JMS on CompuServe (Mar 05, 1996) *POSSIBLE SPOILERS* 1/2 (new format)
Brent Barrett
brent.barrett at 24stex.com
Thu Mar 7 17:08:21 EST 1996
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.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WARNING !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The following posts may contain SPOILERS for
upcoming Babylon 5 episodes.
Continue at your own risk.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
S
P
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P
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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
[ Note from Brent: Before you ask, no I cannot forward
your questions to JMS. He has asked that questions
not originating from CIS accounts not be posted to
CIS. He encourages all of us to wait for the
moderated USENET group, to which he plans to
subscribe. ]
[ Original message removed due to lack of permission to reproduce. -- BB ]
[ Summary: Did you put Hague on the "Alexander" on purpose? ]
#: 464130 S6/Babylon 5: Upcoming
04-Mar-96 14:26:34
Sb: #463873-#<<PoNR>>
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI 71016,1644
Y'know, I think this was one of those subconscious things the brain does
sometimes...I hadn't put it together when I put him on that ship. It's a sad
thing when you can't even trust your own brain anymore.
jms
[ Original message removed due to lack of permission to reproduce. -- BB ]
[ Summary: Did you see the AP report about Paramount suing a Utah stage
producer for putting on a play entitled "Star Twek"? ]
#: 464131 S6/Babylon 5: Upcoming
04-Mar-96 14:26:35
Sb: #463910-#<The last few eps?>
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI 71016,1644
Yeah, I also heard that Paramount sent the US Navy a letter claiming
that they owned the copyright to the term USS Enterprise, and that the Navy
should cease and desist from using that name in future.
The Navy told 'em to stick it where the sun don't shine.
jms
[ Original message removed due to lack of permission to reproduce. -- BB ]
[ Summary: Asked about seeing several characters in the future. ]
#: 464662 S5/Babylon 5: General
05-Mar-96 00:21:27
Sb: #464451-When will they be back?
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI 71016,1644
You'll see Morden and Zathras before the season is out.
jms
#: 464511 S6/Babylon 5: Upcoming
04-Mar-96 19:58:19
Sb: #463860-#"Point of No Return"
Fm: FitzGeralds
To: J. Michael Straczynski 71016,1644 (X)
I hesitate to think what will happen if you're not writing the scripts. The
heart of a project tends to get lost when the creator is no longer involved
with the creating. This happened with STNG when Gene Rodenberry died. I hope
this won't be the case with B5; that you'll be close at hand.
Nora
#: 464663 S6/Babylon 5: Upcoming
05-Mar-96 00:21:28
Sb: #464511-"Point of No Return"
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI 71016,1644
To: FitzGeralds
No, I'm not going anywhere as far as B5 is concerned; we'll have some
freelance scripts coming in in years 4 and 5, but that's just the same as in
years 1 and 2. They'll almost certainly be based on assigned premises, and in
all cases, I rewrite to make sure it all hangs together.
jms
#: 464513 S5/Babylon 5: General
04-Mar-96 20:01:37
Sb: #Comic books in U.S.?
Fm: JOHN HARDIN
To: J. Michael Straczynski 71016,1644 (X)
{ Posted on behalf of Helen Stanford (General) <a-helens at MICROSOFT.com> }
I have read in your various posts about the B5 comics; I have never seen
these in the States. Are they only available in the UK/Australia? I am
going to England in a couple weeks, and I was hoping to pick up some B5
paraphernalia over there, that might not be available in the US. I heard
that B5 is much bigger in the UK!!
Free Mars!! And Io!! And Everything!!
Helen
a-helens at microsoft.com
hstanfor at highcc.ctc.edu
#: 464664 S5/Babylon 5: General
05-Mar-96 00:21:31
Sb: #464513-Comic books in U.S.?
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI 71016,1644
To: John Hardin
Let me try and address a problem I'm having with this question and the
one preceding, both of which are from folks not on CIS. I've just gotten a
number of emails from people saying they have a problem here, in the sense that
they pay CIS for access to this forum, and the ability to ask questions
publicly. To post a number of questions from people not subscribers on CIS,
giving them that ability, bothers some of the users here who have to pay a
subscription for that.
Personally, for me, a question is a question regardless of source, and
thus far, I've answered all questions forwarded from other services here. It's
an awkward situation, because if this were a free service, as rastb5moderated
would be, it doesn't *matter* where the questions come from, it's all equally
free. But I'm sort of "living" in CIS's house while I'm here, and on a
pragmatic level I have to be considerate of the wishes of the people in whose
house I'm hanging out. Especially the wishes of the other users here. One
user put it quite bluntly: "If they want to ask you questions on CIS, why don't
they sign up and pay the money same as I do? This isn't fair."
So I've been debating what to do about this. My only solution, poor as
it is, is that questions here have to originate here. Once the moderated group
is open, which is free to all, anyone from anywhere can ask as many questions
as they choose, and this won't be an issue. For now, this seems the only fair
solution.
