BAB015.TXT 
Date: Sun, 24 Jan 93 23:21:47 PST 
From: chetc@resumix.portal.com (Chester L. Cuaresma) 
To: b5@iastate.edu 
Subject: Ads for Babylon 5? 
 
Well, February is fast approaching, and I've seen ads for KUNG FU, 
TIME TRAX, you name it, but alas, no Babylon 5. 
 
Folks, the people at Warner have got to start hyping this show, 
otherwise people won't even know about it.  I've spread the word 
up here, but unless you know about the show through a computer 
network, nobody will even know it was shown! 
 
Check out COMPUTER GRAPHICS WORLD for information concerning the 
3D graphics in Babylon 5.  It's the January 1993 edition.  I  
hope it looks more realistic on TV than what was shown on the cover; 
it looks like it was computer-generated. 
 
DEEP SPACE NINE has already superseded TNG for me; let's hope 
that BABYLON 5 will supersede DS9. 
 
Adios. 
 
					Chet C. 
 
--- 
Date: Mon, 25 Jan 1993 07:19:45 -0800 
From: Jonathan Roy <ninja@halcyon.halcyon.com> 
To: b5@iastate.edu 
Subject: JMS 
 
Second SF&F RT 
Category 18,  Topic 1 
Message 421       Sat Jan 23, 1993 
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 20:28 EST 
  
     So, Denny, any comments of David's that you'd like to repeat here, or 
provide for PR use?  If not, that's okay. 
  
     Yeah, I'm inclined to think that there will be an upswing in interest.  
 What intrigues me is the notion that we actually will have two audiences out 
there: those who've followed this discussion, and will be able to read into 
things the various background information posted here...and those who will see 
it totally absent any background on the characters or the universe.  An 
offhand comment in the pilot would have more meaning for those who've been 
following this, and can fill in the blanks.   
  
     As a writer, though, you can't expect anyone to bring prior knowledge of 
your story TO the story, it has to be self-sufficient, so we'll see how well 
it functions on that level when the new folks arrive.   
  
     I'm sorry if it seems like there's an awful lot of self-examination going 
on here...my tendency is toward being hyper-critical of the work, rather than 
to try and make excuses for it.  And again, I must selfishly admit that I 
learn a *lot* from these exchanges, and the diversity of opinions here, and 
the depth of the answers to questions asked, is quite striking and most 
invaluable. 
  
								   jms 
---------- 
Second SF&F RT 
Category 18,  Topic 2 
Message 765       Sun Jan 24, 1993 
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 00:03 EST 
  
     "Do not tempt the hand of fate...."  Gee, I'm getting good at this.   
There may be a political career ahead of me. 
  
     The best way to help the show get the attention it deserives, and to get 
feedback on everyone's efforts, is to contact your local station and Warners 
after the show airs.  (Er, that should be "deserves" above.  One of these days 
I'm gonna try Aladdin.)  Right now, it's all in the hands of the one-eyed god 
of television PR.... 
  
								  jms 
---------- 
Second SF&F RT 
Category 18,  Topic 2 
Message 766       Sun Jan 24, 1993 
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 00:09 EST 
  
     BTW, before I forget, in addition to the People Magazine ads (and others 
that'll be popping up soon enough), there's an article on Andreas Katsulas 
(G'Kar) in the current Starlog, which came out pretty well, and an A.P. story 
that features B5 that should show up in various papers in the next day or so. 
  
								 jms 
---------- 
Second SF&F RT 
Category 18,  Topic 6 
Message 323       Sun Jan 24, 1993 
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 03:52 EST 
  
     BTW, a belated but *substantial* thank you to Jim Partridge for sending 
in the KBHK tape.  Yep, they used B5 footage to promote DS9, all right.  We 
just got it over to the Big Boys, and they'll take care of it from here. 
  
								  jms 
---------- 
Second SF&F RT 
Category 18,  Topic 13 
Message 187       Sun Jan 24, 1993 
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 00:07 EST 
  
       Yes, if a big ship went into hyperspace on its own power, it would 
likely have to accellerate first, but if it were near B5, it might well just 
use the jump-gate that's already there to save on energy and fuel. 
  
								 jms 
---------- 
Second SF&F RT 
Category 18,  Topic 13 
Message 189       Sun Jan 24, 1993 
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 03:49 EST 
  
     I'll ask Ron.   
  
     This is one of those areas in which I'll have to defer until such time as 
we get a regular science advisor on the show.  I know *some* of this stuff, 
but fact is, I ain't a techie, and this genre is best served by getting that 
kind of information from someone who knows what the hell he's talking about. 
  
     (Which means we *will* be getting a science advisor once this thing gets 
rolling, btw...no one's set yet, but will probably cull from one or two strong 
possibilities over at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.  My plan is to also bring 
on a freelance linguistics consultant to invent a few languages for us...and 
that may be somenoe I encountered right here on GEnie, as a matter of fact, 
but will wait until something Happens to give more info on that.) 
  
							      jms 
---------- 
Second SF&F RT 
Category 18,  Topic 17 
Message 25        Sat Jan 23, 1993 
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 20:47 EST 
  
     Oh, yeah, before I forget (again)...look for ads in People Magazine and 
elsewhere to start appearing in the next few weeks.  And local TV reviewers 
are going to start getting their copies this week. 
  
								 jms 
---------- 
Second SF&F RT 
Category 18,  Topic 18 
Message 53        Sat Jan 23, 1993 
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 20:52 EST 
  
     I think that, to avoid a western-centered show, you have to work from the 
assumption that the EA has incorporated laws other than those of the good old 
US of A.  Which will add some color to things. 
  
     As for how dangerous a place B5 is...the comment about the prior Babylon 
stations is a good and telling one.  There are almost two levels of 
understanding on this...the sense of those who work there and maintain the 
environment, who know just how fragile this situation really is, and the sense 
of those who come and go, whose sense of safety has to be reinforced if B5 is 
to be commercially viable.  Which opens up some interesting moral and ethical 
dilemmas for some of the crew.... 
  
								  jms 
--- 
Date: Mon, 25 Jan 1993 07:19:05 -0800 
From: Jonathan Roy <ninja@halcyon.halcyon.com> 
To: b5@iastate.edu, chetc@resumix.portal.com 
Subject: Re:  Ads for Babylon 5? 
 
TV stations have commercials... Mine won't run them until Mid Februrary 
however. ANd they aren't airing in my town until March 2nd. :( 
 
There are ads in People Magazine, and newspaper/tv reveiwer get their 
copy this week. 
--- 
Date: 25 Jan 93 16:17:40 EST 
From: Matt Schmitt <MS@pacnet.pac.wesleyan.edu> 
Subject: WANTED: Satellite Dish 
To: b5@iastate.edu 
 
    Is there anyone in the Connecticut/New England area with a 
satellite dish?  I'm getting _REALLY_ anxious to see the pilot, and 
would love to catch it on the uplink date.  I can even provide my own 
VCR.  Can anyone help? 
			    Matt 
--- 
Date: Mon, 25 Jan 1993 19:19:36 -0800 
From: Jonathan Roy <ninja@halcyon.halcyon.com> 
To: b5@iastate.edu, cnelson@eckerd.edu, rlewis@isi.edu 
Subject: Ellison interview 
 
Shane Shellenbarger                               about 900 words  
Appears soon in ConNotations 
  
  
  
 THE ELLISONIAN NAVIGATION by Shane Shellenbarger 
  
"This will be a manifesto about what we want the movie and the  
series to do.  It's like the early stages of Citizen Kane where  
Orson Wells has the 'Declaration of Principles'.  It will be, we  
hope, the kind of document that will be handed around, reprinted,  
and used by a lot of different shows to help make all science  
fiction on television more intelligent and less cliche' ridden."  
If J. Michael Straczynski's upcoming television show, Babylon 5,  
were a ship, then the chief navagator is Harlan Ellison and the  
chart is his manifesto.  Ellison says that the manifesto will be  
similar to the piece he wrote for Reginald Bretnor's 1979 edition  
of "Modern Science Fiction: Its Meaning and its Future" about  
writing fantasy for television, only more so.  "It will be an  
updating and expansion of that in terms of the kinds of things  
you want writers who are going to be wanting to write a series to  
know," says Ellison.  "It's difficult for people who are outside  
the genre to understand the rigors of writing fantasy and science  
fiction for television and it's even more difficult for those  
inside to understand the rigors of writing for television.  What  
this will be is a very long essay with specifics about the kinds  
of thing you should not write for science fiction or fantasy on  
television.  It's  going to talk about the logic of setting up  
situations: they have to be internally logical.  Just because  
it's fantasy or science fiction does not mean you can get away  
with illogic and craziness.  It's about the ethics of the  
program, trying to foster an interest in good, solid science  
instead of having explosions in space like Star Wars.  There are  
a number of aspects to it and we're going to cover them all.  It  
will probably go through two or three different versions because  
once I get done I'll say to Joe, 'What's missing and where do you  
need me to expand?'  Joe will tell me and I'll do that, then  
we'll go through it again, and again, and again.  Once we've done  
half-a-dozen drafts it should be ready for when the series goes."  
Ellison knows the shape of his manifesto, but still lacks the  
substance that will make Babylon 5 unique.  "Apart from having  
read Joe's pilot script, 'The Gathering', I have not yet seen the  
pilot and Joe doesn't want me to see it until they get a good  
answer print with music and the works," Ellison says.  "He's very  
cautious and before he ever got involved with this project we sat  
down and talked about my horrific experience on The Starlost,  
which in many ways parallels Joe's experience on Babylon 5,  I  
was able to tell Joe about the pitfalls I fell into and he has  
managed to sidestep them.  This show should go very, very well,  
indeed." As a creator who has had his work stolen more than once  
by Hollywood producers, Ellison has an opinion about a show  
positioned against Straczynski's Babylon 5.  "The thing that I  
find really offensive is that Paramount knew about Babylon 5 long  
before Deep Space Nine," Ellison says.  "They were warned, 'Why  
put together a series that's exactly like something else that's  
going to be on the air when you haven't got anything on paper  
yet, you can go any direction you want.'  You can't prove this,  
but there are a lot of us who feel that because they (Paramount)  
didn't have any original ideas they just kind of revamped Joe's  
idea in their own way and then months later said, 'Oh well, we're  
going to have to reject Babylon 5 because we have a show very  
much like it of our own.'  It's kind of a sad thing.  In fact,  
they asked me to write for Deep Space Nine.  We talked about me  
doing a show or two for them, even a story arc, but once Joe  
hired me to do the manifesto I just felt it would not be  
ethically correct." Even though he won't be writing for Deep  
Space Nine, Ellison's ties with the late Gene Roddenberry seem  
never to be severed.  "The book version of 'The City on the Edge  
of Forever' will be coming out soon and when that hits it's going  
to be a bombshell.  (After Roddenberry's death) I started from  
scratch again.  It's been a very difficult piece of writing,  
taking months and months.  Tom Maglioni is screaming, 'Everybody  
wants their book,' but it's got to be written right, otherwise I  
could be sued for libel.  I've got to write it very carefully and  
I'm just not going to be rushed on it." Estimates concerning the  
series start date vary, but Ellison has his own methods and he  
demonstrated them.  "all I know is that a number of the actors  
who were in the movie with term deals that put them in the series  
had asked for wavers to go and do shows during October, November,  
and December," Ellison says.  "They were all granted, but when  
one of them asked for a waver in January that one was refused.   
That indicates that they may want to be back at work by January  
and they don't want somebody off someplace else doing another  
show.  Having worked in the industry, about the only time they  
deny wavers is when it's going to conflict with their own  
schedule. With January quickly approaching, science fiction fans  
will soon know the course that has been charted for Babylon 5. 
---  
Date: Mon, 25 Jan 1993 19:23:42 -0800 
From: Jonathan Roy <ninja@halcyon.halcyon.com> 
To: b5@iastate.edu, roy@eckerd.edu 
Subject: Joe INterview 
 
THE MAKING OF A LEGEND: Conversing with J. Michael Straczynski about  
the creation of Babylon 5, ethical behavior, and the passion of  
people. 
  
