JMS on CompuServe (Jan 26, 1998) *POSSIBLE SPOILERS* (2/3)
bbarrett at speedlink.com
bbarrett at speedlink.com
Mon Jan 26 15:25:09 EST 1998
[ Continued from previous section -- BB ]
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 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
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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
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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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[ Summary of subjects in this section: ]
Sb: #16330-#Season 5 Intro
Sb: #Cards/Comic Due Soon
Sb: #16196-#I prefer Star Trek f/x
Sb: #16332-#In praise of MO'H
Sb: #16438-SaP & TKO
Sb: #16347-<Season 5 Intro>
Sb: #16506-#No Compromises
Sb: #16360-#No Compromises
Sb: #16670-No Compromises
Sb: #16210-#ITB: Minb. ship trashed?
Sb: #16299-#<No Compromise>
Sb: #16309-#Hairy decisions
Sb: #16331-#Of course I was wrong
Sb: #16571-Of course I was wrong
Sb: #16337-"No Compromises": 2 q's
[ Summary: Who said "What do you want?" in the 2258 section of the new
season five title sequence? ]
#: 16537 S2/Bab 5: General
25-Jan-98 00:29:08
Sb: #16330-#Season 5 Intro
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
That's Sinclair's reading.
"My only criticism is that the end of it is a bit too Sheridan heavy, and it
would have been nice to have a Garibaldi line somewhere, although I can't
think of one offhand which would have fit."
Neither could I...which is why it ain't there.
jms
#: 16681 S2/Bab 5: General
25-Jan-98 18:48:11
Sb: #Cards/Comic Due Soon
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
Just a general FYI...the Fleer S4 card set has just come in, and should
be appearing soon at stores. They're gorgeous cards, with not only the
pictures on one side, but also on the same side, a line of dialogue associated
with that character that can only be seen if you tilt the card; plus some nice
(but not excessive in number) chase cards...real nice.
And the first issue of the DC comic Valen miniseries just got into my
hands; should be hitting stores the coming week or so.
jms
[ Summary: Believes that B5's effects are very poor compared to Star
Trek. ]
#: 16533 S4/Seas. 1-4 SPOILERS
24-Jan-98 23:54:10
Sb: #16196-#I prefer Star Trek f/x
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
I always find remarks like yours amusing...since the Star Trek shows are
currently using the same systems, CGI, and in many cases, the same animators
who worked on the first 3 years of B5 via the same company that we helped to
set in place, Foundation Imaging.
The difference is not in the perceived, but in the perceiver.
jms
[ Summary: This fan is sorry, in hindsight, that he was so hard on
Michael O'Hare's acting ability. ]
#: 16549 S4/Seas. 1-4 SPOILERS
25-Jan-98 00:45:14
Sb: #16332-#In praise of MO'H
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
A lot of folks are coming to that conclusion now...and I kinda wish they
could've seen it then, because I can tell you that a lot of the criticism
Michael endured (rather stoically, I have to say) was unfair and hurtful and
needlessly mean-spirited.
jms
#: 16438 S4/Seas. 1-4 SPOILERS
24-Jan-98 10:59:07
Sb: SaP & TKO
Fm: KOSLOSKY
JMS,
I have another friend who I turned on to B5 last year. He's now catching up
on S1. He asked me to ask you two questions:
In SaP, when Mr. morden visits Delenn, what was that glowing triangle? He
thinks he recalls also seeing it in ItB and he thinks it has something to do
with the Triluminary, but he hasn't seen it since. What did it mean in the
case of Mr. Morden?
Regarding TKO, he grabbed me in the office the day after it aired and asked,
"What's with the "Bloodsport" rip off (the movie with Jeanne Claude von
Damme)? I didn't care and thought it was well done but I told him I'd ask you
on his behalf.
Respectfully,
Bob
#: 16538 S4/Seas. 1-4 SPOILERS
25-Jan-98 00:29:08
Sb: #16438-SaP & TKO
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
"In SaP, when Mr. morden visits Delenn, what was that glowing triangle? He
thinks he recalls also seeing it in ItB and he thinks it has something to do
with the Triluminary, but he hasn't seen it since. What did it mean in the
case of Mr. Morden?"
It's something the Grey Council have that allows them to sense the
arrival of the Shadows and their minions.
"Regarding TKO, he grabbed me in the office the day after it aired and asked,
"What's with the "Bloodsport" rip off (the movie with Jeanne Claude von
Damme)? I didn't care and thought it was well done but I told him I'd ask you
on his behalf."
