JMS Usenet Posts
Dirk A. Loedding
>JMS quotes and answers:
:Do you ever get frustrated or discouraged over the seemingly never
:ending hurdles of putting out a quality TV series with a memory and
:which builds upon itself? How do you deal with it?
I don't. Some days I just throw up my hands (or my lunch) and walk
out of the building and swear I'm getting out of TeeVee once and for
all. On one hand it's a terrific business to be in...on the other
hand, it's soul-killing if you want to do anything other than walk the
middle of the road. More than once, I've had to just go right to the
wall, to say it's either this way or I walk...and on many occasions,
I've ended up doing just that, walking, because I have only a few
rules when I work, and the first one is "I never bluff. Ever."
There are days -- lots of them -- when it's just a heartbreaker of a
profession. But at the same time I have to keep it in perspective:
I'm not likely to get caught in a mine shaft collapse, or get hit by a
falling house frame, or endure the many hardships that people every
day in far more important jobs -- teaching, carpenting, construction
-- the jobs that keep this country moving ahead, have to endure. It's
all subcutaneous, neural, emotional, creative, professional...but in
ways that are designed to nibble away your humanity and your
compassion, to lead you to excess and arrogance and indulgence.
There are days it drives me totally batshit.
But I tell stories, it's what I do, and television provides the
biggest canvas in human history, and I have no intention surrendering
the field to the visigoths.
jms
>Have you ever wanted to get into writing or producing movies?
I've actually written a number of features for various companies and
studios, including a feature a while ago for Ivan Reitman, another for
London Films, and I did the Rising Stars feature adapatation. I'm
also very close to another feature assignment, which I'll know more
about in a few weeks. It may or may not go through, but if it does
it'll be mighty cool.
But producing movies means mainly being the fund-raiser, the guy who
spends days and nights putting together deals and getting financing,
and to be honest, I'd rather have root canal. Daily.
jms
>Warning: Political stuff for the next couple messages.
Yeah, it's getting more than a little scary ou there. There was an
excellent analysis of the full impact of the Patriot Act posted over at:
http://www.smirkingchimp.com/article.php?sid=7241
And the full text of the so-called Patriot Act, for those who want to
see it for themselves (which a lot of congressmen didn't prior to
voting for it) is at:
http://216.110.42.179/docs/usa.act.final.102401.html
Of the republicans in the White House in the recent past, Nixon was a
crook, Reagan did immeasurable damage to the country, Bush Senior was
okay just barely, I think his heart was in the right place but he was
just sorta clueless...but this is the first administration that has
sent the same kind of worry and downright fear through me that was
previously only associated with the McCarthy/HUAC period.
They're shredding the Constitution up there with terrifying speed.
jms
>JMS quotes and answers:
:You'll be waiting a very long time. JMS seems to be quite rigidly
:partisan - In his world, Democrats are always paragons of virtue and
:common sense, Republicans are always stupid, evil, and insane.
Please show me where I said this. Which should be difficult, since I
never did.
Clinton screwed an intern. This was a serious moral lapse that shamed
the office. But it really has no effect on the way the country is
run; Whitewater, after eight years of searching and millions of
dollars, turned out to be nothing but hot air.
Bush is screwing the *country*.and that's a very different thing.
:The only nice word I have seen from JMS about any Republican was when
:he was campaigning for McCain in the primary. I posted then that I
:thought this was because he expected McCain to be easier to beat in
:November, and asked for his word of honor that, if McCain were to win
:the primary, he would still be campaigning for him and vote for him in
:November. For whatever reason, he didn't reply.
Never saw the message to reply to it.
I contributed to the McCain campaign, in a fairly large amount. I
would've been happy with him or Gore in the white house. Both are men
of strong convictions and intellect who have dedicated their lives to
public service.
Bush ran two businesses into the ground and was only rescued by
friends of the family and others who bailed him out in order to get
close to the Bush family, didn't even bother to show up for most of
his national guard service, and has the least amount of prior
government work of any candidate in history, and that is painfully
evident with every passing day.
If the race were McCain against Gore, I honestly don't know who I
would've voted for. If I were prescient, and could see 9/11 coming, I
probably would've voted for McCain.