In short, I'd love to answer the forwarded questions, but I feel I have
to be responsive to the wishes of the users here.
jms
#: 464514 S5/Babylon 5: General
04-Mar-96 20:01:40
Sb: #Cruisers? (PoNR)
Fm: JOHN HARDIN
To: J. Michael Straczynski 71016,1644 (X)
{ Posted on behalf of Davis Wells <dbwells at ix.netcom.com> }
<paraphrase> Susan: "4 of 5 cruisers with General Haig shot down..."
So are there two cruisers at large or was "4 of 5" inclusive of the Alexander?
Were those four cruisers shot down by the Shadows or did Earth Force do the
dirty work?
Davis
#: 464665 S5/Babylon 5: General
05-Mar-96 00:21:34
Sb: #464514-Cruisers? (PoNR)
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI 71016,1644
To: John Hardin
Ditto.
jms
#: 464512 S5/Babylon 5: General
04-Mar-96 20:01:35
Sb: #Labor Relations
Fm: JOHN HARDIN
To: J. Michael Straczynski 71016,1644 (X)
{ Posted (belatedly) on behalf of siano at cceb.med.upenn.edu (Brian Siano) }
While I'm typing this, the local station's running the DSN
episode where Quarks' bar goes on strike. And I'd read JMS's note
earlier today, about the similarities between this episode and the
first season B5 where the station's loading dock personnel went on
strike.
Well, there are differences, and I'm not nitpicking over JMS's
comments here. There are two points to make, which amount to mild
crticisms of B5.
The first is that the denouement on both shows-- where the
administrator resolves the situation by shuffling funds around a
little-- is something we can blame more on the nature of episodic
television than anything else. In DSN, they have to fix the situation
by the end of the hour, and the _deus ex captaina_ of the financial
shuffling manages to do this pretty nicely.
The second point is the apparent reason to have a labor
dispute on the respective shows. On DSN, it's mainly humorous:
watching Quark put up with angry workers, and his inept brother
quoting the _Communist Manifesto_, must've sounded like a really
funny idea at the writers' meetings. (Sort of like the
anarchosyndicalists in _Monty Python and the Holy Grail_, questioning
Arthur's right to the throne while going on about consensus
procedure.) On B5, the idea was part of B5's promise:if you're going
to be realistic about a space station, then labor issues are going to
be part of that realism.
Still, thinking about that episode got me wondering about the
way B5 has been progressing. Frankly, I thought ending the labor
dispute with Sinclair's financial arrangement struck me as, well, a
little disappointing: real life labor disputes don't end that well
(and considering the way Caterpillar wore down its union, it's usually
a lot uglier), and the problem seems to have evaporated since that
episode. (Oh, as I type this, DSN just got to the scene with the
Ferenghi strikebreaker. I'd reconmmend to readers here a book titled
_Cobnfessions of a Strike Breaker_, where one of these creeps
confesses about all the rotten stuff he did to ruin incipient unions.)
And as the story arc progresses, it seems to me that Sheridan
could be having some really daunting challenges ahead if such problems
arise again.After all, it's looking like he's going to take Babylon 5
off into a new galactic role. The Nightwatch is a problem, sure, but
what about the issues of B5's overworked and as-yet-Shadow-ignorant
workers?
I remember reading an interview with Stanley Kubrick, where
the interviewer talked about his obsessive control over all aspects of
his productions. Kubrick talked about how he has to make certain (or,
as certain as he can be) that his productions' logistics will run
smoothly-- and in Kubrick's case, that includes deciding which
theaters will show his films. To illustrate this, he talked about his
aborted film biography of Napoleon (planned after _2001_ came out):
he'd intended to have a scene where Napoleon would be signing hundreds
of billet-douxs, purchase orders, authorizations, contracts, etc., all
the administrative detail required to maintain Europe's most powerful
army.
Now, imagine Sheridan in such a situation, when he's got to
fight the coming Shadow War. Imagine if the Nightwatch were to follow
the example of strikebreaking consultants and private industry, and
use these burdens to weigh Sheridan and co. down. (Get the feeling I'm
pro-union?) And at what point is Sheridan going to have to let the
people of Babylon 5 know about this Shadow war-- his own "date which
will live in infamy" speech?
Like I said, this is a mild criticism (despite the length of
the above remarks). B5 makes a better effort than the _Trek_ shows to
at least take into account the lives and logistics of all those people
in the background: the _Enterprise_ seems to be populated with seven
or eight "real" people and a slew of mannequins who mill about and
look efficient. B5's costumes are more like real clothes than Trek's
spandex jumpsuits.
Still, remembering that first-season strike episode got me
thinking about whether the story arc might be overriding some of the
everyday, less-Shadow-War oriented stuff. What can I say? I'm the sort
of person who likes to read the accounts of everyday people who lived
through momentous events. It's one thing to read about Churchill and
Patton and Hitler and Roosevelt; that's the eagle's eye view of that
era. But reading Studs Terkel, or Ernie Pyle, or Bill Mauldin, gives
us the experience that _most_ of us would've had, if we were there.
