JMS Speaks (again)

<font face="georgia"><font color="red">He not only wrote for the show, he was a co-producer credit for the 8th season. The Internet Movie Database does not list the individual episodes he wrote, it lists two episodes each for the eighth and ninth season as being written by JMS, as well as the TV movie.</font>

Just for the record, since this comes up from time to time and I've never listed them all in one place, I think...the episodes of M,SW that I wrote are:

SEASON EIGHT
Night Fears
Lines of Excellence
The Committee
Incident in Lot 7
To the End Will I Grapple With Thee

SEASON NINE
The Wind Around the Tower
Final Curtain
(I titled it that because it was to be my last M,SW script since I had to leave mid-season to do B5.)

And the TV movie "A Story to Die For" which was produced after the series itself was finished.

jms
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<font color="red">I wonder if JMS can provide any further details, now that this official spec sheet is out? </font>


The disk has an on-camera introduction by me (despite my warnings that this would undoubtedly drive down sales), a letter of introduction each by me and Doug Netter, and the half-hour piece features new interviews with Rick Biggs, Stephen Furst, me, Doug, efx maven Mitch Suskin, makeup whiz John Vulich, and others.

They're tentatively targeting next April for season 2, and the following November for season 3.

jms
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<font color="red">and i think it's been stated recently that mj and peter being married will be dropped too, so as not to confuse the movie customer pickups.</font>

Nope. Marvel never stated it to me, and I've certainly never stated it to anyone.

Definitely not true.

jms
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<font color="red">So my question was: How much of Spider-Man's continuity are you familiar with? You're a big comics fan -- how much of his history have you read? And is anyone at Marvel doing anything to get you up to speed on continuity that you may have missed?</font>

I was a huge Spidey fan for many years, starting with his first appearance right up through about maybe five, six years ago when it wandered away (for my tastes anyway, ymmv) from what I was interested in following.

What I tend to do is check with Axel to find out what's current to make sure I don't step on anything significant (though there's so much out there that it's nigh impossible not to step on *something*). For instance, when I did the Doc Ock story out now, I asked Axel for the latest on the doc, what he did and didn't know, what his relation was currently if any with Aunt May, and so on. He checked it out at his end, and gave me the skinny. Which is what a good editor does.

The problem with being strict on continuity is that there's so much that has been done in and around the character, for so many years, that it begins to wall you in dramatically. So my take on this is that you have to be mindful of the major themes and major stories and broad strokes of the character's history. They are there and they work for a *reason*. But in the small strokes, you need to have some measure of flexibility.

What art is about -- and I'm going to call comics art because I've always believed that's what they are -- is not regurgitation of facts; it's about interpretation. In his plays, Shakespeare took liberty with stories and histories that preceded him, bending them to the story he wanted to tell.

Similarly, in present, you'll often see many of his plays presented in modern dress, or with a female in the lead role of Hamlet; you look at what's there and re-interpret things to see how they look when you turn the mirror just a bit to one side.

Otherwise, if you don't have this freedom, you may as well have one of those computer programs where you input the names, histories, and powers of the various Spidey characters, input plot complications, and let it keep regurgitating elements of the same formula, over and over. Or you turn the book over to supporting characters, which I think is what happened over the last few years.

I think you have to be mindful and respectful of continuity; but a writer's *job* is to reinterpret the world, and the past, in new and interesting ways. If you ain't doing that, you ain't doing the job.

jms
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<font color="red">I thought that here would be a good place to let you know that your recent work has brought a long time spiderman fan back into the web, so to speak. I too drifted during the clone saga, however in the last 6 -12 or so months, i have thoroughly enjoyed once again reading spiderman books. Thanks.</font>

You're most definitely welcome, and just as definitely not alone. I've been hearing this from a lot of folks. I wish I could take more credit for it than this, but it's really just a matter of getting out of the way and letting Peter be who and what he is...that, and John's art. The character is solid, the mythos is solid, and all you really have to do is not screw it up.

What's been gratifying also has been the slow but steady rise in the book's sales figures, so that it just recently broke 100,000 copies for the first time in a very, very long time. That tells me that the character, and the venue, is still valid; it's just a matter of being honest with the book.

jms
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<font color="red">And, lest we forget, Paul Jenkins has had a large hand in this renaissance. While JMS is doing some outstanding work now, Mr Jenkins was producing a quality Spider book amongst a pile of dross. Some of the nicest Peter Parker stories that have been told for years.</font>

Boy, do I ever agree with that. When I was asked to come onto Spidey, they sent me a bunch of the ASMs preceding me, and Paul's books, and -- and the thing is, I don't like to rag on somebody else because I don't like it when it happens to me, but -- I'd read one of the ASMs and just run to one of Paul's issues to regain my sanity. He's been doing great work for a long time, and the only thing I regret about my run on Spidey is that the PR has been so heavily ASM related (and again now with Kevin coming on board) that his book hasn't been getting the press or attention it really deserves, in my opinion.

jms

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<font face="georgia">Cartoon Network's new He-Man

No, I'm not involved with the new show. I watched the first ep out of curiosity, and it felt like a high school reunion of people you never thought you'd see again.

Funnily enough, while at comiccon, I went by the booth advertising the new He-Man series and mentioned to one of the folks there that I used to write for the show.

Not having any idea who I was, he looked at me with something akin to pity in his eyes, as if this was the one big thing I'd ever done and I had come by to relive that moment of accomplishment...and he asks if I did anything after that, and I said Babylon 5...he didn't have a clue what it was and said, "So, did that work out okay for you?"

If he hadn't been sitting in a chair I would've hit him with it.

jms
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<font color="red">You'll be waiting a very long time. JMS seems to be quite rigidly partisan - In his world, Democrats are always paragons of virtue and common sense, Republicans are always stupid, evil, and insane. </font>

Please show me where I said this. Which should be difficult, since I never did.

Clinton screwed an intern. This was a serious moral lapse that shamed the office. But it really has no effect on the way the country is run; Whitewater, after eight years of searching and millions of dollars, turned out to be nothing but hot air.

Bush is screwing the *country*.and that's a very different thing.

<font color="red">The only nice word I have seen from JMS about any Republican was when he was campaigning for McCain in the primary. I posted then that I thought this was because he expected McCain to be easier to beat in November, and asked for his word of honor that, if McCain were to win the primary, he would still be campaigning for him and vote for him in November. For whatever reason, he didn't reply.</font>


Never saw the message to reply to it.

I contributed to the McCain campaign, in a fairly large amount. I would've been happy with him or Gore in the white house. Both are men of strong convictions and intellect who have dedicated their lives to public service.

Bush ran two businesses into the ground and was only rescued by friends of the family and others who bailed him out in order to get close to the Bush family, didn't even bother to show up for most of his national guard service, and has the least amount of prior government work of any candidate in history, and that is painfully evident with every passing day.

If the race were McCain against Gore, I honestly don't know who I would've voted for. If I were prescient, and could see 9/11 coming, I probably would've voted for McCain.

Meanwhile, please do not put words or intentions in my mouth to which I do not subscribe; I get in enough trouble with what I *do* say, I don't need help in that area by adding things I didn't say.

jms
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<font color="red">I noticed there is another "Murder She Wrote," movie coming out. Did you write that one too, as you did the last one?</font>

No, I've kind of been too busy to take on anything else, and didn't make myself available.

<font color="red">PS - Aren't gray neco wafers licorice flavor? </font>

Who can tell?

jms

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<font face="georgia"><font color="green">The vice-president is always a suspect in an assassination. The investigation into the death of JFK was performed by congress.
</font>
<font color="red">Not by standing law, it wasn't.</font>

Here's the pertinent details from one of the many sites on the subject, just so its clear who was on the commission and how it was formed:

"By his order of November 29 establishing the Commission, President Johnson sought to avoid parallel investigations and to concentrate fact-finding in a body having the broadest national mandate. As Chairman of the Commission, President Johnson selected Earl Warren, Chief Justice of the United States, former Governor and attorney general of the State of California. From the U.S. Senate, he chose Richard B. Russell, Democratic Senator from Georgia and chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, former Governor of, and county attorney in, the State of Georgia, and John Sherman Cooper, Republican Senator from Kentucky, former county and circuit judge, State of Kentucky, and U.S. Ambassador to India. Two members of the Commission were drawn from the U.S. House of Representatives: Hale Boggs, Democratic U.S. Representative from Louisiana and majority whip, and Gerald R. Ford, Republican, U.S. Representative from Michigan and chairman of the House Republican Conference. From private life, President Johnson selected two lawyers by profession, both of whom have served in the administrations of Democratic and Republican Presidents: Allen W. Dulles, former Director of Central Intelligence, and John J. McCloy, former President of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, former U.S. High Commissioner for Germany, and during World War II, the Assistant Secretary of War."


jms
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Just a quick note to the B5 folks in Vancouver...I'm slated to appear at V-Con in Vancouver at the Plaza 500 Hotel, Cambie and 12th, the weekend of October 12th. More on this as I know it.

jms
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<font color="red">Any idea when you'll be there,</font>

Haven't gotten a final yet, but probably Saturday or Sunday.

<font color="red">and in what shape or form? </font>

Just for the sheer variety of it, I was thinking of going as a bipedal humanoid....

jms
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<font color="red">With B5, it was a five day shoot, that almost always ended around 5pm. </font>

Not correct. It was a 7 day per episode shoot, with the exception of one season that went to 6 days, and we usually went 7 to 7 p.m.

<font color="red">The cast and crew found it an enjoyable atmosphere that was in danger of not being called work. Also, the budget was handled in a way that was one of the best kept records in Warner Brothers (all from your posts).</font>

Correct. We came in under budget every year for 5 years, at one point handing back a million bucks, which they couldn't (and still can't quite) believe.

<font color="red">The question is how is/was the Jeremiah production. Were the hours more chaotic due to outside shooting. Was the budget more difficult due to a larger payroll and more dynamic shooting environment?</font>

It was more daunting because whereas B5 was shot entirely indoors, Jeremiah has been primarily a road show, such that we're shooting outdoors, rain, snow, mud or yuck, as much as 6 days out of 7 (with some 7 days out of 7).

As for budget, everyone kind of expected we'd go over our first season, since it was such a big show, and all freshman shows tend to do that. But I don't allow such things. 20% of any budget usually is wasted on lack of preparation. By always having our scripts in on time, and well ahead of schedule, we were able to plan ahead and, as with B5, we came in under budget for our first season.

<font color="red">Ok, three questions, and about your least favorite part of the job.</font>

Getting up early when I've been writing until 3 a.m. or later.

jms
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<font color="red">Question: What has been the benefit of producing shows under budget from the higher ups? Is it like the military and you get less funding or more funding as you can be trusted with it? That B5 was always on the wire suggests neither and that its all about the ratings.</font>

The key thing is, if you can prove yourself fiscally responsible, they have a greater tendency to leave you alone creatively.

