JMS on CompuServe (Feb 03, 1997) *POSSIBLE SPOILERS* (1/2)
bbarrett at speedlink.com
bbarrett at speedlink.com
Mon Feb 3 14:54:05 EST 1997
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[ Summary of subjects in this section: ]
Sb: #Scotty Fired
Sb: #643687-New Supporter
Sb: #643689-Not Photogenic?
Sb: #643507-Episodes per season
Sb: #643592-Personal Tibits
Sb: #643631-<TLN>
Sb: #643809-Deep Bass
Sb: #643879-Season 5 Cancelled?
Sb: #643921-#A Matter of Case
Sb: #644002-Quick Requests from JMS
Sb: #644059-#<<The Long Night>>
Sb: #644028-#<<The Long Night>>
Sb: #644071-#If people didn't leave..
#: 643800 S2/Star Trek: General
01-Feb-97 00:06:12
Sb: #Scotty Fired
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
Don't know if anyone's mentioned it yet, but since it's been in the
trades I thought people might want to know...apparently Paramount was unhappy
with Jimmy Doohan doing a part on Homeboys from Outer Space (I think that's the
title) that had a scottish accent and a mustache and was kind of a parody of
Scotty...and they pressured the production company to terminate his contract.
And now he's off the show.
It's hard enough for actors to find work on the best of days. But this
sort of thing is just appalling. If there are fans of Jimmy Doohan's work who
are less than thrilled with this heavy-handed treatment (which has many folks
in the Industry out here annoyed as well; Bill Mumy was nearly speechless when
he heard it) and who want to note this with the studio, you're certainly free
to do so.
jms
[ Summary: A viewer has managed to convert a friend to the show. ]
#: 643802 S5/Babylon 5: General
01-Feb-97 00:23:27
Sb: #643687-New Supporter
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
Thanks for passing that along...it's great to hear.
jms
#: 643689 S5/Babylon 5: General
31-Jan-97 16:09:38
Sb: #Not Photogenic?
Fm: JEAN S MCKNIGHT
Joe-
Saw where you said you weren't very photogenic. Odd, I thought you looked
quite attractive in the Hugo photos I saw. Does that mean you look like Peirce
Brosnan in person?
Yours,
Jean McKnight
P.S.- I like the beard!
#: 643803 S5/Babylon 5: General
01-Feb-97 00:23:29
Sb: #643689-Not Photogenic?
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
On very rare occasions you may get a shot where I look relatively human,
but they're few and far between. The camera loves Harlan, on the other hand,
who always looks great in shots. Me, every time my photo comes out somewhere,
America's Most Wanted gets calls....
jms
#: 643507 S6/Babylon 5: Spoilers
31-Jan-97 01:10:26
Sb: #Episodes per season
Fm: MARTIN TOGGWEILER
JMS,
Is it true that each B5 season was planned for 26 eps instead of 22 in case one
of the
major networks picked it up? A friend told me that he heard this was the case
and that
there are a number of entire eps that were written and filmed, but have never
aired with no plan to air them anytime soon. Are there "lost" B5 eps that may
surface some time in the misty future like some long lost Beatles tracks?
I recently heard Dennis Franz talk about "NYPD Blue" being renewed for two
seasons which he said was 44 eps. Just how many eps/season does a TV series
generally have these days.
Vir was right, he was the perfect character to off Cartagia; I look forward see
if/how it changes him down the line.
Thanks,
Martin
#: 643804 S6/Babylon 5: Spoilers
01-Feb-97 00:23:31
Sb: #643507-Episodes per season
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
"Is it true that each B5 season was planned for 26 eps instead of 22 in case
one of the major networks picked it up? A friend told me that he heard this
was the case and that there are a number of entire eps that were written and
filmed, but have never aired with no plan to air them anytime soon. Are there
"lost" B5 eps that may surface some time in the misty future like some long
lost Beatles tracks?"
