JMS on CompuServe (Feb 23, 1997) *POSSIBLE SPOILERS*

[bbarrett at speedlink.com]

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 [ Summary of subjects in this section: ]
    Sb: #650261-#>>A Couple of Questions<
    Sb: #650327-Not the One?
    Sb: #650426-TV Bloopers show
    Sb: #650435-Illusion of Truth
    Sb: #650545-Cindy LOVED Demon Night
    Sb: #650546-He Did What?!
    Sb: #650466-<IoT: co-conspirators>
    Sb: #650442-Personal Revelations
    Sb: #650537-<The Illusion of Truth>


 #: 650261 S6/Babylon 5: Spoilers
    21-Feb-97  23:12:32
Sb: #>>A Couple of Questions<
Fm: TONI MULLER

I have been ruminating over the last few episodes (never been so engrossed by a
show before) and came up with a few questions:

1.  How many folks on Earth even know about the Shadow/Vorlon threat, the
assembled fleet, its success and the repercussions?

2.  It is (I think) obvious that Earth's "inner circle" has an agenda far more
indisious than simply purging alien influences from Earth.  Is this so and, if
so, when will we begin getting a clearer idea of what that agenda might
include?


 #: 650416 S6/Babylon 5: Spoilers
    22-Feb-97  17:12:31
Sb: #650261-#>>A Couple of Questions<
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI

      For now, just the one...no, not everyone back home even knows there *was*
a war.  Which our characters will find rather annoying....

                                                                    jms


 [ Summary: Asks if "Entil'Zha" means "The One." ]

 #: 650418 S6/Babylon 5: Spoilers
    22-Feb-97  17:18:41
Sb: #650327-Not the One?
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI

      Yes, Entil-zha is the One, the specific head of the Rangers (known in the
Minbari language as Anla-shok, meaning the application of force, as will be
noted in one of the novels).

                                                                    jms


 [ Summary: Mentions catching the Babylon 5 bloopers on Dick Clark's show
   Saturday night. ]

 #: 650548 S5/Babylon 5: General
    23-Feb-97  01:41:29
Sb: #650426-TV Bloopers show
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI

      NUTS!  I missed it!  I knew it was coming, but didn't know it was
tonight.  NUTS!

                                                                    jms



 #: 650435 S5/Babylon 5: General
    22-Feb-97  18:20:45
Sb: #Illusion of Truth
Fm: LYNN GREINER

You've outdone yourself with Illusion of Truth - it was one of those eps where
I was totally enthralled (suspecting what ISN was up to) as the filming and
interviews went on, but I still cringed and tried to hide my eyes (and
couldn't) when their "broadcast" was shown. It was terrifying in its
demonstration of both the power of the media to shape "facts" to suit the
Powers That Be, and the devastation that that power can cause. As always,
you've gone for the throat.

Good for you!

Regards,
Lynn


 #: 650549 S5/Babylon 5: General
    23-Feb-97  01:41:30
Sb: #650435-Illusion of Truth
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI

      Thanks....we try.

                                                                    jms



 #: 650545 S5/Babylon 5: General
    23-Feb-97  00:51:22
Sb: #Cindy LOVED Demon Night
Fm: DAVID BELT

Joe,

Cindy (my wife) and I read Demon Night together.  (Thanks again for
autographing it and Othersyde for me!)  We have been slow finishing it, but we
did finish it last night.  Each night after we would read, she would be really
creeped out.  She even had a few nightmares.  IOW, it really frightened her,
but she LOVED it.  We start Othersyde on Monday night.

I just wanted to get back to you again and thank you for helping to make her
Christmas (and mine) special.

Any word yet on renewal or the follow on series?

Babylon 5 is the best series to ever be shown on television!  Illusions of
Truth was a really creepy episode.  Great job!  You are a master of your craft,
sir!

Dave


 #: 650550 S5/Babylon 5: General
    23-Feb-97  01:41:32
Sb: #650545-Cindy LOVED Demon Night
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI

      Thanks on all counts...and no word yet on the rest of it.

      They're pretty good books.

      But the next one will be better.

                                                                    jms



 #: 650546 S5/Babylon 5: General
    23-Feb-97  00:51:59
Sb: #He Did What?!
Fm: BRENT BARRETT

Joe,

    As a follow-up to my question about blooper tapes, I think I may be able to
see them bit by bit and in an unexpected (and, I assume, legitimate) way.