  
  
by Shane Shellenbarger 
  
  
  
 "Babylon 5 will be a hell of a challenge.  If I can pull off what I  
have in my head, and there is some really weird stuff coming down the  
road on the show, we should make some history," says its creator, co- 
executive producer, and driving force J. Michael Straczynski,  
currently also a producer for Murder, She Wrote, past writer/story  
editor for The Real Ghostbusters, Captain Powers, The New Twilight  
Zone, Jake and the Fatman, and past host of the speculative fiction  
radio show, Mike Hodels' Hour 25. 
  
  
  
Babylon 5 is the story of a self-contained world. The space station is  
on the scale of twenty kilometers long by three kilometers across. It  
was built by five space-faring races as an attempt at peacekeeping  
after a war that nearly destroyed humanity.  Babylon 1, 2, and 3 were  
destroyed before they were completed.  Babylon 4 disappeared without a  
trace within a day after becoming operational.  Babylon 5 may be the  
last hope of preventing war on a stellar scale. 
  
Only one man knows what happened to the four space stations and he's  
not talking...yet.  "The theory on the show is that if you ask a  
question, you answer that question," Straczynski states.  "Issues  
raised in the course of a season will be dealt with in that season.   
Issues raised in an hour will be dealt with in that hour.  You can't  
string along an audience forever.  I loved Twin Peaks, but they never  
resolved anything.  We're going to resolve things." 
  
While he may be the man-in-the-know, Straczynski will not be all- 
things-to-all-people.  "Besides writing, I am also co-executive  
producer on the show and that entails a lot of responsibility," he  
explains.  "So, I'll write a number of the first season shows, but not  
all of them, not by half.  If I do well, maybe I can write five the  
first season.  The rest will come either from a core group of hand- 
picked writers or from a certain number of science fiction writers who  
will work for our show, who won't work for television otherwise.  The  
irony is, you go through all the grief to sell those shows you want to  
write for and once you sell them you don't have time to write for  
them.  But the vision is out there." 
  
While detailing some of his goals for B5, Straczynski seemed  
disinterested in the potential profitability of the series.  "Bear in  
mind that in the five years it took to get this thing off the ground I  
could have sold any number of other shows.  I've had lots of  
opportunity to do so," he confides.  "The goal is not to make money.   
That's going to happen.  I want to tell a story.  A lot of folks sell  
shows to become producers.  I became a producer to sell this show.   
There's a story I want to tell in a very particular, very distinct  
way, and characters I want to play with. Quite frankly, I created a  
show I want to write for.  I couldn't find one, so I wrote one.  My  
first novel (Demon Night) was the same thing.  I couldn't find a  
certain kind of book that I wanted to read, so I wrote one and got it  
published." 
  
Asking who else will be writing for the show, Straczynski revealed  
himself to be a gambler who hedges his bets while keeping his cards  
close to his chest.  "I can't name the writers until the contracts are  
signed," he states, flatly.  "All I will say is that they are the best  
and the brightest in the science fiction field.  They have some  
background in television writing, a number of them wrote for the  
original Star Trek, and some of them have feature backgrounds.  I  
think you will be quite happily surprised," Straczynski said, smiling. 
  
Has the competition between Deep Space Nine and Babylon 5 reached the  
level that secrecy is the watch word?  "I am being quiet about the  
writers because it's the polite thing to do," Straczynski stated.   
"Until you sign a writer up to something you don't go batting their  
name around.  We have assigned Harlan Ellison to write our manifesto  
and there are plans to have him as a consultant on the show.  Writers  
get exploited a lot and one of the means of exploitation is to  
announce a writers name with your show before you even have a show.   
As we give assignments out the writers names will be made public.  At  
this time I feel that it would be exploitative." 
  
Although some of the writers have worked on the original Star Trek,  
Straczynski is confident that viewers will be sufficiently impressed  
with Babylon 5 that he isn't worried about unfavorable comparisons  
between his show and Star Trek: The Next Generation or Deep Space  
Nine.  In fact, he welcomes the competition.  "The consensus among the  
stations and Warner Brothers was,'Let's beat the crap out of them in  
the marketplace,'" he said.  "Lets do a more interesting and better  
looking show than what they can do.  That's really the best way.  If  
we can't compete toe-to-toe with them in the marketplace with our  
idea, we shouldn't be there in the first place." 
  
Babylon 5 has traveled a long road since the image of a gigantic space  
station first formed at the back of Straczynski's mind in 1986.  He  
began working out the format of the show, emphasizing character  
development over "new-planet-of-the-week" syndrome, establishing a  
stable setting similar to Hill Street Blues and L.A. Law, melding that  
with Old World grit.  "I don't want a homogeneous environment," he  
said.  "I want guys who are going to be yelling at each other.  That  
indicated ambassadors, diplomats, and businessmen who are in conflict  
with each other.  I combined that with the history of Venice and Spain  
during the twelfth and fourteenth centuries when they were busy ports- 
of-call, centers-of-commerce. 
  
  People came from all over the world to do business there.  That  
became the foundation of Babylon 5." After bouncing around Europe and  
Japan, B5 rolled through Paramount before it came to rest at Warner  
Brothers where it's creator has had anything but rest.  B5 took over  
Straczynski's life.  "My work always dominates my life," he explained.   
"This show has dominated the last five years, but it is a very  
pleasant domination.  It is a walking dream.  When I first walked on  
the set of the B5 central corridor a feeling came over me unlike any I  
could describe to you.  Basically, I have no life but I didn't in the  
first place, so I'm enjoying it.  It's a twenty-four-hour-a-day job,  
but I'm more than happy to do it." 
  
B5's domination has caused Straczynski's productivity in other areas  
to slow to a trickle.  "I have the next novel that I want to write  
outlined.  It will be a thousand page-plus major work, but I just  
haven't had the time to work on it as much as I want to," he lamented.   
"My concern is that someone else will come up with the same idea and I  
won't get to write the book.  I also have a short story coming out in  
Pulphouse (the Sept/Oct issue,"Say Hello, Mister Quigley") which I  
think is pretty good, but beyond that everything has ground to a halt. 
  
With an airdate sometime in February and coverage across ninety-five  
percent of the country, you would think that the production company  
and crew would be bordering on burnout from the frantic pace and  
tremendous pressures of creating a soon-to-be-realized legend.   
Straczynski explains.  "The one thing that is most remarkable to me is  
the team we've assembled.  If you were to sit down and come up with a  
'dream team' list of people from production, set design, construction,  
make-up, wardrobe, etc, this would be that list.  Academy award winner  
John Stears, our physical-effects guy, has worked on the James Bond  
films, Star Wars, and Outland.  He heard about the show and came to us  
because he wanted to work on it.  John commented that he had not seen  
this kind of team and this level of quality since Dr. No. 
  
To read the remainder of the interview contact: ConNotations, 2040  
East Cypress, Phoenix, AZ 85006. Ask how you can become a subscriber. 
---  
Date: Mon, 25 Jan 1993 19:27:33 -0800 
From: Jonathan Roy <ninja@halcyon.halcyon.com> 
To: b5@iastate.edu, cnelson@eckerd.edu, rlewis@isi.edu, roy@eckerd.edu 
Subject: JMS postings. 
 
Second SF&F RT 
Category 18,  Topic 1 
Message 436       Sun Jan 24, 1993 
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 19:47 EST 
  
     Funny thing is, I hadn't checked to see when the pilot would be aired in 
L.A.  Kind of amusing...and appropriate, given the probability that the 
audiences will overlap. 
  
     (The article to which Brett refers, btw, is a piece in the Palm Latitudes 
section of the LA Times Magazine that hit the newsstands today, which talks 
about the discussion here on GEnie, and has a photo of yr obdnt srvnt stuck 
inside a computer monitor which should probably be burned...the photo, that 
is...and as if that weren't bad enough, it's a Mac.) 
  
     One other aside...Denny's friend David is the *first* civilian on theh 
planet to see the totally completed B5 pilot, with sound, music and credits.  
Hence the current sub rosa exchange. 
  
     Katherine: yeah, I know there's a Good Earth in Studio City...was hoping 
Spousal Overunit wouldn't find out about it, but she did...sigh.   By gosh, 
give me a hamburger, fries and a chocolate shake!  The heck with this so- 
called health food.   
  
								 jms 
---------- 
Second SF&F RT 
Category 18,  Topic 2 
Message 775       Sun Jan 24, 1993 
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 19:56 EST 
  
     The comment re: Twin Peaks is correct; I loved TP dearly, but if you 
missed one episode, you were screwed.  The way the story is constructed, you 
can come in at any point, even miss episodes, and still be able to follow the 
thing.  It's just that the *more* you watch, the more you'll get out of it, 
the more things you'll pick up on.  It's a very difficult task from a writing 
point of view, but worth the effort, I think. 
  
     Re: the actors...yes, there was a great degree of comitment on their 
part.  The head/hairpiece for Londo worked fine, but just to add to the 
authenticity, Peter Jurasik shaved his head for the duration of the shoot.  
 All of the actors did research into their characters, got books on SF if they 
didn't know much about the genre, on and on.  They *very much* got into it, 
down to consulting about their wardrobe and having input into prosthetics (to 
some degree).  We want them to be comfortable, otherwise they can't do their 
best work. 
  
     They're all certainly committed to doing the 5 year stint; as for being 
forever inserted into SF...there's the question of typecasting, and we've 
tried to circumvent that in some sneaky ways (who's going to recognize Mira or 
Andreas outside of their makeup?).  Nimoy had problems because it was his face 
and head, just a pair of ears stuck on.  If we have lots of alien makeup, we 
try to hide the actor's face (while allowing for varied expression) so they 
can do other stuff.  I think it's important to try and think of your actor's 
well being and career...because then you create a good and healthy environment 
for them, and it serves you well in the long run. 
  
     I've not been consulted re: closed captioning, and must confess that I 
don't have the info on this.  Will see if I can find out. 
  
     Yes, I was consulted about the ads, and while accepting the graphics, 
provided alternate copy for the ads, which I thought were a tad heavy handed.  
But overall, I'm quite happy with the approach that's being taken. 
  
								 jms 
---------- 
Second SF&F RT 
Category 18,  Topic 2 
Message 785       Mon Jan 25, 1993 
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 04:29 EST 
  
      A video index...oh man...you're *deliberately* trying to make my 
 life a living hell, aren't you?  (More than it is already.) 
  
      We'll see.  It's something I'll mention, and see how they react. 
  
      Meanwhile, here's a little something I came across in my computer 
 this evening.  I had always sensed that the Londo introduction/narration 
 at the top of the pilot was the way to go.  But it never hurts to try 
 other avenues...you discover the darndest ideas that way.  Anyway, I came 
 up with an alternate introduction, just to see if it worked or not.  I 
 rather liked it...and still do, to some degree...but finally opted to go 
 with the Londo intro instead, which is what we'll stick with. 
  
      But since it's not going to be used, I figured...why not let y'all 
 take a look at what would've been an alternate opening for the pilot? 
  
			     BABYLON 5 
			  Insert/Prologue 
  
 FADE IN: 
  
 ON STATIC.  Then: a BLACK SCREEN, OVER which we HEAR the FEMALE  
 voice of a news broadcast in progress: 
  
			      FEMALE VOICE (vo) 
		-- continue to bring you updates on  
		the Interplanetary News Network. 
  
 And now, gradually, a PICTURE begins to emerge from the darkness  
 -- grainy, slightly washed out, a VIDEO IMAGE of Babylon 5. 
  
