JMS SPEAKS 3

[Lyta Alexander]

Subject: Re: Peter Parker Annual.... written by Fiona Avery!
From: [email protected] (Jms at B5)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated

Also her first issue of the Rogue miniseries came out this week. Probably should've mentioned it but I've been up to my ass in alligators and I forget stuff.

What I understand is that Marvel specifically wanted it taken outside continuity to make it more accessible to an audience that may only have seen the X-Men movie, and specifically indicated that the stuff at this time -- the Ms. Marvel situation and others -- be dropped.

Jms


------------------

[Lyta Alexander]

Subject: Re: BABYLON 5 fading away on SciFi??
From: [email protected] (Jms at B5)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated

<font color=red>
Could this be the beginning of the end for Babylon 5? After all, they have to make room for all those horror movies. We all know what hard-core science fiction they are. :-/
</font>

About every few months there's a sky-is-falling message like this...the very
simple fact of the matter is that ANY show that is stripped daily for months on end is going to start to get diminished returns because all the available audience has seen it. That it has still stayed generally in the top 10 this long is pretty much of an aberration. The first time we met with SFC they said they'd put it on until they more or less ran it into the ground, then rest it
for a while.

These aren't new episodes, they're on their, what, twelfth/fifteenth run by now, all in?

It has no bearing on anything.

jms


------------------

[Lyta Alexander]

Subject: Re: ATTN: JMS B5 audio improvements?
From: [email protected] (Jms at B5)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated

<font color=red>
I am sure the I speak for more than mysel when I say that we appreciate having the teapot scene in MotFL corrected (though it does seem that some actually miss the teapot :-) ), I am somewhat disappointed that the quality of the audio seems still poor. For this run of "Soul Hunter," the scratchy fuzzy stuff was still very evident, and the surround effects on MotFL were not that noticable though the sound was not fuzzy.

I have my concerns that if the DVDs of B5 have audio as poor as this, sales will be lost. I hate to put it this way, but I, for one, am not willing to pay for something that is little, if any, improved audio wise over what I have taped from Sci-Fi.

I would not be surprised if you are somewhat tired of hearing about this, but I thought you would like to know that the audio is still poor in some episodes. Perhaps you will be able to intercede in the production of the DVDs before its too late.

Do you know whether there is any of the "this time around episodes" that have had the audio remastered?

All the best,
</font>

From having reviewed the master tapes, it seems the problem is generally in the transmission, not the tapes,

jms


------------------

[Wizz]

This repeats a favor I asked about a year or two ago....

A startling number of y'all have my email address in your email address book (Outlook or some other). Usually it's never even used, most tell me it's just sorta there if they someday decide to use it.

Just one problem...there are an awful lot of you out there, and when viruses target email addresses, my mailbox ends up with endless infestations.

The current SirCam virus, for instance, which contains the message "I send you this file to have your advice," arrives at least 3-7 times per day in my email box. Invariably from B5 fans who have me in their address book.

Needless to say...it's a pain in the ass.

So my favor...I ain't hard to find, and the email address ain't hard to remember. If you have my address in your system *please* take it out. It's getting kind of crowded with viruses over here....


jms



------------------
Do not tempt the patience of Wizzards, for they are subtle, and quick to anger.

[Lyta Alexander]

Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: Rangers Movie Question
From: [email protected] (Jms at B5)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated

<font color=red>
Is there any chance that we'll get to see what the Liandra looks like before the Rangers movie airs in January?
</font>

I'm sure it'll leak out eventually.

<hr>
Subject: Re: ATTN: JMS: Cartoon?
From: [email protected] (Jms at B5)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated

<font color=red>
OK, quite a few years ago on a Saturday morning I was flipping channels and came across either "CBS Storytime" or "CBS Storybook", and it was a cartoon that apparently was written by you. All I remember was seeing "Written By J. Michael Straczynski" over an image of a girl riding a
horse to a ranch of some sort. I then promptly continued to flip channels forgetting it for a long time until recently. Nothing in the imdb even close, so, was I hallucinating?
</font>

Sigh....