Ok, three questions, and about your least favorite part of the job.

Getting up early when I've been writing until 3 a.m. or later.

jms

<font color="red">I was talking about the producing side of the house but thanks for the info :^D</font>

That IS the producing side of it.

jms

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For reasons too obscure to explain right now, I need a reference point into B5 and because I can see only the overall story in my head, I'm having a hard time picking this moment.

What I'm looking for is the ending of a B5 episode that ends with action or a big moment right before fade-out, something that's kind of a visual wow moment, and I'm in forest-for-the-trees mode.

Any suggestions appreciated.

jms

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<font face="georgia"><font color="red">I was just curious about the status of the book of Babylon 5 quotes JMS mentioned some time ago. I'm looking forward to reading it and was just wondering if any new information about it is out there (i.e. possible release date etc.)</font>

The book, plus emails and suggestions, is being compiled now, and they're targeting February, the 10th anniversary of B5, for the pub date.

jms

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</font>

<font face="georgia"><font color="red">I just heard the news about <u>No Honor</u> being adapted for TV. Wondering if you'd mind passing on a congratulatory note to her?</font>

I'll convey that. She's actually appearing this week at ConJose, so if there are any fans out there who'd like to say hi, that's where she can be found.


jms
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RE: Stupid Request


<font color="red">Well, there was Sheridan's fat ass frogging off of the precipice in Z'ha'dum.</font>

Thanks to all, and especially to all who suggested "Z'ha'dum," because that's the one I think that will fit our needs. Not that I can *explain* that need at the moment, but with hope, in time, all will become clear.

Thanks again to all who helped.

jms

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</font>

<font face="georgia">Re: UK DVDs not widescreen

Insofar as I know, they are the same in both versions, WB has never indicated that they are doing anything different for the overseas market.

jms
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Re: It isn't all Sci Fi's fault
<font color="red">I don't know - he hasn't managed to keep a readily franchisable show in production (ie: B5 spinoffs) as yet.</font>

I find this a very weird statement, on a number of levels. In relation to B5, Crusade never had the *chance* to get anywhere because TNT pulled out before a single ep was ever aired.

And let me ask you: what is enough? If I created B5, and it endures, are you saying that my skills aren't much because I haven't had ten zillion franchise spinoffs out there? Is that what the measure of success has become, spinoff-heaven?

Hell, I wasn't even sure I wanted B5 to become a franchise; I just wanted to tell a good story.

The fact is that, from the time it debuted, to now, almost 10 years, B5 has been in constant broadcast, first in its debut, then in constant reruns. If I'd done *nothing else* ever, that would be a lifetime's worth of accomplishment.

But your comment also ignores other items, such as the fact that I was one of two producers who launched Walker, Texas Ranger, which became a franchise; that I came on board Murder, She Wrote at a time when it was in the 30s ratings-wise and helped bring it up to the top 10 again, where it continued to be an ongoing franchise for many years; that I (insert chagrined expression here) did He-Man, which became the ultimate franchise. I've also taken Spider-Man, which was selling poorly, and taken it to Marvel's #3 comic (PRIOR to the movie coming out).

So I can do the franchise thing just fine, thanks.

But making a franchise, and telling a story, are not the same things. I don't care much about the former; I do care about the latter.


jms

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<font face="georgia"><font color = "red"> Given the recent announcement that Farscape, the Sci-Fi Channels third highest rated show (as of latest ratings, IIRC) has been cancelled, and considering their cancelling of other well-rated shows (Invisible Man for one), I wanted to ask a couple of questions.

What do you think of this recent situation? And more importantly, do they lead you toward or away from trying to work with them any more? Most importantly, do you think that this bodes well for the future of serious science fiction on television?</font>

I don't think the Farscape situation much impacts my stuff with SFC one way or another. I suspect there were a number of factors, including the cost of the show (which was the highest on the network, from what I've heard, but that's second-hand and may not be accurate) combined with the fact that SFC (via their parent company USA Networks) didn't own the show.

Lemme splain....

If a network owns the show they air, they can reap long-term profits from syndication of the program. More and more, USA Network (and other cable outlets) is under pressure to own what they produce, otherwise they're paying huge sums of money to produce shows that they air a few times, then the money goes to the studio that did the actual production. The higher the cost, the iffier the proposition.

So that may have been an issue here. They needed Farscape to help build their audience, but now that this seems to be coming together for them, the logical (for a network) thing would be to start paring away what they don't own, and which is costly, to replace it with their own stuff.

One of the things you can never allow yourself to forget is that TV is a business designed around making a profit, and determining who owns what long-term revenue streams.

<font color="green">I hope that JMS can take Polaris somewhere other than the Sci-Fi Channel. If I were him, I'd get far away from them. As it is, their decision to cancel Farscape makes me glad that I recently started getting into anime. Most anime is never shown on US TV or in US theaters--fans tell each other about new stuff mostly by word of mouth. I like the whole spirit of the US anime scene because I am so disillusioned by our general entertainment scene in America right now. We care too much about money & not enough about quality & good storytelling.</font>

Doesn't affect Polaris one way or another, since if that goes, it would be under the aegis of the network.

jms
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<font color="red">So shouldn't the studio that owns a show be giving Sci-Fi a better deal to offset that, and get a studio's show on the air? That way, everybody can win.</font>

That's the logical thing, but logic and show business rarely dine at the same table.

Most studios would rather own 100% of nothing than 50% of something. That sounds outrageous, but it's all a part of that all-or-nothing profit thing that they ALL have going. And they're all in competition with one another.

This came into play on the Rangers situation, where WB was reluctant to let SFC own a part of the show, since SFC is owned by Universal Vivendi, and WB is in competition with Universal.

So it's a real balancing act. If Rangers had gotten a higher rating (had it not been killed on the East Coast by the biggest football playoff in the last decade), even though it was owned by WB, they would almost certainly have committed to a series, since that rating would balance out not owning the show...on the flip side, had Rangers been owned by SFC/Universal, and gotten the same rating that it actually got, they would've been able to say "Okay, let it grow, because we own it and we're willing to take the risk and we're losing less money in license fees since we're paying them to ourselves in any event and we can get the merchandising revenues," which only the studio gets.

Studio logic is kind of like looking at the gorgon...too close and you're turned to stone.

jms

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<font>

<font face="Times New Roman">
A number of people, who were not able to get hold of ASM36, asked if I could repost the text of that issue in commemoration of the anniversary since it's pretty much unavailable now. With some modifications to make the statement more general, the text follows. It may be freely posted anywhere it may do some good.

jms
</font>
<hr width = "95%">
<font face="verdana">
We interrupt our regularly scheduled program to bring you the following special bulletin.
Longitude: 74 degrees, 0 minutes, 23 seconds West.
Latitude: 40 degrees, 42 minutes, 51 seconds North.
</font>
<font face="arial">Follow the sound of sirens.</font>
<font face="verdana">
Some things are beyond words.
Beyond comprehension.
Beyond forgiveness.
The questions come:
</font><font face="georgia">
How could you let this happen?
Why didn't you know this was coming?</font>
<font face="verdana">
How do you say we didn't know? We couldn't know.
We couldn't imagine.
Only madmen could contain the thought, execute the act, fly the planes.
Even those we thought our enemies are moved. Because some things surpass rivalries and borders.
Because the story of humanity is written not in towers but in tears.
In the common coin of blood and bone.
In the voice that speaks within even the worst of us, and says This is not right.

Also here are those who face fire without fear or armor.
Those who step into the darkness without assurances of ever walking out again, because they know there are others waiting in the dark.
Awaiting salvation.
Awaiting word.
Awaiting justice.

Ordinary men.
Ordinary women.
Made extraordinary by acts of compassion.
And courage.
And terrible sacrifice.

We've voted, and we're going to try to take the plane. It's the only way to stop them hitting Washington. I love you.

Ordinary men.
Ordinary women.
Refusing to surrender.

Ordinary men.
Ordinary women.
Refusing to accept the self-serving proclamations of holy warriors of every stripe, who announce that somehow we had this coming.
</font><font face="georgia">[/b]
...probably what we deserve....
All of them who have tried to secularize America...the pagans and the abortionists and the feminists and the gays and the lesbians and the ACLU....I point the finger in their face and I say, "You helped this happen."

-- it is God's will that America should fall through their iniquity and their sin --
[/b]</font><font face="verdana">
We reject them both in the knowledge that our tragedy is greater than the sum of our transgressions.

Bodies in freefall on the evening news.
Madness in mosques, shouting down fourteen centuries of earnest prayers, forgetting the lessons of crusades past:
That the most harmed are the least deserving.

There are no words.
There are no words.

The death of innocents and the death of innocence.
Rage compounded upon rage. Rage enough to blot out the sun.
And the air still filled with questions.
</font><font face="georgia">
Is it going to happen again?
What do I tell my children?
Why did this happen?

What do we tell the children?
Do we tell them the evil is a foreign face?
</font><font face="verdana">
No. The evil is the thought behind the face, and it can look just like yours.
</font><font face="georgia">
Do we tell them evil is tangible, with defined borders and names and geometries and destinies?
</font><font face="verdana">
No. They will have nightmares enough.

Perhaps we tell them that we are sorry.
Sorry that we were not able to deliver unto them the world we wished them to have. That our eagerness to shout is not the equal of our willingness to listen. That the burdens of distant people are the responsibility of all men and women of conscience, or their burdens will one day become our tragedy.

Or perhaps we simply tell them that we love them, and that we will protect them. That we would give our lives for theirs and do it gladly, so great is the burden of our love.

In a universe of Gameboys and VCRs, it is, perhaps, an insubstantial gift. But it is the only one that will wash away the tears and knit the wounds and make the world a sane place to live in.

We could not see it coming. No one could. We could not stop it. No one could.
But we are still here. With you.
Today. Tomorrow. And the day after.

We live in each blow you strike for infinite justice, but always in the hope of infinite wisdom.

Because we live as well in the quiet turning of your considered conscience.
The voice that says all wars have innocents.
The voice that says you are a kind and a merciful people.
The voice that says do not do as they do, or the war is lost before it is even begun.

Do not let that knowledge be washed away in blood.

When you move, we will move with you. Where you go, we will go with you. Where you are, we are in you.

Because the future belongs to ordinary men and ordinary women, and that future must be built free of such acts as these, must be fought for and renewed like fresh water.

Because a message must be sent to those who mistake compassion for weakness. A message sent across six thousand years of recorded blood and struggle.

And the message is this:

Whatever our history, whatever the root of our surnames, we remain a good and decent people, and we do not bow down and we do not give up.

