JMS on CompuServe (Jan 05, 1998) *POSSIBLE SPOILERS*
bbarrett at speedlink.com
bbarrett at speedlink.com
Tue Jan 6 02:34:52 EST 1998
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WARNING !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The following posts may contain SPOILERS for
upcoming Babylon 5 episodes.
Continue at your own risk.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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THE FOLLOWING MATERIAL IS THE COPYRIGHT OF THE
RESPECTIVE MESSAGE AUTHORS AND CANNOT BE
REPRODUCED IN ANY FORM WITHOUT THE EXPRESSED
PERMISSION OF THE AUTHOR.
Note that JMS has expressed his public permission
that all of his messages may be reproduced freely.
I give permission for my summaries to be reposted in
any form, however I reserve all rights to them and
the right to revoke this permission at any time.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Archives of this material may be found at:
http://www.johndelenn.com/
**********************************************
[ Summary of subjects in this section: ]
Sb: #12941-Magazine Error
Sb: #13069-#Congrats on ITB
Sb: #13073-ITB & TG:SE
Sb: #13094-#B5 in Canada
Sb: ITB makeup
Sb: #13081-<ITB> and <TG>
Sb: #13055-#<<ItB - Zowie!>>
Sb: #13074-<ItB Questions>
Sb: #13062-from jms on stuff
Sb: #13062-from jms on stuff
Sb: #13154-#Claudia
Sb: #13133-#Congrats on ITB
Sb: #13158-Congrats on ITB
Sb: #13069-#Congrats on ITB
Sb: #13111-PPG science follows art!
Sb: #13159-#ITB and TG:SE
Sb: #13219-One Gathering
Sb: #13116-#<<In the Beginning>>
[ Summary: Comments that Scrye magazine mistakenly lists Babylon 5 as a
trademark of Paramount. ]
#: 13059 S2/Bab 5: General
04-Jan-98 20:33:12
Sb: #12941-Magazine Error
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
Feh....
jms
[ Summary: (See below.) ]
#: 13088 S2/Bab 5: General
04-Jan-98 22:51:03
Sb: #13069-#Congrats on ITB
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
"Congratulations on a superb movie."
Thanks, it's a good one.
"Far better than many of the "blockbuster" films that appeared in the
theaters this past year. Hmm, I wonder what you could do with $200 million
for one movie?"
I don't know offhand, but for that kind of money you should expect at
least a 50% cardiac arrest scenario....
jms
#: 13073 S2/Bab 5: General
04-Jan-98 21:54:04
Sb: #ITB & TG:SE
Fm: RAY PELZER
Well, I've just finished watching both In The Beginning and The Gathering
(Special Edition).
I feel my ass has been thoroughly kicked. :) What a wonderful way to start
off 1998. A little bit of trouble staying on schedule, but thankfully I was
there to switch tapes - I only lost a bit of the opening credits on Gathering,
I think.
In The Beginning was a fine tale, and the 2278 setting for the telling of
the story was just dandy, thanks. I kinda suspected the timeframe of the
telling of the tale, but I didn't expect to get what I wanted, and then the
very end came, and you provided it nonetheless. The only question I have is,
Londo said "...look what _we_ did to _ourselves_...." when he looked out the
window. So, does this mean the shadow-helpers didn't actually do the
destruction? Perhaps the Centauri did it trying to drive them out? Anyway,
an excellent interweaving of known and unknown plot
The Gathering - well, you were right, it DID play considerably tighter
than I recall the original pilot (can't find it right now to compare
directly). I liked the original Laurel Takashima dialogue - you really do get
to hear both the toughness in some scenes, and the caring person in others.
It's a shame the suits made us wait so long to hear it.
The one thing that caught me as slightly amusing was the various
closed-caption bloopers scattered throughout both shows. One time, Valen was
referred to as Baylonn, along with several other one-time slip-ups (they only
made the errors once, then later references to the same usually were correct).
I think the best one was an item in The Gathering which I never realized
before: In Lyta's scan of Kosh, when Kosh first saw what he thought was
Sinclair, the closed caption simply said, "[Kosh, Indistinct]". I was
listening and clearly heard him greet Sinclair with "Entil'zha Valen", and was
amazed at how such an item popped up NOW, given what we know.
Bravo!
Ray
#: 13090 S2/Bab 5: General
04-Jan-98 23:03:10
Sb: #13073-ITB & TG:SE
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
That Kosh, always a mumbler.
"Londo said "...look what _we_ did to _ourselves_...." when he looked out the
window. So, does this mean the shadow-helpers didn't actually do the
destruction? Perhaps the Centauri did it trying to drive them out?"