Meanwhile, please do not put words or intentions in my mouth to which
I do not subscribe; I get in enough trouble with what I *do* say, I
don't need help in that area by adding things I didn't say.
jms
>JMS quotes and answers:
:You keep leaving this out. You *SEEM* to be ignoring this fact. Why?
I'm not ignoring any facts.
I'm simply ignoring you.
Slight difference.
jms
>OK. I think that's it for the political stuff.
>Are you involved with the new He-Man cartoon on Cartoon Network?
No, I'm not involved with the new show. I watched the first ep out of
curiosity, and it felt like a high school reunion of people you never
thought you'd see again.
Funnily enough, while at comiccon, I went by the booth advertising the
new He-Man series and mentioned to one of the folks there that I used
to write for the show.
Not having any idea who I was, he looked at me with something akin to
pity in his eyes, as if this was the one big thing I'd ever done and I
had come by to relive that moment of accomplishment...and he asks if I
did anything after that, and I said Babylon 5...he didn't have a clue
what it was and said, "So, did that work out okay for you?"
If he hadn't been sitting in a chair I would'e hit him with it.
jms
>JMS quotes and answers:
:I noticed there is another "Murder She Wrote," movie coming out. Did
:you write that one too, as you did the last one?
No, I've kind of been too busy to take on anything else, and didn't
make myself available.
:PS - Aren't gray neco wafers licorice flavor?
Who can tell?
jms
>JMS quotes and answers:
:Don't take it personally, he's only responded to 4-5 of my posts
:during my 5-6 years of posting here.
Six.
jms
>In the "Not too late" department, a JMS con appearance:
Just a quick note to the B5 folks in Vancouver...I'm slated to appear
at V-Con in Vancouver at the Plaza 500 Hotel, Cambie and 12th, the
weekend of October 12th. More on this as I know it.
jms
>Oops. One more political post, though it seems to have been inspired
>by a question about the show. JMS quotes and answers:
:> The vice-president is always a suspect in an assassination. The
:> investigation into the death of JFK was performed by congress.
:Not by standing law, it wasn't.
Here's the pertinent details from one of the many sites on the subject,
just so its clear who was on the commission and how it was formed:
"By his order of November 29 establishing the Commission, President
Johnson sought to avoid parallel investigations and to concentrate
fact-finding in a body having the broadest national mandate. As
Chairman of the Commission, President Johnson selected Earl Warren,
Chief Justice of the United States, former Governor and attorney
general of the State of California. From the U.S. Senate, he chose
Richard B. Russell, Democratic Senator from Georgia and chairman of
the Senate Armed Services Committee, former Governor of, and county
attorney in, the State of Georgia, and John Sherman Cooper, Republican
Senator from Kentucky, former county and circuit judge, State of
Kentucky, and U.S. Ambassador to India. Two members of the Commission
were drawn from the U.S. House of Representatives: Hale Boggs,
Democratic U.S. Representative from Louisiana and majority whip, and
Gerald R. Ford, Republican, U.S. Representative from Michigan and
chairman of the House Republican Conference. From private life,
President Johnson selected two lawyers by profession, both of whom
have served in the administrations of Democratic and Republican
Presidents: Allen W. Dulles, former Director of Central Intelligence,
and John J. McCloy, former President of the International Bank for
Reconstruction and Development, former U.S. High Commissioner for
Germany, and during World War II, the Assistant Secretary of War."
jms
>JMS quotes and answers about production of B5 and Jeremiah:
:With B5, it was a five day shoot, that almost always ended around 5pm.
Not correct. It was a 7 day per episode shoot, with the exception of
one season that went to 6 days, and we usually went 7 to 7 p.m.
:The cast and crew found it an enjoyable atmosphere that was in danger
:of not being called work. Also, the budget was handled in a way that
:was one of the best kept records in Warner Brothers (all from your posts).
Correct. We came in under budget every year for 5 years, at one point
handing back a million bucks, which they couldn't (and still can't
quite) believe.
:The question is how is/was the Jeremiah production. Were the hours
:more chaotic due to outside shooting. Was the budget more difficult
:due to a larger payroll and more dynamic shooting environment?