			      FEMALE VOICE (vo) 
		In other news, the Earth Alliance  
		space station Babylon 5 celebrates  
		its first year in operation with the  
		imminent arrival of an ambassador  
		from the Vorlon Empire. 
  
 And now: a MONTAGE of shots from within B5, and some EFX shots  
 from outside...the casino, the customs area, the bazaar and other  
 areas.  During this, the IMAGE BEGINS TO SHRINK, to recede into  
 the distance, and gradually the stars begin to come out on all  
 sides of the picture, framing it.  This UNDER: 
  
			      FEMALE VOICE (vo) 
		Located in neutral territory, Babylon  
		5 has exceeded all expectations in  
		dealing with the many life forms that  
		pass through the five mile long  
		station.  As a result, Earth Central  
		has approved an appropriations bill  
		to keep the orbiting freeport open to  
		travelers, businessmen and diplomats  
		for another five years. 
  
 And now the image shifts, and the picture continues to recede  
 into the distance, now only a few inches across...a grainy black  
 and white image: 
  
			      FEMALE VOICE (vo) 
		Meanwhile, a new binary star  
		discovered by Mars colony scientists  
		has been named Kennedy Proxima, after  
		20th century president John F.  
		Kennedy, born 340 years ago this  
		week. 
  
 And now, in the small picture framed by stars, receding more  
 rapidly from view, we SEE footage of JFK speaking before the 
 Democratic convention the eve of his presidential nomination: 
  
			      KENNEDY 
		I believe that the times require  
		imagination, and courage, and  
		perseverance.  I'm asking each one of  
		you to be pioneers toward that New  
		Frontier.  My call is to the young at  
		heart, regardless of age; to the  
		stout of spirit, regardless of party;  
		to all those who respond to the  
		scriptural call, "Be strong and of  
		good courage.  Be not afraid, neither  
		be dismayed."  For courage, not  
		complacency, is our need today. 
  
 UNDER this, Kennedy's image recedes further into the distance,  
 growing smaller and smaller until he is now one of the many  
 surrounding stars splashed across the blackness of space.  A 
 moment, and the MUSIC RISES, brave and martial, as we 
  
 TILT and PAN ACROSS to reveal Babylon 5 itself, up close and 
 personal in all its huge splendor.  PUSH IN on the station as 
 a ship approaches, and we HEAR:  
  
			      LAUREL (vo) 
		Confirmed, Delta Gammer Niner, you  
		are clear for docking. 
  
  
								 jms 
---------- 
Second SF&F RT 
Category 18,  Topic 2 
Message 786       Mon Jan 25, 1993 
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 04:33 EST 
  
     That should be Delta Gamma Niner, not Gammer Niner.  Typo.  Sorry. 
  
								jms 
---------- 
Second SF&F RT 
Category 18,  Topic 13 
Message 199       Sun Jan 24, 1993 
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 20:04 EST 
  
     As to what happens to their inertia/velocity when they come out, if they 
accelerate going in...yep, we deal with that.  It's in the pilot, and we make 
it clear that they have to take time to decelerate prior to docking.  I think 
in Kosh's case it took something like 2-3 hours to decelerate.  
  
								 jms 
---------- 
Second SF&F RT 
Category 18,  Topic 14 
Message 160       Sun Jan 24, 1993 
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 20:08 EST 
  
     Shane...imagine, if you will, a slow fuse being lit...as I stare at the 
name, thinking, "There was something...something I was supposed to do, 
something...writing?"  Then, finally, the fuse works its way through the dense 
foliage I laughingly call my cerebral cortex and explodes with the words "THE 
ARTICLE, STUPID!  YOU NEVER FINISHED PROOFREADING THE ARTICLE HE SENT YOU!" 
  
     A thousand apologies, Shane.  The piece came in right when I was in the 
midst of finishing B5 and leaving M,SW, my life was degenerating into stark, 
staring madness, and I put it down, intent upon taking care of it that 
evening, and next thing I know...I see your message here.  
  
     Hope I didn't screw anything up.... 
  
								   jms 
---------- 
Second SF&F RT 
Category 18,  Topic 17 
Message 32        Sun Jan 24, 1993 
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 20:11 EST 
  
     BTW, for anyone going to NATPE -- wherever the hell it is -- this coming 
week, there's going to be a big B5 display at the Warners booth,  and some 
posters available.  I've asked to get one of the posters for my archives.   
  
								 jms 
---------- 
Second SF&F RT 
Category 18,  Topic 18 
Message 61        Sun Jan 24, 1993 
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 20:14 EST 
  
     Little Guy: there is, admittedly, a certain advantage to throwing a topic 
out there, and watching a number of intelligent, articulate people who know SF 
debate the thing...it opens your mind to many possibilities. 
  
								jms 
---------- 
Second SF&F RT 
Category 18,  Topic 18 
Message 66        Mon Jan 25, 1993 
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 05:50 EST 
  
      Jim...hmm...interesting...an inquisitorial system could make for a good 
adjunct to something I'd been thinking of...something Harlan suggested, 
actually, during our first B5 brainstorm session last year. 
  
      Which I'll elaborate on at some point in the future, but in the 
interim...good idea. 
  
								jms 
--- 
From: Lee_Whiteside-P14942@email.mot.com 
Date: 26 Jan 93 15:46:51 GMT 
To: b5@iastate.edu 
Subject: ConNotations, etc. 
 
Just a note on the two interviews posted that will appear in the next issue of 
ConNotations, it is a magazine/newsletter published by the Central Arizona 
Speculative Fiction Society which puts on some of the local Phoenix, AZ cons 
and has also been involved or presented WesterColt .45 (Westercon 45, where 
Joe got a very good response to his B5 presentation last year), NASFIC a 
few years back and the World Fantasy Con in Tucson a couple of years back. 
It is possible I may be able to get this issue mailed out to those of you on 
the mailing list (I do a media SF column which has featured B5 and will do so 
this issue) since I will probably be helping to put mailing labels on the 
issue in a couple of weeks). 
---  
Date: Tue, 26 Jan 93 13:43:52 EST 
From: mdbs!carl@dynamo.ecn.purdue.edu (Carl Klutzke) 
To: iastate.edu!b5-request@pur-ee.UUCP 
Subject: JMS and Real Ghostbusters 
 
I KNEW I had seen JMS's name before, and now I know where: credits for 
The Real Ghostbusters. Pardon me as I tangent here a bit... 
 
I had always felt that Real Ghostbusters was a excellent 
cartoon, and I have many episodes recorded (about 24 hours worth). I 
enjoyed the show until Slimer took over (also at about that time 
Jeanine's look changed and Peter's voice changed). It got cutesy and 
disgusting and boring. Ick. 
 
Does anyone know which episodes JMS worked on? 
 
(And I don't suppose anyone knows who did Peter's voice and if that 
really is him doing Garfield's voice now?) 
 
Now I wish I'd watched Captain Power too. 
 
carl 
--- 
Date: Tue, 26 Jan 93 14:04:22 -0600 
From: techy@iastate.edu 
To: b5@iastate.edu 
Subject: In hiding 
 
Hey peoples! 
   Just thought Id drop ya a note to say that I may be in hiding for a while.. 
I scratched that one script I was telling ya about...  mainly because the  
story counted on the 13 year-old's football helmet coming off when he is 
tackled... and with all the safety equipment now days that is practically 
an impossibility. 
 
   But...  I have just received limited rights to produce a student film 
based upon a novel written by "Guess Who"... so that is going to take 
second priority to Schoolwork and then of course, this list. 
  
  But I'll be around keeping an eye on things, Im trying to get a program 
written that will chart the amount of mail passed through "b5"... that way 
when/if a RFD & CFV comes up I'll have something tangible that I can show in  
terms of traffic around here.   
 
  Oh... I know Lee mentioned something about his Newsletter he publishes, 
but Im not sure he said much more about it.  I publish one too... so far 
Ive only made free copies to mail out so im not getting anything for it... 
but I look at it this way... I dont have to register as a business if Im 
losing money. ::grin::   
 
  Oh well, I'll keep ya posted on anything further...  Joe hasnt commented  
anything on Warner releasing the B5 video in the UK yet, but if they do 
Im gonna grab a copy real quick.   
 
  For those with satellite feeds, make sure when you post something on the 
pilot to put the letters: SP: <whatever>" in the subject line... that way 
you wont ruin everything for the people who have to wait for the network 
affiliates to show it.  Heh, like there isnt anything we DONT know already 
eh? 
 
   Well, Im off to write, hopefully this will go pretty fast, maybe a month 
or so, if not..,. oh well. 
 
   Thanks for  listening. 
 
 
       -Troy 
(No neat sig, no neat thoughts, no caffeine (sp?)   ) 
--- 
Date: Tue, 26 Jan 1993 16:02:04 -0800 
From: Jonathan Roy <ninja@halcyon.halcyon.com> 
To: b5@iastate.edu, techy@iastate.edu 
Subject: Re:  In hiding 
 
Joe did mentioned that a theatrical release is apossiblity for European 
markets, and he'll talk mor on it when he can. That may delay 
any video release. 
--- 
Date: Tue, 26 Jan 1993 17:35:12 -0800 
From: Jonathan Roy <ninja@halcyon.halcyon.com> 
To: b5@iastate.edu, cnelson@eckerd.edu, rlewis@isi.edu 
Subject: JMS postings 
 
Second SF&F RT 
Category 18,  Topic 1 
Message 447       Mon Jan 25, 1993 
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 23:02 EST 
  
     Hah!  Phooey!  Why do you think I grew up...as much as I did, anyway?  So 
I wouldn't have to eat that stuff anymore.  When I'm found dead at 90 in front 
of my TV watching Babylon 5: The Next Generation, let it be with a coke in one 
hand and a chocolate bar in the other.  As Mark Twain said, "If you can't get 
to 70 by a comfortable road, don't go." 
  
								  jms 
---------- 
Second SF&F RT 
Category 18,  Topic 1 
Message 450       Mon Jan 25, 1993 
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 23:37 EST 
  
     BTW, I'm giving some thought, since I'm going to be appearing at Con-Dor 
in San Diego this March as GoH, to bringing along some of the scenes we ended 
up cutting from the pilot, just to see folks' reaction to the stuff.  (Filmed 
and cut, not cut before filming.  There are about half a dozen extensive 
scenes available.) 
  
								  jms 
---------- 
Second SF&F RT 
Category 18,  Topic 1 
Message 454       Tue Jan 26, 1993 
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 02:57 EST 
  
     Don't know if these will ever show up down the road; in a few cases, 
where they're set pieces, we may actually be able to take one whole scene 
which is pretty much independent of the plot and drop it into an episode as 
part of a teaser.  (One, for instance, is an encounter with an alien hooker, 
the other invovles a smuggler.)  They were cut for reasons of time: we were 25 
minutes over length, and something had to go.  Several somethings, 
actually.... 
  
								  jms 
---------- 
Second SF&F RT 
Category 18,  Topic 2 
Message 265       Mon Jan 25, 1993 
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 23:17 EST 
  
     Generally speaking, I agree with the sentiments expressed, and what 
you've picked up on are the reasons that I decided against using this 
particular form, even though there are things I like about it.  What was, for 
me, the #1 reason for not using it is that it's...for lack of a better term, 
fairly prosaic.  A news cast as opposed to the voice of the story teller, a 
sense of future-history you get through Londo's voice and the identification 
of him as the storyteller. 
  
     Although I agree about the Kennedy tie, and that it can be somewhat 
problematic, what I like about it is that it fed into what I've been after 
with this show from day one...to tie our past, our present and our future.  
Done properly, it could've been fairly classy, I think.  And there's Kennedy's 
voice -- I have the tape of his speech -- which rings powerful and true in 
that speech.  It set a tone.  But as has been noted here before, writing and 
acting and directing are fundamentally about making choices...this move rather 
than that, this attitude over that attitude.  The Londo choice was the 
*better* of the two, even though there's much about this version to commend 
it.   
  
