Well, it's done. I have today turned in the first draft of
script #22 for year three, which I suppose could be called a
cliffhanger episode. This marks the first time in the 50+ year history
of American television that one person has singlehandedly written an
entire season of a series. (The closest record is Terry Nation, who
wrote the 13-episode first season of Blake's 7.)

(I have no plans to do this next season, btw; this was
necessary because of the substantive changes in the B5 universe this
season. Next season is a very different story...literally as well as
figuratively.)

So far the film based on those 1,000+ pages represents some of
our best work on Babylon 5. There's some nifty stuff coming.

We are currently filming episode #18. Four more after this,
and we'll be finished shooting year three, as of April 9th. Not long
after, we should get the word on year four, probably by late
April/early May. But the writing is finished...and for the first time
in 8 months, I will be able to go out, see a movie, play Wing
Commander, find something that vaguely resembles a life. This is where
I now also become a director's worst nightmare: a writer-producer who's
finished writing and finally has time to hang out on the set and give
lots and lots of helpful advice.

It was a hideous task; two-thirds through I began to understand
that there was a *reason* nobody's ever done this before...you'd have
to be outta your ever-loving mind to even try. But as with everything
else on B5, if we don't know it's impossible, we just go ahead and do
it.

The title, as stated elsewhere, is classified, though you may
get a sense of what's coming in the two eps that precede it.
Regardless, the writing on year three is now complete. Overall, I'm
quite pleased, and I think by the time you hit this episode, you'll
feel the same.

jms