The fire of the human spirit cannot be quenched by bomb blasts or body counts.

Cannot be intimidated forever into silence or drowned by tears.

We have endured worse before; we will bear this burden and all that come after, because that's what ordinary men and women do. We persevere.

No matter what.
This has not weakened us.
It has only made us stronger.

In recent years we as a people have been tribalized and factionalized by a thousand casual unkindnesses.

But in this we are one.

Flags sprout in uncommon places, the ground made fertile by tears and shared resolve.

We have become one in our grief.
We are now one in our determination.
One as we recover.
One as we rebuild.

You wanted to send a message, and in so doing you awakened us from our self involvement.

Message received.

Look for your reply in the thunder.

In such days as these are heroes born. The true heroes of the twenty-first century. You, the human being singular. You, who are nobler than you know and stronger than you think. You, the heroes of this moment chosen out of history.

We stand blinded by the light of your unbroken will. Before that light, no darkness can prevail.

They knocked down two tall towers. In their memory, draft a covenant with your conscience, that we will create a world in which such things need not occur.

A world which will not require apologies to children, but also a world whose roads are not paved with the husks of their inalienable rights.

They knocked down two tall towers. Graft now their echo onto your spine. Become girders and glass, stone and steel, so that when the world sees you, it sees them.

And stand tall.

Stand tall.

Stand tall.


J. Michael Straczynski
</font>

<font face="georgia"><font color="red">Is "Polaris" TWCNBN previously, Joe? Has any information about it been posted?</font>

Polaris is a new SF series of mine under development for the Sci-Fi Channel. I've turned in the final draft of the two-hour pilot, and now we will wait to see what occurs.

I've kept the basic storyline of Polaris under lock and key because it's the kind of thing which, once you hear it, you know instantly why SFC picked it up to develop, even though it's a fairly pristine area inside the genre, and I'm trying to keep competition to a minimum for now.

jms

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</font>

<font face="georgia"><font color="red">Agents of Gaming, the last holder of a Babylon 5 license, is no longer allowed to produce or sell thier Babylon 5 Wars game lines. See www.agentsofgaming.com for more details.

This is very sad. It is a dark time for the Babylon 5 universe.</font>

However, another RPG company has just come on board with ideas on how to come up with some very cool stuff. More on this at a later point.

jms
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<font color="red">It is my sad duty to report that AOG's Babylon 5 contract has ended and will not be renewed. Regrettably, no further Babylon 5 game licenses or renewals are being granted due to the lack of an ongoing show or property to build upon. AOG held, to our knowledge, the last existing game license for B5.

So what happens to the B5 product line? It is now out of print. No new products will be made.</font>

A new license has just been made with another RPG company, and they're looking to come out with their first salvo next year.

Just in the interests of accuracy.

jms

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I believe 20 [Rising Stars] should be out two Wednesdays from now (today being the 20th).

jms

<hr width="75%">

<font color="red">Since there's no official word yet on the renewal of Jeremiah, and nothing you can officially say about the pick-up of Polaris, what's keeping you busy these days? You've got ASM and Rising Stars, of course but doesn't that leave you at least two projects short to keep you busy?

Can you at least tell us how many projects you're working on that you can't tell us about yet? :-)
</font>
Since Malcolm and others have already pretty much spilled the beans, and word has gone out to the crew and cast and others and we're beginning prep next week...yeah, we've been picked up on Jeremiah. Sam Egan has left and we're bringing on Grant Rosenberg to help out in his place, mainly by working on set so I can focus more on the writing instead of having to plow through snow to stand around with the director.

So I'm hip deep in prep on Jeremiah, still waiting news on Polaris, writing Spidey, writing a new and as yet classified book for Marvel (I think they'll break the news in the next issue of Wizard), I've got 3 more issues to write for Rising Stars....

And there are two tippy-top secret projects I'm doing for companies I can't name. On one, the contracts just came in for their last revision, and as soon as they're done, we can get to work, and on the other, it looks very promising (all I can say is that it's a series, but of a different configuration than anyone's done before), but I never count chickens sans hatching. We've been working on the last item there for about six months, and we're very close to getting this going. If that happens, and that's always a big if, it's going to be something kinda huge, to be honest, with the potential to have a massive effect on television storytelling and production. It would be a very literal paradigm shift. Which is why I can't say anything about it for now (that and the non-disclosure agreement I had to sign).

So there's your other two projects....

jms

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<font face="georgia"><font color="red">I will not support,buy or endorse any new B5 product IF it was produced at the expense of a long time B5 supporter (ie AOG). Cool or not</font>

The one has never had anything to do with the other. I think WB's decision, and it was their decision, came down to a sense that the license was just sort of dormant and not growing over at AoG, and that the time and resources involved were not equal to what was coming back financially.

But the licenses are non-competitive; one doesn't preclude the other since, as you note, one is an RPG and the other, AOG game, is a tactical starship combat game. You don't have to cancel the one to do the other, one has nothing to DO with the other. You could have both going at the same time, or one, the other, or none.

My comment was in response to the statement that NO new licenses are being given out, which is patently false. In addition to the RPG, there are other licenses also under current discussion.


jms

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<font face="georgia"><font color="red">Some interesting news, folks. Sean Astin to join the cast, among other things.</font>

Here's the funny thing, and how I knew that Sean would be added to the cast the moment I heard his name in the running.

Understand that I have not only never worked with a Sam before, I've never even MET a Sam prior to the past year. Never used anyone in a script named Sam (once a Samuel, but that's about it).

I wrote a character named Sam into the Jeremiah pilot.

Next thing you know we hired Sam Egan.

Now on board comes Samm Barnes.

And who does Sean play in LoTR? Sam.

I'm up to my ass in Sams here.


jms

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<font face="georgia"><font color="red">Joe, if you're reading this, my question is this: What was the first comic book you wrote that was published? Was it Teen Titans Spotlight on Cyborg issue #13? Do you have a list of all the comics you've written over the years?</font>

Yeah, Titans for DC was the first, then an issue of the Twilight Zone comic for NOW, a story for the Ghostbusters comic also from NOW, then an issue of the Star Trek comic for DC, then a number of the B5 issues for DC, then RisingStars, Midnight Nation, Delicate Creatures, and now Spider-Man.

I'm pretty sure that's the whole of it.

jms
</font>
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<font color="red">I was just wondering if you could give us a status report on all your>projects?</font>

Jeremiah: shooting 201 currently.

Spider-Man: writing issue 49.

Midnight Nation Trade: supposedly out shortly.

Polaris: news could come soon, things are looking very positive.

Squadron Supreme (retitled Supreme Power): script 1 in, writing 2 now.

Other coolnesses in the works...more soon.

jms


BTW, just noticed that the last surviving piece of Babylon 5 (a piece of the set from Babylon 4's security room) is back on ebay.

jms
<hr width=75%>

<font color="red">Thanks for the update, but what about Rising Stars? The story really seemed to be gaining momentum over the last few issues, and I for one, am going nuts waiting for the end of this story. BTW, I loved the ending of the last issue #20. "That man is a liar, and I can prove it!" WOW! What a kick!</font>

Thanks, it's a good one. The color jpgs are just coming in for approval (I think it was almost 3-4 months ago that I turned in the script), and that usually means that it should be coming out in the next couple/three weeks.

And "Dream Police" was turned in over a year ago, but there have been lots of delays on that side of things, so I have no idea when that's coming out.

jms
<hr width="75%>
<font color="green">Hi Guys, I was going through Season 5 (I'm writing the missing reviews, at long last) and kind of got into it i.e. watched the whole flipping season in one go. Even on our third run through, my wife and I couldn't watch more than 2 or 3 S5 eps in a row. Just too much to wrap our minds and emotions around otherwise.

</font><font color="red">I've seen "Sleeping in Light" before but I must be feeling emotional today because... WAAAAAAAAAH! Gosh, that episode is the saddest thing I've ever seen on TV! I actually found it physically painful to watch Sheridan saying goodbye to Delenn. Is that what empathy feels like? You can keep it! Now I'm utterly depressed. Ivanova says all that stuff about their being hope, at the end, but I didn't see any of it. I've gone right off JMS -hasn't he ever heard of "And they all lived happily ever after..."?

"They all lived miserable, tormented and lonely ever after..." more like. At least, until they no doubt died some horrible, pointless death.

Do I sound like Vir? Or Zath'ras?

Actually, Vir seemed pretty happy. I did wonder what Draal would think about having debris from an exploded Babylon 5 plunging into the atmosphere of his planet. But I'll write a proper review later -promise!

One story ends, another begins.

MY notes as I review SIL to make sure I'm responding to what was presented.... Quotes used while I duplicated; otherwise just my feelings.

20 years ago, I died on Z'hadum. "The sun's coming up" "quite a party.. no sad stories." [Vir] the story about the Pak'marah (sp?) singing "Full of sadness and hope and wonder... terrible sense of loss" [Londo] 49 gods, "but if only one of them exists, then God sings with that voice"

[John] "to absent friends, memory still bright" Sunday Drives. never knew where we were going. "we had our time, said what we had to say. Any more would get in the way. .... Half reality, half mythology. If it ends out there, they'll remember it. It'll help you keep the others in line. The idea of going to the sea. I want it to be a good day, a happy day. I want it a great deal. [He changes to the old uniform under the cloak. She in white.]

A perfect day for a sunday drive (I'm crying like a baby) "Good night my love, the brightest star in my sky. "
[B5 personage.] B5 redundant. menace to navigation. [John] "I know the way, commander" Zack back to turn the lights off. "We did everything we said we were going to do and no one can take that away from us"

"Corianis system, where we won the war" "turn it all off. Too much damn noise. .... better"

"Who are you? what do you want? why are you here. Where are you going?"
"Did you think we had forgotten you? We have been waiting for you."
"Beyond the rim." "Yes." "There's so much I still don't understand." "As it should be". "Can I come back?" "No. This journey has ended, another begins. Time to rest now."

bright light. "Well, Look at that. The sun's coming up."

Vir's wave, like to Morden...

[Ivanova] "Babylon 5 was the last of the Babylon stations. There would never be another. It changed the future and it changed us. It taught us that we have to create the future or others will do it for us. It showed us that we have to care for one other because if we don't, who will? And that true strength sometimes come the most unlikely places. [Zack and Vir working something out as Vir's being seduced by a wonderful woman.] Lastly though, I think it gave us hope that there always can be new beginnings [Ivanova suiting up] even for people like us."

"As for Delenn. Every morning for as long as she lived, Delenn got up before dawn and watched the sun come up." [John next to Delenn, she reaching for the sun.]