     (A quick aside re: the MURDER question...the episode you cite was one 
done under my watch, but not the one I mentioned as the last I'd have anything 
to do with for this season.  That one, which I wrote, aired about two weeks 
ago.  The one you saw this weekend was from last season, as is the one coming 
up this Sunday, an episode of mine called "The Committee," a fairly gothic 
episode that actually came out quite well.  The mystery element may or may not 
be that strong, but for me, MURDER was always a character story first, onto 
which you graft a puzzle.) 
  
     Well, review copies of the pilot are going out, and have gone out.  I 
heard through back channels that a major reviewer for a major magazine saw the 
pilot on Thursday last and his head exploded, thought it was terrific.  The 
one comment that I keep hearing back from people is that it redefines SF on 
television.  Now, that doesn't necessarily mean it's the best thing since 
sliced bread, but in terms of character and SFX and the general, more adult 
approach, it redefines what you can get away with.  Which is all to the good. 
  
     As for what I'm doing now...writing a script for a friend who's in a 
bind, ratcheting up the PR on the show a little more, giving interviews and 
suchlike, trying to get a leg up on my next novel so I'll be able to  continue 
with it once this thing gets going to series, and some other stuff that, for 
the moment, is classified. 
  
     It's now less than a month until this thing shows nationally.  And just a 
tick over two weeks until those with satellite dishes pull the show out of the 
general ether.  By February 22nd, I fully anticipate being a complete and 
total basket case. 
  
     Fortunately, it's unlikely anyone will notice.... 
  
								jms 
---------- 
Second SF&F RT 
Category 18,  Topic 2 
Message 272       Tue Jan 26, 1993 
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 01:09 EST 
  
     Rob: the scenario you posit is a viable one.  Nuff said. 
  
     RE: the making of stuff...rather than a half-hour show, the stations 
(which in some cases had a hard time breaking loose a full half hour) will be 
getting promos from a minute-thirty to 20 minutes in length, which they can 
drop in as they wish, giving them more flexibility. 
  
     It *may* go out to them along with the B5 downlink, but I'm not sure. 
  
								    jms 
---------- 
Second SF&F RT 
Category 18,  Topic 2 
Message 275       Tue Jan 26, 1993 
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 07:17 EST 
  
     (What the hell am I doing up at 4:15 a.m. my time?  Watching B5 for the 
ten zillionth time.  Picking it apart.  Making notes.  This is nuts.   I'm 
going to bed.  See you all in the afternoon..... 
  
							      jms 
---------- 
Second SF&F RT 
Category 18,  Topic 3 
Message 523       Mon Jan 25, 1993 
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 23:19 EST 
  
     The hardest thing, of course, is making the muscles beneath the skin move 
realistically and correctly.  That apparently has just been licked, though.  
Ron mentioned the other day that he just got some new software in that will 
let him do for TV what Spielberg's whole computer operation  is required in 
order to do Jurassic Park. 
  
								       jms 
---------- 
Second SF&F RT 
Category 18,  Topic 3 
Message 531       Tue Jan 26, 1993 
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 07:11 EST 
  
     I'll ask re: Ron's new stuff.  As for the changing technology, I'd like 
to keep things looking *pretty* much the same, so there isn't a big or 
noticeable jump, but things just sorta look clearer and better and more real 
over time, rather than changing things per se.   
  
								  jms 
---------- 
Second SF&F RT 
Category 18,  Topic 6 
Message 342       Tue Jan 26, 1993 
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 01:11 EST 
  
     Enough stations *are* airing them together that it still causes a 
problem.  Additionally, a "second night" also has financial meanings; the 
doubling of resources to acquire two more programs, making four series rather 
than two.  So it applies in both ways. 
  
							       jms 
---------- 
Second SF&F RT 
Category 18,  Topic 13 
Message 221       Tue Jan 26, 1993 
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 04:40 EST 
  
     Disagreement: the coolest show ever made is THE PRISONER.  I hope to 
capture a little of the flavor of that show, mainly by playing a little with 
surrealism, what's real and what's not...but it'll pale beside that show.  THE 
PRISONER, for me, is the perfect television program.  I've never really seen 
its equal. 
  
								 jms 
---------- 
Second SF&F RT 
Category 18,  Topic 18 
Message 72        Mon Jan 25, 1993 
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 23:32 EST 
  
     Re: the use of psi's in the judicial system...there was a whole long 
discussion of this in another topic...which answered all of the questions 
asked.  In fear of being redundent...does anyone out there remember where that 
discussion took place, so we can send this fellow to the right message(s)? 
  
							       jms 
--- 
Date: Thu, 28 Jan 1993 20:15:04 -0800 
From: Jonathan Roy <ninja@halcyon.halcyon.com> 
To: b5@iastate.edu 
Subject: JMS postings 
 
Second SF&F RT 
Category 18,  Topic 1 
Message 470       Wed Jan 27, 1993 
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 03:34 EST 
  
     Correct, that's the shot seen in the magazine. 
  
     Re: the B5 commercials...please drop me a line reminding me of this prior 
to con-dor, or I'll forget.  (Jeez, between the commercials and the cut 
scenes, this is starting to add up to some considerable viewing time.) 
  
     Coke, Pepsi, who cares as long as it's got caffeine?   
  
     Katherine: I made a discovery, a better deli than Jerry's or Arts: 
Solley's, on Van Nuys two blocks up from Ventura, in the same complex as the 
multicinema.  A good deli, and a great restaurant, with stuff I haven't seen 
elsewhere.  (Corned beef and fried egg sandwich...might as well inject the 
cholesterol right into your veins and get it over with.) 
  
								jms 
---------- 
Second SF&F RT 
Category 18,  Topic 1 
Message 478       Wed Jan 27, 1993 
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 22:45 EST 
  
     How the various shows interface, and how one is linked to the other, is 
best understood only by deities and studio guys; we'll have to see. 
  
     Only problem with coke is that they changed the formula and now use 
sweeteners other than sugar.  Though apparently they put out kosher Coke at 
passover.  Eventually I'll have to get a proper dispenser with Coke syrup and 
seltzer, since the syrup apparently *does* still have the s ugar in it. 
  
								    jms 
---------- 
Second SF&F RT 
Category 18,  Topic 2 
Message 288       Tue Jan 26, 1993 
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 22:58 EST 
  
     Artisan: I think j.roy's got some graphics that qualify; nudge him into e- 
mailing them. 
  
     Nothing to pick at?  Oh, dear.  Stand with your face half an inch from 
the mirror, and tell me you see no imperfections.  We all see the things 
others miss.  Tell you what...at some point after the pilot's aired, after 
things have settled down, I'll go through my list of things to do better in 
the series, things we should've done different in the pilot, on and on.  But 
that's the *purpose* of a pilot, to try a show out for size, see how it fits, 
and make adjustments. 
  
     But no matter how good it gets, everything is open for improvement in 
some way.  You have to keep constantly questioning and re-evaluating.   The 
unexamined life and all that jazz. 
  
								   jms 
---------- 
Second SF&F RT 
Category 18,  Topic 2 
Message 294       Wed Jan 27, 1993 
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 03:36 EST 
  
     Hmm...y'know, given the reaction here, maybe I'll fax the intro over to 
Warners PR and see if they can use it for a promo.  Like I said, I liked it as 
well, it just wasn't up to the level of the rest of the show, I thought. 
  
								    jms 
---------- 
Second SF&F RT 
Category 18,  Topic 2 
Message 295       Wed Jan 27, 1993 
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 05:53 EST 
  
     From the Associated Press article by Scott Williams on the new crop of SF 
TV series (specifically here, DS9, Space Rangers and B5), quoting David 
Gerrold.  "I've seen the pilot, and it's [Babylon 5 is] the best looking of 
the three.  I really do think that Babylon 5 will be the one for grownups to 
watch."  (Article appeared in various newspapers over the last few days across 
the country.) 
  
								  jms 
---------- 
Second SF&F RT 
Category 18,  Topic 2 
Message 302       Wed Jan 27, 1993 
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 23:01 EST 
  
     "The Committee," which airs Sunday, is an episode of Murder, She Wrote, 
for which I was producer/writer until recently.  Sorry, thought I was clearer. 
  
     BTW, I recently made a horrific discovery about GEnie posting.  In the 
past (since I compose on-line), I'd hit the carriage return at the end of a 
line...and nothing would happen.  I'd wait.  Hit CR again.  Then I'd get the 
new line...and figured it just took a second to kick in. 
  
     Turns out that every time that happened, apparently the buffer or 
something was getting full, and half the line wasn't getting through each time 
it happened...so there have got to be some sentences of mine that make even 
less sense than usual.  Now that I'm aware of it, I'm going back and revising 
the line when I see the delay at CR. 
  
     I'm meeting Friday with the computer game design people for a few hours 
to kick around the structure for the thing.  Should be interesting; main thing 
will be determing the degree to which this thing should interface with the 
overall acr of the story, or exist totally outside of that arc. 
  
     To the question raised 'way uptopic about comics -- yes, there may in 
fact be one.  And I'm actually quite pleased with the idea (being a comics 
fan).  Imagine what could be done by a Neil Gaiman or a Grant Morrison could 
do with the B5 concept.   
  
								jms 
---------- 
Second SF&F RT 
Category 18,  Topic 2 
Message 314       Thu Jan 28, 1993 
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 01:18 EST 
  
     Y'know, when I posted the original idea for an introduction, I had no 
idea it would generate so many different responses.  And all with some merit.  
Rob, the points you raise are correct: I've always felt very strongly that in 
this show, and in SF in general, it helps to connect the future to the 
present, to show the continuity of the species, of the common coin of our 
shared humanity, our cultures, our languages.  I think  there are other ways 
of doing it, and will do so.  But given the "pro" response, maybe there might 
be some way of using this thing, whether it's as a promo or somehow using it 
in the show.  (Y'know, it *could* be used in the course of a regular episode, 
as I think of it; no reason why it couldn't....) 
  
     Well, one thing's for sure...if it ever DOES get used, it'll in large 
part be because of the reaction here.  Thanks. 
  
								   jms 
---------- 
Second SF&F RT 
Category 18,  Topic 2 
Message 318       Thu Jan 28, 1993 
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 06:54 EST 
  
     Well, it's almost 4 a.m.  I was going to give you three guesses as to 
what I've been watching -- again -- but I figure by now that's kinda 
pointless.  I know, I know, obsessive/compulsive.  Sue me. 
  
     It's now 2 weeks and 1 day until those of you with satellite dishes see 
the pilot.  I'll be very interested in seeing (well, reading) your reactions.  
I must confess that as this dialogue continues, I find myself learning more, 
and questioning more, and digging deeper for information that had been glossed 
over before.  I very much appreciate your comments, your suggestions, even the 
occasional outbursts of Attitude. 
  
     There will shortly be a private screening of the pilot on a real movie 
screen, just for cast and crew.  The only time that I know of that this thing 
will be shown in the US on a big screen.  Have been going over what I'm going 
to say to the assembled folks...how does one properly thank another for the 
fulfillment of a dream?  How do you quantify five (now six) years of struggle, 
now given life by people you had hardly met one year before, but have given 
their blood and time and effort to see  someone else's dream realized? 
  
     During the filming, as I would be standing on stage, off camera, and we'd 
take a break between shots, invariably someone -- the camera  operator, the 
costumer, an actor, a carpenter -- would come up alongside and say, "Is this 
close to what you saw when you wrote it?  How are we doing on the dream?"  
They knew what it meant, the long road to get here, that it wasn't just a 
*job* for me and many others; it was something we wanted to do out of passion. 
And they responded to that...slept nights on the set rather than going home, 
produced work above and beyond the call of duty...how do you properly thank 
someone for reaching into your head and pulling out a vision and giving it 
form and weight and light and substance?  I don't know.  I don't know. 
  
