I've conveyed as much of this discussion as I can, never having seen
the original posting for some reason, to Larry DiTillio, and he is very
upset about it, feeling that many of his comments have not been represented
accurately or have been taken out of context. As far as the stations are
concerned...it's the stations that are in partnership with Warners to form
PTEN. PTEN "guidance" comes from the Executive Committee, which is a few
representatives of that group.

Every network show ever produced must have casting of regulars
approved by the network. Ditto with the company that creates a
syndicated show (usually the studio). It is the simple process of
running the name or names past someone, for their approval, which is
almost always assured unless the person is *very* controversial or just
not right for the part. Every show ever produced goes through this
process, and it is exactly the same with B5. We proposed the names for
our cast, and they were approved. It's as basic as that. If Larry
grumped a bit, it was because he was in the process of trying to pass a
kidney stone at the time, which always makes him cranky.

jms

Once again, some of this is getting distorted. We are looking for
the best person to play this new role. Once we decide who it is we want,
we will run this past PTEN for their approval. It is nothing more or
less than this. Bostwick, who I personally very much wanted to work with,
was NOT -- repeat, *not* -- turned down by PTEN. We courted him for a
bit, but in the final analysis he decided that he didn't want to do a
syndicated series. We have only this week, for the first time, formally
presented the name of a prospective actor to PTEN.

As stated, Larry was in considerable discomfort due to a kidney
stone, and has been more or less out of the loop, due to working on his
first script and not formally beginning his term yet as story editor for
this season. As one example of this...the line that Sinclair will not be
seen until *after* the second season is also incorrect. We have already
shot a sequence with Sinclair, which is slated for the second season.


Larry is very bothered about how this is being distorted, and he told me
to remind certain people that he specifically said that if any of this
turned up on the nets, he would find the person responsible, go to their
home and kill them. Granted, he was on painkillers at the time, but *I*
certainly wouldn't push it.

jms