Dunno...didn't write it.
jms
[ Summary: "Why are Zack and Franklin still wearing the black uniforms?" ]
#: 16539 S5/Seas. 5 SPOILERS
25-Jan-98 00:29:09
Sb: #16347-<Season 5 Intro>
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
No reason to change until something formally gets worked out.
And thanks.
jms
#: 16506 S5/Seas. 5 SPOILERS
24-Jan-98 18:09:11
Sb: #16295-#No Compromises
Fm: SYSOP_DUPA_T_PARROT
NC was a pretty strong episode for a season opener. You once said that season
5 would be all "Wham" episodes; is that still your plan?
Byron's line "My people are coming" evoked some laughter in my house. I seem
to recall that you started using that phrase in '95 or so.
BTW, although the Super Bowl/Pepsid AC countdown was a tad annoying, the
Lochley vs CheeseHeads bit was amusing. So does this mean that B5 will invade
the Super Bowl?
-SysOp Dupa T. Parrot, Technical Consultant
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/dupa
OzWin 2.14 O-
#: 16542 S5/Seas. 5 SPOILERS
25-Jan-98 00:29:10
Sb: #16506-#No Compromises
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
Thanks...haven't actually seen the cheeseheads one, though I had to
rewrite the copy (and the other one with the football player) because they
didn't quite get the show or the character. Don't know if they stuck with my
changes or not.
jms
#: 16360 S5/Seas. 5 SPOILERS
23-Jan-98 20:26:07
Sb: #16295-No Compromises
Fm: CARL CANTARELLA
Joe,
I thought I was going to *hate* Tracy, as you may remember, but I must say
that I was very pleased with the performance she turned in; very different
from the annoying character she played in Highlander that tended to get on my
nerves.
You were right and I was wrong --good choice!
#: 16540 S5/Seas. 5 SPOILERS
25-Jan-98 00:29:09
Sb: #16360-#No Compromises
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
Thanks...it's easy to mistake the actor for the character in situations
like this.
It's a vastly different character from Ivanova also, not meant to fit in
the same place, do the same things, or be the same person. They're both
strong characters, but different in their approach. Ivanova tended to be a
shouter, and on the impatient side...Lochley is a thinker, and more inclined
to the blade than the ball-bat. But both are equally lethal.
Lochley, I think, also has the maturity of character you need to rise to
the rank of captain in the military, and the voice of moral authority, which
both Sinclair and Sheridan had, in comparable positions.
jms
#: 16670 S5/Seas. 5 SPOILERS
25-Jan-98 17:38:04
Sb: #16540-#No Compromises
Fm: ARTHUR STOPPE
Message text written by J. Michael Straczynski
> It's a vastly different character from Ivanova also, not meant to fit in the
same place, do the same things, or be the same person. They're both strong
characters, but different in their approach. Ivanova tended to be a shouter,
and on the impatient side...Lochley is a thinker, and more inclined to the
blade than the ball-bat. But both are equally lethal.<
I miss Ivanova's sense of humor. One comment that both me and my wife had
after watching "No Compromises" was that Lochley doens't seem to have much of
a sense of humor, and that makes the "tough" side of her grate a bit more (a
least to us). Ivanova was tough at times, but the humor made it easier for
those around her to take.
Arthur Stoppe
#: 16682 S5/Seas. 5 SPOILERS
25-Jan-98 18:48:11
Sb: #16670-No Compromises
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
Oh, she has a sense of humor...but we don't see it here in this episode
any more than when Ivanova first came in, because both are in new situations
and that requires a certain degree of seriousness. We'll see some of her
humor along the way...it's also different from Ivanova's, more a sly kind of
humor, the sort that slips past you and ricochets around the corner half an
hour later to nail you between the eyes.
jms
#: 16210 S2/Bab 5: General
22-Jan-98 23:55:13
Sb: ITB: Minb. ship trashed?
Fm: DANIEL BARER
In the "2 years" montage in "In The Beginning", we see an Earth Alliance ship
ram a Minbari cruiser amidships, blowing a hole through its middle. Does this
mean that Sheridan's was not the only ship that destroyed a Minbari battleship
during the war? Was his the only ship to do so and survive? Or did the
Minbari ship actually survive, albeit with a big hole in the middle? What do
you think?
