quickie from jms

[B5JMS Poster]

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From: jmsatb5 at aol.com (Jms at B5)
Date: 14 Dec 1998 10:21:32 -0700
Lines: 58

Sorry I've been a bit quiet lately...I've answered a number of notes publicly
here ad there, on rastm and elsewhere, but we've been putting the final touches
to the first finished Crusade ep, "Racing the Night," shot 103...all the EFX,
music, sound, all that stuff is in and it's done, so we know what we're dealing
with, and it looks terrific.  WB called to say it's the best we've ever done,
and possibly the best thing they've seen.  But it's taken a lot of long nights
to do the final mix, and get caught up on scripts before the Christmas break,
so I've been a bit absent.  

I was also kind of overwhelmed by the responses to SiL..and to all those who
said such kind things, thank you.  It's something I'm very proud of, and I'm
pleased by the response.

On the issue of unanswered questions, raised by some...the first question a
writer has to answer is, "Who, ultimately, is my story about?"  In any novel or
short story or movie or TV series, who are the essential protagonists?  B5 was
always about the station, first and foremost, and the other main characters in
this future history were Sheridan, Sinclair, Garibaldi, Delenn, Londo, G'Kar,
Franklin and to an extent, Ivanova.  Everyone else comes under the heading of
minor or secondary characters...on the long-arc series level, the same as a
guest star in a single episode of a regular series.

It would be impossible...let me say this again, impossible...to track the whole
history of all of the other characters in this show; it would take another
whole series just to do the Lyta/G'Kar adventures.  We showed the resolution of
all the main characters in the story.  That was my primary obligation.  We can
take some secondary measures to fill in information on some of the secondary
characters, but in a TV show there's only so much you can do.  Hell, I've had
people send me email demanding to know what happened to the people rescued from
Babylon 4....c'mon, some common sense, please.

And on another level, I think it's better to let people make up their own ideas
about what happened with folks like G'Kar and Lyta...

That said...that topic is closed, as far as I'm concerned.  I told the stories
of the main characters of the show, which is what was promised.

Mainly, this is intended as thanks to everyone for the kind words.  It seems
fitting that having spent the last 5+ years sending out words, to now receive
words in return.  The circle is closed by that, and it's been terrific.

Thank you to everyone here...warts, weirdnesses and all, it's been fun.  As I
said, I'll be pulling back a bit now, because I kind of need to get a life
again, and I need to concentrate on Crusade...but this experiece will always
count as one of the most astonishing and gratifying of my career.

Thank you again.


 jms

(jmsatb5 at aol.com)
B5 Official Fan Club at:
http://www.thestation.com




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