Yeah, saddest thing I've seen on TV [tears streaming as I write; I've gone though more than two dozen tissues since I put SIL into the VCR tonight],

BUT we know how it [sorta] ends from previous/later eps. John ended, but what he helped create survived and grew.
</font>
The sad truth is that we die. That is not a happy ending, not a sad ending, simply a fact. Whether we die alone, or die among friends and family; whether we die in the pursuit of happiness or at the end of a life of frustration, we die.

The question is what we accomplish during the days and months and years preceding; do we leave the world a better place or a worse place? If we have left the world around us a better place, as these characters did, then it's a happy ending.

Because what constitutes a happy ending? If a character dies happily, among loving friends, but pulled an Enron on the rest of the planet, is that truly a happy ending? Or is a happy ending the man who frees a nation at the cost of his own life? Is the end of Bravehard a happy ending? Or is it the story of a man who lived deeply, fought bravely, kept faith with his dreams and achieved something of note thus that happy doesn't enter into it?

The poem "Ulysses" by Tennyson crops up a lot in B5, and some have made it a point to note the last few stanzas. But that poem is, to me, the summation of the power of human will. Its ideals echo through the B5 storyline. It's one of the bravest pieces of writing I've ever read, and its effect on me was profound. Still is. Read it here, below, and think of B5, and you will see the resonances in terms of theme and the end of our story.

Ultimately, for me, the end of B5 is neither a sad ending nor a happy ending; it's not an ending at all, since the universe carries on. But if I were to describe what kind of ending it was, I'd say it was a graceful ending, a dignified ending, an ending that said individuals can effect profound change, if they are willing to put their own lives and happiness on the line; not happy, not sad, but a testament to the idea that you have used your time here well.

Everything else is ephemera and coffin-cloth.

jms

<font face="georgia"><font color="red">Now that filming is underway, when will we start seeing the new episodes?</font>

It's not official, but from what I've been hearing it'd go after February sweeps, so figure somewhere around early March. And as before, the plan is to air all the shows straight through.

jms

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</font>

<font face="georgia">Re: Attn: JMS - Any word on DVD sales?

All I'll say is that Warners is, apparently, stunned.

jms
<hr width="50%">
<font color="red">On B5, Santiago's murder is obviously part of a coup conspiracy. Do you feel the same way about JFK, or does the parallel extend solely to the events of that day?</font>

If Oswald acted alone, I'm a Martian panda bear.

<font color="red">P.S. Congrats on killing off Doug Netter.</font>

Someone had to do it.

jms
<hr width="50%">

<font color="red">Great! While WB is in this condition, do you think you could take advantage of them and get them to move up the release date of Season 2?</font>

I don't know if they'll be able to move up the date, which last I heard was about April, but I did hear the other day that they want to get the next set up and running asap. It's suddenly become a priority item.

Who'd've imagined?

jms
<hr width="50%">
<font color="red">You probably have too much class to march over to WHV and loudly say, "I *told* you so!"</font>

We've never actually *met*, have we?

jms

<hr width="90%">
<font color="red">Mr.Straczysnki, I am currently reading your novel "Othersyde". It is a wonderful novel, are you going to write anymore in the near future? I will try to read the other ones, if I can find them.</font>

The drag is that I was a couple hundred pages into a new novel, mainstream, when the events of 9/11 happened and I had to spike the novel because everything that happened since that day (with a few minor variations) lined up pretty much with my book, which kills any chance of publishing it.

Takes a while to come back from looking at two-hundred-plus dead pages.

On a happier note, I'm in the process of signing a deal that will put all three of my novels, plus my anthology, back into print early next year.

jms

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<font face="georgia"><font color="red">JMS before Jeremiah started up, you said that it would probably be going into syndication the following season. Is it still going to be syndicated?
</font>
No, I said it'd go international a year later; the syndication aspect in the US won't happen for, I think, 3 more years, to give Showtime the maximum window on it.

jms

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<font face="georgia"><font color="red">Inspired, a friend bought a different one (which one secret, to cover myself). Long story short, he ended up receiving two copies, and after we went over them, we're fairly certain they are just dupes for.. well, dupes. There are a couple of written notes, but they are obviously copied.

I just want to know what I should do about this. I mean, firstly, this script *is* one of yours. And we don't want to rip anyone off. (We may feel the DMCA and the Mickey Mouse Protection Act are bad law, but copyright is, generally, a Good Thing.)</font>

Caveat Emptor. Buyer beware.

Be advised that with very few exceptions, any script you buy online is going to be a photocopy, possibly several generations down. Only multicolored drafts are actual production drafts. So if you get an all white draft, or one where the colors don't match the headers (REVISED BLUE 10/14/98, that sort of thing), it ain't the real deal.

The ONLY scripts that one can sell legally are actual production scripts used in the shooting as memorabilia. Anyone selling anything else is a pirate. The rights to the physical script belong to the writer, per the Writers Guild Separation of Rights Provision.

This is important because many writers receive income from selling their scripts at convention (as with David and others), or by publishing them in book form. Mass copies sold by others, illegally, remove or seriously inhibit the writer's ability to do either of those things.

<font color="red">I just want to know what I should do about this. I mean, firstly, this script *is* one of yours. And we don't want to rip anyone off.</font>

Too late. You bought something illegally produced. Not much you *can* do.

jms

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<font face="georgia"><font color="red">I once found a website with a tons of bloopers videos grabbed from some convention or something (and sadly in a very poor quality).</font>

Good, they shouldn't be good quality.

<font color="red">I was sadened not seeing those on the DVDs. Is there any plan for upcoming season packages ?</font>

I think there has to be some arrangement made between WB and the Screen Actors Guild for that to be done, since it involves material not originally intended for broadcast. So that has been a sticking point to date.

jms
<hr width="75%">
<font color="red">JMS, a plea....is it really that hard to have a season of 52 episodes? Followed by another season of 52... and another... and... immediate dvd release... with commentary... and expanded cut scenes... afterall, you are the amazing super-writer!</font>

I think I would be the amazing dead super-writer...

jms

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<font face="nimrod">So I was talking to Doug Netter this afternoon, who had in turn spoken with Bruce Boxleitner earlier in the day about the year 2 DVD. In the course of that conversation, Bruce mentioned something that Doug in turn mentioned to me.

To wit:

Bruce had been at the White House about a month ago, in the company of wife Melissa Gilbert, president of the Screen Actors Guild, for a discussion with some of the functionaries there concerning acting roles moving north of the Canadian border.

As they're talking, in a long conference room, in the middle of the meeting the door opens and Karl Rove -- main strategist for the Republican Party and power behind the White House throne -- comes in. He says (paraphrased from memory)to Melissa, "I hope you'll forgive me, but I actually here to see Bruce."

He then tells Bruce, "I just wanted to tell you that I'm a big science fiction fan, and that Babylon 5 is the best science fiction television series *ever*."

Then there's a pause, and he adds....

"And the President thinks so too."

Upon hearing this, I went to lie down for a spell, but I fully expect to be back on my feet by Spring, latest.

jms

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<font face="georgia"><font color="red">Can somebody point me to where JMS has said he'd never work with Pat Tallman again? Or for that matter, Claudia Christian? In fact, I think he's said that he'd consider it if the proper story came up.</font>

That is correct.

<font color="red">I'm not even sure where the perceived rift was supposed to have happened with Bruce Boxleitner, but I'd have to say that it's pretty weird to hear (at a convention in mid November this year) the leading man on B5 complain that the series didn't go into a sixth year. Hello? Wasn't he paying attention at all?</font>

There's no question that Bruce was very upset with me at the end of B5, because it was a good operation, a steady gig, everybody pretty much liked everybody else, and you hate to leave in that kind of situation.

I remember when we were shooting "A Call to Arms," I was standing by the camera as Bruce walked by and he said, very sternly, "What, it couldn't have been a SIX year arc?" But you're right, that it was a five year arc was said by everyone, especially me, from day one.

<font color="red">Am I the only one who thinks it's kinda strange that Jerry Doyle is claiming to have been 'sent out to look for financing'? Right. An actor. Not Doug Netter, an actor. And part time politician. Doesn't that seem kinda odd, not to mention unlikely?</font>

The description is incorrect. At one point, I guess it was about the time we were playing with the idea of Rangers, Jerry called Doug and said that he thinks he has the financing, via some Silicon Valley guys, to pull together the money for at minimum a pilot, maybe a feature, maybe a series set in the B5 universe. We said great, if you think you've got something, let's see what you've got.

There were several more conversations, then the calls just kinda stopped, and we got the impression that the money he had just kind of evaporated, as these things often do. Lots of people talk a good game, but at the end of the day, either they have the goods or they don't, and my impression is that these guys, whoever they were, didn't.

The only thing that bothers me in the piece is Jerry's attribution to me of a quote said by a person at Warners, which I *repeated* to Jerry but did not say myself, that you could put the makeup on somebody else and they could be G'kar. I was appalled by that statement, and mentioned it to Jerry, Doug, others. I think he's taken the memory of that conversation and attributed the comment to me since I was the one who passed it along. But ain't no way anybody else could play that part but Andreas.

jms
<hr width="50%">

<font color="red">I'm not sure I'd go that far, either. I remember JMS being asked online about what Jerry was talking about (re: a new series) and he seemed aware but neither enthusiatic nor encouraging of the idea.</font>

I went to jmsnews.com and found the following from 2001, which pretty much confirms what I posted a moment ago (a handy thing, the internet).

------------
Subject: Re: JMS: Jerry Doyle and crew wanted to revive Babylon5?!
From: Jms at B5
Date: 05/15/2001 03:32 PM
Forum: Usenet

To answer the question...yes, Jerry had some ideas, and tried to put something together, but the resources just weren't there.

jms

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

jms
<hr width="75%">

<font color="red">Actually, I think that would be great. JMS has already done audiocasts for SciFi.com, so this wouldn't be a stretch. The wonderful Doctor Who audios by Big Finish, as well as the series you mentioned, show just how effective the audio medium can be.</font>

Actually, about a year or so ago, Sci-Fi.com was in active discussions with me to do just this, but when they pulled back on their audio drama content, that went away.

jms

<hr width="75%">
RE: Plea to JMS & Fans: The B5 Widescreen Madness Must Stop!!!

I don't think this got through the momentary message blockade, so I'm sending this a second time....

There are a number of elements to this discussion that need to be addressed.

First, a lot of the flaws being seen on the film were there in the beginning; the difference is that the DVD transfer shows those little flaws more clearly than when the show is broadcast on tape over the air. Just as a CD will pick up any glitches in the original analog master, so a DVD will show any shortcomings in the film or the transfer.

On the CGI question, bear in mind that we were making this show at the very beginning of CGI effects, and that they had never been done for TV on this scale before. Many andvancements have been made in the intervening years, but at the time, the hardware and software we had was pretty rudimentary.