It was more daunting because whereas B5 was shot entirely indoors,
Jeremiah has been primarily a road show, such that we're shooting
outdoors, rain, snow, mud or yuck, as much as 6 days out of 7 (with
some 7 days out of 7).
As for budget, everyone kind of expected we'd go over our first
season, since it was such a big show, and all freshman shows tend to
do that. But I don't allow such things. 20% of any budget usually is
wasted on lack of preparation. By always having our scripts in on
time, and well ahead of schedule, we were able to plan ahead and, as
with B5, we came in under budget for our first season.
:Ok, three questions, and about your least favorite part of the job.
Getting up early when I've been writing until 3 a.m. or later.
jms
>About the Vancouver con:
:Any idea when you'll be there,
Haven't gotten a final yet, but probably Saturday or Sunday.
:and in what shape or form?
Just for the sheer variety of it, I was thinking of going as a bipedal
humanoid....
jms
>JMS quotes and answers:
:Question: What has been the benefit of producing shows under budget
:from the higher ups? Is it like the military and you get less funding
:or more funding as you can be trusted with it? That B5 was always on
:the wire suggests neither and that its all about the ratings.
The key thing is, if you can prove yourself fiscally responsible, they
have a greater tendency to leave you alone creatively.
:>Ok, three questions, and about your least favorite part of the job.
: Getting up early when I've been writing until 3 a.m. or later.
:I was talking about the producing side of the house but thanks for the
:info :^D
That IS the producing side of it.
jms
>JMS asks for help with something. (No need for anyone to respond
>now, as he's already gotten the help he needed.)
For reasons too obscure to explain right now, I need a reference point
into B5 and because I can see only the overall story in my head, I'm
having a hard time picking this moment.
What I'm looking for is the ending of a B5 episode that ends with
action or a big moment right before fade-out, something that's kind of
a visual wow moment, and I'm in forest-for-the-trees mode.
Any suggestions appreciated.
jms
>JMS quotes and answers, to someone who gave JMS the help he needed above:
>Well, there was Sheridan's fat ass frogging off of the precipice in
>Z'ha'dum.
Thanks to all, and especially to all who suggested "Z'ha'dum," because
that's the one I think that will fit our needs. Not that I can *explain*
that need at the moment, but with hope, in time, all will become clear.
Thanks again to all who helped.
jms
>JMS quotes and answers:
:I was just curious about the status of the book of Babylon 5 quotes
:JMS mentioned some time ago. I'm looking forward to reading it and was
:just wondering if any new information about it is out there (i.e.
:possible release date etc.)
The book, plus emails and suggestions, is being compiled now, and
they're targeting February, the 10th anniversary of B5, for the pub
date.
jms
>JMS quotes and answers (on Sept. 10th):
:It's been a while since you updated the Rising Starts comic schedule.
:We understand that it'll be out when you've got a time slot
:sufficiently wide to do quality work, can you give us an update? Even
:if to say "there's no schedule yet"? It'll keep me from pestering the
:comic shop guys. :-)
They've had 20 for a while now, and the colored pages are *finally*
coming in for approval, so it should be out fairly soon now.
The Midnight Nation TPB was supposed to come out this past week, but
apprently has been delayed as well, don't know the reasons for that
one either.
jms
>JMS quotes and answers about some work of Fiona Avery's:
:I just heard the news about _No Honor_ being adapted for TV.
:Wondering if you'd mind passing on a congratulatory note to her?
I'll convey that. She's actually appearing this week at ConJose, so
if there are any fans out there who'd like to say hi, that's where she
can be found.
jms
>Will the cancellation of Farscape have any impact on anything you may
>or may not be doing for the Sci-Fi channel?
I don't think the Farscape situation much impacts my stuff with SFC
one way or another. I suspect there were a number of factors,
including the cost of the show (which was the highest on the network,
from what I've heard, but that's second-hand and may not be accurate)
combined with the fact that SFC (via their parent company USA
Networks) didn't own the show.
Lemme splain....
If a network owns the show they air, they can reap long-term profits
from syndication of the program. More and more, USA Network (and
other cable outlets) is under pressure to own what they produce,
otherwise they're paying huge sums of money to produce shows that they
air a few times, then the money goes to the studio that did the actual
production. The higher the cost, the iffier the proposition.
