=========================================================================== | This text is compiled from posts by J. Michael Straczynski on the Usenet | group alt.tv.babylon-5. This document contains material Copyright 1993 | J. Michael Straczynski. He has given permission for his words to be | redistributed online, as long as they are marked as being copyright JMS. | This document, as well as other Babylon-5 related material, is available | by anonymous FTP at ftp.hyperion.com. =========================================================================== From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 1 Dec 1993 01:31:09 -0500 Subject: When does the series begin bro The series goes on the air around January 26th. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 1 Dec 1993 01:35:38 -0500 Subject: Legal aspects of the Bablyon 5 Going over all the information required for a decent answer to your question would take a very long time; suffice to say that we continue to look to the legal aspects of the B5 universe for complications and areas of conflict; and we're thinking through that legal system *very* carefully; look for some interesting extrapolations on this subject later in our first season.... jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 1 Dec 1993 01:36:03 -0500 Subject: Takashima Query/Observation No one on B5 knows of Laurel's complicity. With the removal of her character, certain aspects of that arc have been transferred elsewhere. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 1 Dec 1993 01:42:21 -0500 Subject: Re: Query to JMS on a minor po In "Midnight," Sinclair had to be pretty much in command mode all during the episode as a character, so that influences the result. But in later episodes, we get him out of those situations, out of uniform, and into other settings where he can be more relaxed. So that's coming, and you'll see it *very* early on in the first season. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 1 Dec 1993 02:26:25 -0500 Subject: "Mind War" Spoiler Most telepaths fall into the category of P1 through P10; all Psi Cops are P12s. This is something we've established elsewhere, in earlier discussions. They're the Men in Black. They don't talk much. They don't have to. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 1 Dec 1993 20:07:29 -0500 Subject: Bab-5..Too good to be true? If there's anything about "Midnight" that I would change...ehh... that's a tough question to ask any producer or writer. I can't think of anything I've done that I wouldn't want to go back and tweak. The only real drawback we had was that we were still building sets as we filmed our first few episodes, so we didn't have access to all of the full range of sets. Not that we really needed them, the story works fine in the sets we had, but we could've moved one or two shots around into different sets just for variety. But aside from general tweaking, I don't think there's really anything I'd change in it. My problem is that I'm too close to it, and there are a number of episodes we shot afterward that blow it right out of the water in terms of quality, production values and the rest; I'd have to say that my favorite shows to date, in order, would be The Parliament of Dreams, Mind War, And the Sky Full of Stars, Soul Hunter, Born to the Purple, Midnight, Believers, Infection, The War Prayer, Survivors and Grail. Chrysalis, which we're shooting now, will probably take over the Favorite #2 spot from Mind War. We're fighting to make every episode better than the one before it. We're going to have a brass plaque put up here in the offices one of these days, before we finish, saying, "If you're not here to kick ass, get out." jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 2 Dec 1993 02:36:51 -0500 Subject: Re: Bab-5..Too good to be true My feelings toward "Sky" haven't changed one iota; it's still got things in it you've never seen before on television. I put "Parliament" and "Mind War" in front because the performances are just so wonderful, so compelling...and from a selfish reason, because I think I did some of the best writing I've ever done in those two episodes. "Sky" remains an absolutely compelling piece of work, and it's got some visuals that'll just knock you out. This is like asking a parent which is his favorite child; it's not always the obvious choice, the biggest and strongest and fastest; it's the one with the little quirks and eccentricities that he likes the most. Ditto here. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 2 Dec 1993 03:29:25 -0500 Subject: Re: Some Wanna-See's revisited The uniforms have pockets jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 2 Dec 1993 20:44:00 -0500 Subject: showing on channel 4? Yes, Channel 4 in England has bought B5. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 3 Dec 1993 14:39:52 -0500 Subject: Teepers Psi Corps level P11 are generally administrators. "Teepers" is an interesting term. Origin? jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 3 Dec 1993 19:47:03 -0500 Subject: Questions Silvana Gallardo played Dr. Maya Hernandez in "Believers." We're actually using a fairly large number of Hispanic actors in the series, along with other groups. Just cast an actor named Jose Rey as a character named Eduardo Delvientos, as well as a great number of asians and african americans as senators, advisors, doctors, and so on. It's been my belief, and I'll say it again, that if we go to the stars at all, we're ALL going...or no one's going. We've got to get past this crap. Kosh's voice is done by an actor, overlaid on musical notes which are Kosh's natural voice-tones. (We hear the English via translator device.) The February Cinefantastique will have a cover story on the B5 series. There are a number of major magazines planning B5 stuff, but it's premature to announce them at this time. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 4 Dec 1993 23:33:53 -0500 Subject: Still using toaster? The Toaster is still being used. The comments re: silicon graphics workstations are hallucinations. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 5 Dec 1993 18:46:18 -0500 Subject: Re: *SPOILERS* Episode Info RE: "Believers" ... "if this isn't done REALLY well...." It was. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 5 Dec 1993 18:46:37 -0500 Subject: Little tiny bug in pilot? (new Kosh's ship had to decelerate in order to dock inside the station. This is a reality of spaceflight...you must both accelerate and decelerate. Both take time. Especially if you're going to dock. Plus there was time involved in setting up the docking procedure, turning over control to Babylon Control, lining up vectors and so on. The fighters didn't have to worry about any of this. They came shooting through the gate and barely slowed at all, speeding over to B5 and taking up position. There have now been several situations in which we've been accused of "mistakes" that have, instead, simply been things done scientifically accurately. I have to say (and this isn't directed at you, just more of a general statement), we're not going to hand everyone everything on a silver platter, serving up pablum...the nature of a *science fiction* series is that you should THINK about things. The acceleration/deceleration thing is one example; some thought about why this would be would have led to the answer. And, as evidenced by other messages here, others have taken the time to look at it from that perspective. Which I think is great. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 5 Dec 1993 19:48:19 -0500 Subject: A Couple Questions There may be a two-parter in our first season, though not the cliffhanger episode. Which is all I can say on that at this time. Re: science advisors...we have a few we use from time to time, but for the most part our people KNOW sf, and those who design the EFX KNOW science, and our writers are good SF writers, so it really isn't much of a problem, we haven't had to go outside much at all. We had to go to our medical advisor recently for some terminology, but we're happily very self-sufficient in that regard. Nearly everyone involved in the show from a certain level on is a techno-wonk, and will sit for *hours* with you discussing how many feet per second a starfury travels when it first drops out of the cobra bay (I believe it's 32 fps), and so on. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 6 Dec 1993 03:13:20 -0500 Subject: starships The EA starships are...too cool to try and describe here. Better to let you see them in action. (And no, no warp nacelles...that's another show....) jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 7 Dec 1993 04:58:33 -0500 Subject: Re: starships I'll try to get the specs from Ron; I'd hazard a guess that some of the larger cruisers, like the passenger liner Asimov, are about 2 kilometers across, much too large to fit into B5, so they have to use smaller transports to shuttle passengers to and from B5. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 7 Dec 1993 05:52:30 -0500 Subject: Re: Teepers BTW, the Psi Corps is not officially part of the military, though they're regulated by the government. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 7 Dec 1993 05:52:55 -0500 Subject: Pilot Question? Religion? Religion is actually a fairly common topic in the B5 series; it's in "By Any Means Necessary," "The Parliament of Dreams," and several other episodes, sometimes subtly, sometimes as a main theme. And we will be dealing with cross-pollinization of religion across species and worlds, and you will see some of the Centauri pantheon of gods. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 7 Dec 1993 05:53:00 -0500 Subject: Alright, another tiny question Your memory is faulty. It was stated in the pilot that Kosh's ship took roughly 4 days to travel via hyperspace to B5. That's from Vorlon space; we don't know where the fleet was when it entered jump. Because such ships can make their own jump points, it could've been a lot closer to B5 space when it went in. (And was.) RE: your other point...it's not normally expected in the course of an average day that an invading fleet is going to come through; and in the course of the series, that's NOT a common problem. Troops Attacking The Station is too easy a story. What the gate is set up to do is recognize the energy signature/coded frequency of an incoming ship or ships. It doesn't determine the size of the ship until it's about to come out, and thus adjust the placement of the gate sections accordingly. If there were a war on, the allowable frequencies and codes would be changed regularly to prevent this problem. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 7 Dec 1993 05:53:16 -0500 Subject: Re: Questions Of course, one problem with your message is that there are very few black australian actors in L.A., particularly if you're talking about aborigine actors. This complicates casting. That said, however, we are casting outside the usual American parameters as much as we can...and there *were* "turbans" (to use your phrase) in the pilot; check the business room scene, and others. And there are more in the series. We are working as hard as possible to get as wide a view of the future as we can. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 7 Dec 1993 05:54:20 -0500 Subject: Re: Teepers Psi's can start at P1 and work their way up a level or two, or start right out at an untrained P10 level...though they're not noted for their stability. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 7 Dec 1993 06:53:42 -0500 Subject: Re: Pilot Question? Religion? Let me make one point clear re: my attitudes toward religion. I'm an atheist. Plain and simple. Unlike many who claim to be christians, I've actually *read* the Bible. Cover to cover. *Twice*. It has some very good writing, and some pretty awful writing. I tip my hat to ANYONE who can get through Deuteronomy and Numbers without drowsing...while the story of Job has some of the best writing imaginable. That said...I have no desire or interest in bashing somebody's religion as long as that somebody stays out of my face. In terms of my writing, and my shows...if a writer wants to be honest, he has to look at the full spectrum of human experience and treat it honestly. And though I do not believe as some might, there is some human impulse that keeps dragging us toward belief. It is part of the human process of trying to solve the problem of life, the universe and everything (to quote Adams). And you have to respect that, even if you don't agree with it. So I tend to treat the subject with respect. Also with humor, on occasion, but never to bash. Fanatics of *any* stripe are, however, ripe targets. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 7 Dec 1993 19:29:53 -0500 Subject: Re: New GIF's... BTW, there will be a satellite feed of B5 series promos Friday the 10th of December (12:30-12:45 p.m. ET), Thursday the 9th (9:45-10 p.m. ET), and Monday December 13th (3:30-3:45 p.m. ET) on Galaxy 4, Channel 21, audio 5.8=stereo (left), 6.2=stereo right, 6.8 mono mix. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 7 Dec 1993 22:28:26 -0500 Subject: Starship.gif I think what you're referring to in starship.gif is NOT something that was uploaded by, or authorized by us...and is based on a photo that appeared, mistakenly, in Starlog, which had nothing to do with our series. (Several such photos appeared in that spread, including a brick foundry.) The starship.gif file has *nothing* to do with Babylon 5, and should be deleted from the ftp site. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 8 Dec 1993 01:49:43 -0500 Subject: Starship.gif Jesus...don't yell. I was talking as myself, about how fast a Starfury drops out of the cobra bay, this isn't B5 canon, this didn't show up in a script, this is just informal talk. I'm sure if we have to go into measurements in the show, we'll either go metric or find some new system altogether. (I believe we've used kilometers in at least one episode.) Anyway...relax.... jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 8 Dec 1993 13:52:22 -0500 Subject: What is the economic system? The Earth economy still runs on basic capitalism; the corporations under-write surveying and exploitation of planets, in some cases then selling what they find to the government in return for a piece of the profits, or via direct exploitation itself. (By law they're forbidden from exploiting or strip-mining worlds with sentient life.) There is also, as we discover in one episode, a big market for archaeologists who dig into now-dead worlds for whatever technology they can find, which might have been ancient there, but are new to us. There are a whole bunch of ships in Earthforce; it's been ten years since the war, and they've had considerable time to regroup. Currently we're closed to specs, but that may change in year two. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 8 Dec 1993 13:52:41 -0500 Subject: Re: Jump Gates and Inertia "What is the principle behind the jump gate?" Manufactured by Whammo. (Still working out the details.....) jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 8 Dec 1993 14:19:48 -0500 Subject: Alright, another tiny question Okay, okay, 8 days not four...I knew it weren't no 3 weeks, though. The one thing to remember is that travel in hyperspace isn't the main problem; the real problem, time-wise, is the period required to get from a world to its nearest jump gate. It might take 4 days to travel from World X to the gate, and 1 day to B5 in hyperspace...while another race, 1 day from the gate, and 1 day to B5 in hyperspace, only has 2 travel days. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 8 Dec 1993 21:05:22 -0500 Subject: Returned mail: Service unavail "Is Delenn being used, or is she using?" Yes...and that's *not* an evasion of the question. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 9 Dec 1993 02:33:23 -0500 Subject: Re: What is the economic syste The corporations sell some discoveries to the government if the government is in a better position to exploit the find. The corps aren't all-powerful; they have limits as well. If they find something they can exploit commercially themselves, and which they have the resources to get, then of course they'll do it themselves. If the discovery is of greatest military utility, and is a real pain in the ass to get, they'll sell the info to the government in exchange for certain rights and fees. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 9 Dec 1993 14:48:51 -0500 Subject: Success of B5 "These people know what they are doing." Then someone please tell me why I can never pull together matching socks in the morning.... Sentiment appreciated. And with luck, we won't disappoint. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 9 Dec 1993 14:49:21 -0500 Subject: JMS - Please keep... Yes, we're keeping the power-up sounds of the weapons, and the discharge sound. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 9 Dec 1993 14:49:39 -0500 Subject: Re: space suits How can I get a copy of this russian space catalog? jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 9 Dec 1993 14:49:59 -0500 Subject: Re: Starship.gif There are plans for cast-related shots to be uploaded in time, yes. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 9 Dec 1993 21:49:24 -0500 Subject: Re: Pilot Question? Religion? "...it is very rare to see a character on TV with religious beliefs who *isn't* a fanatic." Excuse me while I reach for my baseball bat. You've just struck a nerve. That is the biggest line of crap in the world, perpetuated by the religious right and parrotted all over the place as though it were true, and it's not. The television landscape, past and present, is *littered* with religious-type people who are sympathetically portrayed. I don't have my volume of TOTAL TELEVISION with me at the moment, but just off the top of my head...there were bunches of prayerful folks in "Little House on the Prarie," in "Father Murphy," in the "Father Dowling" mysteries, in "Helltown"...not to mention the many, MANY times they appear in dramatic series (we had about 5 sympathetic priest/reverend characters per season in "Murder, She Wrote"). One can *say* that it is rare, but saying it doesn't make it so. There have been religious people as stars of shows (I left out "Dr. Quinn" with guest stars of this nature) and guest stars of shows, as recurring characters and regular characters, in dramas and sitcoms.... Now: I've just named you a whole bunch of series, and once I get to my library can name you a lot more. I for one would very much appreciate it if you could name one -- just ONE -- series with an atheist as the lead character. An avowed atheist, just as Father Dowling is an avowed priest. (Oh, yeah, and let's not forget the practicing catholics, protestants and jews portrayed in "Picket Fences.") Your serve. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 10 Dec 1993 21:02:31 -0500 Subject: Poll If I might make a suggestion...it seems to me that a poll on the B5 pilot at this time is fairly useless. In most cases, it's been almost a year since anyone's seen the pilot, and that will affect things. It's also a little unfair to do it at this time. We've hashed and rehashed the pilot, its qualities and deficits, over and over and over...we're six weeks from the *series* going on line...would it not be better to do a poll of the series instead, once it gets going? jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 10 Dec 1993 21:03:46 -0500 Subject: Re: Pilot Question? Religion? I didn't mention other (non-Western) religions because that wasn't what we were discussing at the moment. But having said that...we do plan on showcasing other religions (human) as well as western ones. If you don't see much of it on other TV, here's why: because those who complain most that, in a country with freedom of religion, their group (evangelicals) isn't portrayed enough then turn around and raise absolute hell the moment ANY other religion is portrayed on TV in an even remotely sympathetic fashion. It took years for television to show jews on TV; we're still working on the rest. If you show a Moslem or a Zen monk on TV, you get hate mail accusing you of advancing the cause of satanism...similar letters go to networks and sponsors and studios. It's ironic that those who complain of persecution the loudest, ard (are) generally the ones with the most power, and the quickest to persecute someone else if it serves their purposes. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 10 Dec 1993 21:08:35 -0500 Subject: Re: Pilot Question? Religion? I'm sorry, but there *are* accurate portrayals of christians and other religious people on television. (And please don't cite TV Guide to me as a reference on *anything*...they buy into the okeydoke just like anybody else because they don't challenge the premise and investigate the actual facts.) I would point out that David Kelley, producer of "Picket Fences," just got an award from Catholics in Media for his portrayal of that group of believers. (Does that group fit one's definition of a group whose every, smallest, tiniest decision is based on the bible? It probably doesn't, but that group is only a very small percentage of the population, despite their volume.) Maybe the evangelicals don't consider Catholics, and portrayals of catholics, as christians, but that is an issue between you and them, not you and TV. There's a sympathetic, realistic minister on "Dr. Quinn" as well as on many other shows. Now, you again cite the party line about christians and other believers being portrayed as knife-weilding maniacs on TV. Please now cite to me your specific examples. I have been willing to provide you with specifics to the contrary. Let's see what evidence you have about this fleet of maniac christians committing murders. Names and shows, please. See, what happens here is that people begin to fall for the Big Lie. Someone says "X is true." And uncritical people accept this without really stopping to investigate for themselves. They spread the statement that X is true, until finally everyone's saying it...but it isn't true. This is a *prime* example of this. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 11 Dec 1993 01:10:53 -0500 Subject: Re: Alright, another tiny ques A little shamelessness is good for the soul...and yes, good writing can be very sexy...something about strengthening the fingers by hours and hours spent behind the keyboard.... jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 11 Dec 1993 03:19:02 -0500 Subject: Re: Using "God" and other idio So far I don't think you're making an ass of yourself at all. And as a pagan, I think you'll be quite intrigued by something we're doing (actually, several things we're doing) in an episode entitled "The Parliament of Dreams." The points you make re: the use of vocabulary are very close to my heart. I grew up reading mountains of books, chewing through Bradbury and Matheson and Clarke, as well as mainstream novels, history, philosophy and the literature of other cultures. I love the rhythm and flow and sense of language, the simple elegance of an honestly stated emotion, and the lightning and thunder of argument. (Which is one reason I enjoyed spending time in Ireland lately, running around Dublin and New Grange and -- I'm about to massacre the spelling -- Glen de loch; the Irish people are the biggest bunch of high-verbals you'll ever find.) I grew up on books, and radio drama, and reading plays and writing all of the above. Serling, Corwin, Chayefsky, Bradbury and Ellison tended to be the templates I looked to when I was learning, not how to write, but how to *listen*. And I'm constantly feeling as though I'm just now, after several books, 500+ articles, short stories, and over 100 produced television scripts...just *now* learning a little of what it means to write...and how far I have to go. It's a real challenge. There are moments when I fire up an -- just about ANY episode -- of the original Twilight Zone, or some episodes of Night Gallery (such as Serling's "They're Tearing Down Tim Riley's Bar") and I'm ashamed to even call myself a writer in that company. Anyway, now *I'm* running off at the fingers.... jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 11 Dec 1993 19:14:33 -0500 Subject: Recreation in B5 Sports/recreation are things we're still trying to work out; not the conceptual part, but the part about "okay, how do we SHOOT this?" I'm not big on "virtual reality" parlors or combat...I think people will still be more interested in playing with real people than pixels. So we're trying to find ways we can visualize, in a TV series, things like zero-G tag or football, other sports that use our unique space environment. One possibility is now being worked on, and we'll see if we can work it out for this season. In any event, it's definitely something we're thinking about...I just don't want to rush into doing it until I know we can do it properly. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 11 Dec 1993 22:51:12 -0500 Subject: Thoughts from a lurker Though there was CGI involved with Power, it was Ron who really brought the idea of doing CGI for B5 to the forefront; we'd previously figured on using models. This was about 2 years before we went on the air with the pilot. We're trying to work out the languages to some detail, but not as much as I'd like, at this point. It'll probably have to wait until the post-season hiatus before I can sit down and really start pulling together a rough dictionary of sorts. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 12 Dec 1993 18:55:05 -0500 Subject: Gays We have no intention of avoiding the gay question. We will not, however, do a "gay story," which is usually described by those friends and acquaintances of mine in derogatory terms...a la, "fags are people too." The sense I get is that they resent the hell out of that kind of patronizing approach. The one suggestion that comes most often is, "Why not simply introduce a character, we get to know that character over the run of a season, and at some point discover, practically in passing, that this person is bi or gay...*don't* make a big issue out of it, just show it." And that's what we're going to do. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 13 Dec 1993 00:04:30 -0500 Subject: Re: Pilot Question? Religion? How Orson Scott Card treats christians in his books, or how Marvel comics does so, is a whole other discussion. It's also something of a distraction. We're talking about TeeVee at the moment. And what usually happens in these discussions is what is happening here...bogus statistics are thrown out, and then when challenged, people turn to smoke and turn the discussion to other areas. As for the Crusades...yes, christians did a lot of killing in the name of religion. One might not like that, but that also happens to be history. It happened. Even today, some looney or other gets it into his head that god told him to go up to the belltower and start shooting at people. People who commit suicide because they think god told them to, or kill their families. They are, however, the minority; the properly classified Lunatic Fringe. For the most part, we seem to have evolved (if one can use that in a discussion of religion) past organized activities to where only a few still pull this stuff. I have no problem with christians, or moslems, or any other group provided that they don't attempt to circumvent my own rights, and disallow my own views within my own group. I have a number of friends who are absolute, solid Born Agains. One of them is one of the country's most regarded cult-busters. And we have *constant* go-arounds over the issues of the day, from every possible perspective...a value, I think, in having friends outside *SHOWBIZ*. It keeps you in touch with views you don't necessarily agree with. Generally speaking, no one really changes the other's beliefs, or lack thereof, but one does walk away with a better understanding of the other positions involved. The one thing that all of my Born Again friends have in common is that they haven't shuttered their critical faculties; they believe that they were given the facility to think logically by god for a *reason*, and they apply that reason in equal measure to their faith. When one of the apostles wanted to put his hand in Jesus's side to verify that he was indeed up and walking around again, he wasn't told "No, forget it, just take my word for it," he was allowed to do so. Because reasoning is part of what makes us who and what we are, and sets us above the beasts of the field. One of the greatest figures in the old testament is Solomon, who was esteemed because of his *wisdom* as well as his faith. He thought things through in a logical, critical fashion, and came up with solutions. It's only uncritical thinking that I have a problem with. And what this has to do with Babylon 5 is anyone's guess.... jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 14 Dec 1993 01:43:11 -0500 Subject: Re: Pilot Question? Religion? Garibaldi is an agnostic. Ivanova is jewish. Sinclair was raised catholic and underwent training as a Jesuit. Dr. Franklin is a Foundationist. Catherine Sakai is buddhist. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 14 Dec 1993 15:55:56 -0500 Subject: Re: Pilot Question? Religion? I didn't say, and didn't intend to imply, that as you say, religion CAUSES insane actions. What it can do is to legitimize some actions, and provoke others. As an illustration of the former: the Bible was used to justify everything from the Crusades to slavery. Incorrectly, as many believers are quick to point out today. In the case of the latter: where generally speaking rock'n'roll does not encourage you to believe that you are being spoken to by supernatural beings, or that you were born sinful, and those more weird albums that do get into this stuff are generally not credible or recognized or legitimate...religion comes replete with devils and gods and is given fair legitimacy by society. If you have someone with a fragile ego, someone who may be inclined toward hearing voices, someone who is already a touch disturbed, such elements may contribute to or exacerbate the problem. Cause the problem? No. Contribute? That's another issue.... jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 14 Dec 1993 15:56:18 -0500 Subject: Re: Pilot Question? Religion? Of course there are atheists in high command ranks; I was asked to name those who had religions. Atheism, despite what some say, is not a religion. As for the ambassadors...I didn't know what could really be accomplished by naming their religions. If I said -- as happens to be true, as we'll seen in an ep called "By Any Means" -- that G'Kar is a follower of G'Quan...what would that mean to anyone? jms (Computer glitch in the above...the title is "By Any Means Necessary.") From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 14 Dec 1993 15:57:13 -0500 Subject: Re: Pilot Question? Religion? What kind of Jewish Ivanova is...is something she's trying to resolve in her own head. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 14 Dec 1993 23:40:35 -0500 Subject: sexy language (Was: Using "God In what areas of my writing would I like to see improvement? ALL of them. And if I ever STOP looking for areas to improve...pick out a comely shroud, because I'm dead. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 15 Dec 1993 13:58:47 -0500 Subject: Re: Pilot Question? Religion? "Have you been dodging the question of what Foundationism is?" Of course I've been dodging it. What I can say for now is that it has nothing to do with Asimov other than an echo in the name; the nature of Foundationism is separate and distinct, dealing with a spiritual Foundation of a particular nature. It's a new religion that has come up in the time between the present and 2258. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 17 Dec 1993 15:20:45 -0500 Subject: Promos Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution writes and assembles the promos, and gets them to the stations, which then have the option of running them as-is, or editing to their own preference. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 17 Dec 1993 18:36:29 -0500 Subject: Re: Pilot Question? Religion? "I've yet to see proof for the nonexistence of god." It is impossible to prove a negative, and it should not be the goal of any discussion to try and force someone to either prove a negative, or concede the validity of the opposing view. In other words...if you say, "There are green penguins in the North Pole," it is not incumbent upon me to prove that there are, in fact, no green penguins in the North Pole. It is incumbent upon the person making the *statement* to prove his assertion. If it cannot be proven, then it must be dismissed. Much is made of the notion that faith is something that should not require proof, that god objects to the idea of proving things. But this position is not scripturally sound or based. Christ made the repeated implication that he was there as the culmination of prophecy, that his walking around was living proof of prophecy...so clearly he felt no problem with offering proof *himself*, and offering himself AS proof, as a living person. (I'm not taking a stance I accept theologically, only arguing the logic behind doctrine itself.) When one of his disciples refused to believe that it was he arisen from the grave, he didn't say, "No, just take my word for it," he invited his disciple to stick his hand in the wound. When Moses was called upon to prove his statements that he was speaking to Pharoah on behalf of god, *he* certainly had no problem with proving his statements, through the transformation of the staff and the numerous plagues that followed. The whole notion that religion must proceed ONLY on faith, and that no proof can be required, is in *total* contradiction to what is actually in the bible, as acted by the key figures in both the old and new testaments. It is an assertion made only some time thereafter, when the supposed proofs chronicled in the bible -- miracles, apparitions, the freezing in place of the sun, frog-rains and open wounds -- ceased to make regular appearances. If Christ, asked to provide proof of his ressurrected self, has no problem at all with providing such proof, I cannot understand why anyone calling himself a Christian would have a problem with such a request. But then, as Mark Twain said, "If Christ were alive today, there is one thing he would not be: a Christian." jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 18 Dec 1993 01:14:50 -0500 Subject: Fan Scripts The problem, of course, with (to use your term) "fan scripts" is that B5 is unlike just about any other SF series ever done for American television: it is a NOVEL for TV. To clarify by way of comparison: let's say you're writing a novel. And someone out there wants to write a spec chapter for that novel, without the knowledge of where you want to go with the novel overall. It becomes next to impossible. This show is not hard-up for ideas, as some others have been in the past. Basically every single episode is broken-out in synopsis or outline for a full five-year run...110 episodes. Now, we