Just to reiterate: this is a _mild_ criticism. I like the show
a lot, and I'm not asking for a 22nd century _Matewan_.
Brian Siano - siano at cceb.med.upenn.edu
"The Internet is an elite organization. Most of the
population of the world has never even made a phone call."
-- Noam Chomsky
#: 464666 S5/Babylon 5: General
05-Mar-96 00:21:36
Sb: #464512-Labor Relations
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI 71016,1644
To: John Hardin
Ditto.
jms
[ Original message removed due to lack of permission to reproduce. -- BB ]
[ Summary: Hopes JMS doesn't think he's one of the rotten few. Also
explains that he loves B5 because he loves magic. Asks if the B5
masks offered by 1-800-TREKKER are legit. ]
#: 464667 S5/Babylon 5: General
05-Mar-96 00:21:37
Sb: #464587-Demento Half-Dozen
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI 71016,1644
Not a problem, Kevin. You've usually been quite fair.
(I agree about Penn and Teller...love 'em. They're just nuts.)
I can see no reason not to oblige Brent and John Hardin with their
requests for reposting from my side of it; these are, of course, issues of
privacy, the latitude and longditude of which are circumscribed by the quiet
turning of your own considered conscience. If you don't mind, then say yes; if
you do mind, then say no.
As for the masks, yes, I believe they're the licensed ones from Ruby.
jms
#: 464590 S6/Babylon 5: Upcoming
04-Mar-96 21:18:45
Sb: #464131-#<The last few eps?>
Fm: RAY PELZER
To: J. Michael Straczynski 71016,1644 (X)
Eh? You gotta be kidding! Doesn't "prior use" enter into copyrights like
that, regardless of whether or not the military is involved?
#: 464668 S6/Babylon 5: Upcoming
05-Mar-96 00:21:41
Sb: #464590-<The last few eps?>
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI 71016,1644
To: Ray Pelzer
It ain't an issue of copyright, but of *trademark*, which can be put on
at any time.
jms
[ Original message removed due to lack of permission to reproduce. -- BB ]
[ Summary: Complains that the B5 editorial published recently unfairly
criticizes JMS for writing all of the eps this season when it's *his*
story. Wonders if it's just because no one's done it before. ]
#: 464669 S6/Babylon 5: Upcoming
05-Mar-96 00:21:43
Sb: #464629-<<Point of No Return>>
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI 71016,1644
Any time you do something that hasn't been done before, you will have
people jumping on your head out of the near-religious conviction that they must
do so for the good of the commonweal.
jms
[ Original message removed due to lack of permission to reproduce. -- BB ]
[ Summary: Run-down of the B5 issue of SF Entertainment magazine. Also
complains about Starlog's apparent dis-B5 attitude and points to the
interview they just published with Andrea Thompson, in which she says
she was dissatisfied with B5 and wanted out. She lodges some hefty
complaints against the people behind B5. Namely that she should have
had more air time and that JMS never wanted her to begin with. ]
#: 464673 S5/Babylon 5: General
05-Mar-96 00:44:52
Sb: #464500-B5 in SciFi Entertainmnt
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI 71016,1644
There are a number of actors who feel that if they're in a story, then
they should be at the *center* of the story. Andrea seemed to feel that if she
was in an episode, the episode should be about her character, and was
consistently lobbying for this, despite the fact that it would cut into the
arc, and time for the other characters on-screen. Babylon 5 is an ensemble
show; time on screen is determined by the story, not by whim or personal
insistence.
Yes, we used her 8 or 9 times in a given season; but by contract, we
paid her for a full 13 episodes, whether she appeared in them or not. We were
never under any obligation to give her *any* guarantee; we did so to make her
feel comfortable taking on the job. For the first year he was on the show Jeff
Conaway didn't have a guarantee of episodes; he was used as he was needed, and
that grew with time. Andrea wanted time away from the show to do other
projects; we accommodated where we could, as we do with all our cast members,
but if a request comes in at the last moment, or conflicts with our schedule,
we can't comply. We feel that if we're paying someone a great sum of money to
be available to us, for episodes they may not even appear in, this is not
unreasonable.
Finally, it was never Warner Bros. who hired her or pushed her on me. WB
didn't care one way or another. I was the one who hired her, with Doug Netter.
If I hadn't felt she was right for the role, I wouldn't have hired her. But I
was also under no constraint to make the show into the Andrea Thompson Show.
Andreas and Peter have often appeared as many times in a season as Andrea, and
didn't even *have* a guarantee for the first two seasons. (Now they do.)
We did what we could to accommodate her without destroying the story
arc. I regret that she has taken out her frustrations in this way. Either one
is a team player, part of an ensemble, or one is not. We are very proud of the
fact that the cast members as they stand now are all ensemble, team players.
jms
[ Continued in next section -- BB ]
/*********************************************
* Brent Barrett brent.barrett at 24stex.com *
* Senior Software Engineer Automedia, Inc *
* -- Watch Babylon-5! -- *
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