JMS on CompuServe (May 25, 1996) *POSSIBLE SPOILERS* 1/2
Brent Barrett
bbarrett at speedlink.com
Sat May 25 16:51:37 EDT 1996
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WARNING !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The following posts may contain SPOILERS for
upcoming Babylon 5 episodes.
Continue at your own risk.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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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: #511423-#<WWE2 Great Job!>
Sb: #511486-The Encounter (UK Con)
Sb: #511572-JMS: Eps for Newbies?
Sb: #511522-<WWE II>
Sb: #511524->>WWE: I and II<<
Sb: #511433-Some thots on <<WWE2>>
Sb: #511503-Sinclair's Scar & More
Sb: #511447-#Keffer and Corwin
Sb: #511502-<WWE 2> - My Head Hurts
Sb: #511566-#<WWE2>
Sb: B5 in Millimeter Mag.
Sb: #511682-#WWE <<Major Spoiler>>
Sb: #511631-#Sinclair's Scar & More
Sb: #511604-White Star Question
[ Summary: Loved "War Without End" Part 2, and asks if JMS will ever write
the story of Valen/Sinclair. ]
#: 511701 S6/Babylon 5: Upcoming
24-May-96 19:21:45
Sb: #511423-#<WWE2 Great Job!>
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
Thanks, and I'd love to someday tell the story of Valen and Zathras in
the most recent shadow war. It's quite a tale, actually....
jms
#: 511486 S5/Babylon 5: General
24-May-96 11:07:55
Sb: #510952-#The Encounter (UK Con)
Fm: DARRAN WILLIAMS
I presume that is Season 3 that is being shown in Widescreen in France and
Portugal. Do you know whether Channel 4 here in the UK have acquired the
Widescreen versions or not ? There were rumours in some TV magazines recently
that they had and would be showing them after the current run has finished.
Keep up the good work, and I look forward to seeing you and the rest of the
Guests at The Encounter.
Darran.
#: 511702 S5/Babylon 5: General
24-May-96 19:21:47
Sb: #511486-The Encounter (UK Con)
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
I don't believe the UK has acquired the widescreen versions, no,
otherwise they'd be playing them currently, as is the case in France and
Portugal. What happens after the current run, I don't know.
jms
[ Summary: Asks JMS which episodes should be shown to potential fans who
have never seen an episode and have only enough time to view about twelve
to twenty four episodes. ]
#: 511704 S5/Babylon 5: General
24-May-96 19:21:52
Sb: #511572-JMS: Eps for Newbies?
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
Pilot Movie (tell them it gets better)
Midnight on the Firing Line
Sky Full of Stars
A Race Through Dark Places
Believers
Babylon Squared
A Voice in the Wilderness 1 and 2
Signs and Portents
Chrysalis
Points of Departure
Revelations
All Alone in the Night
The Coming of Shadows
Hunter, Prey
The Long Twilight Struggle
Comes the Inquisitor
Divided Loyalties
Confessions and Lamentations
The Fall of Night
Matters of Honor
Convictions
Dust to Dust
Ship of Tears
Interludes and Examinations
War Without End 1 and 2
If that doesn't do it, nothing will.
jms
#: 511522 S6/Babylon 5: Upcoming
24-May-96 12:05:20
Sb: #511278-#<WWE II>
Fm: MARTE BRENGLE
The lighting on the scene between Delenn and Sheridan in the cell was
absolutely perfect. Especially the way their hands moved in and out of the
darkness. Phew. I've watched it three times now and get goosebumps every
time.
--M--
#: 511705 S6/Babylon 5: Upcoming
24-May-96 19:21:53
Sb: #511522-<WWE II>
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
Thanks, it's a nifty little scene.
jms
#: 511524 S6/Babylon 5: Upcoming
24-May-96 12:11:54
Sb: #510727-#>>WWE: I and II<<
Fm: DAVID KUHN
" As for Valen, he died about 900 years ago, our time. He lived to be well
over a hundred years old."
Does that take in concideration his accidental aging as a human. So total
human years + mimbari years not counting accidental aging = well over a hundred
years? Or did he live over a hundred years as a mimbari?
dlk
#: 511706 S6/Babylon 5: Upcoming
24-May-96 19:21:55
Sb: #511524->>WWE: I and II<<
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
He lived close to a hundred years as a Minbari; they're a long lived
race, and they did all they could to maintain his health as one of their truly
great figures.
jms
[ Summary: The poster has grown to really enjoy B5 but asks if JMS perhaps
had a different fate in mind for Talia. The poster thinks her fate was
a little awkward considering the build up of her abilities. ]
#: 511707 S6/Babylon 5: Upcoming
24-May-96 19:21:59
Sb: #511433-Some thots on <<WWE2>>
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
The Talia situation likely could've been finessed more smoothly than it
was, no mistake. Sometimes there are going to be ragged spots. It's going to
happen.
Here's the best comparison to what my position is with this show: Harlan
Ellison has, on occasion, done this routine where he'll go into a bookstore and
write a story in full view of everyone. As each page is finished, it's taped
to the wall unti it's done. This is considered a pretty nifty trick, sustained
over maybe 15-20 pages.
That's pretty much what I'm doing here. It's an ongoing story. I can't
go back, I can only go forward. As each page (episode) is finished, it's put
up on the wall, and I have to go on to the next one. So far I've written 2,400
pages on that wall. Again, I can't go back and change anything, and if there's
a bump caused by a real world incident, it simply has to be accommodated as
best I can while still going where I have to go.
