Yikes; that's an awful lot of ground to cover. I've worked as story
editor or producer on such series as the new Twilight Zone, Murder She
Wrote, and the live-action SF series Captain Power (seen by maybe ten
people in the country before it was yanked off the air for being "the most
violent show on television," a post now occupied by Brisco County Jr., we
are told by congress). I've written something on the order of 120-130
produced episodes of television, and story edited probably twice that. (I
began in animation, story editing shows such as the Real Ghostbusters, the
syndicated and first network season, before walking off the show when they
compromised Janine's character.) I've been nominated for Gemini, Writers
Guild, Bram Stoker and Ace Awards. Two nominations were for the
adaptation I did for Showtime's Nightmare Classics series, "The Strange
Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde," with Anthony Andrews and Laura Dern.
I was on Murder for about two years before leaving to do B5.

I've written produced radio dramas (including for Mutual Radio
Theater and Alien Worlds), published dark fantasy novels (hardcover from
Dutton, Demon Night and OtherSyde), produced stage plays, and something
on the order of 500 published articles. Started out as a reporter and
ended up working for the L.A. Times, TIME Inc., and others. Anyway,
that's a quick overview of it. (And no, no show in the 70s; my TV credits
begin around 1984.)

jms

I've always found "how/when did you get your break into writing" to
be a very weird question, at least in my case; like asking a doctor, "when
did you get your break into foot surgery." It wasn't one thing at one
time. This is a career that I've prepared for, and worked toward, and
entered incrementally over a very long period. I always knew that I would
be a writer, used to collect pencils and paperclips and could determine the
better grade of erasers and #10 pencils at an age when most kids were still
trying to figure out which end to hold. It's just a quirk.

When I was 16, after having read comprehensively in every genre I
could get my hands on, I decided that now was a good time to start. So I
began writing. Short stories, poems, playlets, articles, you name it, I
wrote it. I didn't show anyone at first, just kept slamming words
together in the process of learning how to make little explosions of
character and action. When I felt ready -- six months later -- I began
showing it around. The high school I was attending began producing some of
my one-acts, and commissioned a full play from me; I began selling articles
to local newspapers and magazines; even placed a one-act with a local
theater, which decided to produce it before discovering that I was only 17
years old. (When I showed up, they kept waiting for my parents to arrive,
until I pointed out that *I* was the JMS on the script.)

After that, it was just a process of *writing* and *sending it out*.
There is no mystery, no big break, no sudden revelation or secret
handshake. Bit by bit, I sold more articles, sold more plays, sold some
short stories, and bit by bit, almost without noticing, the list of credits
got longer until one day, people started asking me when I knew I'd Made It
as a writer, when it hadn't ever occured to me that I *had* made it as a
writer...I hadn't realized it'd happened.

It's the difference, I suppose, between buying a finished house, and
there it is...and watching the house go up brick by brick over a long
period of time. At what point did it "become" a house?

It's probably not a helpful answer, but it's the only one I have....

jms

Only if the SciFi Channel picks up CP.

jms

The first network season of The Real Ghostbusters, and its only
official first-run syndicated season, the show was a monster hit. Major
league numbers, #1. Naturally, as soon as that happened, everyone started
to try and figure out how to "fix" it. Everyone starts protecting his
investment. They want to play it safe. Which inevitably leads to the
show getting screwed up, but that never stops them.

So the network brought in consultants, who said that this is a kid's
series, so you have to have *kids* in it (this after steadfastly refusing
to diverge from the desire on our part to continue the tradition of the
movie, using only adult characters). The Junior Ghostbusters, one of the
lamest ideas in TV history. Then they started on Janine...who was much to
their dismay a strong female character. They felt that she should be
changed to a more warm, nurturing character, that her dry sense of humor
was too aggressive, and that she should be made more into a "mommy figure"
(to use their terms).

Her clothes, eccentric and personalized, were deemed "slutty," and
had to be replaced by dresses and soft blouses. She should be made more
deferential to the male characters. She had to lose the pointed glasses
she wore, replacing them instead with round glasses because "sharp objects
frighten children."

Janine was a strong, forceful, independent character who could take
care of herself, and you didn't mess with her. She was sharp, and funny,
and just a real kick to write for. This was the kind of character I'd
fought to preserve, and it had proven to be a hit...and now they wanted to
turn that upside down and turn her into a mommy. Ain't nothing wrong with
mommies. But there's plenty of mommy-figures in cartoons; why not provide
an alternative view...a working career woman who is generally satisfied
with her life? Leaving aside the role-model question for the moment, I
happen to really, really, *really* love writing strong female characters.
I love strong female characters in general. Most of my relationships
have been with strong-willed, independent, very bright women. I love it
when I'm outsmarted or one-upped; it makes me work harder.

So when they did *this*...I shot back a very loud "Not a chance." NOt
on this show. I went to meetings. Got into huge arguments with these
so-called consultants. Finally, I said that if they were going to do this,
they'd have to do it without my participation; I refused to participate in
the lobotomy of that show, or that character. So I resigned. Later, when
their new "approach" to the show began to nosedive, I was asked if I'd
return. I was then working on POWER, and couldn't...but agreed to write
some episodes on the following conditions: 1) the new story editors were
not to so much as *touch* my scripts, or the deal was off; 2) in my
unverse the Junior Ghostbusters did not exist, and would not appear in any
of my scripts; and 3) I wrote the old Janine, not the "new" Janine, and
that was with all of her attitudes intact. They agreed.

And that is the story.

jms

No plan to make the scripts available at this time, but who knows...?

jms

Oh, they're there, all right...you've just been lucky.

jms

There's no way to replace them that I know of, other than just taping
the shows all over again off the syndicated channels.

jms

My software is not easily set up to let me quote from stuff. I get
a list of messages...anywhere up to 50-55 at a time. I read in batches,
and when I see something requiring a response, the GEnie software is set
up so that I type REP 25 (for message 25) and begin typing. My personal
software isn't set up to quote stuff; I'd have to re-list the message,
capture it, edit it, all by hand...it becomes a major pain in the ass, adn
(and) would increase several-fold the amount of work involved. Meaning
that I would have less time to respond, and thus could respond to fewer
messages. In general, I try to paraphrase or restate or clarify the
original question in my reply, and usually I think it's clear enough.

But I'll work harder to be clear.

jms

Yeah, you're right; I'd nearly forgotten about the "And Winston, the
black character, drives the car and repairs it." I pretty much went right
through the roof on that one. The consultants said that you have to keep
characters to within a child's expectations. I came within an inch of
going over the table at them.

jms

Regarding the ads...when you have 14-16 regular and recurring
characters, you have to determine which of them will end up in an ad,
because anyone not included is bound to be offended unless you come up
with some unbiased way of selecting them. What was finally chosen was
the number of episodes in which they appear. The cut-off point was 13
episodes. At that point and above, you have Sinclair, Delenn, Garibaldi,
Ivanova, G'Kar, Londo. Below that you have Franklin, Lennier, Vir, Talia,
Na'Toth, etc.

jms