     Whatever the future holds -- win, lose or draw -- I think we've done 
something special here.  And it's interesting to see how that sense pervades 
everything...the casting, the production...and now even this.  I have noticed - 
- I do a LOT of bbsing, much to my spousal overunit's dismay -- that the tone 
on this category seems vastly different than it is elsewhere.  I don't 
know...a give and take, no flame wars, a sense of community, the VERY SAME 
sense present on the set, in the dressing room, behind the camera. 
  
     In the cold light of morning (when I manage to see it, when I'm not 
coming at 4 a.m. from the opposite direction), I tell myself it's just a 
television show, and six months from now, or ten years from now, no one will 
notice or remember.  At night, as I watch the show again for I no longer know 
how many times, I allow -- just for a second -- the notion that we've carved 
out a little piece of history.  Win, lose or draw, we got it on film, when 
everyone said we couldn't. 
  
     And now it's yours. 
  
								 jms 
---------- 
Second SF&F RT 
Category 18,  Topic 2 
Message 318       Thu Jan 28, 1993 
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 06:54 EST 
  
     Well, it's almost 4 a.m.  I was going to give you three guesses as to 
what I've been watching -- again -- but I figure by now that's kinda 
pointless.  I know, I know, obsessive/compulsive.  Sue me. 
  
     It's now 2 weeks and 1 day until those of you with satellite dishes see 
the pilot.  I'll be very interested in seeing (well, reading) your reactions.  
I must confess that as this dialogue continues, I find myself learning more, 
and questioning more, and digging deeper for information that had been glossed 
over before.  I very much appreciate your comments, your suggestions, even the 
occasional outbursts of Attitude. 
  
     There will shortly be a private screening of the pilot on a real movie 
screen, just for cast and crew.  The only time that I know of that this thing 
will be shown in the US on a big screen.  Have been going over what I'm going 
to say to the assembled folks...how does one properly thank another for the 
fulfillment of a dream?  How do you quantify five (now six) years of struggle, 
now given life by people you had hardly met one year before, but have given 
their blood and time and effort to see  someone else's dream realized? 
  
     During the filming, as I would be standing on stage, off camera, and we'd 
take a break between shots, invariably someone -- the camera  operator, the 
costumer, an actor, a carpenter -- would come up alongside and say, "Is this 
close to what you saw when you wrote it?  How are we doing on the dream?"  
They knew what it meant, the long road to get here, that it wasn't just a 
*job* for me and many others; it was something we wanted to do out of passion. 
And they responded to that...slept nights on the set rather than going home, 
produced work above and beyond the call of duty...how do you properly thank 
someone for reaching into your head and pulling out a vision and giving it 
form and weight and light and substance?  I don't know.  I don't know. 
  
     Whatever the future holds -- win, lose or draw -- I think we've done 
something special here.  And it's interesting to see how that sense pervades 
everything...the casting, the production...and now even this.  I have noticed - 
- I do a LOT of bbsing, much to my spousal overunit's dismay -- that the tone 
on this category seems vastly different than it is elsewhere.  I don't 
know...a give and take, no flame wars, a sense of community, the VERY SAME 
sense present on the set, in the dressing room, behind the camera. 
  
     In the cold light of morning (when I manage to see it, when I'm not 
coming at 4 a.m. from the opposite direction), I tell myself it's just a 
television show, and six months from now, or ten years from now, no one will 
notice or remember.  At night, as I watch the show again for I no longer know 
how many times, I allow -- just for a second -- the notion that we've carved 
out a little piece of history.  Win, lose or draw, we got it on film, when 
everyone said we couldn't. 
  
     And now it's yours. 
  
								 jms 
---------- 
Second SF&F RT 
Category 18,  Topic 12 
Message 174       Thu Jan 28, 1993 
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 01:22 EST 
  
     I think you'll see the biggest push 7-10 days before, yes; and given that 
the PTEN ratings have been quite good overall, it's kinda hard to argue too 
strenuously with that approach.  I imagine that reviews and stuff will be 
coming out about the same time. 
  
								   jms 
---------- 
Second SF&F RT 
Category 18,  Topic 13 
Message 243       Thu Jan 28, 1993 
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 01:24 EST 
  
     Nope, the music is all original to our composer, Stewart Copeland. 
  
     And it be WAY cool. 
  
     (On the B5 blooper reel, there's a shot of all these alien faces, and 
that rock song with the lyric, "Everyone's strange, when you're a stranger, 
faces look strange, when you're alone" going on in BG.  Very funny.) 
  
								 jms 
---------- 
Second SF&F RT 
Category 18,  Topic 15 
Message 122       Thu Jan 28, 1993 
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 06:38 EST 
  
     Your teacher was wrong.  The dictionary accepts till.  If required, I can 
call Mrs. Nash, assuming she survived the process. 
  
     Re: aliens...yeah, there was a somewhat naturalistic look to the things 
that I'd like to experiment with come the series.  This was a deliberate 
choice on Criswell's part.  And by and large, it worked out okay.  I just 
think that for the series, it would limit us.   
  
     Criswell's elves actually did a *lot* of research, trying various 
textures and color combinations drawn from nature.  Of course, that's all 
nature as would evolve in an oxygen atmosphere, 1g.  We have to go beyond 
that, and I think there's some nifty stuff that can be done down the road. 
  
							       jms 
---------- 
Second SF&F RT 
Category 18,  Topic 2 
Message 325       Thu Jan 28, 1993 
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 19:57 EST 
  
     Bear: you're an evil man. 
  
     I like that. 
  
     Re: "Night of the Living Dead," yeah, that's Patricia Tallman in the lead 
role.  Which is where I saw her for the first time, and decided at that moment 
that I *had* to use her in something.  She's dynamite.  I saw her at a number 
of gatherings in LA, including the Horror Hall of Fame parties at Universal, 
but didn't say anything because...well, when someone comes up to you and says, 
"Hi, I'm a producer, I'd like to use you in my next big project," it's 
invariably perceived as a come-on.  So I waited until the right opportunity 
arose.   
  
     Knowing she'd be perfect for B5, I had her called in to audition.  As she 
was waiting in the hall, nervously practicing her lines, I stepped outside to 
tell her that I'd seen her work, that she was terrific, and that I looked 
forward to working with her.  Apparently she didn't have any idea who I 
was...but found out when she was brought in to do the actual audition a few 
moments later.  There was never any question in my mind about her doing the 
role, and it was one of the smartest decisions I made in this thing. 
  
								   jms 
--- 
From: Robert Turner <Robert.Turner@brunel.ac.uk> 
Subject: Question - History 
To: b5@iastate.edu (Babylon-5 MailList) 
Date: Fri, 29 Jan 93 7:52:18 BST 
 
Hi 
 
Could I ask a question of all you b5 gurus out there prompted by the 
recent 'alternative' opening to the pilot....... 
 
Is there going to be any 'history' to the galaxy between 'now' and 
'then'?  I feel that the best sci-fi is that that has a complete 
background, and doesn't simply refer to the 20th century, forgetting 
about all that has gone between. 
 
Re: the Kennedy speech, for example, wouldn't it have been an 
alternative to have a montage of great orators, including Kennedy, but 
also including the great orators of the intermediate period...... 
 
Robert (still green) 
 
---  
From: Lee_Whiteside-P14942@email.mot.com 
Date: 29 Jan 93 15:28:05 GMT 
To: b5@iastate.edu 
Subject: B5 & History, etc. 
 
On the subject of history, I would imagine that during the series Joe will 
make references and would probably come up with some sort of outline as to how 
we got to where we are.  I know he does have worked out how we came into 
contact with the major alien races.  Some references to the past will probably 
be worked in as a reference to Madison Square Garden is done. 
  
A question to those who saw the pilot screening at either of the cons in 
relation to the scenes that have been cut.  Were those scenes in that version? 
(the smuggler being caught, Sinclair warning someone about a hooker are the 
two Joe has referenced). 
  
A few things to watch for.  On CNN, when they ran the piece on the various SF 
shows on Future Watch, they mentioned that they would be looking at the 
special effects for B5 in a future show.  With it getting close to the 
airdate, it might be turning up, maybe even this weekend.  I don't have the 
times handy, but it airs several times during the weekend on CNN. 
  
Also, the new issue of Cinefantastique is out with their big ST:Deep Space 
Nine feature.  I haven't read the articles yet to see if they make any 
mention of B5 in comparison but there is one letter on the letters page in 
response to their last issue.  They're also now offering posters of some of 
their cover art so they may eventually have a poster for their B5 cover. 
  
And one footnote in regards to Space Rangers, in yesterday's USA Today they 
report that CBS has officially put the show on hiatus, after airing four of 
the six episodes made. 
---  
Date: 29 Jan 93 12:43:39 EST 
From: Matt Schmitt <MS@pacnet.pac.wesleyan.edu> 
Subject: Re: B5 & History, etc. 
To: b5@iastate.edu 
 
> 
> A question to those who saw the pilot screening at either of the cons in 
> relation to the scenes that have been cut.  Were those scenes in that version? 
> (the smuggler being caught, Sinclair warning someone about a hooker are the 
> two Joe has referenced). 
> 
    No, those scenes had already been cut when I saw it at WishCon in 
Mass., and I'm pretty sure that was the first time a rough cut 
showing was done for anyone outside the studio.  Too bad - I would 
have liked to have seen those scenes - they may have added some extra 
depth to it all. 
    In fact, it's interesting that Cinefantastique showed a picture 
from one of those cut scenes. 
--- 
Date: Sat, 30 Jan 1993 10:51:42 -0800 
From: Jonathan Roy <ninja@halcyon.halcyon.com> 
To: b5@iastate.edu 
Subject: JMS postings. 
 
Second SF&F RT 
Category 18,  Topic 2 
Message 345       Fri Jan 29, 1993 
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 00:49 EST 
  
     Re: the Trek story...no, that was very much of its form and of that 
universe; it wouldn't fit in the B5 universe. 
  
     Anything else in the past to compare with B5?  Probably the closest has 
been the novel writing, especially the one I'm working on now.  But overall, 
no, this is the biggie.  If it works, it'll probably be the single largest 
task of my career.  If there's any one thing that I'd want to be remembered 
for, it's a B5 series. 
  
     BTW...just a general note for those who are cycling in and out of the 
conversation...be sure to be around a week or so before the airing of the 
pilot.  Many folks have asked how they can help; at that point, I just may put 
you to work, and take you upon that generous offer... 
  
								jms 
     (that should be up on, not upon...) 
---------- 
Second SF&F RT 
Category 18,  Topic 2 
Message 353       Fri Jan 29, 1993 
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 04:21 EST 
  
      EEEEEEEEEKKK!!!!! 
  
      I just read the first eight messages in the new topic 19 (mine).   Jeez, 
what a flashback.  What redundencies.  Did I really sound that gleepy?  Oh, 
man.  It's like looking at your high school yearbook photo.   Are you guys 
*really* sure you want to do this? 
  
      Eek, I tell you, Eek! 
  
								 jms  
---------- 
Second SF&F RT 
Category 18,  Topic 2 
Message 363       Sat Jan 30, 1993 
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 03:20 EST 
  
     Agreed on LBJ...he was something of a thug. 
  
     Flat-out wasted tonight...we had a private screening this evening for 
cast, crew, some critics and some Warners execs.  About 400+ people at the 
theater in the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in North Hollywood (in 
the shadow of a 50 foot Emmy).  I don't think I've ever been as nervous, 
because here's where all the people who worked their butts off get to see if 
we screwed it all up for them or not.  Everyone liked it bigtime.  The few 
critics who said anything (most headed out, as is standard, you don't want to 
tip your hand) loved it...one CNN person said he hoped it would run for 10 
years, another critic said it was the best SF television pilot he'd seen in 
the last 10 years...I think they liked it. 
  