So that may have been an issue here. They needed Farscape to help
build their audience, but now that this seems to be coming together
for them, the logical (for a network) thing would be to start paring
away what they don't own, and which is costly, to replace it with
their own stuff.
One of the things you can never allow yourself to forget is that TV is
a business designed around making a profit, and determining who owns
what long-term revenue streams.
Doesn't affect Polaris one way or another, since if that goes, it
would be under the aegis of the network.
jms
>JMS quotes and answers a follow-up question about the above:
:So shouldn't the studio that owns a show be giving Sci-Fi a better
:deal to offset that, and get a studio's show on the air? That way,
:everybody can win.
That's the logical thing, but logic and show business rarely dine at
the same table.
Most studios would rather own 100% of nothing than 50% of something.
That sounds outrageous, but it's all a part of that all-or-nothing
profit thing that they ALL have going. And they're all in competition
with one another.
This came into play on the Rangers situation, where WB was reluctant
to let SFC own a part of the show, since SFC is owned by Universal
Vivendi, and WB is in competition with Universal.
So it's a real balancing act. If Rangers had gotten a higher rating
(had it not been killed on the East Coast by the biggest football
playoff in the last decade), even though it was owned by WB, they
would almost certainly have committed to a series, since that rating
would balance out not owning the show...on the flip side, had Rangers
been owned by SFC/Universal, and gotten the same rating that it
actually got, they would've been able to say "Okay, let it grow,
because we own it and we're willing to take the risk and we're losing
less money in license fees since we're paying them to ourselves in any
event and we can get the merchandising revenues," which only the
studio gets.
Studio logic is kind of like looking at the gorgon...too close and
you're turned to stone.
jms
>Someone reported that the UK version of the DVD's would be in 4:3,
>not the US widescreen version:
Insofar as I know, they are the same in both versions, WB has never
indicated that they are doing anything different for the overseas
market.
jms
>JMS quotes and answers:
:I don't know - he hasn't managed to keep a readily franchisable show
:in production (ie: B5 spinoffs) as yet.
I find this a very weird statement, on a number of levels. In
relation to B5, Crusade never had the *chance* to get anywhere because
TNT pulled out before a single ep was ever aired.
And let me ask you: what is enough? If I created B5, and it endures,
are you saying that my skills aren't much because I haven't had ten
zillion franchise spinoffs out there? Is that what the measure of
success has become, spinoff-heaven?
Hell, I wasn't even sure I wanted B5 to become a franchise; I just
wanted to tell a good story.
The fact is that, from the time it debuted, to now, almost 10 years,
B5 has been in constant broadcast, first in its debut, then in
constant reruns. If I'd done *nothing else* ever, that would be a
lifetime's worth of accomplishment.
But your comment also ignores other items, such as the fact that I was
one of two producers who launched Walker, Texas Ranger, which became a
franchise; that I came on board Murder, She Wrote at a time when it was
in the 30s ratings-wise and helped bring it up to the top 10 again, where
it continued to be an ongoing franchise for many years; that I (insert
chagrined expression here) did He-Man, which became the ultimate
franchise. I've also taken Spider-Man, which was selling poorly, and
taken it to Marvel's #3 comic (PRIOR to the movie coming out).
So I can do the franchise thing just fine, thanks.
But making a franchise, and telling a story, are not the same things.
I don't care much about the former; I do care about the latter.
jms
>9/11 notes from JMS:
A number of people, who were not able to get hold of ASM36, asked if I
could repost the text of that issue in commemoration of the
anniversary since it's pretty much unavailable now. With some
modifications to make the statement more general, the text follows.
It may be freely posted anywhere it may do some good.
jms
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------
We interrupt our regularly scheduled program to bring you the following special
bulletin.
Longitude: 74 degrees, 0 minutes, 23 seconds West.
Latitude: 40 degrees, 42 minutes, 51 seconds North.
Follow the sound of sirens.
Some things are beyond words.
Beyond comprehension.
Beyond forgiveness.
The questions come:
How could you let this happen?
