ATTN JMS-Appreciation of Support Cast

[B5JMS Poster]

Subject: ATTN JMS-Appreciation of Support Cast
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 No. | DATE        |  FROM
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s  1: Sep  8, 1996: ryoung at interlog.com (Richard Young)
+  2: Sep  9, 1996: ryoung at interlog.com (Richard Young)
*  3: Sep 12, 1996: jmsatb5 at aol.com (Jms at B5)

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From: ryoung at interlog.com (Richard Young)
Lines: 40

    My first new-message post to rastb5m. Hmmm, still feels like e-mail,
but...it *is* different though. Like I'm just about to enter the alien
sector, during a convention of live eaters...>thump<

   To get things rolling...just a request to Mr. JMS to pass along my
appreciation for the fine work by the actors we see in C&C  and other
spaces every episode: Joshua Cox, Marianne Robertson, Kat (sp?) the
bartender and others whose familiar faces if not their script lines help
build B5 as a living, breathing entity. Their appearances (almost) every
week and apparent enthusiasm for their roles maintain a theatrical
continuity that helps reinforce the drama being carried by the *star*
names. I'll never forget in Severed Dreams, Ivanova turning to Lt. Corwin
in C&C and asking (roughly quoted):

    "Are you all right?"
    "(Pause) Yeah, I think so. (Pause) I'm kinda surprised."
    Nod by Ivanova. 

    Remember: We have station officers going whacky; declaring
independence; sheltering renegade Earthers; what's a ground pounder to do?
This scene acknowledges that the lesser ranks have a part in the drama,
just as in real life. They pay for the decisions of their officers and the
scene recognizes this. It was a nice exchange, small but no less important
if a writer is going to be true to the human condition as we know it.

   So often support players are totally ignored by script writers; they're
used like cardboard props (won't mention any names here), yet there's
little things to be gained by including them in the drama as it unfolds.

   Anyway, the whole is greater with the sum of their parts.

   --22 days and counting to ep 318

-- 
Regards, Richard Young
Toronto, Canada





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From: ryoung at interlog.com (Richard Young)
Lines: 38

   My first new-message post to rastb5m. Hmmm, still feels like e-mail,
but...it *is* different though. Like I'm just about to enter the alien
sector, during a convention of live eaters...>thump<

   To get things rolling...just a request to Mr. JMS to pass along my
appreciation for the fine work by the actors we see in C&C  and other
spaces every episode: Joshua Cox, Marianne Robertson, Kat (sp?) the
bartender and others whose faces if not their script lines help build B5
as a living, breathing entity. Their appearances (almost) every week and
apparent enthusiasm for their roles maintain a theatrical continuity that
helps reinforce the drama being carried by the *star* names. I'll never
forget in Severed Dreams, Ivanova turning to Lt.  Corwin and asking
(roughly quoted):

    "Are you all right?"
    "(Pause) Yeah, I think so. (Pause) I'm kinda surprised."
    Nod by Ivanova. 

    Remember: We have officers going whacky; declaring independence;
sheltering renegade Earthers; what's a rank-and-filer to do? This scene
acknowledges that the lesser ranks have a part in the drama, just as in
real life. They pay for the decisions of their officers and the scene
recognizes this. It was a nice exchange, small but no less important if a
writer is going to be true to the human condition as we know it.

   So often the support players are ignored by script writers; they're
used like cardboard props (won't mentioin any names here), yet there's
little things to be gained by including them in the drama as it unfolds.

   Anyway, the whole is greater with the sum of their parts.

-- 
Regards, Richard Young
Toronto, Canada





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From: jmsatb5 at aol.com (Jms at B5)
Lines: 10

Supporting cast are *very* important, they add to the sense and feel of a
working universe that exists outside the main characters.  Again, it's
that sense of reality.



 jms



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