You'll get the answer to that one soon enough.
jms
[ Summary: Asks how people in Canada can see season five. ]
#: 13106 S2/Bab 5: General
05-Jan-98 00:22:11
Sb: #13094-#B5 in Canada
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
CFMT and one other Canadian network will be carrying the show shortly.
jms
[ Summary: Asks why they didn't use the original (pilot) Delenn
make-up in "In the Beginning," to keep it in line with the pilot. ]
#: 13087 S2/Bab 5: General
04-Jan-98 22:51:02
Sb: ITB makeup
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
It made more sense to put it in line with the series, since there's 22
of the first season, and only 1 of the pilot.
jms
#: 13081 S4/Seas. 1-4 SPOILERS
04-Jan-98 22:22:07
Sb: #<ITB> and <TG>
Fm: RAE AUGENSTEIN
Joe, I just wanted to give you a quick congrats on both "In the Beginning" and
"The Gathering." I need to watch ITB again to get all the details as we were
hosting a large gathering at our home for the premiere, but I loved everything
I saw (espeically Lane Davies as a Minbari! All fans of "Lois & Clark" should
have recognized his voice before even seeing his face).
The re-edit of "The Gathering" was just *superb.* I thought the new music was
very well done, and putting in Takashima's original dialogue track was just
right. Her lines just didn't ring true before, and now she sounds very
natural.
I know you probably couldn't have made a movie about the Earth-Minbari War
without giving away the ending, but I was kind of hoping the details would be
left more vague than they were for the benefit of new viewers. The mystery of
what happened to Sinclair at the Battle of the Line was the biggest mystery of
Season 1. But I know you can't write every new thing as if no one has ever
seen the show before.
My only gripe of the evening is that there was no commercial break between the
two movies. I had to change tapes, and then had slight technical difficulties
with one VCR... I know you had nothing to do with the commercial breaks, but
it was frustrating.
Everyone at our party (nine people) loved the shows. Three of those in
attendance were new viewers, and I think we convinced them pretty easily that
they need to watch the show starting tomorrow. :-) Congrats to you and the
crew!
Rae ^^^^
#: 13091 S4/Seas. 1-4 SPOILERS
04-Jan-98 23:03:11
Sb: #13081-<ITB> and <TG>
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
Thanks....
"I know you probably couldn't have made a movie about the Earth-Minbari War
without giving away the ending, but I was kind of hoping the details would be
left more vague than they were for the benefit of new viewers."
I came to that part of my decision-making process, and realized that in
2, 5 or 10 years, the secret ain't gonna be secret anymore...so why not play
into that, and make the audience aware up front, which adds a different kind
of tension, like seeing the bomb under the table when the characters eating
dinner don't know it's there.
jms
[ Summary: Loved "In the Beginning." ]
#: 13060 S5/Seas. 5 SPOILERS
04-Jan-98 20:33:13
Sb: #13055-#<<ItB - Zowie!>>
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
Thanks...it's a terrific little story.
jms
[ Summary: Asks if JMS knew in season two that Sheridan had met
Franklin before he came to the station. ]
#: 13092 S5/Seas. 5 SPOILERS
04-Jan-98 23:03:11
Sb: #13074-<ItB Questions>
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
Yeah, in my notes on Sheridan I had him meeting Franklin before, but
never did much with it at the time...we never see the first time Sheridan and
Franklin meet in the second season, and when we do they're hanging out pretty
casually, as people who've met each other before might. Bear in mind, also,
that there's about 11 years between the two incidents, and at best they were
casual acquaintances on one mission.
jms
[ Summary: Asks if Kosh's greeting to Sinclair was in the original
version of the pilot. ]
#: 13089 S8/Bab 5 Merchandise
04-Jan-98 22:51:03
Sb: #13062-from jms on stuff
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
No, that was the logic, but we never showed it before...I didn't know if
it'd be confusing at that point, since we were a new show. So I decided to
drop it in here.
jms
[ Summary: More on the same... ]
#: 13093 S8/Bab 5 Merchandise
04-Jan-98 23:03:11
Sb: #13062-from jms on stuff
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
Kosh's voice always becomes clearer with the passage of time....
jms
[ Summary: "Who's taking Claudia's place?" ]
#: 13225 S2/Bab 5: General
05-Jan-98 13:28:05
Sb: #13154-#Claudia
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
Tracy Scoggins, but it's a very different role.
jms
#: 13133 S2/Bab 5: General
05-Jan-98 07:41:00
Sb: #13088-#Congrats on ITB
Fm: DEONAHA M. CONLIN
Joe,
Wow. This was more than I expected - and I read the novelization
first (Silly me, picked it up to put it away, read the back cover -HOOKED)
As usual - went all weepy in spots, and totally floored in others.
Ya done good,Joe! Thanks......
Oh, yeah, and thanks for editing out what I've long referred to as the
'Zoo Scene". Somehow, that always bothered me. Aliens need privacy too......
(now preparing for Season One, of which I think I have seen 3
eps.......)
Di Conlin, TUS , Wielder of the Lesser Salmon of Discipline
Supreme Dominatrix, RMES, your fearless leader
"Great Maker, huh? (Wolf 359, Blackpool, July 1997)
"YOU! OUT of the gene pool!"
