Vadim Naroditsky <72133.1175@compuserve.com> asks:
> Will you now have to rewrite/refilm the last 4 episodes?

"Will you now have to rewrite/refilm the last 4 episodes? I assume
they were ending the arc and now you have another year."

No, there's just the replacement for 422, that's all. There's a
difference between *ending the arc* and providing a *sense of
resolution.* By the end of 421, things had been settled in a lot of
areas...but far more were made very clear as being Out There. You
could view it as an epilog, or a set-up for more down the road,
depending on whether or not there was a fifth season. Hell, there's a
great big fat setup for season 5 right smack in the middle of the
Franklin/Lyta scene on Mars in "The Face of the Enemy."

This isn't directed at you so much, Vadim, as in general...some
days I wonder what the hell I'm doing on the nets. We busted our butts
to get year 5, same as we do every year (though moreso this year),
because it would be *the most satisfactory way to end the story*. It
*could* end in year 4, I was prepared to do that if necessary, but it
wouldn't be as satisfactory to all concerned as year 5. So now we have
year five. And right out of the woodwork come people -- such as a
particularly twit-like message forwarded to me from one of the usenet
groups -- saying that the fifth season was going to be just filler now,
that the story was over, used up, it's all tied up, there's nothing but
"dumb old personal stories." No more arc.

And I would love nothing more than to just thump them.

I sometimes wonder if they think I was walking down the street
one day, and I came across this Arc laying in the road. And it's a
finite package, and once it's used up, it's used up. People, I THOUGHT
THIS STUFF UP. You watch it, but I make it...and I'm not doing this
for my health, I didn't fight this hard to do a season of filler.
Where's the common sense here? My vested interest in making this a
solid story is a hell of a lot higher than ANY viewer could POSSIBLY
bring to the table. But again and again, not to you Vadim but in
general, it's "Oh, it's all done now, it's just filler."

Yes, I fought and bled to get a season 5 so I could do filler,
instead of going back to a network show where they'll pay me double
what I get on B5. Absolutely. That makes a LOT of sense.

I dunno...maybe I'm over-reacting...hell, I probably *am*
over-reacting, but it seems like they never let you rest. The end of
the Shadow War came, and folks said, "Oh, the arc is over now, nothing
interesting can happen now," and I said there was MORE interesting
stuff even than that coming up, and sure enough that happened, and it's
"Oh...okay," and this happens time and time again, and now we have a
fifth year, and it's "Oh, the arc is over, nothing interesting can
happen now."

You'd think that by now we would've proven the point...but every
year it seems like we have to prove ourselves again and again and
again. The confetti has barely hit the ground and they move in the
funeral draping.

I just get tired of it some days.

Jerks.

(Not you, Vadim, a very nice man, just venting.)

jms

{original post had no questions}

I know, I know, I know...I think it's just the way we're all
hard wired. You can get 100 plaudits, but it's the one meroon who
busts your chops for something you didn't even *do* that sticks in your
mind. Never met anyone yet that was different. Ah, well...onward.

jms

{original post unavailable}

"I say do that same thing you did when you first had this idea-write
for yourself. Focus on what you want to express. Develop those ideas
you deem important."

That's the only way I can do this; only way I ever have or ever
will.

"And if you ever need a break, drop by Vegas and share some Corona's,
limes, and a can of salt with me. We can laugh at the world together in
the summer sun, watch some showgirls, and throw some bucks at the
blackjack table."

I don't drink, don't smoke, don't do drugs, don't gamble...I
write. Sad, innit?

"I'll steer you away from any Tyson boxing matches, though."

I'm just *waiting* for him to get mad at somebody, and have that
person reel back saying, "Hey, sorry, jeez, don't bite my head off,
man."

jms

Vadim Naroditsky <72133.1175@compuserve.com> asks:
> Joe, do you or did you write anything besides science fiction or
> consider to write it? I think you would write excellent "global
> adventure", I mean something like Frederik Forsait (sp?

Yeah, I've often done non-SF stuff...comedy, cop shows, mystery
shows, historical stuff, horror, essays, articles...a little of
everything.

jms

{original post had no questions}

I hadn't noticed that in the article...well, interesting....

jms

{original post unavailable}

I'm cutting back on salt, I never see the sun anyway, and the
showgirls can take care of themselves.

jms

Waitaminnit...just looked at the name again...is this *the*
James Morrow? As in the writer?

jms

Alan Mulvie <100566.1444@compuserve.com> asks:
> Whats the score with Mr Garibaldi?
> Ditto Valen/Sinclair - his descendants?
> How did Babylon 5 get destroyed?
> (from flash forwards) Who/what was on the ship escaping?
> Will the Narn and Centari find peace?
> Who where the enemys referred to in War without End (Delann in
> the future) Does Sheridan Die (in 20 years) or evolve Like
> Lionheart? Whats the score with Lionheart?
> Did the Vorlons genetically engineer Telepaths?
> What else did they genetically engineer?
> Will Clark get booted out?
> What happens to Centari Prime (in the future - war without end)
> What will Sheridans Son be like- Do? If Lyta can be "enhanced2 by
> the Vorlons, what did the shadows do to their servants? How does
> the army of Light cope with that? If "Mankind" has some of that
> technology, what will we do with it? Whats "The Rim" and whats
> beyond it? Why wont there be a Babylon 6?
> Will Mars become independent or unify with earth?
> Now the big boys have gone, are the children gonna fight?
> Will JMS let someone else write a script?
> And their are plenty of other loose ends if I take time to think
> about it, so the question isnt if you will have a season 5 of
> fillers, but will you have enough episodes to wrap up everything
> by the end of season 5?

At least a third of those are resolved in the next batch; and a
bulk of the rest in the fifth season, plus a lot of other threads you
missed.

jms

{original post had no questions}

No big books, though I've had two medium-sizednovels published
so far.

jms

{original post had no questions}

Thanks...there's an awful lot in those characters and
situations. I've tried, as best I can, to create a living, breathing
universe, with stories you follow in any direction and find something
interesting.

jms

{original post unavailable}

Thanks.

jms

{original post had no questions}

Yeah, but if it were easy, I guess everybody'd do it.

Thanks.

jms

{original post had no questions}

The two novels are currently out of print.

jms