JMS on CompuServe (Jul 14, 1996) *POSSIBLE SPOILERS*

[Brent Barrett]

 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 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: #539369-#Bored of the Rings
    Sb: #539429-#Micromachine ?
    Sb: #539488-JMS:Budget B5


 #: 539369 S5/Babylon 5: General
    13-Jul-96  17:56:20
Sb: #Bored of the Rings
Fm: VLOBB


 Joe,

   Knowning that you enjoyed Lord of the Rings, and knowing that you are
getting fed-up with comparisons between the characters in said book and
B5 <g>, I was just wondering.  Have you ever read a book called 'Bored of the
Rings', by the Harvard Lampoon?  It is a very good parody of LOTR, (at least,
I thought so), but as far as I know, it went out of print quite some time
ago.  (The copy I have is loaned from a friend who got it mail-order purely
because he had some friends of his own in a position to obtain such
things...<g>)
 I think that, (assuming you haven't read it, and you can get hold of a
copy), you would enjoy it.  It has some wonderfully zany characters, and even
stranger locations.  And I won't mention the Elvish songs...

Simon Pallett
"The medicine man can heal the wounds of the sick, but only the story teller
can truly give life."


 #: 539498 S5/Babylon 5: General
    14-Jul-96  00:35:00
Sb: #539369-#Bored of the Rings
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI

      Yeah, I read it back in college...may even have the copy around the house
somewhere.  Great fun, as I recall (dimly).

                                                                    jms



 #: 539429 S5/Babylon 5: General
    13-Jul-96  20:27:35
Sb: #Micromachine ?
Fm: DANA WRIGHT

I was wondering if you knew if the Micromachine collection of B5 ships will
also come in a large pack like has been done with the Sta Trek issues? these
larger collections include 1 to 3 ships not included in the smaller 3 ship
collections.
DJ


 #: 539499 S5/Babylon 5: General
    14-Jul-96  00:35:02
Sb: #539429-#Micromachine ?
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI

      Dunno, I haven't been told.

                                                                    jms



 #: 539488 S5/Babylon 5: General
    13-Jul-96  22:36:24
Sb: #JMS:Budget B5
Fm: MICHAEL W. MAHONEY

Joe:

How doed Babylonian Productions manage to produce such a good series with a
budget so much smaller than 'trek?  B5 has just as many sets, which are just as
good, just as many actors, who are better, and way far out effects.

Questions:  Is there a $ increase for production in season 4?
        How do you keep it good and inexpensive?
        How does SF compare with "Typical" TV, budget-wise?

I got on to this subject when a network exec replied to my email.  (His network
had just cancelled B5)  Even he admitted that the production values of B5 were,
quote "...Superb...".

Keep it Up!  Great work!

P.S.  Another station has picked up B5 in my area, even to the final eps that
got cut!  One could almost think that they were smart, or appreciate great TV,
or something....  Whoosh!


Michael W. "Cranar" Mahoney
Spectrum Weapons Corporation

Lyndasty-- "If you give me a chance, I promise that when we pass beneath the
swords and boughs, it will be for love."

Me--    "Never mind.  That did it."    <sigh>


 #: 539500 S5/Babylon 5: General
    14-Jul-96  00:35:05
Sb: #539488-JMS:Budget B5
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI

      Re: sets, last I heard we have the capacity already to do about 70 or so
sets, a combination of permanent and episode-specific (swing) sets.

      The way you keep it good, and fiscally responsible, are the same:
planning.  30% of any TV episode budget is lost through waste and lack of
planning.

      SF is generally more expensive than mainstream TV.  Or has been in the
past, which is why the networks have been so edgy about it.  Space:A&B cost in
the vicinity of $2 million per episode.  The V series came within inches of
single handedly wiping out Warner Bros. TV due to cost overruns.  That is
starting to change.  (And mainstream TV shows can also be very expensive; I
think on Murder, She Wrote we averaged about $1.2-$1.4 million per episode.)

                                                                    jms


-***
-*** 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.