of are the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Letter From The
Birmingham Jail" and Adolf Hitler's "Mein Kampf".
While watching "Messages", I got the feeling that those watching
with me felt G'Kar was writing something like the former. But the
use of <gulp> shadows and G'Kar's tone make me fear he's writing
something more like the latter.
Am I just being paranoid, or are you being even sneakier than
usual? (Seeing as how we've been swung from thinking of G'Kar as
the bad guy to thinking of him as the much-put-upon good guy, this
new swing might be the to-be-expected surpise we've been waiting
for. Or not.)
-- Ed Dravecky III dsheldon at netcom.com
------------------------------
Date: 27-Feb-96 00:07:30
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644 at compuserve.com>
To: John Hardin <74076.22 at compuserve.com>
Subject: Prison Authors
Message-ID: <forum.sfmediaone.459844 at compuserve.com>
References: <forum.sfmediaone.459830 at compuserve.com>
It's the Book of G'Kar. Make of that what you will.
jms
------------------------------
Date: 26-Feb-96 23:32:01
From: John Hardin <74076.22 at compuserve.com>
To: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644 at compuserve.com>
Subject: Bacon and Eggs
Message-ID: <forum.sfmediaone.459831 at compuserve.com>
{ Posted on behalf of Tom Solomon <solomon at ccwf.cc.utexas.edu> }
Re: Marcus's "surprise" for Ivanova: does Marcus not know that
Ivanova is Jewish, and thus would not eat bacon? Or does he know
that she's Jewish, and sent her the bacon 'n' eggs anyway, more as
a joke? Or does he know that she doesn't practice her religion
much, and think that she'd probably eat it anyway?
Tom Solomon solomon at ccwf.cc.utexas.edu
------------------------------
Date: 27-Feb-96 00:07:31
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644 at compuserve.com>
To: John Hardin <74076.22 at compuserve.com>
Subject: Bacon and Eggs
Message-ID: <forum.sfmediaone.459845 at compuserve.com>
References: <forum.sfmediaone.459831 at compuserve.com>
Ivanova's not what you'd call orthodox under any circumstances.
jms
------------------------------
Date: 26-Feb-96 23:33:53
From: Mike Hoffmann <100321.2604 at compuserve.com>
To: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644 at compuserve.com>
Subject: <Messages From Earrth>
Message-ID: <forum.sfmediaone.459833 at compuserve.com>
References: <forum.sfmediaone.459766 at compuserve.com>
Joe,
Maybe I missed it, but is word out on behalf of WB for season 4
approval?
I know I did my part by writing my station as have many other
fans. You have been stating ratings are good, advertisers are
happy. But when is the verdict?
We've come this far, it's quite clear that if B5 were stopped now
this country would likely face riot... ;->
Mike
-Mike Hoffmann
------------------------------
Date: 27-Feb-96 00:07:34
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644 at compuserve.com>
To: Mike Hoffmann <100321.2604 at compuserve.com>
Subject: <Messages From Earrth>
Message-ID: <forum.sfmediaone.459846 at compuserve.com>
References: <forum.sfmediaone.459833 at compuserve.com>
We won't know until late April.
jms
------------------------------
Date: 27-Feb-96 01:47:27
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644 at compuserve.com>
To: All
Subject: Finished Writing!
Message-ID: <forum.sfmediaone.459891 at compuserve.com>
Well, it's done. I have today turned in the first draft of
script #22 for year three, which I suppose could be called a
cliffhanger episode. This marks the first time in the 50+ year history
of American television that one person has singlehandedly written an
entire season of a series. (The closest record is Terry Nation, who
wrote the 13-episode first season of Blake's 7.)
(I have no plans to do this next season, btw; this was
necessary because of the substantive changes in the B5 universe this
season. Next season is a very different story...literally as well as
figuratively.)
So far the film based on those 1,000+ pages represents some of
our best work on Babylon 5. There's some nifty stuff coming.
We are currently filming episode #18. Four more after this,
and we'll be finished shooting year three, as of April 9th. Not long
after, we should get the word on year four, probably by late
April/early May. But the writing is finished...and for the first time
in 8 months, I will be able to go out, see a movie, play Wing
Commander, find something that vaguely resembles a life. This is where
I now also become a director's worst nightmare: a writer-producer who's
finished writing and finally has time to hang out on the set and give
lots and lots of helpful advice.
It was a hideous task; two-thirds through I began to understand
that there was a *reason* nobody's ever done this before...you'd have
to be outta your ever-loving mind to even try. But as with everything
else on B5, if we don't know it's impossible, we just go ahead and do
it.
The title, as stated elsewhere, is classified, though you may
get a sense of what's coming in the two eps that precede it.
Regardless, the writing on year three is now complete. Overall, I'm
quite pleased, and I think by the time you hit this episode, you'll
feel the same.
jms
------------------------------
End of JMS CIS Digest 26-Feb-96 18:30:07 through 27-Feb-96 01:47:27
*******************************************************************
--
rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.info | a service of ISN mars bureau
submissions to: b5-info at callisto.pas.rochester.edu
contact to: b5-info-request at callisto.pas.rochester.edu
More information about the B5JMS
mailing list