Why didn't you know this was coming?
How do you say we didn't know? We couldn't know.
We couldn't imagine.
Only madmen could contain the thought, execute the act, fly the planes.
Even those we thought our enemies are moved. Because some things surpass
rivalries and borders.
Because the story of humanity is written not in towers but in tears.
In the common coin of blood and bone.
In the voice that speaks within even the worst of us, and says This is not
right.
Also here are those who face fire without fear or armor.
Those who step into the darkness without assurances of ever walking out again,
because they know there are others waiting in the dark.
Awaiting salvation.
Awaiting word.
Awaiting justice.
Ordinary men.
Ordinary women.
Made extraordinary by acts of compassion.
And courage.
And terrible sacrifice.
We've voted, and we're going to try to take the plane.
It's the only way to stop them hitting Washington.
I love you.
Ordinary men.
Ordinary women.
Refusing to surrender.
Ordinary men.
Ordinary women.
Refusing to accept the self-serving proclamations of holy warriors of every
stripe, who announce that somehow we had this coming.
...probably what we deserve....
All of them who have tried to secularize America...the pagans and the
abortionists
and the feminists and the gays and the lesbians and the ACLU....
I point the finger in their face and I say, "You helped this happen."
-- it is God's will that America should fall through their iniquity and
their sin --
We reject them both in the knowledge that our tragedy is greater than the sum
of our transgressions.
Bodies in freefall on the evening news.
Madness in mosques, shouting down fourteen centuries of earnest prayers,
forgetting the lessons of crusades past:
That the most harmed are the least deserving.
There are no words.
There are no words.
The death of innocents and the death of innocence.
Rage compounded upon rage. Rage enough to blot out the sun.
And the air still filled with questions.
Is it going to happen again?
What do I tell my children?
Why did this happen?
What do we tell the children?
Do we tell them the evil is a foreign face?
No. The evil is the thought behind the face, and it can look just like yours.
Do we tell them evil is tangible, with defined borders and names and
geometries and destinies?
No. They will have nightmares enough.
Perhaps we tell them that we are sorry.
Sorry that we were not able to deliver unto them the world we wished them to
have.
That our eagerness to shout is not the equal of our willingness to listen.
That the burdens of distant people are the responsibility of all men and women
of conscience, or their burdens will one day become our tragedy.
Or perhaps we simply tell them that we love them, and that we will protect
them. That we would give our lives for theirs and do it gladly, so great is
the burden of our love.
In a universe of Gameboys and VCRs, it is, perhaps, an insubstantial gift. But
it is the only one that will wash away the tears and knit the wounds and make
the world a sane place to live in.
We could not see it coming. No one could. We could not stop it. No one
could.
But we are still here. With you.
Today. Tomorrow. And the day after.
We live in each blow you strike for infinite justice, but always in the hope of
infinite wisdom.
Because we live as well in the quiet turning of your considered conscience.
The voice that says all wars have innocents.
The voice that says you are a kind and a merciful people.
The voice that says do not do as they do, or the war is lost before it is even
begun.
Do not let that knowledge be washed away in blood.
When you move, we will move with you. Where you go, we will go with you.
Where you are, we are in you.
Because the future belongs to ordinary men and ordinary women, and that future
must be built free of such acts as these, must be fought for and renewed like
fresh water.
Because a message must be sent to those who mistake compassion for weakness. A
message sent across six thousand years of recorded blood and struggle.
And the message is this:
Whatever our history, whatever the root of our surnames, we remain a good and
decent people, and we do not bow down and we do not give up.
The fire of the human spirit cannot be quenched by bomb blasts or body counts.
Cannot be intimidated forever into silence or drowned by tears.
We have endured worse before; we will bear this burden and all that come after,
because that's what ordinary men and women do. We persevere.
No matter what.
This has not weakened us.
It has only made us stronger.
In recent years we as a people have been tribalized and factionalized by a
thousand casual unkindnesses.
But in this we are one.
Flags sprout in uncommon places, the ground made fertile by tears and shared
resolve.
We have become one in our grief.
We are now one in our determination.
One as we recover.
One as we rebuild.
You wanted to send a message, and in so doing you awakened us from our self
involvement.