#: 13230 S2/Bab 5: General
05-Jan-98 13:28:07
Sb: #13133-#Congrats on ITB
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
Thanks...always hated the Zoo scene myself.
jms
[ Summary: Loved "In the Beginning." ]
#: 13229 S2/Bab 5: General
05-Jan-98 13:28:06
Sb: #13158-Congrats on ITB
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
Thanks....
jms
[ Summary: "I wonder what you could do with $200 million for one movie?" ]
#: 13232 S2/Bab 5: General
05-Jan-98 13:28:08
Sb: #13069-#Congrats on ITB
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
Here's another thought: $200 million = ten years of the B5 series and 8
TV movies.
jms
#: 13111 S2/Bab 5: General
05-Jan-98 03:50:08
Sb: PPG science follows art!
Fm: NEVILLE WHITE
JMS,
I've always like the sound effect of the PPG's warming up - very evocative. I
don't know whether you have given a reason in the past for the sound, but if
not, you might be interested in an article that appeared in the Times (UK)
last week...
Apparently, to get around the problem of limited battery power, particularly
in a military/soldier context, there are plans which are now well in
development to engineer micro-turbines (effectively little jet engines) that
use small amounts of fuel to run a generator. Tiny 2mm turbines are being
produced, and the target is to have a 1gram engine that will put out 10-20
watts.
As soon as I read this, I thought ah-ha! PPG's probably need a significant
amount of power to generate their plasma... That tell-tale whine could easily
be the sound of a battery of micro-turbines coming up to speed...
Just a thought!
Regards,
Neville White
UK
waiting with bated breath (like the rest of the UK) for season 5...
#: 13231 S2/Bab 5: General
05-Jan-98 13:28:07
Sb: #13111-PPG science follows art!
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
Always ahead of our time.
jms
#: 13159 S2/Bab 5: General
05-Jan-98 09:39:06
Sb: #ITB and TG:SE
Fm: EDWIN CHAN
Congrats on both, they were great. Couple of questions. Noticed that the
uniforms in ITB and TG were different. ITB used the current uniform, why
wasn't it filmed using the old TG uniforms? (of course we could explain it as
that since it's a new space station, they get different uniforms ... but I
really don't buy that)
I have never really watch TG, the first time around ... and now I notice how
different Delenn and G'Kar and Londo looked ... I think that's what actually
turned me off to Babylon 5 (the first season) ... everyone looked just so ugly
in the pilot episode (except Lyta and errr ... the Japanese female) so I
assumed that it wouldn't be that great ... and then I discovered Season Two
and it was WONDERFUL! Anyway, I will be watching the first season this time
around.
One last question ... Will TNT show the original version of TG? I want to
watch it and compare.
take care,
ec in nyc
#: 13228 S2/Bab 5: General
05-Jan-98 13:28:06
Sb: #13159-#ITB and TG:SE
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
No, I don't think TNT plans to show the first version.
jms
#: 13219 S2/Bab 5: General
05-Jan-98 12:20:01
Sb: #One Gathering
Fm: BRENT BARRETT
Howdy, Joe;
My God, that was a good movie. :-) I loved how you blended so many bits
into the movie to seal any little gaps we've seen over the years.
The bit where Delenn tells the other Satai that she will take care of
watching Sinclair pretty much explains the entire pilot and first season. It
also makes it clear why he would call her "old friend" in the pilot (she's
been close to him ever since the war).
There were so many good parts, that I could go on for days... But I have
to say that Londo's description of the humans (and contrasting of his own
life) brought me to tears. That was wonderful stuff, as was the speech by the
President, asking her race to make one last stand... *sniff*
On the topic of The Gathering, I have to say that I really noticed the
difference and really enjoyed this version. Even after I became addicted to
this "intellectual crack" (as someone once called it), I was never too excited
about the pilot as it was shown in 1993. It dragged and confused me at
several points.
The addition of scenes, including the "dust" scene at the start and the
confrontation between Carolyn and Delenn, added some new layers of
understanding and gave us some much better performances to appreciate from
several actors (Mira and Jerry, for sure).
The de-looping of Laurel's dialogue helped too. I'd always thought that
the actor's speech was very cold and awkward, but the real thing seemed much
more "real" to me. A definite improvement.
Thank you and the cast and crew for all that you've done to entertain and
enlighten us. We certainly appreciate it.
BTW, a group of us got together at my home to watch both movies, and we
sure had a blast (photos have been uploaded as TNT9803.JPG, *04*, *06*, *08*,
*09*, *10*, and TNT9811.JPG). Thanks for the reason to share this show with
some great people.
-- Brent
#: 13227 S2/Bab 5: General
05-Jan-98 13:28:06
Sb: #13219-One Gathering
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
Thanks...it's much improved.
jms
#: 13116 S5/Seas. 5 SPOILERS
05-Jan-98 06:54:12
Sb: <<In the Beginning>>
Fm: STEVEN K. ANDEWEG
Amazing how I keep getting fooled into thinking you and B5 can never surmount
your latest level of quality in episodes like" Endgame" and "Deconstruction of
Stars" in terms of story and production. Then you go out there, notch up the
bar a few more inches, and go flying over with" In the Beginning". Great
story, superb acting and special effects, an overall beautiful production!
Steve A.
#: 13226 S5/Seas. 5 SPOILERS
05-Jan-98 13:28:06
Sb: #13116-#<<In the Beginning>>
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
Thanks...if we don't keep trying to get better, what's the point?
jms
[END]
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