JMS on CompuServe (Sep 26, 1996) *POSSIBLE SPOILERS*

[Brent Barrett]

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 [ Summary of subjects in this section: ]
    Sb: #582706-Starburst article
    Sb: #582959-I Found Demon Knight!


 #: 582706 S7/Babylon 5 in the UK
    25-Sep-96  13:13:57
Sb: #Starburst article
Fm: COLIN HEAPS

Hello Joe,
Hope you got the magazine and snippets I sent!
Typically, another has turned up, this from Startburst this month, there is a
chap called Paul Mount who reviews UK TV, his page is very encouraging, if you
like I can copy the page and send it to you.

He talks about being put off by the plastic heads and wierd hairdo's, but
decided to buy the pilot video sa it was cheap, now he has the whole first
series and is very enthusiastic about the whole series and ends with the "best
kept secret" line that seems to appear everywhere. If you want the article,
just let me know.

Whilst I'm on the subject, a letter in Starburst recently said that it doesn't
have a large audience and so is not popular, others cited the let down as
cliches of speech such as "get the hell off my space-station".  My own theory
is this, that for me is what makes it work, the program is foremost about
people, unlike ST, (no I'm not going to do a B5 vs ST), you are not afraid to
show that in a couple of hundred years, we still haven't risen above our
present level as some may hope.  Hell we haven't managed it in a couple of
thousand years already!
So what happens?? people loose their temper, say things that, given the time,
they wish they hadn't, "Jeez, I could'a put that better" is always in the mind
10 minutes after saying the dumb stuff, it's part of what makes us who we are.

As for the audience figures, speaking for myself, I hope that B5 never becomes
TOO popular, a best-kept secret tends to bind your supporters together, we feel
like we are part of a priveliged family, (we are you know!). Interestingly, I
watched an old program about the X-Files not long ago and Chris Carter was
talking about how he hoped it would keep its cult status as it was better that
way. Unfortunately it has almost become a victim of its own success these days,
partly I think ,due the the amount of merchandise available, another area where
you've played it very cannily.

I think the show deserves a better treatment on TV and better press than it
sometimes gets, but I also hope it will continue to remain, a gripping,
thoughtful, story, demanding that the watcher pay attention, for which they are
rewarded with the best-kept secret on TV.


Regards,

ColKai


 #: 582872 S7/Babylon 5 in the UK
    25-Sep-96  22:05:05
Sb: #582706-Starburst article
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI

      Thanks; I think I have that issue.

      Larry DiTillio made the point, while on the show, that some SF fans
reared on ST expect everyone to talk like English earls, very proper.  We go
for vernacular every time.  I like the rough edges, the hesitations, the
stumbles.  In editing 402 the other day, there's several takes to choose from
in a particular scene, but I picked the one where the actor slightly stumbled
over the line, because it was at the heat of the moment, and in that kind of
situation, we all get flustered.  It made it feel more real.

      Slang and idiom have been with us forever, and always will be.  Now, on
the other hand, I don't go full-tilt bozo with it, by peppering the dialogue
with lots of techtalk and futureslang because I think it becomes intrusive. So
we try to find a balance.  Some people don't like it, and like their SF to all
sound the same.  That's fine.  Tastes vary.

      Also, I use some dialogue styles that lean toward the theatrical, what
you'd see on the stage, or hear in a radio drama.  Other times I'm right in the
gutter.  You use different tools for different jobs.  My influences are from
Rod Serling and Charles Beaumont and Norman Corwin and Ray Bradbury, so you're
going to hear those colors from time to time, and because you don't hear a lot
of that particular style in TV these days, some people think it's bad...no,
it's just a different approach to dialogue.

      Look at Harold Pinter, then look at Christopher Fry, then look at Joe
Orton.  Between just those three you've got three very stylized, consistent
approaches to dialogue, not like the other two at all, and between them more
diversity than in a hundred TV shows.  In theater, which is where I cut my
teeth, it's *okay* to have dialogue that's somewhat stylized, or a bit more
formal, a bit more literate, or whatever.  In TeeVee it's all gotta be the
same.  To which I say...why?

      (I've also made the mental assumption of a return to a new formality in
2260, since styles go in and out of fashion.  People use the word Mr. and Ms.
more often, there's a more formal stance with people you often get when a
culture comes out of a major war, as we did after WW2.)

      But dialogue tastes are utterly individual; what works for one may not
and likely will not work for someone else.  And that's okay.  That's as it
should be.  As long as the totality works.

                                                                    jms



 #: 582959 S5/Babylon 5: General
    25-Sep-96  23:01:25
Sb: #I Found Demon Knight!
Fm: DAVID BELT

  [Reply to #575976, which is not on the board]

Joe,

Demon Night and Othersyde have finally arrived!  I also found a paperback copy
of Demon Night, and I am halfway through it now.  It is a great read and is
genuinely chilling.  Thanks for saying that you would sign the two first
editions.  (I am not sending the paperback.  It is not leaving my sight until I
finish it.)  I am still looking for the TZ anthology.

So where do I send the books?  I will be including a stamped, self-addressed
mailer.

I really appreciate this.  My wife will be thrilled!

I read on the dust jacket that you are married.  Do you have any children?  (If
that is too personal a question, just let me know.)  We have six, ages 2-12.
All but the two youngest (2 and 4) are big B5 fans.

Thanks,

Dave


 #: 582966 S5/Babylon 5: General
    26-Sep-96  00:12:15
Sb: #582959-I Found Demon Knight!
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI

      Mail can come to me at:

      14431 Ventura Boulevard, Suite 260, Sherman Oaks, CA 91423.

      No kids; they'd be redundent.

                                                                    jms




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