Message received.
Look for your reply in the thunder.
In such days as these are heroes born. The true heroes of the twenty-first
century.
You, the human being singular.
You, who are nobler than you know and stronger than you think.
You, the heroes of this moment chosen out of history.
We stand blinded by the light of your unbroken will. Before that light, no
darkness can prevail.
They knocked down two tall towers. In their memory, draft a covenant
with your conscience, that we will create a world in which such things
need not occur.
A world which will not require apologies to children, but also a world whose
roads are not paved with the husks of their inalienable rights.
They knocked down two tall towers. Graft now their echo onto your spine.
Become girders and glass, stone and steel, so that when the world sees
you, it sees them.
And stand tall.
Stand tall.
Stand tall.
J. Michael Straczynski
>Another 9/11 comment:
Further to the point, if anyone's interested, there's an interview
with me at:
http://www.comicbookresources.com/news/newsitem.cgi?id=1532
for some more general thoughts on the issue.
jms
>JMS quotes and answers:
:Is "Polaris" TWCNBN previously, Joe? Has any information about it
:been posted?
Polaris is a new SF series of mine under development for the Sci-Fi
Channel. I've turned in the final draft of the two-hour pilot, and now
we will wait to see what occurs.
I've kept the basic storyline of Polaris under lock and key because
it's the kind of thing which, once you hear it, you know instantly why
SFC picked it up to develop, even though it's a fairly pristine area
inside the genre, and I'm trying to keep competition to a minimum for
now.
jms
>JMS quotes and answers:
:Agents of Gaming, the last holder of a Babylon 5 license, is no longer
:allowed to produce or sell thier Babylon 5 Wars game lines. See
:www.agentsofgaming.com for more details. This is very sad. It is a
:dark time for the Babylon 5 universe.
However, another RPG company has just come on board with ideas on how
to come up with some very cool stuff. More on this at a later point.
jms
>JMS quotes and answers:
:It is my sad duty to report that AOG's Babylon 5 contract has ended
:and will not be renewed. Regrettably, no further Babylon 5 game
:licenses or renewals are being granted due to the lack of an ongoing
:show or property to build upon. AOG held, to our knowledge, the last
:existing game license for B5.
:So what happens to the B5 product line?
:It is now out of print. No new products will be made.
A new license has just been made with another RPG company, and they're
looking to come out with their first salvo next year.
jms
>When does the next Rising Stars come out?
I believe 20 should be out two Wednesdays from now (today being the
20th).
jms
>JMS quotes and answers:
:Since there's no official word yet on the renewal of Jeremiah, and
:nothing you can officially say about the pick-up of Polaris, what's
:keeping you busy these days? You've got ASM and Rising Stars, of
:course but doesn't that leave you at least two projects short to keep
:you busy? Can you at least tell us how many projects you're working on
:that you can't tell us about yet? :-)
Since Malcolm and others have already pretty much spilled the beans,
and word has gone out to the crew and cast and others and we're
beginning prep next week...yeah, we've been picked up on Jeremiah.
Sam Egan has left and we're bringing on Grant Rosenberg to help out in
his place, mainly by working on set so I can focus more on the writing
instead of having to plow through snow to stand around with the
director.
So I'm hip deep in prep on Jeremiah, still waiting news on Polaris,
writing Spidey, writing a new and as yet classified book for Marvel (I
think they'll break the news in the next issue of Wizard), I've got 3
more issues to write for Rising Stars....
And there are two tippy-top secret projects I'm doing for companies I
can't name. On one, the contracts just came in for their last revision,
and as soon as they're done, we can get to work, and on the other, it
looks very promising (all I can say is that it's a series, but of a
different configuration than anyone's done before), but I never count
chickens sans hatching. We've been working on the last item there for
about six months, and we're very close to getting this going. If that
happens, and that's always a big if, it's going to be something kinda
huge, to be honest, with the potential to have a massive effect on
television storytelling and production. It would be a very literal
paradigm shift. Which is why I can't say anything about it for now
(that and the non-disclosure agreement I had to sign).
So there's your other two projects....
jms
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| Dirk A. Loedding <*> ju...@america.net |
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