If you had one question to ask JMS, what would it be?

[B5JMS Poster]

Subject: If you had one question to ask JMS, what would it be?
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 No. | DATE        |  FROM
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+  1: Jun 26, 1996: pfingsea at ucunix.san.uc.edu (Erik A Pfingsten )
+  5: Jun 28, 1996: swd2 at po.CWRU.Edu (Steven W. Difranco)
*  6: Jun 28, 1996: jmsatb5 at aol.com (Jms at B5)
*  7: Jun 28, 1996: jmsatb5 at aol.com (Jms at B5)
+ 14: Jun 28, 1996: jeffv at physics.ubc.ca (Jeff Vavasour)
* 15: Jun 28, 1996: jmsatb5 at aol.com (Jms at B5)
* 16: Jun 28, 1996: jmsatb5 at aol.com (Jms at B5)

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From: pfingsea at ucunix.san.uc.edu (Erik A Pfingsten )
Lines: 18

I was looking at all the ATTN JMS posts and started wondering.  If you
could ask JMS any ONE question about B5 that he would give a complete,
open, and honest answer about, what would it be?  Would it be a really
broad general question (ie. Where is the series going?) or would it be
something really specific (ie. What exactly is the third age of mankind?)?




-- 
Erik Pfingsten, University of Cincinnati |  My shoes are too tight,
E-Mail: pfingsea at ucunix.san.uc.edu  <--  |    but it doesn't matter because
        pfingsea at email.uc.edu            |    I've forgotten how to dance.
WWW: http://ucunix.san.uc.edu/~pfingsea  |    --Londo Mollari





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From: swd2 at po.CWRU.Edu (Steven W. Difranco)
Lines: 30

In a previous article, pfingsea at ucunix.san.uc.edu (Erik A Pfingsten) says:

>I was looking at all the ATTN JMS posts and started wondering.  If you
>could ask JMS any ONE question about B5 that he would give a complete,
>open, and honest answer about, what would it be?  Would it be a really
>broad general question (ie. Where is the series going?) or would it be
>something really specific (ie. What exactly is the third age of mankind?)?
>
>
>
>
>
	My question would be:

		"Exactly what is the relation between the Shadows and the
	Vorlons, and how does this impact the Earthers and the other
	sentient races of the galaxy?"

		But I guess that would be telling.....
>
>
>
>

-- 
[ Steven W. DiFranco, CEO, WEBCRAFT Data Resources ][ Coming soon through
  corporate right-sizing and merging:  "Domino's Pizza-Pizza Hut McHero King"
  Home of the "Stuffed-crust-wopp-arch-deluxe"(tm) - the Ultimate in fast-food
  One-stop indulgence ][ Zathras not good at ordering...good at eating ]


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From: jmsatb5 at aol.com (Jms at B5)
Lines: 20

"If I could ask JMS one question and get a complete and truthful answer, I
think it
would be: "What would it take to convince you *not* to retire from
television after
B5?"

1) An anthology show.

2) A B5 spinoff that would be a complement to, not a capitalization upon,
the primary B5 series.

3) Something that would be as revolutionary for TV as the 5-year arc
structure, a project which could change the way TV is done, technically
and story-wise.  If you can't top the last thing you did...don't do it.


 jms




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From: jmsatb5 at aol.com (Jms at B5)
Lines: 16

"How would the story have differed if it were a written novel rather than
a novel for television."

More descriptions, more internal monologue.  More locations off-station. 
Larger cast of characters.  Shorter arc (5 years at 22 episodes per and 45
pages per script is a hell of a lot more than you can get into any novel
or series of novels.)





 jms




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From: jeffv at physics.ubc.ca (Jeff Vavasour)
Lines: 14

 In <4r049g$koj at newsbf02.news.aol.com> jmsatb5 at aol.com (Jms at B5) writes:
 >1) An anthology show.
 >2) A B5 spinoff that would be a complement to, not a capitalization upon,
 >the primary B5 series.
 >3) Something that would be as revolutionary for TV as the 5-year arc
 >structure, a project which could change the way TV is done, technically
 >and story-wise.  If you can't top the last thing you did...don't do it.

So if you were offered to opportunity to do an anthology series complimenting
B5, in a style that revolutionised the way TV was done, there's no way you 
could refuse, right? :-)

- Jeff


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From: jmsatb5 at aol.com (Jms at B5)
Lines: 12

"If you had the choice of _any_ writer, director, cinematographer, etc.,
etc., etc., living or dead, to work on one episode of B-5, who would they
be?  What's your ideal, once-in-a-life-time "dream team"?"

Rod Serling, script.  (Second choice: Charles Beaumont.)  Director: John
Frankenheimer (from his "Seconds" period).


 jms




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From: jmsatb5 at aol.com (Jms at B5)
Lines: 40

"The five year arc has created a unique opportunity for other writers. 
Babylon 5 is slowly reaching a leave of popularity that will rival that of
Star Trek.  But people (at least most people) aren't forming the slavish
devotion to the B5 universe that seems to follow Star Trek.  They aren't
afraid to take an objective look at the show and say "I don't like this
episode.""

Let me agree and disagree with you simultaneously.  On the disagree side:
I'm on a number of forums where ST fans also tend to congregate, and if
there's an episode they don't like...they say so.  With breahtaking
enthusiasm.  I think they're savvy enough and discriminating enough to
speak forthrightly.

As for the part where I agree..in the ST series, at the end of the show,
there usually isn't a great deal of ambiguity left to the issues.  Our
guys were right, their guys were wrong, and there tend not to be a lot of
ethical loose threads still hanging around.  (This shouldn't be taken as a
blanket statement; there are the occasional episodes where you get close
to this, but they're not the norm.)

As a result, you more often get "I did/didn't like this *episode*" as
opposed to a heated debate over the ethical, moral and political issues
involved.  That's the danger when your characters always take the moral
high ground, are always right, and rarely if ever make mistakes.  

So to follow the thread of logic one step further...because B5 tends to
highlight those areas instead of minimizing them -- neither better nor
worse than the other approach, just a difference -- you end up
pre-selecting for an audience more given to analyze, critique, debate and
in general speak their minds on a variety of levels.  There's a lot less
jingoism in the B5 fan community, it seems to me, than in other SF shows,
because there's more ambiguity involved.  The lines aren't so clearly
drawn.

Which I think is only terrific.\

 jms



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