    I was flipping through the TV Guide this evening and saw an ad for a
blooper show on NBC.  At first, I thought, "Hey, this is a new show, I wonder
if they'll have any B5 bloopers?"  But then reality hit me hard, and I thought,
"Naw, B5 still isn't 'mainstream,' and most people probably wouldn't understand
most B5 bloopers due to the nature of the show."

    So, I figured I'd not even bother with the show.  Then, at about 5:30, a
Net friend from the midwest sent e-mail to the J&D Forum announcing that Dick
Clark had just promised some B5 bloopers in the show.

    Needless to say, I did tune in (and taped the show).  It had a season one
scene in which Jerry and Peter do a take-off on the old "Let's Call the Whole
Thing Off" song, a scene from WWE in which Bruce's time stabilizer drops to the
floor and rolls off camera, and the famous "General Hague is on DS9" scene from
"Severed Dreams."

    I'd heard about some of these and it sure was nice to be able to see them.
Thanks for letting the network show them.  I was very happy to see a primetime
network show recognize B5.  And Dick Clark's introduction, while not glowing,
was certainly not the kind of cringe- causing stuff you often get when a
"mainstream" show talks about a Science Fiction show.  I believe the intro was,
"You know, Babylon Five is a Science Fiction adventure that features a space
station that brings together humans and aliens from different worlds.  Now,
this not only makes for an imaginative series: it also makes for some very
unusual bloopers."

    There may be hope yet.

  -- Brent


 #: 650551 S5/Babylon 5: General
    23-Feb-97  01:41:34
Sb: #650546-He Did What?!
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI

      Sigh...and I missed it...oh, well....

                                                                    jms


 #: 650466 S6/Babylon 5: Spoilers
    22-Feb-97  19:32:40
Sb: #650257-#<IoT: co-conspirators>
Fm: PHYLLIS SCHMULENSON

You did a beautiful job handling the 50's witch hunts and the social moral
issues it raises  in the show


 #: 650552 S6/Babylon 5: Spoilers
    23-Feb-97  01:41:36
Sb: #650466-<IoT: co-conspirators>
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI

      Thanks, that's one of the things we try to do with this show.

                                                                    jms


 [ Summary: Just realized, after "Into the Fire," that there is more to
   Babylon 5 than the Shadow War. ]

 #: 650553 S6/Babylon 5: Spoilers
    23-Feb-97  01:41:39
Sb: #650442-Personal Revelations
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI

      Thanks...yeah, a number of folks have come around to that.  That's one
more reason why I wanted to get the war out of the way...because too many
people were focusing in on the show as being about the war.  It ain't.  It's
about the changes that happen before, during, and *after* a war.  And what's
coming up is in some ways stronger because it's more personal.

                                                                    jms



 #: 650537 S6/Babylon 5: Spoilers
    22-Feb-97  23:31:13
Sb: #<The Illusion of Truth>
Fm: CARL CANTARELLA

Joe,
        Your last two episodes have been incredible!
                Interestingly enough, I'm studying Hitchcock at the moment and
his emphasis on voyeurism. I saw  "Rear Window" for the first time just this
past Thursday(believe it or not), and when I watched this episode of your show
I couldn't help but laugh my pants off, while at the same time feeling the
uneasiness and paranoia that the piece was meant to inflict on the viewer. I
was literally cringing one moment, then laughing my butt off the next because
of all the inside jokes and hatchet job they ended up doing on Sheridan. Once
the interview turned to the doctor and had him spelling out the various
manifestations of  "Minbari War Syndrome," which naturally turned out to be
nothing but an intricate part of the whole sham, I was in absolute stitches! I
particularly liked the way in which you broke the episode into two halves: the
first half devoted to setting up the situation, and showing the actual
intrusiveness of the camera; and the second half to show the blatant media bias
by showing us the full report as it supposedly aired, and which couldn't have
been any more reprehensible. The entire hour was pure genius! I for one don't
see how the B5 station can survive.
                Truly Excellent Work!  ;-)


 #: 650554 S6/Babylon 5: Spoilers
    23-Feb-97  01:41:41
Sb: #650537-<The Illusion of Truth>
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI

      Thanks...it's a good and creepy episode.  I like it when things get
creepy.

                                                                    jms


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