     Sitting here now with a MASSIVE headache from fretting over all this, so 
will probably make this short tonight.  (Harlan kept hitting me in the 
shoulder after the screening, smiling and saying, "Will you for chrissakes 
ENJOY this?  It's your night!  It's a hit!  It's wonderful!  This kind of 
night only comes once in your life!  Enjoy it!"  I will...as soon as we get 
the series Go.  Nothing can be allowed to distract from that.) 
  
								  jms 
---------- 
Second SF&F RT 
Category 18,  Topic 8 
Message 325       Fri Jan 29, 1993 
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 04:08 EST 
  
     The command level uniforms (Sinclair, Laurel, Garibaldi) are pretty much 
the same in cut, though Garibaldi's (and all of securityard grey more than 
blue.  Medical uniforms have a somewhat different cut and lean toward charcoal 
grey. 
  
     There's a slightly different cut for grunt-level security, and a slightly 
greener look.  Station techs (maintainance crews and the like) generally get 
yellow outfits with the B5 logo (and are not directly part of the EA 
structure; they work at and for the station per se).  Control techs, in the 
observation dome, for instance, generally don't wear jackets on duty, but 
rather shirts with the B5 logo.  The shift commander, though, does wear a 
jacket with his uniform.  (When B5 opens, you see Laural give a command to the 
shift commander, who then relays it to others.  You can trace the line of 
command in the dome from there.) 
  
     There are, and will be, other variations in uniform, but those are pretty 
much the ones you'll see in the show.  (In addition, of course, to more 
conventional clothing such as that worn by casino workers, marked only by a 
glitter-B5 logo.) 
  
								 jms 
---------- 
Second SF&F RT 
Category 18,  Topic 8 
Message 327       Sat Jan 30, 1993 
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 03:26 EST 
  
     If the Garibaldi outfit you refer to is on page 30, that's the same cut 
of uniform as Sinclair's on 34, just a different angle on it.  (And there's no 
white shirt under the outfits on page 28; those are high  collars with gold 
braid.)  Now, there *is* another outfit that both he and Sinclair wear, it's a 
black outfit (pants and long shirt) under a grey flak-jacket, which is a 
combat uniform.  (The flak jackets are composed of various reflective 
substances that help refract and dissipate some of the impact of energy 
weapons.)  
  
								  jms 
---------- 
Second SF&F RT 
Category 18,  Topic 12 
Message 176       Thu Jan 28, 1993 
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 20:01 EST 
  
     BTW, I've been hearing more and more from our Warners liaison that the 
reviewers who've gotten copies of the B5 pilot have had their corneas melted 
by what they've seen.  Half a dozen have already scrapped plans for other 
covers in their weekly television magazine/supplements in deference to a cover 
story on B5 (and this during Sweeps Week, no less!). 
  
     Keep your eyes peeled, folkses...the stuff should start hitting the 
streets in the final week of our countdown. 
  
								jms 
--- 
To: b5@iastate.edu 
Subject: B5 and PTEN outside US 
From: horizon@pinetree.org (Ali Azarbar) 
Date:   Sat, 30 Jan 1993 13:53:01 -0500 
 
DSN had absolutely no problem in getting publicity in Canada. It was just  
taken for granted; all the TNG stations (well, most of them) picked up  
DSN as well, and TNG is all over North America. Almost 95% of communities  
in Canada (well, urbanized areas) have access to a local or semi-local  
station that carries TNG and DSN. The people of Star Trek have never  
ignored us in this respect. 
 
I am wondering if this will hold true for B5. So far, I've seen nothing  
in the jms posts about North American exposure, nor any CDN stations in  
the station list. Does anyone know if this thing is going to be aired  
only in the US or in North Am? 
  
If it is going to be continent-wide, does anyone have any suggestions as  
to how I could find out which station is carrying it, or how I could  
convince one to do so? Where would I refer them to? 
  
Thanks. 
 
--- 
Date: Sat, 30 Jan 1993 13:06:20 -0800 
From: Jonathan Roy <ninja@halcyon.halcyon.com> 
To: b5@iastate.edu, horizon@pinetree.org 
Subject: Re:  B5 and PTEN outside US 
 
I don't now of any stations in Canada picking it 
up yet but they are free to. Some station up there have 
Time Trax and Kung Fu, but not Babylon 5. It's up to 
the station.. 
 
No idea why Canadian stations wouldn't want B5 less than US 
stations.. 
--- 
From: Dennis Wallace <wallace@cs.widener.edu> 
Subject: B5 Air time: Philly 
To: b5@iastate.edu 
Date: Sat, 30 Jan 93 18:32:20 EST 
 
Dudes: 
 
	I just found out that B5 will be on channel 17 at 8pm on the 
23rd in Philly. If there is anybody hosting a B5 Viewing Party in the 
Philly area, mail me at wallace@cs.widener.edu to make arrangements. 
 
	DW 
--- 
Date: Sat, 30 Jan 1993 22:08:33 -0800 
From: Jonathan Roy <ninja@halcyon.halcyon.com> 
To: b5@iastate.edu, cnelson@eckerd.edu, rlewis@isi.edu 
Subject: JMS stuff, old posts revisited, so on. 
 
Second SF&F RT 
Topic 19        Fri Jan 29, 1993 
SF-LAWRENCE [Katherine]      at 03:02 EST 
Sub: "Babylon 5" - Information Only          
  
With the vast number of messages archived into the SFRT Library, it was 
suggested that there be a closed topic just for Joe Straczynski's posts about 
this series, starting with the first B5 messages.  Grid 470/18/22. 
8 new messages. 
---------- 
Second SF&F RT 
Category 18,  Topic 19 
Message 1         Fri Jan 29, 1993 
SF-LAWRENCE [Katherine]      at 03:15 EST 
  
 From Archive B5-001.TXT 
 Message date Thu Nov 21, 1991, from SF-LAWRENCE [Katherine]  
  
We live to serve.  The following is Joe's first post. 
  
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- 
  
     Well, now that the official announcement has been made, here's the 
straight skinny on BABYLON 5. 
  
     For the last three years, this project has been in secret development 
with some of the Major Players at Warner Bros.  Because everyone realized the 
potential of what we had, we all played things VERY close to the vest.   Part 
of the reason for secrecy was that it was slated to be one of several projects 
that would spearhead what is, essentially, a new network formed between Warner 
Bros. and a consortium of TV stations, similar in some ways to Fox 
Broadcasting.  And that deal as well had to be kept secret.  It, too, was 
announced today at the conference. 
  
     I created the concept of BABYLON 5 somewhere in between working on 
CAPTAIN POWER and TWILIGHT ZONE.  I'd seen so many SF shows by then that 
backed into a budget, and thus went forever OVER budget, that I wanted to 
challenge myself to develop a show that met several important criteria: 
  
     1) It would have to be good science fiction. 
  
     2) It would have to be good TELEVISION, and rarely are SF shows both good 
SF *and* good TV; there're generally one or the other. 
  
     3) It would have to take an adult approach to SF, and attempt to do for 
television SF what HILL STREET BLUES did for cop shows. 
  
     4) It would have to be affordable, done on a reasonable budget. 
  
     5) It would have to look unlike anything ever seen before on TV, and 
present not just individual stories, but present those stories against a much 
broader canvas. 
  
     The result was BABYLON 5. 
  
     After creating the bible and writing a 2-hour script, I commissioned 
artwork for the series, knowing full well that it would be difficult for most 
execs to fully understand what I was trying to communicate unless they could 
see it with their own eyes.  I then linked up with my producer from POWER -- 
who had previously run MGM studios -- and we formed a partnership to get the 
show produced.  He and I will both serve as Executive Producers on the 
project. 
  
     Our first thought was syndication, and took it to the head of one of the 
biggest consortium of stations around.  We didn't at that time know that this 
group was putting together the Warners project, and in short order they 
snapped up the material.  Because the fate of B-5 was linked to the new 
"network," of sorts, we had to wait for that deal to go through.  Which  has 
gone through various permutations, on-again, off-again, for three years.  They 
never gave up on us once, and we never gave up on them.  Our support came from 
the very top of both operations. 
  
     It was our initial thought to begin with either one or two television 
movies, and then proceed onto the series.  The reason for the movies had to do 
with 1) a desire to bring down the per-show budget by building the lion's 
share of our sets via the movie(s), and 2) because we wanted to hit the 
airwaves with a big story, more an event via a movie than the series pilot, 
which at one hour would probably get lost. 
  
     And after three years, this has finally come to pass.  Phase One of 
BABYLON 5 has been approved to production, and the financing is now in place, 
and we have an approximate airdate and production schedule.  We have assembled 
a REMARKABLE production team, some of whom are classified (on current projects 
that they will leave to come work on B-5), but they include some of the best 
EFX and art direction people around, including many responsible for HONEY, I 
SHRUNK THE KIDS and the Henson-shop-supplied DINOSAURS.  People are coming out 
of the woodwork to work on this show, threatening us with dire consequences if 
they aren't allowed to work on it. 
  
     As for the storyline and characters of BABYLON 5...I'm going to hold off 
just a little while longer, until I know how much I can say at this point. 
Some of it we're trying to keep fairly secret, but some other parts we can 
probably talk about.  I just want to be sure I stick to protocol. 
  
     I *will* say that it's set in the future, in space, that it isn't a 
battle-oriented show, though it has more than its share of action.  One person 
described it (for commercial purposes) as CASABLANCA in space, though that 
doesn't quite hit the mark. 
  
     More will be revealed as I am able to do so. 
  
     The only other thing I will say is that we are going to need as much 
support as we can get from the fan community.  By choosing to go the route of 
a movie first as a pilot, we basically have one shot at the ratings.   It's 
better than a single pilot, but still chancy, so we will need support and 
every ratings point we can get our hands on to guarantee the number of 
episodes ordered subsequent to the movie. 
  
     For years, at conventions, I have heard fans lament, and even sat in on 
panels entitled WHY CAN'T THEY GET IT RIGHT?  This, I firmly believe, is a 
chance to do exactly that...to Get It Right, to take SF seriously, to build 
characters for grown-ups (not a Wesley in the bunch), to incorporate real 
science but keep the characters at the center of the story.  Over the next 11 
months, they will have ample opportunity to voice their desire to finally Get 
It Right.  And I hope they will. 
  
							    jms 
---------- 
Second SF&F RT 
Category 18,  Topic 19 
Message 2         Fri Jan 29, 1993 
SF-LAWRENCE [Katherine]      at 03:16 EST 
  
 From Archive B5-001.TXT 
 Message date Sat Nov 23, 1991, from STRACZYNSKI 
  
     There is going to be a VERY strong female character.  Although there is a 
male who operates as the titular head of BABYLON 5, and is more or less a de 
facto representative of...a certain group, BABYLON 5 itself is actually *run* 
on a day to day basis by (oh, what the heck, give her name) Vice-Commander 
Laurel Takashima. 
  
     Now, this may not mean much until you understand what BABYLON 5 the 
actual *place* is, and how it works.  Which will come soon enough.  If I were 
to look at that OTHER sf show, hers is a much more authoritatve and 
independent role than, say, that of Riker.  And there are other very strong 
female characters. 
  
     I have a tendency to gravitate toward female characters in stories. Those 
who might remember CAPTAIN POWER will recall that the lion's share of personal 
stories were about Jennifer Chase, and those were generally our best stories. 
  
     As for cast...we're not going to go for big names, in large part because 
we don't want to bring on people with a lot of baggage from other shows.  (No, 
no Gil Gerard.)  New faces to television, but with a background in classical 
training.  We want ACTORS, with CHARACTER in their faces, not models or 
"hunks." 
  
     See, by virtue of working on a number of SF shows, and knowing others 
who've been involved in still others, I've had the chance to find out what 
does, and doesn't work, and how to capitalize on that.  By talking to the 
fans, and appearing at cons, and using this and other systems, I've been able 
to find out what the fans want, and to combine that with my own personal 
vision.  So when I'm asked, "Will there be strong females?" I think of TNG, 
and "Why can't there be a female #2 or captain?"  And I remember the other 
concerns, from BOTH sides of the fence. 
  