We did not have the tech, at that time, to do our comps in widescreen super35 versions. The software that we used to dump the footage into couldn't handle it. So we had no choice but to render the CGI and the comps in standard ratio.

We cannot intercut full-frame CGI with widescreen non-cgi stuff because sometimes we intercut in two-second intervals or less, and the banging back and forth between aspect ratios would be extremely hard on the eyes.

Nor can this footage be re-rendered because the separate elements do not exist anymore, only the original un-comped film elements are there. The CGI files are not around anymore, and to recreate every shot would be prohibitively expensive. In a big way.

Because of the trend to HD, the widescreen versions, even with these small glitches, will still have a longer shelf life than if we put them out in regular aspect ratio. And that is the purpose of the story, to keep it around.

We were the prisoners to the tech that was available to us at the time (for the first season we were using home Amigas, no less). It was all experimental and by the seat of our pants kind of stuff. But it was the best anyone was doing at the time, and we did the best we could with the tools we had.


jms</font>

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<font face="georgia"><font color="red">You also have to remember how extremely callous and insensitive JMS was to Andrea Thompson near the end of season 2</font>

And, may I ask, where were you at the time? Were you at the stage? Were you privy to conversations? On what do you base this?

She wanted more screen time, at what would have been at the expense of the overall arc of the story. I couldn't comply. She chose to leave. There has never been any dispute about any of this as far as I've ever seen.

So I suggest you either retract that statement, or back it up, because I don't much like it when I get libeled by someone who doesn't have the first clue what he's talking about, stating things as though they were fact.

jms
<hr width="50%">

<font color="red">When she went to JMS to ask for, although an unreasonable (though not grossly so) request, an understandable and fair request, she got a (nasally voiced) "NO!" from JMS. </font>

And who, exactly, are you to determine, years after the fact, what was an "unreasonable" or reasonable request? Or whether it was grossly unreasonable? Again, were you in the room? Yes or no, were you in the room? Then how do you know what was asked?

And how do you know a "NO!" was said by me, "nasally voiced?"

You are utterly ignorant of the situation and the conversations. You weren't there. And you choose to characterize my actions with your own voice and prejudices (see above) in order to make it sound snotty.

As for example:

<font color="red">Considering how caustic JMS's words on this matter were (i.e. Whenever she was on, she expected it to be the Andrea Thompson Show,"(1) ), I'm inclined to take Andrea's side on this matter.</font>

You then link to the actual quote, which you deliberately paraphrase to make something else. Since you had the quote in hand, you could easily have just cut-and-pasted it rather than rewriting it to fit your thesis. What I said -- from the article you cite -- was:

"Finally, it was never Warner Bros. who hired her or pushed her on me. WB didn't care one way or another. I was the one who hired her, with Doug Netter. If I hadn't felt she was right for the role, I wouldn't have hired her. But I was also under no constraint to make the show into the Andrea Thompson Show. Andreas and Peter have often appeared as many times in a season as Andrea, and didn't even *have* a guarantee for the first two seasons. (Now they do.)

We did what we could to accommodate her without destroying the story arc. I regret that she has taken out her frustrations in this way. Either one is a team player, part of an ensemble, or one is not. We are very proud of the fact that the cast members as they stand now are all ensemble, team players."

Where, please, is the "caustic" in this? Where is me saying "Whenever she was on, she expected it to be the Andrea Thompson show?" Nowhere.

It's the oldest trick in the book, and the lowest, also the meanest, to take someone's words and paraphrase them to your own benefit, and characterize them with loaded terms to make the other person look bad.

Frankly, this kind of tactic is beneath contempt.

Grow up.

jms
<hr width="50%">

<font color="red">But none of us were there, except JMS and the cast and crew of B5. And even their statements should be taken with a grain of salt. Everyone has a different perspective, and no one has perfect and unbiased memory.</font>

I don't necessarily disagree with this, there is a certain amount of that in any kind of human discourse, but there are also other elements to factor into this.

Here, for me, is the biggest one. If you go to jmsnews.com, you will find 16,694 messages that I posted to the net between November 1991 and five seconds ago. All of this was done in real-time, without having to fall back on memories of events five or ten years down the road. So the information there was as current as the event itself.

Lots of other recollections have been found to be flawed. Claudia's statement, for instance, that she was fired, where I had insisted she'd quit, only to have her say, in later interviews, that yeah, she did indeed quit. (After having left me to bear the brunt of that allegation for a very long time.)

But in 11 years and 16,694 messags (of which this will become 16,695), not one of them has ever been shown to have strayed from the truth after the fact. They have uniformly passed the test of time.

If I have one benefit, it's that I come from a journalist's background, and I'm very good at reporting what happens, without much in the way of elaboration.

Personally, I think that counts for a lot.

jms
<hr width="75%">

<font color="red">All those in favour of JMS say "aye"</font>

Then I vote nay.

And I'm not being facetious.

This shouldn't be about taking sides with one person over another. The day people start agreeing with stuff just because it's me, is the day the conversation is over, because it's no longer a conversation at all.

I'm in favor of reasoned discourse, of asking impertinent questions in search of pertinent information, but doing so fairly, without resorting to straw-man arguments, pettifogging, paraphrasing, dead-catting or "are you now or have you ever been" high school debate tactics.

It's not about winning or losing an argument or taking sides.

jms
<hr width="75%">

<font color="red">That you have had an average of 4+ posts per day over 11 years that can be searched and critiqued is absolutely incredible.</font>

Also frightening and deeply disturbing.

<font color="red">How the heck did you find time to post that much?</font>

I use the net as a break from writing. When I hit a point where I need to think about the next scene, rather than leave the desk and go watch TV, which will kill an hour or more, I go online, which keeps me at the keyboard. I noodle a bit, during which my brain works out the story problem, and zing, I'm back into the writing again.

I may be one of the few who uses writing as a break from writing....

See "deeply disturbed" above...
jms
<hr width="50%">

<font color="red">I've noticed you posting several times lately--> Do tell us you're taking time for a little R&R!</font>

Not really...oddly enough, the more I post, sometimes that means the more I'm writing, because as noted in a prior post, I stay at the keyboard that way.

Right now, the next Jeremiah script is due Monday, the next Spidey is due mid-week, the next Supreme Power (aka Squadron Surprme) is due the end of the week, my next Rising Stars is due, and I have to begin writing on another project which isn't Polaris, but which needs to get moving ahead.

I'm *so* screwed....

jms


<hr width="75%">

<font color="red">JMS hasn't said anything of a negative nature that I know of about Pat Tallman (Lyta). During Crusade there was to have been a part for her in the episode "The Path of Sorrows" but they weren't able to come to financial agreement. </font>

Which, obviously, was not my call, but hers. Her work would have taken just one day (closer to half a day, actually), and the fee was based on what we'd paid her in her last season. She felt she couldn't do it for less, we didn't have the budget to give more, it's a fair disagreement, she opted out, so I had to revise the script accordingly. This sort of thing happens all the time.

<font color="red">Yes, there was some disagreement over who said what, when, but nothing I ever read from JMS indicated that he would never allow her to work on his stuff again.

The only thing I can think of that would have caused people to decide that JMS would be so spiteful is that when another actor (Gen. Hague, don't remember the actor's name) bailed on them to do DS9, JMS re-wrote the script to kill off the character. He said online the one 'should never honk off the writer' and people seem to have decided to take this as a serious statement of 'policy' instead of being playful.</font>

At the end of the day, however much one might grump, you have to do what's right, otherwise the whole thing goes pear-shaped, as the Brits say.

Case in point: Foxworth, as noted above. We needed someone for an important part in Jeremiah this season, and his name surfaced as one prospect. I'll be honest: when that happened, I kind of got my back up over the Hague situation. But then, at the end of the day, you have to say, "Okay, he pissed you off, but does that mean you don't hire the right guy for the job?"

So we hired him for that episode, "Letters from the Other Side," part one of our series premiere (with a quick shot also in part two).

Because you can't sensibly run a show in any other way.

jms
<hr width="75%">

<font color="red">Hmmm....based on nothing in particular...am I detecting a point of view shift for this second season?</font>

Nope. But somebody has to be at the heart of Valhalla Sector, so he's the main guy there.

<font color="red">Any other titles or news you can share, JMS?</font>

The season debut is "Letters From the Other Side," parts one and two, followed by "Strange Attractors," "Deus Ex Machina," "Rites of Passage," and "The Mysterious Mister Smith."

jms

<hr width="50%">

<font color="red">Presumably these are all yours? Do you know when the Samm Barnes episode(s) will fall in? And did you assign the premises to her or did she pitch to you?</font>

She wrote "Rites of Passage," from her own premise and story. It should be a great episode, answering the question, "What happened to Jeremiah's mom?"

jms
<hr width="75%">

<font color="red">Indications are that Warner Home Video is happy enough with the sales of S1 that beginning with S2 they won't be waiting for sales reports on each set before starting work on the next. </font>

I don't know that they've committed to that extent, but they are very happy with the sales, and are accellerating things.

Interviews for year 2's DVD have been set, or already conducted, with Stephen Furst, Andrea Thompson, John Iacovelli, Anne Bruice-Ailing, Jerry, Claudia, Bruce, me, John Copeland, Doug Netter and others.

In addition, I'll be doing commentaries on "The Coming of Shadows" and "The Fall of Night," and there will be a bonus group commentary by Bruce, Claudia and Jerry on "The Long, Twilight Struggle."

There's talk about a special musical sequence for the season 3 DVD, with Chris re-scoring 2-3 episodes end to end with non-stop music, future segments on "The Future According to Babylon 5" with NASA and JPL guys (btw, James over at a certain House subcommittee, if you're reading this and could drop me a note, that'd be great). I'd like to see the final bonus section on year 5 be about the fans of the show.

Point being...they're putting a LOT of energy and work into this to make each set better than the one before.

(And yes, still writing my brains out here this weekend, except for a brief Bejeweled break where I finally broke 400,000 points.)

jms
<hr width="75%">

<font color="red">Of course, that's a big "if". Without the files, jms or other producers would need to re-hire all new artists to recreate the original footage. Expensive. It was done for the Star Wars Special Editions, but I doubt WB would cough up the money for a Babylon 5</font>

Those files are no more.

jms

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<font face="georgia"><font color="blue">Maybe somebody bored enough can trawl through the jmsnews postings and confirm that?

</font><font color="red"
<g> That would be me.... I almost hate to do it, though, because, IIRC, Joe got a fair amount of flack over it. There, he had finally done what dozens of people had asked him to over the years *and* he waited until the episode where the entire crew were also honored by the photo montage at the end.

I took it as a gift to the fans and I don't think that anybody else should have turned off those lights.