That's the problem with being a writer, all your skeletons aren't in the closet, they're right out there where things can be found.

This is the ONLY thing I've ever written that can come even close to the term "cute." I was asked to adapt the kid's book "The Shy Stegosaurus of Cricket Creek" for CBS. I thought it was actually kind of a fun book. It gave me a chance to have some fun...one exchange I came up with, between a kid and a live talking stegosaurus that just crept up behind him...

"How can somebody as BIG as you be so QUIET?"

(stegosaurus shrugs) "You watch rabbits for two million years, you learn."

Anyway...the production was so cute, so treacly looking, so overdone, so...urkkkk... that I can't even bear to watch it. They modified a few story points to make it even more saccherine after it left my typewriter.

It ain't my fault.

jms

<hr>

Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: Thoughts on Serling's Plagarism Woes?
From: [email protected] (Jms at B5)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated

<font color=red>
What's your take on the charges that were made against Mr. Serling?
</font>

Rod never needed to borrow anygoddamnthing from anybody. The man was the best
of us.

jms


------------------

[Lyta Alexander]

Subject: Re: Attn JMS: Another Question on Writing
From: [email protected] (Jms at B5)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated

<font color=red>
During the early drafts of your fiction writing, have you ever discovered that what you wrote in one section of your work contradicted something you wrote in another section of that same work? How about duplicate effort" where you essentially wrote the same thing twice only in different parts of your work?
</font>

It happens on occasion, but almost always in situations where I'm taking a long time to write something, say a year or more, and I forget what I have and haven't put in. The longer the time between starting and finishing, the more apt this is to happen.

jms

<hr>
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: What was your attraction to doing the Walker
From: [email protected] (Jms at B5)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated

<font color=red>
IMDB.COM list jms as "(Supervising Producer: 1993) Uncredited" for Walker Texas Ranger.
</font>

It was credited, however. The listing is incorrect.

<font color=red>
I'm curious to hear what interested you in that show's position. Was it the responsibility of the position? Did you see something that really interested you in the premise or the actors?
</font>

A friend asked me for help. My friends have coin with me, and there is little I can deny them.

At the time of Walker, we were well into the B5 pilot and looking toward the series. David Moessinger had been my exec producer on Jake and Murder, She Wrote, and he got the gig on Walker. He was kind of up against it in the structure of Cannon Television, and it was a huge show, and even though I was already booked, he asked if I could come over and help him get this train up on the rails.

I said yes. See above.

jms


------------------

[Sycamore Evenstar]

What is the reference about charges against Rod Serling?

------------------

[Sycamore Evenstar]

What is the reference about charges against Rod Serling?

------------------

[Wizz]

<font face="verdana">It looks like it's gonna take some digging, Sycamore. Here's the full text of the guy asking the question.
</font><font face="georgia"><font color="red">
Someone mentioned this at work, so I did a bit of checking on the web about it.

Short question:
What's your take on the charges that were made against Mr. Serling?

Editorial:
Plagiarism is so nebulous when things aren't directly copied, and there can seem to be much there and gotten away with, yet it seems hard to avoid inadvertent plagiarism vs. everything ever written. I'm still looking for reasonable suggestions for where lines should get drawn - but specific knowledge of a previous work and intent to copy seem to be a start. Copying of plot vs. setting, prop, or generic type of incident is another. Thinking someone's idea is neat and wanting to take it in a different direction, dressing it differently, would seem to be acceptable (and probably normal), however. There is still a line to be drawn though, as those definitions overlap a lot, and we have seen that line crossed with malice.

Maybe I'll get a chance to ask Harlan about this at his appearance in Claremont later this month. http://harlanellison.com/newsapp.htm for details.)
</font></font>

[Wizz]

<font face="Georgia"><font color="red">I am curious to hear your opinion of JK Rowling winning the Hugo award for best novel.
</font>
Good for her. Absolutely.

<font color="red"> I'm also curious to hear your thoughts on the tremendous success she's received with her Harry Potter books.
</font>
Double-plus good for her.

jms


<font size="-4">Wizzard wonders if he missed the scarcasm tags somewhere...