     Those who don't learn from the past are doomed to repeat it.  Life's too 
short for those kinds of mistakes. 
  
     Which is why, from the very beginning of this project, three years ago, I 
sought out and began laying the foundation for bringing on the best and the 
brightest, to give the project a look unlike anything ever seen before on 
television. 
  
     But frankly...talk is cheap.  Judge us by what we *do* now what we say. 
SF fans have heard this stuff before...and have been disappointed.   I'm 
determined not to go that route...but don't want ANYONE to take my word for 
it. 
  
							      jms 
---------- 
Second SF&F RT 
Category 18,  Topic 19 
Message 3         Fri Jan 29, 1993 
SF-LAWRENCE [Katherine]      at 03:29 EST 
  
 From Archive B5-001.TXT 
 Message date: Tue Dec 03,1991 
 From STRACZYNSKI  
  
     Thanks for the vote of confidence.  I don't think you'll be disappointed. 
  
     And now, at last, some hard info. 
  
     The date: 2257 A.D. 
  
     We have gone to the stars, and found that we are not alone.  We have 
moved quickly out, establishing relations with other civilizations that has 
let us leapfrog technologies via an information and cultural exchange with at 
least one other culture.  Many contacts have been friendly.  Some have not 
been quite so benign. 
  
     From 2250 through 2252, war raged between the Earth Alliance and the 
Minbari, an alien federation.  The EA was losing, badly.  As a last resort, a 
suicide perimeter was set up around Earth, known as the Line.  Every last ship 
we had was on the Line, in a desperate defense of Homeworld. 
  
     And on the brink of winning the war, just as they were breaking through 
the Line...the Minbari surrendered.  To this date, no one knows why.  They 
could have won, but chose not to.  The secret behind their surrender will 
gradually play a part in our story. 
  
     But that was now 5 years ago, in our story.  There is now an uneasy peace 
between the Earth Alliance and the four other alien federations.  To help 
cement that peace, the EA has constructed BABYLON 5. 
  
     BABYLON 5 is a five-kilometer-long space station in neutral space more or 
less central to all five of the different alliances, human or alien.  To get 
to one or the other, you have to pass through this sector of space.  Thus, 
Babylon 5 has been created as a sort of port-of-call for travelers, statesmen, 
emissaries, traders, refugees and other, less savory characters.  Five 
kilometers long and two kilometers wide, Babylon 5 is divided into separate, 
discreet sections that rotate at differing speeds to provide different 
gravities to accommodate those who come to the station.  There are also 
sections with alternate atmospheres. 
  
     The station boasts living quarters, customs areas, docking bays, meeting 
areas, a casino, several bars/nightclubs, command and control spheres fore and 
aft, and a decent defensive grid.  In addition, each of the various 
federations has one official representative aboard the station (with the 
station's commander representing the Earth Alliance), so that it also 
functions as a sort of mini-U.N. 
  
     It is home to humans and aliens in various roles, some arriving or 
departing every day, others working there full-time.  They live on the very 
edge of the frontier, in the sense that if they get into trouble, there's no 
one who can arrive in time to help them.  Because of the nature of the 
travelers, they bring their stories with them to Babylon 5 rather than having 
to seek them out.  The stories are of people in flight, seeking sanctuary; 
stories of smugglers, assassins, traders, mappers, dignitaries and others, all 
on urgent missions of one sort or another. 
  
     If STAR TREK was "Wagon Train to the Stars," then BABYLON 5 is Casablanca 
in space. 
  
     It is humanity's last hope for peace, a single hope in the middle of an 
uneasy, fragile peace. 
  
     And it *is* fragile, and dangerous.  It is called BABYLON 5 because the 
first three efforts to build the station were sabotaged and  destroyed.  The 
fourth one disappeared without a trace 24 hours after becoming operational. No 
one knows what happened to it. 
  
     And *that*...is only the beginning of our story. 
  
							       jms 
---------- 
Second SF&F RT 
Category 18,  Topic 19 
Message 4         Fri Jan 29, 1993 
SF-LAWRENCE [Katherine]      at 03:30 EST 
  
 From Archive B5-001.TXT 
 Message date: Thu Dec 05, 1991 
 From STRACZYNSKI  
  
     Well, lemme comment on that.  One of the reasons -- and there are many 
others -- for coming out here like this and, as you say, putting myself and 
the work on the line is my belief that this is right, and this is the kind of 
show that the fans have been looking for. 
  
     And I'm willing to stand behind that, and be open about it, without 
giving away the real surprises in the project. 
  
     For the better part of a decade, I've been on panel after panel, and gone 
to convention after convention, and listened to the fans talk about what 
they'd like to see in an SF series.  How they want solid characters, 
imaginative stories, no kids or cute robots, using science the way it should 
be used, not talking down to the audience.  That desire has been noted. 
  
     I think there is a certain frustration among a large percentage of media 
fandom that they aren't listened to.  This is my way of saying that you HAVE 
been listened to, somebody HAS been paying attention.  What forms the stories 
and the characters must, perforce, come from one voice, you can't create 
anything worthwhile with a committee...but in terms of tone and sophistication 
and attitude and range, that's where you can be open to giving the fans what 
they want, and what they have been asking for now for a long time. 
  
     This is simply one more effort undertaken to make the fan community a 
part of the process.  One noteworthy thing about the creative and production 
team that we've assembled is that they're ALL fans of the SF genre.  They've 
grown up on it, and they want to give something back to it, to stand on the 
shoulders of the giants that preceded us and try and do something *different*. 
  
     I stand foursquare for communication. 
  
     For this series to be special, it helps for the communication to be just 
as special, and open.  This is a part of that process. 
  
								  jms 
---------- 
Second SF&F RT 
Category 18,  Topic 19 
Message 5         Fri Jan 29, 1993 
SF-LAWRENCE [Katherine]      at 03:31 EST 
  
 From Archive B5-001.TXT 
 Message date: Wed Jan 01, 1992 
 From STRACZYNSKI  
  
     Since it is now January 1st, time for another piece of information about 
the B-5 storyline, which as mentioned will be parceled out one per month (and, 
again, I'm talking about the *major* points, each of the main characters and 
the backstory, though the plot of the movie will be kept confidential). 
  
     Here's an interesting bit of backstory. 
  
     The story of BABYLON 5 takes place in 2257.  In 2236 or thereabouts, the 
Earth Alliance made First Contact with a race known as the Minbari.   They 
were, at that time, only the second major civilization we'd encountered, 
though we had certainly come across a number of non-aligned worlds and smaller 
governments, one or two worlds each.  The Minbari represent a *major* force on 
every level, resources, technology, sheer number of worlds involved, on and 
on. 
  
     The Minbari are the oldest of the different alien civilizations, and 
largely kept to themselves.  Their interests were (and are) in attaining 
perfection: physical, mental, spiritual, emotional.  They answer to a Council 
of Elders, whose pronouncements are considered law in an almost biblical 
sense.  Though deeply religious in their way, they have also pursued the ways 
of technology, and as such they are easily the most advanced of the various 
alliances.  But they view technology as transitory, a means to an end rather 
than an end in itself.  Like Tom Bombadil in LORD OF THE RINGS, they can hold 
the Ring of Technology but it has no hold over them. 
  
     And from 2236 until about 1147, we were at war with them. 
  
     The Earth/Minbari war began as a misunderstanding.  The first time a 
Terran ship encountered a Minbari starship, they studied each other closely. 
The Minbari ship made a move that they thought would be considered non- 
threatening.  It wasn't.  Even in the present of our story, no one is quite 
sure who fired first.  The Minbari ship was greater in power, but taken by 
surprise, was destroyed, and the Earth ship limped back to base with tales of 
a terrible new enemy.  Minbari ships, arriving to investigate, were 
interpreted to be the first wing of an invasion force by the base commander, 
and ships were launched in response before receiving formal authorization from 
Earth Central. 
  
     The war put a great strain on the Minbari, who have always been strongly 
divided between the religious caste, and the military caste, who were now 
forced to work together.  The religious caste were quietly opposed to the war, 
but were generally vague about their reasons when asked. 
  
     The climax of the war was the Battle of the Line.  Earth had all but lost 
the war.  In a last-ditch attempt to save Homeworld, every available ship left 
in the armada was positioned around Earth itself.  It was, everyone knew, a 
suicide mission.  And that's, indeed, how the Battle of the Line started out 
to be. 
  
     In the course of that battle, a lone ship -- a one-man fighter with very 
little in the way of armaments -- took several heavy hits.   His instruments 
failing, other ships blowing up all around him, he aimed his ship at the 
nearest Minbari cruiser, deciding to ram it in the hopes of destroying at 
least that one ship.  He kept his ship on course for as long as he could hold 
out.  Then, abruptly, he blacked out. 
  
     When he awoke, he was still in his ship.  Drifting.  He fired up the 
engines, ready to continue, only to discover two things: first, that he had 
been out of it for a full 24 hours. 
  
     Second...the war was over. 
  
     And, incredibly, the Minbari had surrendered.  On the very verge of 
success in the war, they had rolled over and sued for peace.  No one in the 
Earth Alliance quite knew why, but they weren't about to debate the issue, and 
accepted minimal compensation for the war. 
  
     Now, ten years later, the Earth Alliance is no closer to figuring out why 
the Minbari surrendered.  It is, in fact, one of the great puzzles of that 
era, debated on a hundred different worlds.  Only a few strange clues have 
slipped out.  One is that the military genius who led the Minbari into the war 
committed suicide the day of the surrender, though it is unclear if his death 
took place before or after the surrender.  And the rift between the military 
and religious castes apparently came to some sort of climax, with the 
religious caste taking complete control.   There are rumors of some sort of 
religious vision, of a prophecy of great things, and a prophecy of complete 
doom.  But since almost nothing is known of Minbari religion, what this might 
be, no one knows. 
  
     At the conclusion of the war, those Terrans who fought in the Battle of 
the Line were proclaimed heroes.  One of these men was Captain Jeffrey 
Sinclair...the pilot who still cannot account for the 24 hours he was out of 
contact with Earth Central. 
  
     Commander Jeffrey Sinclair has come far in the 10 years since the war. 
He's had some rough times, but overall he's progressed.  And he has at last 
been given a major assignment, perhaps the most important job of his life, 
concomitant with his promotion to Commander. 
  
     Jeffrey Sinclair is the Commander in charge of the Babylon 5  space 
station. 
  
     Although the station (and its prededessors, Babylons 1 through 4, which 
were either destroyed (1, 2 and 3) or mysteriously vanished (4)) was always 
intended as a sort of mini-U.N. as well as a free-port, with an Ambassador 
from each different alien alliance present, the Minbari refused to name an 
ambassador until the station commander was named first. 
  
  Shortly after Sinclair was named Commander, the Minbari assigned their first 
ambassador to the station. 
  
     His name is Delenn.  And he stays very close to Commander Sinclair. 
  
     Some say he is keeping a close eye on Sinclair. 
  
     Some say he is Sinclair's friend.  And some say there may well be 
something very lethal behind those unreadable Minbari eyes. 
  
     And there are quite a few others, including a shadow-group in the Earth 
Alliance, who would very much like to know what happened during the 24 hours 
that disappeared from Commander Sinclair's life. 
  
  
								 jms 
---------- 
Second SF&F RT 
Category 18,  Topic 19 
Message 6         Fri Jan 29, 1993 
SF-LAWRENCE [Katherine]      at 03:32 EST 
  
 From Archive B5-001.TXT 
 Message date: Wed Jan 01, 1992 
 From STRACZYNSKI      
  
     Small typo in the preceding: it should read that the Earth/Minbari war 
lasted from 2236 to 2247, not 1147. 
  