Here's the post I think you meant:

--------------------begin----------------------
Subject:
JMS: Do a short bit in B5.
From:
Jms at B5
Date:
10/01/1994 05:53 PM
Forum:
Usenet

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As much as fans of the show have asked for me to do a cameo on the show...I can't. For starters, on many levels I'm making the show for myself...and if I see me up on the screen, it blows the illusion. For another, I've always thought it a bush-league thing to do; I'm a *writer*, I work behind the scenes, as should be; when I see somebody like John Landis or Mick Garris sticking their face in on camera, I can only shake my head, and refuse to do the same. It turns the exercise into a game of cutes.

Finally...I've seen me. Ehhh. Tell you the truth, most folks who finally meet me generally conclude that there's far less to me than meets the eye. Besides...the cost in replacement camera lenses would be simply astronomical.

jms
-----------end transmission---------
</font>

Correct, the cameo was a) at the end of the show precisely so that it *woudln't* break my suspension of disbelief, because by then it was done, and b) it was meant as a surprise. If I'd said "Yeah, I'm gonna do it but just once," then everybody'd be waiting for it, and if they hadn't seen it by SiL, they'd know it was there.

jms

<hr width="50%">
<font color="red">With a) in mind, and given that you ended up getting another season after SiL was in the can... *did* you feel your suspension of disbelief was broken? If so, how did you work around it?</font>

By making sure the episode was never finished (final editing) until after we'd finished shooting S5. I let it sit in the Avid, unfinished, until I was ready. That also prevented WB or anyone else from getting it and having the cut hit the streets in an unauthorized way, which I felt could happen if the cut was just laying around for a year. By keeping it all in the system, in pieces, it (and I) was safe.

jms
<hr width="75%">
<font color="red">Sure, we get more picture information on the sides, but all too often, it seems like the characters are huddled together in the middle of the screen. Now, this is not always the case, but at least several times in each episode, I wonder why they are standing so damn close to one another!

Obviously, the reason for this is that the show's directors at the time wanted to frame the image to look good in 4:3... but now that we have the wider 16:9, these directorial choices stand out like sore thumbs. </font>

I think that's a fair criticism, and one we made ourselves a bit later, around season 2 or 3. We set up a screening at Pacific Video, our post house, for an episode in wide, and saw that our directors had been hewing too closely to the 4:3 ratio. So we told them to be more aggressive, and use the full frame more in later episodes. So this problem does get ameliorated a bit down the road.

jms

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<font face="georgia"><font color="red">Do you think the conditions are currently right for martial law? I realize that something similar has been discussed to death already on this group, but it's not quite the same question, so I hope you'll indulge me.</font>

Well, let's see...American citizens (low-lifes, yes, but citizens nonetheless) detained without questioning or formal charges, military tribunals reviewing cases in secret without the right of appeal, a proposed system of gathering everyone's private information for use by the government, tracking checkouts at public libraries, going through purchases to determine who's taken various kinds of lessons (including, most recently, suba diving lessons), asking high schools to turn over addresses for students eligible for military service, signing an overall action for overseas "hits" on possible targets that does not specifically exclude American citizens as targets and thus generically includes them, all but reversing the Freedom of Information Act, a declaration of wartime emergency that has no clearly defined end-point, moves to weaken or eliminate the Posse Comitatas act which prohibits the use of military in domestic situations, the detainment at airports -- under the new terrorist provisions -- of pepole whose only offense was to take part in protest marches in Seattle and San Francisco, the loosening of search and seizure laws....

No, not at all, why do you ask?

jms

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<font face="georgia"><font color="red"> I don't understand how you could allow stencilling your name on B5's ass in season 5. We were in suspended disbelief until we had to explain plausibly why the crew would paint a 21st century author's name there. It didn't serve the story. So why did you allow it?</font>

Because the main titles are not part of the story. We had the faces of cast members sitting in the middle of the jumpgate flares, or hovering in space over the station...did you really think they were there as well?

Main titles are FOR credits. They're not part of the story, and should never be confused...otherwise Londo would have to be looking out his window every week wondering what all those huge letters were circling the station all the time...


jms
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<font color="red">But why would anyone name a space station after that guy from "Murder She Wrote"?</font>

Who else would know where the bodies are buried...?

jms
<hr width="50%">

<font color="red">No, that was the *other* Straczynski! This one is from Power Rangers and He-Man!</font>

HEY!

I'll take the rap for a lot of things, including the Korean War, but I had nothing to do with Power Rangers.

jms

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<font face="georgia"><font color="red"> I said all that to ask this pondering question: What B5 fictional concept seems likely to become reality, whether through conscious imitation or sheer precognizance? </font>

I saw a piece not long ago on holographic data storage systems using crystals that looked a lot like datacrystals, and I think we're getting very close to the technology of links.

jms</font>

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<font face="georgia"><font color="red">I for one am pretty shocked that there has been no indignation about this. It borders on being libelous.</font>

You cannot libel public figures in general, in particular when it's as science fictional a context as this.

To the larger question...the story of Rising Stars is set in the real world. Bush is the president right now, hence he had to be the one in the hot seat.

I'm writing another book currently wherein we see events of this nature affecting every president from Carter, through Reagan, Bush 1, Clinton, and Bush 2, all of whom are portrayed in the book as being involved in a particular and wholly fictional conspieracy. I don't apply a political litmus test to these things.

The whole POINT of Rising Stars is that it's set in the real world, with real problems, and real historical events, right now. If I made up a fake president it would totally compromise the book's integrity.

If Al Gore had been certified by the Supremes, it would've been him instead.

jms

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Okay, I'm probably going to get cyber-mugged for this, but let me put in my two cents on the Iraq situation, and the reasons behind it.

It is really nothing more or less than an attempt to re-draw the map of the Middle East.

By their actions and their statements, Bush and Co. seem to believe that they have a manifest destiny, and that they must act to seize the moment while they can, hence their haste to get things popping.

If you take down Iraq and replace it with either a puppet government or one friendly to the US, suddenly you can bring down the price of Iraqi oil considerably. If the other nations in the region don't go along, they get frozen out. So suddenly the prices go down, profits go up, and (while fossil fuels last) everybody profits economically.

Politically, if you take out Iraq, you remove a linchpin from the Mideast structure. You have a friendly base of operations from which to launch military endeavors; you can aid your friends and loom over your enemies; it puts the US in a position to destabalize other countries in the area or bring them to the side of the US.

That, I believe, is their plan. The only thing wrong with it is that it can't work; the region is too interlinked and impossible to govern from afar, and they haven't fully thought out the doctrine of unintended consequences.

Within an hour or so of 9/11, Rumsfeld -- according to the NY Times -- was asking people, "Can we pin this on Saddam, take 'em all down at the same time?" They've clearly been looking for an excuse to go in on this for a long time. If it wasn't 9/11, it'd be something else.

If you say it's about oil, that's only part of the picture; if you say it's about weapons and terror, that's also only a part of the picture. You have to stand well back from the tapestry and get a good look at the whole of it to recognize the thing for what it is: an attempt to redraw the map of the Middle East in its entirety.

jms

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<font face="georgia">If you say it's about oil, that's only part of the picture; if you say it's about weapons and terror, that's also only a part of the picture. You have to stand well back from the tapestry and get a good look at the whole of it to recognize the thing for what it is: an attempt to redraw the map of the Middle East in its entirety.

<font color="red">Considering the fact that most of the governments in the Mideast are barely-tolerable tyrannies as it stands, even among our "allies", I don't know that that would be a bad thing to try and do, is all. </font>

Which would be, on the face of it, a valid counter...except that the governments we tend to install in our wake are often, or soon become, every bit as bad as what was there in the first place.

We helped put in and prop up the Shah of Iran, creating a situation that was so awful, so corrupt, so full of human rights violations, that it led in time to the growth of the fundamentalist forces that overthrew him and gave us the current Iran.

Remember that, because we didn't like the Russians, we helped arm the Afghanis and trained the people who would in time become the Taliban and Al-Quaeda.

When we didn't like Iran, we gave Iraq the very weapons that we're not complaining about, in many cases. When it looked like he might use (and may have used) chemical weapons in the Iran/Iraq war, our government was decidedly silent. No one was making a big deal about it at the upper echelons of government, because we knew he had chemical weapons but he was using them in "our interests."

The bottom line, apart from all this, is very simple: is it the business of the United States to go out overthrowing governments when and where we feel like it? Is that really what the Founding Fathers had in mind when they drafted the Constitution?

jms
<hr width="50%">
<font color="red">I still support an attack on Iraq - for my own reasons, regrdless of Bush's reasons. I want to make sure Iraq doesn't use nukes/bio/Chemical weapons against any of its enemies. Saddam is a true threat to the Middle East and to the world. I don't feel like having a repeat of when I was 8 years old in the shelter, with a gas mask on.</font>

Don't blame you. So I guess the question before us is not so much "does the end justify the means?" as "does the means assure the end?"

There are any number of governments -- friendly or hostile to the US -- that have these weapons. Do we take out all of them? With so much of this out there, does it make it one whit safer for the US?

On top of that...to the best of my knowledge, and I'm happy to be corrected on this, Saddam has never made an actual threat to attack the US. Even the CIA came back and said that the odds of Saddam attacking the US are very close to zero...unless he feels he's cornered and no longer has anything left to lose. He might then use it locally, or give it to others.

And let us remember that so far the Bush administration has not produced one whit of proof that these weapons exist in the first place. So we have a conundrum on our hands: either he has them, and we guarantee an attack by going after him, or he doesn't have them, in which case why are we going in?

The thing about regime change from outside is that it never works. Any time we've done it in the past, we've ended up making the situation worse, and had those ghosts come back to haunt us later, in Iran, Iraq, the Phillipines, you name it.

The only time it does work is when it's the people of the nation rising up. And they do, sooner or later. They rose up in Poland, in East Germany, in Russia proper, and elsewhere. And that, for me, is the telling point: someone from the outside coming in does not have the moral authority to make the change stick, or make decisions with the best interests of the local population at heart.

If, in 1775, prior to our declaration of independence, the Austrians had said, "Look, we think you Americans are being oppressed, the British have these terrible weapons, we're going to liberate you," and they did so, putting in a puppet government, or setting up Austrians to run the country...would we have ever accepted that? Would we not have in time risen up against them?

Giving support internally to rebel forces in Iraq? Sure. Responding to a direct attack against the US? You bet. Maybe even to just an announced threat.

But none of that is ever going to guarantee the safety of the US. Our friends in Europe have learned this lesson already, with terrorist actions in both France and Britain for decades. But rather than torch their liberties, egalities and fraternities, they set their jaw and endured it, allowing their law enforcement arms time to deal with it...and for the most part, that's been successful.