Nope, nope, and nope.
jms
[ Summary: Loved Ivanova's story about her mother and is looking forward
to more "personal" stuff. ]
#: 643805 S6/Babylon 5: Spoilers
01-Feb-97 00:23:34
Sb: #643592-Personal Tibits
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
Thanks...those parts are what makes the show come alive.
jms
#: 643631 S6/Babylon 5: Spoilers
31-Jan-97 13:11:44
Sb: #<TLN>
Fm: JONATHAN KASS
Sir,
Just a brief thanx for this weeks episode... especially the post assasination
scene between Londo and Vir... and the surprise (to me anyway) that Sheridan's
/ Lorien's great plan is to have the Vorlon Fleet meet the Shadow Fleet with
the alliance somewhere in the middle...
The Londo / Vir scene was wonderful... sad, poetic, and an interesting bridge
from where they were (superior / assistant, experienced / novice, naive /
cynical) to where they must end up - equals on some level, Vir supporting Londo
through his term on the throne 17 years down the road - the bridge being
co-conspiracy and shared guilt - and the acting / lighting / directing of that
scene was terrific - kept feeling like it was "long" for that type of scene,
but loved every moment of it for the insight into the characters!
Some questions if you have a moment:
1) It seemed to be a big deal that Lorien was "shadowing" Sheridan almost
everywhere since they returned - big enough that Garibaldi was quite suspicious
of the relationship... then this week, there's just no sign of Lorien, and
noone (including Garibaldi) makes mention - I realize there was no more time in
the script for Lorien to do much, but his physical absense seemed odd and out
of place in the storyline... hoping this will make more sense when we see where
he ends up and perhaps what his goals / life is really all about...
2) Contrary to 1), from a purely emotional level, it was very satisfying to
have both Morden and Lorien out of the active picture - this was an episode
about the principals taking action, not about others moving them around like
chess pieces, and there was a nice symmetry in having both silent (though I
still want to know where Lorien was, and why he no longer needed to be with
Sheridan all the time)...
3) Ericcson - played out as well as it could be, and nothing against the plot,
but he had a Star Trek security guard's red-shirt on from the moment we met him
- after the promos, I really believed we were going to lose a character we had
at least seen before - don't remember seeing him, but I may have missed it...
thats my one real nit... (maybe we would have met him in a slower-paced version
of season 4?)...
4) Promos - did you see the airing? In LA at least, there were 2 - and the
first one looked like something pasted together and pretty generic (which made
us think the promo for next week wasn't ready, or you were hiding some good
stuff)... but then the promo for next week came on at the end... just curious
what that was all about...
5) G'Kar - wonderful, marvelous, especially the bit about changing the chains!
And his laugh as he left... (and now I feel a bit more understanding for why
Andreas was "complaining" so much at the convention in Pasadena last fall -
this must have been in the can (assuming we haven't seen the episode directed
by Stephen Furst, which you were shooting around then), meaning he'd been
carrying around that neck brace for a couple of episodes by the time we saw him
on stage :)... too bad he didn't seem to have any of his more noble support
Narns floating around when the Centauri left - that looks like almost too much
of a burden, even for him - I would have expected some of his followers to
understand the meaning of their freedom, perhaps even to question how it was
obtained...
Part of me wishes it wasn't moving so fast, would like to be savoring some of
these relationships a bit more... but such are the vaguaries of TV executives,
right?
Again, congrats, looking forward to CGI episode from hell next week!
jonathan
#: 643806 S6/Babylon 5: Spoilers
01-Feb-97 00:23:36
Sb: #643631-<TLN>
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
Certainly I would never have made a big deal about the Ericsson thing,
because then it *does* set up certain expectations. I didn't hear about the
promo until you did.
There actually *was* a Lorien scene in that episode, but it got slid a
bit when we ran out of time in that ep.
jms
#: 643809 S5/Babylon 5: General
01-Feb-97 02:40:51
Sb: #Deep Bass
Fm: BRUCE PROBST
JMS,
Noticed a curious thing while watching my copies of the first 4 S4 episodes
last night ....
I know B5 is filmed with Surround sound, and that's fine ... but what really
got my attention was that in many places ("ominous" points in the story line,
if you know what I mean) my sub-woofer gets a real workout. The bass is
thrumming like mad and the floor is vibrating ... these are in scenes where
characters are conversing, not space battle stuff. The background *music*
itself (when it's there at all) is unobtrusive, but the "deep rumbling" really
stands out, without obscuring the dialog in any way. I haven't noticed this in
earlier episodes.