From time to time, there's going to be a misstroke on the keyboard, or
there's going to be a typo that I'll miss. That's inevitable when you're out
performing in front of a massive crowd on the high wire without a net. As long
as the totality of it all hangs together, as long as the story is told, the
trick finally done...then that's what fundamentally matters.
That this happens on occasion should be obvious; that it happens as
rarely as it does is the point of wonderment, I think. Remember, it's all
trial and error, because no one's ever done this before. And right about now I
understand why. But we're making it work.
jms
[ Summary: Asks what became of Catherine Sakai, Sinclair's fiancee. ]
#: 511708 S6/Babylon 5: Upcoming
24-May-96 19:22:02
Sb: #511503-Sinclair's Scar & More
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
Sakai certainly wouldn't have wanted to get tied down to life on Minbar,
and Sinclair knew that his life would be difficult now with the rangers, so
they parted ways.
jms
[ Summary: The "red shirts" poster tries to clarify his question by asking
if characters like Keffer and Corwin aren't "useless" so much as
"unimportant." He wonders if Corwin isn't just going to die at some point
anyway. ]
#: 511709 S6/Babylon 5: Upcoming
24-May-96 19:22:05
Sb: #511447-#Keffer and Corwin
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
But see, not every story has to be about the Important People. We've got
that in our nominal "heroes." What tends to get omitted from SF are the grunts
and the blue collar guys, the pilots who have to fly the missions called on by
the Big Guys. To say "are they important" is, I think, really a question that
proceeds from a skewed perspective. Are *you* important to the overall arc of
this nation, the history of this country? Am I? Probably not; I'll never sign
a constitution or discover radium or walk on the moon, I just write stories for
phosphor dot screens; can there be anything more ephemeral? But the
repercussions of history are written on the faces and the lives of those who
*can't* change it, who have to live with the decisions made by those above.
Showing those people is as valid as anything else.
It ain't just the heroes that make the future, Edwin. It's the
carpenters and the plumbers and the dockworkers we showed in the first season.
Now, you may think they're unimportant. I don't.
jms
[ Summary: Asks when Richard Biggs and Pat Tallman will see the photos of
them in a Klingon jail that this poster sent to JMS and JMS posted on
the stage wall. ]
#: 511710 S6/Babylon 5: Upcoming
24-May-96 19:22:06
Sb: #511502-<WWE 2> - My Head Hurts
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
I think I'll just have them discover that they're there....
jms
[ Summary: Asks if Londo & G'Kar aren't the main thrust of Babylon 5.
The poster compares them to the bookends of the story. Also asks JMS
if he received the magazines the poster sent. ]
#: 511711 S6/Babylon 5: Upcoming
24-May-96 19:22:09
Sb: #511566-#<WWE2>
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
I'm not sure if they're the bookends; everyone's part of this to one
degree or another. And yes, magazines arrived safely, thanks again.
jms
#: 511712 S5/Babylon 5: General
24-May-96 19:22:11
Sb: B5 in Millimeter Mag.
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
For those who want a really good picture of how we do this show, and how we're
ahead of the technology curve, making a bit of history with how we do things
here, this month's MILLIMETER MAGAZINE has a cover story on B5's production
methods. (It's *the* trade magazine for tv and film production.) If your local
bookstore doesn't carry it, the library might.
jms
#: 511682 S6/Babylon 5: Upcoming
24-May-96 18:36:00
Sb: #511054-#WWE <<Major Spoiler>>
Fm: TONI MULLER
>> While I'd love to hear his explanation of the physics of such an event, I
will trust him since, hey, it's his story! :-) <<
Even if he could explain it, it would be physics to me! :-) But I like the
idea of only one body instead of several running around. That always bothered
me in "Back to the Future" and "ST:Time's Arrow."
Toni
#: 511862 S6/Babylon 5: Upcoming
24-May-96 22:04:28
Sb: #511682-#WWE <<Major Spoiler>>
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
Oddly enough, there was a squib on the news the other day that indicated
scientists were able, albeit briefly, to have the same subatomic particle exist
in two separate places at the same time, much to everyone's consternation.
(They don't think something like a person could do it, in that we are too
"quantum mechanically complex.")
jms
[ Summary: Asks if Sinclair's scar really came from Ranger training or if it
was meant to be the scar given to him by Kosh if Sinclair stayed in the
commander role that Sheridan fills. ]
#: 511863 S6/Babylon 5: Upcoming
24-May-96 22:04:31
Sb: #511631-#Sinclair's Scar & More
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
No, because you'll note that Sheridan isn't scarred by it. No, you have
to remember that one doesn't just transplant one storyline onto another. It
doesn't work that way. Sinclair has his arc, Sheridan has his own.
jms
#: 511604 S5/Babylon 5: General
24-May-96 15:50:00
Sb: #White Star Question
Fm: AUTOMEDIA, INC.
Hello, Joe.
I was just rewatching all my season 3 episodes and a couple of questions about
the White Star popped up:
1. When will Garibaldi ever get to see the inside of the ship? :-)
2. Will either the Minbari crew learn English or Sheridan/Ivanova learn Minbari
anytime soon? I recall Lennier saying that the crew hadn't *yet* learned
English, but the Minbari translation still continues. I suppose it really
hasn't been that long since the White Star was introduced, but I was kinda
curious. Any plans?
Thanks!
-- Brent (really bored and passing the time wearing out his tapes) Barrett
#: 511941 S5/Babylon 5: General
25-May-96 02:16:16
Sb: #511604-White Star Question
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
I'm sure Garibaldi will eventually end up on the White Star; and the
Minbari will also probably begin slowly acquiring English, and vice versa.
jms
[ Continued in next section -- BB ]
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