won't necessarily use all of those stories; there's room in each season set aside for non-arc related stories developed in close association with our writers. Which generally means assigning them a story, or giving them an incident which must take place in the story, while leaving the overall episode story to the writer to develop. *Every* episode this season, with one exception, has been based on an assigned premise, which I've written and given or described in detail to the writer. (The exception is DC Fontana's second story/script for us, "Legacies." The first one was assigned to get her well acquainted with our universe, after which she's in a better position to develop her own stuff in close coordination with us, and the overall story arc...when she developed "Legacies," we had to be sure to give her a certain number of scripts that circle the area she chose to explore, so that she would know where that part of the arc was going.) Nonetheless, we're still determined to find some way to integrate newer writers with pros. A fan script, for instance, might work as a sample, but almost certainly couldn't be bought on its own terms. (And btw, this is actually the rule in nearly every series out there; even ST almost never buys a spec wholecloth, only in exceptional cases...as a matter of course, the spec just gets the writer in the door to pitch a story. The difference here is that a spec might get the writer in the B56 (B5) door to *get* a story assigned. But again, we're still working out the dynamic of how that works. The other complication, of course, is that we want to concentrate on using established SF writers, since that is the venue least tapped by other shows.) The model created by ST in this regard has virtually nothing to do with how 90% of TV series work, and definitely nothing to do with the way B5 works. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 19 Dec 1993 21:31:34 -0500 Subject: Tech manual? Ron's chomping at the bit (actually, he's chomped THROUGH the bit) to do a tech manual. I wouldn't be surprised if there were one sooner or later, if the series is as successful as hoped for, but it's still a bit down the road. As for merchandising...it's not so much that I'm against it, I just don't want it to get in the way, and it *won't* get in the way. I won't allow it. So I try to keep some measure of distance between me and that stuff. If a deal gets made, all that matters to me is that it's done properly, and presented in continuity with the rest of the B5 universe. Mainly, I don't want this to get out of control, or turn into a "franchise." jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 21 Dec 1993 02:27:35 -0500 Subject: Re: Threads Wanted Never did get the cap, no...haven't had the nerve to wear the shirt yet around the B5 office. Somebody might ask me to explain it...and I'm not entirely sure that I could.... jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 21 Dec 1993 02:30:24 -0500 Subject: Re: Program Guides, something I haven't yet heard the final disposition on the schedule for airing; we'll have plenty done, enough to run them straight through, but I don't know if PTEN will do that, or show new ones, then rerun a few, then more new ones, as they did with the other PTEN shows. When I do know, I'll be sure to post the info. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 21 Dec 1993 02:45:15 -0500 Subject: Re: Tech manual? (computer ba Yes, PTEN is putting out an electronic/computer program that will be freeware, and will contain photos, inside info, some of the theme music in a .wav file, stuff about the station and the characters, and so on. The already posted gif files aren't part of that. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 21 Dec 1993 02:47:30 -0500 Subject: Question on writing... Well, it's not really like ST *or* NYPD (or many other alphabet shows). It's kind of a weird balancing act. As with any television show, in any given episode there is a Problem facing our characters. A danger, a negotiation, a visitor, whatever; it has to be dealt with within that hour. But when all is said and done, little threads have been introduced that begin to very lightly link other shows together. For instance, a thread introduced in "Midnight" rises again in "Legacies" and "By Any Means Necessary." In other shows, there is a character introduced who returns later, upon whose return visit we learn something different about them. Some threads won't even LOOK like threads the first time you see an episode; they'll just skate past without drawing undue attention. It's only later, on seeing some later shows, that you will suddenly twig to something in the first episode. The best comparison I can come up with is one of those rohrscharch tests, where it looks like an inkblot picture of an urn...until someone tells you that it's actually two people kissing...and then suddenly, WHAM!, you see it, and now you can't see anything else, and can't believe you didn't see it in the first place. That, at least, is the theory. We'll see how it all works starting in about a month. It's really an experiment; no one's done anything this large, over so great a planned span before. Should be interesting.... jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 21 Dec 1993 02:48:59 -0500 Subject: Children There are not, as a rule, many kids on B5. They are more the exception than the rule, and even there mainly traveling to or from one place to another with their families. This is not a place where you come to raise families; it's a way-station, not a destination. And given the fates of B1-B4, nearly everyone who chooses to come work there has left their families for a period of X-years to earn fairly good sized salaries working B5 (hazard pay and all that). Hybrids are impossible in the B5 universe without direct genetic alteration. You can't just have casual mating. Interspecies sex may present opportunities for exploration, but the chances of a Narn impregnating a human are about the same as a human impregnating a fish and producing a motorcycle. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 21 Dec 1993 02:57:49 -0500 Subject: Re: Program Guides, something The summary categories seem fine; I'd add one that wouldn't be used in all cases, but often enough to merit inclusion: "Important Stuff We Didn't Know Was Important Until Later." jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 21 Dec 1993 02:57:56 -0500 Subject: A Couple Questions Structure: teaser, four acts, tag. The four acts are longer than five acts (per act), and let you get a little deeper into the story by a smidge. And no clear idea yet on the exact scheduling info. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 21 Dec 1993 19:37:30 -0500 Subject: Re: Merchandising Babylon5 I don't know if any company yet has approached or acquired the RPG rights. And I don't *really* know enough about the area to suggest anyone, although most of the RPGs that I own are by Chaosium. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 21 Dec 1993 20:35:54 -0500 Subject: Re: Children No, G'Kar wasn't lying to Lyta; he mentions in passing that there would have to be some genetic manipulation, so that part still obtains. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 21 Dec 1993 20:36:39 -0500 Subject: Making of? Yes, there will be a "Making Of Babylon 5" documentary, and it'll be hosted/narrated by Walter Koenig. Expect it to air in most markets a few days prior to the series launch. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 22 Dec 1993 04:00:21 -0500 Subject: Re: Making of? The documentary is on the making of the SERIES, not the pilot; it's a whole new critter, and we're being more careful not to let anyone get cutsie this time. Looks like it'll be okay. In any event, it'll focus on current stuff, not old stuff. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 22 Dec 1993 16:32:47 -0500 Subject: Commercials... yuck. :( Get me the full information on which station, and what was shown, and I'll convey this to Warners, which will take care of it. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 23 Dec 1993 21:57:56 -0500 Subject: Re: Children As I've noted elsewhere, G'Kar made mention of the need for genetic alteration/modification during the scene with Lyta. Beyond that, though, G'Kar's personal perversion is sex with humans, which no one else seems quite able to understand.... jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 24 Dec 1993 17:42:36 -0500 Subject: Cinefantastique Article I would not describe n'grath as a "Mafia boss," since that's a very specific term. Nor is it really any kind of organization. He's a fixer, somebody you go to when you need something...a bodyguard, forged identicards, what-have-you. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 24 Dec 1993 20:14:27 -0500 Subject: Re: *SPOILERS* Episode Info The production order was determined only by production requirements, not the story. The airdate schedule is the one that matters. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 24 Dec 1993 23:46:29 -0500 Subject: Re: Cinefantastique Article The B5 cover story in CFQ should be in the March issue, which will be out around the first week of February/last part of January. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 25 Dec 1993 22:44:38 -0500 Subject: Re: B5 FAQL: Babylon 5 Frequen "YET another Asian woman whose only purpose in a TV show is to be the love interest of the leading non-Asian man, really bites." Tell me, how do you come to the conclusion that this is Catherine Sakai's ONLY purpose? Have you read the scripts? She has a relationship with the commander, yes. If you choose to define a woman only in terms of her relationship with a man, that's your choice, but certainly not what I have in mind. Catherine Sakai is a surveyer. She has her own business. She has her own ship. In some episode, she has nothing whatsoever to do with the commander, she's off doing her own business. In "Mind War," as one example, we see her for 30 seconds with the commander in the morning, with both going off to their respective jobs, and that's it...the rest of the story she's in is exclusively hers, concerning something she runs into while on a survey run. Moreover, she has a role in the overall arc of the story that is considerably outside being somebody's main squeeze. Perhaps you might consider actually *seeing* the show, and her character, before judging it. If you're going to speak out against prejudice, as your message seems to imply, perhaps you should start with your own prejudices against something you haven't even seen yet, and stop judging women characters solely in terms of who they're involved with. One of the areas I'm most proud of in my writing is the development of *very* strong female characters...and Catherine Sakai is one of the strongest, and most independent I've come up with yet. So how about you hold off judgment until you've actually *seen* who she is, and what she does...? jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 26 Dec 1993 03:58:48 -0500 Subject: Paintings in B5 The matte interior of the B5 garden was done very quickly, in a very brief period of time, when the model we'd built of the Garden ended up unsatisfactory. We actually built a model of the thing, which was abou5 (about) 10-12 feet long, big enough to walk through, showing the circular walls and garden...but it just didn't work for us. So Ron quickly put together the garden matte used in the pilot. We've re-done that, and I think it's better. I think it works best in some of the night scenes, as in the Fresh Air Restaurant you'll see in "Born to the Purple" and other episodes, but it's better. The only problem that I still have with it is that we've used a slight haze to the garden CGI/matte, since looking across about half a kilometer of open air you'd *get* a haze like that, but for my tastes it kinda flattens it out a bit, you lose the contrasts and kicks. Others like it a lot. It's something we're still tweaking for best effect. The core shuttle, with its component CGI element, has been totally redesigned. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 26 Dec 1993 18:12:21 -0500 Subject: book? Your friend is mistaken. When I created Babylon 5 -- my own concept -- Warners did a search to make sure that the title hadn't been used or copyrighted elsewhere. The search turned up a number of Babylon 2's, one Babylon 3, and an unpublished song entitled Babylon 4, but happily, no Babylon 5. There has not been a book published with that name, insofar as we have ever been able to tell. It's most likely that what your friend is thinking of is a book entitled "Alas, Babylon," by Pat Frank, which is a very fine novel indeed, and was written in about the period you mention. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 26 Dec 1993 23:16:07 -0500 Subject: B5 on break? The cast and crew have a production break from last Thursday until just after New Year's. It's a chance for all concerned to catch their breath. The writing continues during this time, as does much of the CGI and a few other areas. Don't have the details on the U.K. situation yet. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 27 Dec 1993 03:44:23 -0500 Subject: book? The image/history/metaphor of Babylon has been used and interpreted throughout history, in books, songs, legends, you name it. If you really dig into the history of the place, there's a lot there to lend itself to examination. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 27 Dec 1993 03:44:32 -0500 Subject: Re: Tamlym Tomita I will tell you a true thing: it's been so long since we finished the pilot, and I've now directly supervised and written the bulk of 16 episodes, and...I honestly can't remember how tightly sequential the individual scenes were/are in the pilot. It all blurs after a while, after the sheer bulk of the series to date. I'll try and check it out. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 27 Dec 1993 18:26:34 -0500 Subject: Art, music, and 1% I would much rather let you see the answer to that question (pop culture) in the series rather than answer it here and blow it. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 27 Dec 1993 23:22:24 -0500 Subject: Re: B5 FAQL / Minorities in B5 I agree strongly with the points you raise. And that's something we have been working toward in the series. We try to fill out background, security details, business folks, travelers, and all the other divisions on B5 with an equal measure of ethnic backgrounds, and we strive to make the show 50/50 male/female. If you also look at our roster of regular and recurring characters, that too is about 50/50 male/female. We've also worked to keep that ratio *behind* the scenes as well...50% of our writers, directors and crew are female, many in the latter category holding jobs not traditionally open to women. And it's only served to make the show better. Our casting director has strict marching orders that, unless a script specifically calls for a particular ethnic background for a part, that part is to be open to *all* backgrounds. So we see a mix for just about every major and minor role. And yes, there are some people with hot-buttons about caucasian male/ ethnic female relationships, and some with hot-buttons about ethnic male/ caucasian female relationships. I say a pox on *both* their houses. So we're doing both. The Sinclair/Sakai relationship is an example of the former, and we cast a dynamite black actor in a relationship story opposite Andrea Thompson. The only thing a responsible producer can do, I believe, is cast what's right for the story, for whoever is the best performer, and if somebody doesn't like it, screw 'em. As someone at the BBC once said, "There are some people we *want* to offend." What astonishes me most is that, 25-30 years after Trek gave us the first inter-racial kiss on TV, we're still discussing this and working on this. We're headed for the 21st century in 6 years (well, 7 if you count 2001 as actually the first year of the 21st century) people...*deal* with it. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 28 Dec 1993 18:43:56 -0500 Subject: Jump Gates (Nitpicking) 1) Jump gates can only give you the frequency identification of a given ship some minutes prior to exiting hyperspace; just as it's about to exit, you can get much more detailed information, such as silhouette, mass, and so on. By then it's pretty much out...but at least you know as soon as it's out what it is. 2) You can't just shut down a jump gate like a light bulb. It is a VERY powerful piece of equipment, and it takes a long time to shut down and a long time to start up again. It's like a nuclear or fusion reactor in that respect. If you shut it down, it'll *stay* down for some time, which may put you in a very bad position if you have to leave fast, and that's the only way out. (During the Earth/Minbari war, jump gates created by the Earth Alliance were programmed only to accept certain coded frequenies that were changed regularly. [That should read frequencies.] This helped prevent Minbari ships using EA gates.) 3) Really large ship, such as war cruisers and long-range explorer vessels are powerful enough to punch their own entance into hyperspace, creating a jump point. (Something you'll see happen in our first episode, btw.) They can go in and out of hyperspace on their own, so they don't strictly need a gate, which is primarily a) for smaller craft incapable of generating their own jump point, and b) to help larger craft conserve energy. The Vorlon fleet could have come in via its own jump point, but the gate was there, and it allowed them to separate their smaller attack fleet while in hyperspace, so they could all come out together, as opposed to releasing them after making their own jump point. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 28 Dec 1993 18:56:28 -0500 Subject: Re: Nitpick about pilot On your point that B5 looks and feels and, arguably, *is* something that humanity could build, is nominally within our grasp...this is something that we've been building toward for a while, is part of what we want to do with the show. At a recent screening of some episodes for cast and crew, the one most frequent comment I got afterward was that it *felt* real, that this felt like how it might really be to work and live out on the fringe. Many SF futures are so far beyond our grasp as to enter the realm of unattainable fantasy...I'd like to point to something as more within our grasp, to remind us that we can do this, and that maybe we SHOULD do this. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 29 Dec 1993 01:59:07 -0500 Subject: Feb Cinefantastique I always look blurry in photos because I am by nature unfocused. Even inches away I'm fuzzy. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 29 Dec 1993 23:58:38 -0500 Subject: B5 series premier - who is rig Given that the first episode won't be downlinked to the stations until January 20th, that puts the odds of it being broadcast on the 5th at fairly small, I should think.... jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 29 Dec 1993 23:58:44 -0500 Subject: Casting We've had no problem getting the word out, or getting people to understand our casting preferences. The usual reaction is pleased astonishment.... jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 30 Dec 1993 20:53:34 -0500 Subject: Re: B5 FAQL / Minorities in B5 We're working on the variations within each race, not as throughly or consistently as I'd like, but we're working on it. As for the commander...I could answer your question in more detail, but I can't without blowing a lot of what's being prepared. He isn't just male by default, or by auctorial preference (though certainly I will be putting in a lot of my own background into him, and into Garibaldi); there is a very specific reason why he has to be male. As for being caucasian, we auditioned from every group looking for the right person who did the best job in the audition. He was the best for that part. That's really about as deep as it goes. We were prepared to cast whowever walked in the door and nailed the part. That was Michael. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 30 Dec 1993 20:55:47 -0500 Subject: Time Slot for Babylon 5 The word that B5 will be on Sundays opposite Lois, SQ and others is both unsubstantiated and untrue and has been retracted by the persons posting that information. In the majority of markets, it'll be on Wednesdays at 8 p.m., though some stations will be showing it on other days. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 31 Dec 1993 18:43:33 -0500 Subject: Questions,Questions and More Q To a message with nothing but questions, a reply with nothing but answers. Yes. It would seem so, yes. Probably, but so far nothing's been set as far as I know. No. There are contingencies, but the B5 story ends at year five, period. I can't even consider that possibility at this time. Yes. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 31 Dec 1993 18:58:11 -0500 Subject: Re: !SPOILER! Program Guide en Actually, n'grath is all lower space, Kosh Naranek uses both upper and loser case. jms