You want a guarantee that it can't happen here, but it can...and it will, because in truth there's nothing that anybody can do to stop a handful of dedicated fanatics. The only surprise here is that it took this long for it to happen. And when it did happen, it came from a small group with lots of sponsors, not as an act by one given nation against the US.

If Al-Quaeda had WMD, you can bet your ass they would've used them by now. But what we've had have been small, limited operations. Nor -- and this is strictly my opinion -- will any nation give them WMD to use on their behalf here.

For one reason: if that were ever to happen, if a big biological or chemical attack were ever perpetrated against the US, there is absolutely no doubt in my mind, or in their mind, that we would glass over whichever country was responsible.

So as long as our enemies have something to lose, we're safe. Back them into a corner...and I'm not so sure.
jms
<hr width="75%">

<font color="red">PS- whats happened to the Midnight Nation collected version that was due last month?</font>

Dunno...they've been sitting on it for months. Hopefully it'll be out soon.

jms
<hr width="75%">
Re: ATTN JMS: Marvel Comics for Christmas
Yeah, I saw it, it's kinda fun....

BTW, for those following the comics, Spidey 46 and 47 came out over the last month or so, and 48 is due out this coming week.

I've just finished going over the balloon placements on 49, and in some ways, though this has the least amount of action, it's my favorite issue to date...there are a lot of laugh-out-loud pages, and some real emotion, and it follows up on what I wanted to do from the start, to really build up Peter's character, get to the core of who he is. This builds on that foundation and takes it to the next level. I'm just real happy with it.

I should have 51 turned in shortly.

jms

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</font>

<font face="georgia"><font color="red">Over at rast, somebody (not one of the trolls, as far as I can tell), said:

"JMS says that he did the Rangers pilot just for fun, he didn't expect or want anything to come of it, he was just having fun. He said that at San Diego ComiCon last summer. I was in the audience."

I suspect this is utter BS, but I figured I'd ask. The above quoted words are complete fabrications, right?</font>

It's correct and not correct. I have this rule that the only things I do, are things I think will be fun. I did the Rangers pilot because I thought it would be fun. Note, however, the word "pilot." That's how it was always discussed, as a pilot for a series.

In that situation, you always hope it'll go forward, but you can't ever count on that, because if you get your hopes up, you'll go insane. So you do it for the fun of it, and you don't think about what comes after.

That was the substance of my comments at SDCC.

jms

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<font face="georgia">Re: ATTN JMS: Your cameo role in B5 Sleeping in Light

I don't recall if I ever replied to this, but:

<font color="red"> At that moment, did you go blank and have to act, or was the somber glance-about for real?</font>

It was quite, quite real. What I'm saying, in my mind, as I make that look around, is "goodbye."

Two takes was all I could handle before I told the director to get stuffed.


jms

<hr width="75%">
Re: ATTN JMS: Your thoughts on LOTR the movies?

Loved the first one, still chewing on the second one...felt choppy to me in places, and I was paying too much attention to what had been changed to properly focus on what was there. I'll need to see it again.

BTW, the expanded DVD version of Fellowship is even better than the theatrical version. My hope is that the same will apply to Towers, on the theory that the choppiness the editor in me feels was the result of stuff being left out.

Nonetheless: visually breathtaking.

jms

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</font>

<font face="georgia"><font color="red">I was just curious, does anyone here know what education jms has?</font>

BA Clinical Psychology, minor in Philosophy

2nd BA Sociology, minor in Literature

Both from San Diego State University.

jms

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<font face="georgia">Actually, ramming speed *is* a legitimate term, because it encompasses several
sub-sets of instructions, to wit:

1) Turn off or over-ride all safety mechanisms designed to protect a collision

2) Use full speed, without concern about fuel or other aspects (such as turning
away at the last minute).

Most big ships have safeguards designed to help prevent collisions; ramming
speed as an order over-rides those safety precautions (this per a Navy captain
who explained it to me a while back).

jms
<hr width="75%">
<font color="red">Did you study Clinical Psych with an eye toward going into practice? Or, as we used to say in college, did you go in for psychology just to find out what was wrong with you?</font>

I knew I didn't want to get a degree in English, because I think if you want to be a writer, that's the LAST thing you want to do. You should go and play in other fields, learn outside your discipline. A good writer is a generalist.

When I'd first started going to college (at Kankakee Community College, Kankakee, Illinois), my first introduction to psychology was the whole Carl Rodgers/humanistic school of therapy, which attracted me enormously, enough to make that my major. I'd considered for a time that I could balance out being a therapist with writing.

But by the time I got through 3 more colleges, ending up at San Diego State, the psychology field had undergone a change to the mechanistic/Skinnerian/behavior modification/drug therapy/let's-run-rats-until-they-drop model, and that had zero interest for me.

So having finished that BA, I was trying to decide what to do next, and I had enough course work in other areas to go for a second BA in literature, philosophy and sociology, and chose the last one more or less out of inertia, since by then I was already making a fairly decent living as a writer.

My advice to anyone currently in college: take full advantage of the resources that you have there, from the college newspaper or magazine, to the theater department, the telecommunications department (if you have one) to get all the experience you can. It ain't about the degree, it ain't about just going to the classrooms, the lunch rooms, the parking lot and the rest rooms...it's about acquiring massive amounts of experience in a secure environment, where you can experiment and fail safely.

jms
<hr width="50%">
<font color="red">Just out of sheer curiosity, when? I was at SDSU in the early '70s (73 - 75). EE mostly.</font>

From around 1975-78. About a year in, I started writing for the San Diego State Daily Aztec, and ended up writing so many articles, reviews and columns -- sometimes 4-5 per week, sometimes twice a day -- that the paper became known on campus as the Daily Joe.

jms

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<font face="georgia"><font color="red">state of the Straczynski-verse update?</font>

On projects new and old...there's been a variety of happenings.

On Jeremiah, we're about to start on episode 7, "Voices in the Dark," and I just finished writing 8 and 9, "Crossing Jordan" and "Running on Empty." By the time we hit mid-week, we'll be halfway through shooting on the season, which should wrap around the first week of April, though post will take us through mid-May.

On Polaris...we got down to one of three projects of which one or two would be greenlighted for production. It went down to the wire, but finally SFC decided that the premise of Polaris was a little too science fictiony, when they were looking to go for ideas that had more immediate mainstream appeal. So even though they felt that Polaris was the best written of the projects they had in development, they went for a project about intergalactic (not interstellar, intergalactic) vampires called "Bloodsuckers." It is, to be fair, one of those concepts that, when you hear it, you get it, there isn't a lot of background needed.

It happens. Networks develop tons of shows but only green-light a handful every year. Showtime had something like 35 projects in development this past season, and picked 3. So at least we made it to the final cut, which is something.

We still feel strongly about Polaris, and once the turn-around period has expired, plan to bring it elsewhere.

But as one door closes, another opens. The thing about television is that you can only have x-number of projects in the works at one time as a show runner (as opposed to someone who EPs and just sells shows). For instance, on Jeremiah, I'm in first position, meaning MGM and Jeremiah have first call on my services. When Polaris was in development, it occupied second position, meaning that had it gone ahead, that show would've had call on me above any other projects, but second behind Jeremiah in case of any conflicts of priorities or schedules.

It's very difficult to sell or develop projects in third or fourth position, because it has the potential to compromise those productions if you get jammed up on shows with higher priority.

Which is a long way to say that, once Polaris went away, it cleared the decks to take on another television project in development, which is very new and I can't discuss it yet until we're further down the road.

On the comics front, I've turned in the first 2 issues of Supreme Power, and should have the third issue in sometime next week. I'm working with Gary Frank and Joe Quesada on the art and look of the book, which is very cool. Also working on issue 51 of Amazing Spider-Man, which I hope to turn in this week. (Issue 49 should be out in a couple weeks, I think.)

I've been told the writer/directors doing the dust-up on Rising Stars: The Movie are progressing well, and I keep hearing about this thing shooting sometime later this year, but that's strictly unofficial until somebody tells me on the record.

The text for the B5 Quote Book is nearly done, and I think that one will be out around April.

I'm also doing an 80-minute audio drama called "The Adventures of Apocalypse Al," for a company that will put the show out later this year.

<font color="red"> Bet you didn't take Christmas or New Year's off, did you? </font>

No, couldn't, too many projects to write.

jms

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<font face="georgia"><font color="red">Personally, I'm not willing to set my jaw and endure 100s of years of terrorism. I (and my children) can if we have to, but I'd rather remove the root cause ASAP.</font>

But to assume that Sadam is the root cause of terrorism is naive and, most important, incorrect. He takes advantage of the situation, sure, and his reign is a symptom, but he ain't the root cause. Not by a long shot.

jms
<hr width="75%">
<font color="red">What and When is "Supreme Power"?</font>

Supreme Power is an updating of the Squadron Supreme book done quite a while back by Mark Gruenwald. It was one of the first books, possibly the first book, to really examine the role of the superhero in society, and as such is generally considered to have paved the way for such later works as Watchmen, Dark Knight, Marvels, Kingdom Come and others.

Marvel said, basically, if you could take those characters, who were used at a time when comics were still quite a bit more restrictive than now, due to the comics code and other influences, and update them, recast them, free to do whatever you want...what would you do?

Hence, Supreme Power. While it has its moments of dark humor, it's a very intense, serious book. And because it's being done for the Marvel Max line -- which is aimed at mature readers -- there are very few limitations in terms of imagery and language. Marvel has said it wants me to take this book to the wall, and that's pretty much where I intend to go.

Interestingly, unlike the aforemtentioned titles, this isn't a limited series...it's intended to be an ongoing series, while trying to sustain the kind of intensity you get in that kind of limited edition. It's a massive writing challenge, though one of my main goals is to do right by Mark's original creation.

I think the first issue appears sometime in February or March.

<font color="red">So when can we expect RS:Bright? And do you plan any other spinoffs of Rising Stars?</font>

This one, by Fiona Avery, is due out in February, I think. I know that Top Cow is planning other follow-ups to the Rising Stars story, but I'm not directly involved in the writing of them due to my contract with Marvel. One of them may follow the events of Laurel Darkhaven, the teek who ended up a CIA assassin.

<font color="red">Also, when is the next Midnight Nation slated?</font>

There are no more Midnight Nation single issues; it was intended as a 12 issue miniseries, and it's done. I just learned (on this newsgroup, as it happens) that the graphic novel is finally coming out and now available for pre-order on Amazon.com.

Folks, I don't generally hock my stuff around here, because I think it's rude. But in all honesty, in many respects, from a sheer writing perspective, Midnight Nation represents some of the best stuff I've ever done in the form. It's something that I poured a lot of emotion into, a lot of personal feelings and history and beliefs, covering life, death, religion, god, how we achieve meaning...all balanced against a cross-country quest by two people, one out to reclaim his soul, the other a woman sent to help him or kill him, depending on how the story ends up.