     This, by the way, represents only one small segment in the overall 
history of the world of Babylon 5.  I've literally worked out a couple hundred 
pages of condensed notes. 
  
     So...whadaya think? 
  
								  jms 
---------- 
Second SF&F RT 
Category 18,  Topic 19 
Message 7         Fri Jan 29, 1993 
SF-LAWRENCE [Katherine]      at 03:33 EST 
  
 From Archive B5-001.TXT 
 Message date: Sat Jan 04, 1992 
 From STRACZYNSKI      
  
     There are, in fact, a number of splinter groups in the world (or the 
universe, I suppose) of B-5.  There are individuals who claim residency in no 
particular group or government, they're free-traders of the purest sort. 
Within the Earth Alliance, things are structured more or less along the lines 
of the Commonwealth of Independent States we're seeing now, with one 
monolithic voice that speaks in tersm of foreign policy, but within the 
framework of everything else -- domestic policy, economics and the like -- the 
independent state makes its own rules. 
  
     So their are colonies and fringe areas that consider themselves  by and 
large independent.  And, from time to time, there will be sparks of secession 
and the like.  I've never much liked the Gleaming Steel Of A Perfect 
Federation approach; I like things a little more tentative, less sure.  And 
for that matter, even WITHIN the E.A., there are factions and problems and 
power struggles and the like.  Wheels within wheels. 
  
     As for locations inside B-5...we've designed a number of very different 
looks and locations to give it a non-claustrophobic feel.  By virtue of being 
patterned physically after the work of such scientists as Gerard K. O'Neil, 
the absolute center of the elongated station (which revolves to provide 
gravity) is a sort of hollow-world look, with fields and hydroponic gardens 
along the 386-degree circular section (which is about a half-mile, or a mile 
across)...and as you get closer to the absolute center, where a transport tube 
cuts from one end of the station to the other, naturally you get less and less 
gravity until you can literally hang suspended. 
  
     And there are living areas designed to accommodate different environments 
and atmospheres and conditions.  The alien sectors are off-limits to humans 
without protection (breathing gear and other measures).  Similarly, a heavy 
CO2 breather or methane breather would have to wear an encounter suit to 
travel among the humans on the station.  In addition, the B-5 station is 
actually made up of several independent (though connected) sections, each 
revolving at a different speed in order to create alternative areas of 
gravity. 
  
     Parts of the station are still under construction, and parts are 
finished.  Some sections are in daylight, some in night, alternating by level 
and sector.  On the very outer ring, the viewports are in panels ON THE FLOOR, 
so you're looking down and out into space, revolving beneath your feet. 
  
     BTW...the Babylon 5 station isn't just floating there.  It's at the L-5 
point in a binary star system between a moon and a barren, lifeless planet. 
  
     Well, a *theoretically* barren and lifeless planet, anyway.... 
  
     But that's Year Two.... 
  
							      jms 
---------- 
Second SF&F RT 
Category 18,  Topic 19 
Message 8         Fri Jan 29, 1993 
SF-LAWRENCE [Katherine]      at 03:34 EST 
  
 From Archive B5-001.TXT 
 Message date: Sun Jan 12, 1992 
 From STRACZYNSKI     
  
     Haven't heard of POINT CENTRAL, and I think I'll avoid it for the time 
being, for obvious reasons. 
  
     In terms of "literary or visual influences," frankly...well, I thunk it 
up.  Somebody has to start SOMEwhere. 
  
     Where it began, really, was an Einsteinian thought-experiment.  I'd seen 
SO many SF shows ruined by backing into a budget that ended up always being 2- 
3 times what they'd said it would be, that I sat down, very deliberately, and 
said, "Okay, let's see if we can come up with a show that's SF, that isn't one 
of the TV Generics (Man On The Run, Man In  Search Of New Worlds, Man Trying 
To Find His Way Home), and that can be contained." 
  
     The major source of expense on a show is creating new worlds every week. 
So I figured, this should be stationary.  I thought about the sorts of shows I 
liked in TONE...Hill Street Blues, St. Elsewhere, even M*A*S*H, and in each 
case, there was created a center of operations and YOUR STORIES CAME TO YOU. 
Look at L.A. LAW (which I can't abide)...you set up a law office, and people 
with problems come to you. 
  
     So: a stationary locale, where people in trouble come to you.  This led 
me to also think of post WW II Germany, where American, French and British 
forces (and, I think, some Russian) patroled equally to make sure that no one 
side got the upper hand.  It also put me in mind of the early free-ports of 
the 19th century, which were noted for some pretty rough characters, for 
adventure, for intrigue and smuggling. 
  
     Put those various elements together...and you've got BABYLON 5. 
  
     That's where it came from. 
  
								 jms 
---------- 
Second SF&F RT 
Category 18,  Topic 20 
Message   1       Fri Jan 29, 1993 
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            (Forwarded)  
  
     The command level uniforms (Sinclair, Laurel, Garibaldi) are pretty much 
the same in cut, though Garibaldi's (and all of securityard grey more than 
blue.  Medical uniforms have a somewhat different cut and lean toward charcoal 
grey. 
  
     There's a slightly different cut for grunt-level security, and a slightly 
greener look.  Station techs (maintainance crews and the like) generally get 
yellow outfits with the B5 logo (and are not directly part of the EA 
structure; they work at and for the station per se).  Control techs, in the 
observation dome, for instance, generally don't wear jackets on duty, but 
rather shirts with the B5 logo.  The shift commander, though, does wear a 
jacket with his uniform.  (When B5 opens, you see Laural give a command to the 
shift commander, who then relays it to others.  You can trace the line of 
command in the dome from there.) 
  
     There are, and will be, other variations in uniform, but those are pretty 
much the ones you'll see in the show.  (In addition, of course, to more 
conventional clothing such as that worn by casino workers, marked only by a 
glitter-B5 logo.) 
  
								 jms 
---------- 
Second SF&F RT 
Category 18,  Topic 1 
Message 548       Sat Jan 30, 1993 
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 23:41 EST 
  
     (BTW, Walter Koenig saw the pilot and said it was "a winner," adding that 
he thinks it "should get a lot of the Trek fans, plus a lot of more mainstream 
viewers.") 
  
     How much of the basic "saga" is in the pilot?  Some...bits and pieces.  
The problem, always, is that we have a whole new universe to establish, with 
all the backstory that goes with that.  As it is, it's fairly "information 
intensive," as one person put it.  We find out about the Earth/Minbari war, 
the curious surrender, Sinclair's past, the missing 24 hours, the relations 
between the various governments and their own personal agendas, and a hint of 
what's to come.  This while establishing the backstory of all our characters, 
and telling a story in present time (for them).   
  
     I think you will find indications of what we've talked about for the 
series present in the pilot.  Which is why it bears watching more than once; 
you'll pick up more information and more of a sense of the world the more 
closely you inspect it.  (We tried to come up with a pilot that actually 
BENEFITS from close inspection, rather than falling apart if you look at it 
too closely.) 
  
     Had a meeting the other day with the folks who're going to be doing the 
B5 games.  (As to platform...variations are being planned for ALL of the 
various platforms...CD-ROM, IBM, Amiga, Mac, Sega and so on.)  It was a 
terrific meeting, with top of the line people.  What was interesting was the 
fact that they seemed shell-shocked from dealing with other producers, the 
heavy restrictions, the interference, the hassles...my attitude on this show 
has always been, "Here...we're creating a whole universe for you to go and 
play in.  Do so."  So they're going to have a lot of freedom to come up with 
stuff.  I *want* to be surprised.  Hell, I want to play the games.   
  
     Because of the need to avoid any substantial conflicts with the general 
arc of the story, I gave them a peek into the five year arc, a few things that 
had to happen.  As long as things didn't cross into these areas, the territory 
was completely open.  And knowing that going in, there are no surprises down 
the road to sabotage them.  They seemed...well, there were a lot of very wide 
eyes when I explained some of what we were going to do.  They also saw the 
pilot at the screening that night, and apparently loved it.  We're cooking 
along, folks.... 
  
								   jms 
---------- 
Second SF&F RT 
Category 18,  Topic 2 
Message 374       Sat Jan 30, 1993 
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 23:50 EST 
  
     The sound system at the theater was great; we ran it off the D2, the 
master tape, and it came out very well. 
  
     The point you raise re: Starlost is one Harlan's made to me.  When I was 
at times feeling a bit low -- I want the series NOW -- he would point out that 
no matter what happens, we made my show the way I wanted it made, no 
interference...as opposed to what happened with Starlost, which just yanked 
his heart out.  And it's a valid point. 
  
     Thing is, it took five years to get this made, and that it HAS been 
made...it's almost an act of sheer will.  I decided five years ago that no 
matter what happens, this pilot WILL be made.  You have to focus in on the 
goal like a laser beam (tm Bill Clinton).  That's been done.  Now the next 
step: the series WILL be made...and now I have to focus in on that one with 
equal conviction.  It's quite literally the only way ANYTHING ever gets made 
in this town.  Ask George.  He's been down the same road. 
  
     As for the question of the show working with non-SF fans...we've actually 
shown it to a number of people who don't know from SF, and the result has been 
that they've liked it enormously.  The reason, basically, is that it's not a 
hardware-driven story.  It's a character drama with a mystery story element.  
The solution doesn't come from cross-wiring the ramaframmit with the 
zigamakawanna, and computing the resonance factors.   (And I have to confess 
that those kinds of stories bore me to tears.)   You start and end with 
character, and drama...and if you're true to those elements, the audience will 
follow you even into unfamiliar terrain. 
  
							      jms 
---------- 
Second SF&F RT 
Category 18,  Topic 8 
Message 329       Sat Jan 30, 1993 
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 23:53 EST 
  
     Oops!  Nope, you're right, yes, there *are* shirts under the jackts 
(actually, there are shirts under ALL the jackets, as you'd expect of 
clothing).  I thought you were referring to the collar.  My error. 
  
     Actually, *ALL* of the costumes are layered.  G'Kar can remove six 
different layers of his outfit, Londo can wear the jacket with or without the 
vest (which can also be removed for the shirt below), the Minbari wardrobe is 
equally layered and can be played with as well, on and on. 
  
  
						       jms 
--- 
Date: Sun, 31 Jan 93 17:22:57 -0700 
From: ab774@freenet.hsc.colorado.edu (GRAPHIC BOOKS ONLINE) 
To: b5@iastate.edu 
Subject: Interested fans 
 
If you are interested in receiving information on Babylon 5 
books and related items, available after the release of the 
pilot, please send your request as noted:  
   
  Internet E-mail                  snail-mail 
  
ab774@freenet.hsc.colorado.edu     Babylon 5 mailing list  
  
Subject B-5 E-mail                 c/o Graphic Books Online 
				   Suite 351 
				   19751 Frederick Road 
				   Germantown, Maryland 20876 
  
We have no time table at this stage for sending out information, 
so it would help if you enclose a snail-mail address. 
  
Please indicate which list you wish to be on (both is fine, too). 
---  
Date: Mon, 1 Feb 93 06:09:04 MST 
From: dnadams@nyx.cs.du.edu (Dean Adams) 
To: b5@iastate.edu 
Subject: Behind the Scenes? 
 
What ever happened to that supposedly "new" edition of the Babylon 5  
"Behind The Scenes" show?   Shouldn't it have been out by now? 
 
As far as I know, PTEN has fed *NOTHING* on B5 for over a month, 
and I haven't seen anything new about it show up on E! either. 
--- 
Date: Mon, 1 Feb 93 08:18:38 PST 
From: koreth@hyperion.com (Steven Grimm) 
To: b5@iastate.edu 
Subject: Screening feeds? 
 
Both "Time Trax" and "Kung Fu: The Legend Continues" were uplinked some time 
before their official release dates with a "For screening purposes only" 
banner.  Does anyone know if the same thing is planned for B5, and if so, 
when the uplink will be? 
 
-Steve 
