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<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
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<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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and don't send me story ideas)
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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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permission to reprint specifically denied to SFX Magazine
and don't send me story ideas)
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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
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<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
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<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
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<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>
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<font face="georgia">Re: Attn: JMS - Any word on DVD sales?
All I'll say is that Warners is, apparently, stunned.
jms
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<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
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<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
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<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
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<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
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<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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