It is also, oddly enough, a love story.

It's one of the things I'm proudest of as a writer, and I commend it to anyone who found the ideas in Babylon 5 of interest. And the art by Gary Frank is just gorgeous, and evocative, and full of emotion.

There's a great Cinescape review of the book at --
http://www.cinescape.com/0/Editorial...e&obj_id=34965
-- which contains spoilers, however, so if you want to hold off on some of the surprises, you may want to just get it cold. The key part of the review, though, says:

"MIDNIGHT NATION offered a unique twist on some very old cosmological concepts, and managed to make the idea that "love conquers all" the very core of its resolution without resorting to smarmy melodrama. That's a rare accomplishment, and all the more reason why MIDNIGHT NATION will be remembered as one of the most absorbing and emotionally moving sagas in modern comics history."

It's a nifty little story. Honest.

jms

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(all message content (c) 2003 by synthetic worlds, ltd.,
permission to reprint specifically denied to SFX Magazine
and don't send me story ideas)</font>

<font face="georgia"><font color="red">It's really an incredible story, IMHO. I don't know how you continue to tell such powerful, moving, and insightful stories, but we're all clearly better for it. Do you ever get emotionally burnt out from all the passion you clearly put into your writing?</font>


Yeah, I do. I tend to operate under the theory that unless you feel something while you're writing, it's impossible to make the audience feel something upon seeing it. So in the actual course of writing a scene, or a story, I wind myself up to whatever emotions I'm describing...usually by putting myself in a similar place, using past experiences from my own life.

There were times on B5 when I was so whipped from the emotional roller coaster of the show's story, not to mention the production requirements, that I was just staggering under it...they used to just sort of point me from one place where I was supposed to be, to the next.

I think it's necessary to burn brightly when you write. I also know it takes a whopping big chunk out of you in return. But I don't know any other way to do it.

jms

([email protected])
(all message content (c) 2003 by synthetic worlds, ltd.,
permission to reprint specifically denied to SFX Magazine
and don't send me story ideas)

<font face="georgia"><font color="red">They sound interesting but I cannot see any mention of a commentary by Andrea Thompson. Did she decide to make one?</font>

There was never any discussion, or announcement, of Andrea doing a commentary, only an interview, which was done and is on the DVD. (Along with Mira, Bruce, Jerry, Claudia, Stephen, Richard and others.) The only cast commentary is by Claudia, Jerry and Bruce in tandem.

jms
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<font color="red">I noticed with some amusement that the Midnight Nation graphic novel was released on 31st December 1969, according to Amazon. What astounding technological advances; to publish a book decades before it was written! Any idea when the *real* publication date is?</font>

As I'll note in a post elsewhere, it comes out next Wednesday (January 15th).

jms
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<font color="red">I don't know if you've ever said, but just "approximately," how much did each Crusade episode cost to produce?

IIRC, B5 was around $1 million per episode. I guess the Crusade cost was about the same as B5??? Farscape was supposedly around $1.4 million per episode, and new Trek is around $2 million per episode. </font>

Yes, Crusade was about the same as B5, a tick under $1M per episode. We did it by long-term planning and having scripts well ahead of time, the same thing that has helped put Jeremiah under-budget in its first season.

jms
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<font color="red">I had asked this question last October. But, now that the second season [Jeremiah] is official and half filmed. Has their been any new info on the show coming to dvd??</font>

I haven't heard anything new on the subject.

jms
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<font color="red">In the reports about Odyssey 5's cancellation it said that Showtime wants to dump it's SF shows, but can't do that to Jeremiah because of some MGM deal...

A) any truth to this? How secure are you guys?</font>

I'd heard the reverse, that Sony had attached a number of conditions to the show that made it fiscally unviable for Showtime to pick it up. At least that's the word on the street among show runner types.

<font color="red">B) Are you going to be able to tell the FULL story with Jeremiah? Go the distance? etc...?</font>

Every series is season-by-season.

jms
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<font color="red">On the contrary, it is a observable fact that the psi corps trilogy has one tiny mistake in it - putting the Icarus incident and Mind War at the same time. The Centauri Trilogy has a whole host of minor timeline problems, like putting five months between the fall of Centauri Prime and Objects at Rest. The "In the Beginning" novelization gives all of Coplann's lines to Morann, (not to mention basically the whole technomage trilogy), but my point is made with the few previous examples.

So then, where is the quality control?</font>


So let me get this straight...based on those tiny errors, which creep in because perfection is much to be strived for but rarely ever achieved, especially when you're bringing in all kinds of different people into the process, on tha basis of a few months difference here and there, which 99.9% of the population wouldn't even notice unless they did a real dig-out of the dates...which only a rather obsessive kind of personality would do in the first place...based on THAT you dismiss the books out of hand? That they have "no quality control?"

And on top of that, as a newcomer here, you go around dissing people and insulting them because they disagree with you?


<font color="red">Understanding someone elses opinon makes it easier to show how they are wrong. Spare me your version of singing Kum-by-yah, I'll deal with facts.</font>

Does the phrase "ill-mannered boob" ring a bell with you?

Just checking, because I suspect you're either going to hear it a lot, or you already have.

jms

([email protected])
(all message content (c) 2003 by synthetic worlds, ltd.,
permission to reprint specifically denied to SFX Magazine
and don't send me story ideas)

<font face="georgia"><font color="red">I don't value other peoples opinions because the vast majority of the time they are ill-informed, and lack any thought or logic behind them - is not my problem nor does it fall under the scope of manners. It does however fall under the scope of politically incorrect, and if anything that must mean I'm more right than I thought.</font>

1) You have just defined the very meaning and the psychology of a troll better than anything I have read online in the last ten years.

2) If you place no value on other peoples' opinions, then you cannot possibly derive anything from your company on this group, since it is contingent upon that premise. Nothing anyone here says can mean anything to you since you do not value their opinions.

As stated: a troll who only comes in to cause furors and annoy people for his own amusement without any interest in a real conversation.

Hey, Jay [newsgroup moderator...Wizz]...can somebody introduce this guy to the workings of a moderated group?

He may not like it much, but the thing about not valuing other peoples' opinions is that it gives them the right not to value yours.

Troll.

jms

([email protected])
(all message content (c) 2003 by synthetic worlds, ltd.,
permission to reprint specifically denied to SFX Magazine
and don't send me story ideas)

[Wizzard...Not that it means a heck of a lot, but the first post this person managed to get in to the moderated newsgroup began with "Well lets see if this happy post gets through....", which tells me he's had a few unsuccessfull attempts. The newsgroup is, in my humble opinion, loosely moderated. Flames are doused quickly, personal attacks aren't allowed, but differing opinions are argued freely. Joe doesn't get into any of the arguements, and really for the most part doesn't say much in the whole of the conversation that takes place. While at first I thought this person had an interesting perspective, although somewhat negative, after reading all of what was posted I have to agree...he's a troll. If you (as a group) would like to see the whole discussion, (and obviously can't), let me know, and I'll reprint it all as posted in the moderated newsgroup]

<font face="georgia">Just to bring folks up to date on stuff. Please forgive the crass commerciality of just dumping this information out in a blipvert like this, but people have been asking about the status of various projects for a while, so I figured I'd just do a brain dump of it all at once.

1) Midnight Nation

After various delays on the publishing side, the graphic novel/trade paperback version of Midnight Nation will be out in bookstores this coming Wednesday (January 15th). This is something I'm immensely proud of, and from my point of view represents some of my best work to date.

It's also available via Amazon at:

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1582402728/qid=1042432838/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_1/104-3188390-0907960?v=glance&s=books&n=507846"]http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1582402728/qid=1042432838/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_1/104-3188390-0907960?v=glance&s=books&n=507846[/ame]

2) Novels

I'm pleased to note that I've just signed a deal with iBooks/Simon and Schuster to republish all of my prior works of fiction, making them available both online and in major bookstores. This includes my novels Demon Night, OtherSyde, and Tribulations, in addition to a collection of my short stories tentatively entitled Straczynski Unplugged (which should make it just about impossible for readers to find it by spelling the title), which would include a number of my Twilight Zone stories, combined with stories published elsewhere but never previously gathered into a single collection (such as "Say Hello, Mister Quigley," originally published in Pulphouse, and "Your Move," originally published in Amazing Stories), and a number of brand new, previously unpublished short stories. I think they're targeting Spring/Summer for the books to come out.

3) Comics: Supreme Power

On new comics projects, I've just turned in issue 3 of Supreme Power, so I'm about 3 weeks ahead of schedule on the writing. The first issue, drawn by Gary Frank of Midnight Nation, is due to hit stores around March 16th. This is a very serious story, one of the most mature things I've written, oddly enough, given the medium. My scripts have turned into these huge, 50 page (for a 22 page book) Alan Moore-ish tomes that are designed to be visually dense. It's a rethinking of a number of superhero conventions that, so far, has turned out very well, I think. For various reasons we've kept a fairly low profile on this, until we could get a number of issues ready to go, and to avoid word getting out prematurely on what we have in mind, 'cause over the long haul it will prove to be kind of controversial. Once it hits stores, I suspect it'll move out pretty fast unless folks have dibs on copies.

4) Comics: Doctor Strange

Finally, I've turned an expanded, 35 page outline for a Doctor Strange limited series in to Marvel, and will be writing the script for that one as soon as I can get my head above water (easier on the keyboard that way). I wanted to bring the Doc into the 21st century and revisualize certain aspects of his character and his history. It's not intended to be as deep or as potentially controversial as Supreme Power, this one's for fun because I'm a longtime fan of Doc Strange, and want to do something nifty with the character.

I've also agreed to do a three-issue Spider-Man/Fantastic Four crossover, which should also be fun. (Which is the only reason to do anything, to be honest.) I think we've slotted that one to begin around issue 55 or so of Amazing Spider-Man.

Anyway, I think that's about it on the pubishing side...apologies again for the commercialness of this.

jms
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<font color="red">No apology necessary. Despite occasional evidence to the contrary, this IS a group of fans of your work. If anything, many of us would be upset if you DIDN'T tell us what was coming out!</font>

Thanks...actually, as it is, I forgot to mentoin that the next Spidey comes out next week (the 22nd).

jms
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<font color="red">Does the above mean that you'll be remaining on Amazing, instead of a new Spidey book?</font>

Yep.

jms
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<font color="red">Does this collection of short stories include anything in the B5 universe?</font>

No, that stuff was licensed via WB.

jms

([email protected])
(all message content (c) 2003 by synthetic worlds, ltd.,
permission to reprint specifically denied to SFX Magazine
and don't send me story ideas)</font><font size="-4">

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ January 14, 2003 06:18 PM: Message edited by: Wizz ]</font>