JMS on CompuServe (Sep 18, 1997) *POSSIBLE SPOILERS*
bbarrett at speedlink.com
bbarrett at speedlink.com
Fri Sep 19 02:36:21 EDT 1997
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[ Summary of subjects in this section: ]
Sb: #701707-#DS9 = Babylon5 So what?
Sb: #701704-#Silly Question
Sb: jms in Tulsa
Sb: #701809-Severed Dreams DVD
Sb: #701829-DS9 = Babylon5 So what?
Sb: #701838-Severed Dreams DVD
#: 701707 S3/Star Trek: DS9
17-Sep-97 18:34:28
Sb: #701573-#DS9 = Babylon5 So what?
Fm: RON CHUSID
I'm sure it was frustrating to have to go up against the 800 pound gorilla of
television SF, when they also decided to do a space station show. While it may
have made it more difficult to get televised, in some ways you might have
benefited. I can recall reading an early article, before the two shows started,
on both DS9 and B5. The fact that there were two space station shows was a big
point of the article, and gave lots of publicity to B5. If the ST people
weren't involved, there may have been no article at all. Without reading
favorable material information on B5, there is an excellent chance I would have
watched DS9 but not B5, due to being disappointed by most non-trek SF
television prior to B5.
In terms of critical acceptance (measured both by reviews and Hugo awards) B5
has won out over DS9. Do you think Paramount's development of DS9, as opposed
to airing B5, hurt you financially--would you have better distribution,
ratings, and/or profits if not competing with DS9 for stations?
#: 701762 S3/Star Trek: DS9
17-Sep-97 22:55:51
Sb: #701707-#DS9 = Babylon5 So what?
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
Well, I have a piece of the net of B5, which means that there will never
BE any profits to me from the show itself, except the standard writers guild
residuals and a little merchandising. (In TV and often movies, the studios
make sure that, on paper at least, no show EVER shows a profit, so they never
need to pay out anything.)
The two shows being side by side didn't help us, I think, only hurt us.
Yes, there was some press about two such shows at the same time, but it's kind
of like having lots of articles about how you were partially eaten by a
shark...all things considered, you'd rather have avoided the situation in the
first place. It hurt us because they rushed their show out onto the air first,
so that a lot of people assumed *we* were copying *them* when in fact we'd been
around for five years preceding, trying to sell the show. It hurt us because
some stations felt they had to choose between us, and there were a number of
reporters who came to us with stories of stations being told by Paramount that
they had to choose between B5 and DS9, advertisers being told that our show was
going to be crappy with lousy EFX and that they shouldn't buy commercials on
our show, editors being told that if they covered B5 that DS9 interviews would
be withheld...the first two years were just nonstop trench warfare by
Paramount, which seemed determined to drive us into the sea so that they'd have
a monopoly on this area. Finally, by year three, they seemed to grudgingly
accept that we were here, and we weren't going anywhere.
One producer working on another SF project with Paramount called John
Copeland after a meeting with one of the top execs at the studio, to relay what
happened when -- after having some problems with the EFX on the project they
were working on -- he suggested maybe using the same EFX company that B5 used.
The exec reportedly went on a five minute rampage about B5, quite profane,
saying "It took us 25 years to build up this franchise, and those (expletives
deleted) are screwing it up! Nobody who works on that show will EVER work for
Paramount."
So yeah, it's been tough...at the corporate level, even though I know a
number of people who are associated with both ST shows on a creative level, and
we get along fine. All the problems have emanated from the corporate brass,
not the creative people. We were at ground zero for a long, long time...but
we're still here, in spite of it all.
jms
#: 701704 S5/Babylon 5: General
17-Sep-97 18:28:03
Sb: #Silly Question
Fm: RAY PELZER
Say Joe, do you know if there will be a September Windows wallpaper calendar or
not? It's after the middle of the month, and they still haven't posted
anything to the web site.
I thought perhaps they were holding back for a good Lochley pose or
some such, but even knowing the naming convention, I can't get a 0997CALA.JPG
file from the Special Elements area.
Ray
#: 701763 S5/Babylon 5: General
17-Sep-97 22:55:55
Sb: #701704-#Silly Question
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
Dunno...I think they've kind of let us fall between the cracks here with
the shift over to TNT, and some turnover in the WB online division.
jms
#: 701764 S5/Babylon 5: General
17-Sep-97 22:55:56
Sb: jms in Tulsa
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
For those in the vicinity of Tulsa, Oklahoma, I'll be at DefCon this
weekend, to be held in the vicinity of the Adams Mark Hotel. Will be bringing
clips from the final batch of episodes, plus clips from the two movies, a bit
of Tracy Scoggins stuff from S5, bloopers and other fun stuff. The main
presentation is 1:00 Saturday, with another on Sunday.
jms
#: 701809 S5/Babylon 5: General
18-Sep-97 03:44:30
Sb: #701693-#Severed Dreams DVD
Fm: ROSEANN M. CAPUTO
Joe,
My boyfriend has a DVD player and to say that he's excited about SD coming out
on DVD is an understatement. I've never seen such clarity in a paused frame.
He gets excited about all the other "nifty" features, such as chapter search,
the fact that you can get background info on the cast, trailers and teasers are
included on some. We watched "Forbidden Planet" recently on DVD. It looks
fantastic! He also loves the fact that you don't have to flip it.
Do you know will it just be SD on the DVD or will it be packaged with a second
episode? Do you know what background info, if any, will be included? Are you
involved at all in the decision making process on this?
Roseann
#: 701933 S5/Babylon 5: General
18-Sep-97 12:52:57
Sb: #701809-Severed Dreams DVD
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
I don't know...all our discussions to date have just concerned SD, so
we'll see.
jms
[ Summary: Apologizes for asking, "So what," in reference to DS9 being a
Babylon 5 inspired project. ]
#: 701934 S3/Star Trek: DS9
18-Sep-97 12:52:58
Sb: #701829-DS9 = Babylon5 So what?
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
You should not apologize when you have done nothing to apologize *for*.
We're talking here, and we learn by doing.
jms
[ Summary: "What brand DVD player did you buy?" ]
#: 701935 S5/Babylon 5: General
18-Sep-97 12:52:59
Sb: #701838-Severed Dreams DVD
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
Trying to remember, I'm at the office...I think I got the Toshiba. There
isn't really that much difference between the various models.
jms
[END]
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