Assuming that this is deliberate, and not a symptom of serious stress in my
home theatre setup, I really like this! It really underscores the "serious"
nature of these scenes without overwhelming us with blaring/trite musical
cliches.
#: 643978 S5/Babylon 5: General
01-Feb-97 15:49:50
Sb: #643809-Deep Bass
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
Thanks; we put in a LOT of time in the music and sound design of the
show, more than most shows. I'm glad it shows.
Ironically, though, the company doing the satellite uplink was changed
recently (we have no control over this) and they're now uplinking the show in
*analog* rather than digital, so there's some frazzing now that limits the
dynamic range just a tad.
jms
#: 643879 S5/Babylon 5: General
01-Feb-97 09:33:24
Sb: #643250-#Season 5 Cancelled?
Fm: SANJIV S. PURBA
Joe,
I personally know many, many people who love B5. Why in the world is there any
talk of Warner Bros. cancelling B5 in the fifth season. This makes absolutely
no sense. B5 is one of the most brilliant and exciting shows on in the history
of televison. I do not say this easily, as I can be critical. Many of my
friends, who I convinced to watch the show, were positively hooked after one
episode. Let us fans know how we can help.
Sanjiv
#: 643979 S5/Babylon 5: General
01-Feb-97 15:49:52
Sb: #643879-Season 5 Cancelled?
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
It's really little to do with popularity or ratings...it's the reality of
PTEN no longer existing, and contracts being tied up in a corporate tangle, and
them trying to decide if they want the headache of doing all this again. We
still don't know anything for certain, though, so all we can do is wait.
jms
#: 643921 S5/Babylon 5: General
01-Feb-97 12:55:30
Sb: #A Matter of Case
Fm: BRENT BARRETT
Howdy, Joe;
I know how much of a stickler you are for getting the credits right (what
with the old "Patrica Tallman" incident :-), so I wanted to point out a flaw in
the 405 credits, in case no one has pointed it out to you yet. At the end, you
have:
Stunt Coordinator
KERRY ROSSALl
The final "L" is lower case, with the rest of the name being upper case.
-- Brent
#: 643980 S5/Babylon 5: General
01-Feb-97 15:49:54
Sb: #643921-#A Matter of Case
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
...sigh....
jms
[ Summary: Asks if "Whatever Happened to Mr. Garibaldi?" and "Comes the
Inquisitor" were meant as "bookends." ]
#: 644077 S5/Babylon 5: General
01-Feb-97 22:08:59
Sb: #644002-Quick Requests from JMS
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
Certainly there are some thematic carryovers, yes....
jms
[ Summary: Thinks that Vir killing Cartagia was "accidental" and had less
impact than if he'd done it willingly. ]
#: 644078 S6/Babylon 5: Spoilers
01-Feb-97 22:09:01
Sb: #644059-#<<The Long Night>>
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
Nothing about it was at all accidental...he had to go pick it up, turn,
move to Cartagia, stick it in, and then pull the trigger. Nothing accidental
about it. But if we'd shown him doing all the prep, the shock wouldn't have
been as substantial.
jms
[ Summary: Really enjoyed the scenes with Ericsson in "The Long Night." ]
#: 644079 S6/Babylon 5: Spoilers
01-Feb-97 22:09:03
Sb: #644028-#<<The Long Night>>
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
Thanks...I think a lot of it there has to do also with the performance of
the actor playing Ericsson. He brought a real sense of presence to the job.
jms
[ Summary: More speculation about "what if Sinclair had stayed." ]
#: 644115 S6/Babylon 5: Spoilers
02-Feb-97 03:00:38
Sb: #644071-#If people didn't leave..
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
Sinclair was never intended to go to Z'ha'dum.
And it wouldn't have worked for Sakai to be the one who awoke the shadows
and "died" at Z'ha'dum because *they were already awake* in the first season.
People who try to lay the one line atop the other tend to forget this. We also
get Garibaldi's mention of crawling out of the Martian desert in the very first
episode...which tied into the whole Messages From Earth thread, putting the
shadows at work for at least 2-3 years.
jms
[ Continued in next section -- BB ]
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