#: 16532 S5/Seas. 5 SPOILERS
24-Jan-98 23:54:10
Sb: #16210-#ITB: Minb. ship trashed?
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
"In the "2 years" montage in "In The Beginning", we see an Earth Alliance ship
ram a Minbari cruiser amidships, blowing a hole through its middle. Does this
mean that Sheridan's was not the only ship that destroyed a Minbari battleship
during the war?"
Sheridan was the only one to score a *victory* against a Minbari war
cruiser. Meaning he survived. Ramming one, and dying in the process, ain't a
victory...at best it's a draw.
jms
#: 16299 S5/Seas. 5 SPOILERS
23-Jan-98 13:00:07
Sb: <No Compromise>
Fm: JONATHAN KASS
jms,
First off, nice episode... very reminiscent to me of the gathering, main plot
is the "action", but the rest of the show is an orientation at the start of a
season...
Now a question, though, regarding the show vs. the novels...
I'm almost finished with the first 9 (reading them backwards, down to 1, 2 and
3). Without the novels, the Narn are a people made into slaves, whose actions
against the Centauri (even the lightning strike in the first episode) are
understandable and restricted to a fight with their slavers... but several
novels have made the Narn out to be empirical aggressors who enslaved other
worlds and in some respects had as little respect for life as the Centauri
(one novel actually tried to imply this was learned behavior)...
My question is, are we to assume G'Kar actually did the things he is given to
do in the books? Its a much greater evolution than even hinted at in the on
screen version of the story, especially to G'Kar's words about the sanctity of
all sentient life...
Just curious...
#: 16543 S5/Seas. 5 SPOILERS
25-Jan-98 00:29:10
Sb: #16299-#<No Compromise>
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
I don't think any characterization of the Narns as simply victims is
correct...even in the series, we showed that the Narns, once free of Centauri
oppression, turned around and were in the process of doing to others what had
been done to them. They did a lot of awful things, no mistake.
jms
[ Summary: "Who decided that Garabaldi should be bald this season and
that Sheridan would have a beard?" ]
#: 16544 S5/Seas. 5 SPOILERS
25-Jan-98 00:29:10
Sb: #16309-#Hairy decisions
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
Jerry has been shaving his head, getting shorter each year, and it
worked for where his character is going, so I let it stay...Bruce would love
nothing more than to get rid of the beard (I suspect Melissa doesn't like it
also), but for me it's important to make the character visually different, and
to give him a more mature look, so Bruce graciously indulges me.
Re: the novels...in the first few, the writers came up with outlines and
then manuscripts which they ran past me. I subsequently decided that this
didn't work because too many non-canonical things were slipping in, and if I
was reading the ms. late at night I'd miss things, and generally they didn't
feel like the show. The last few from Dell, and the new ones from Del Rey,
will proceed from outlines assigned out from my office, based on my notes
about the B5 universe.
jms
[ Summary: "I am hereby handing you an official apology at my pre-
season 5 scoffing of Tracy Scoggins as a new character on B5." ]
#: 16545 S5/Seas. 5 SPOILERS
25-Jan-98 00:29:11
Sb: #16331-#Of course I was wrong
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
Gracious apology just as graciously accepted.
It's happened before. We're pretty much used to it by now. But we just
don't create uninteresting characters or choose uninteresting actors to play
them. Never have, never will.
jms
[ Summary: (See below.) ]
#: 16683 S5/Seas. 5 SPOILERS
25-Jan-98 18:48:11
Sb: #16571-Of course I was wrong
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
"I'd hate to see what you do with B5's janitor! <bg>"
Don't laugh...wait about 5 episodes and you'll find out.
jms
[ Summary: (See below.) ]
#: 16546 S5/Seas. 5 SPOILERS
25-Jan-98 00:29:11
Sb: #16337-"No Compromises": 2 q's
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
You're correct; we always start out slow each season...especially in
this case, knowing that we're going to get a lot of new viewers, I structured
the show so it would bring folks up to date asap on who everybody is, and
where things stand. Believe me, there's plenty of tragedy and pathos lurking
right around the corner. It picks up at the end of the season, after some
very rough things for the characters, because I can't end it all on a downer,
but at the same time, it has to have meat to it.
"Isn't the Psi Corps still formally a branch of EarthGov? If so, then wasn't
Captain Lochley duty-bound to report Byron's people to the Psi Cops as soon as
she found out that they were rogues?"
You'll find that question answered soon enough.
jms
[ Continued in next section -- BB ]
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