Rebecca Eschliman <76072.2345@compuserve.com> asks:
> Leaving aside the question of *why* you might want to do such a
> thing, barring the sheer novelty of it, could you write
> empty-headed drivel?

"...could you write empty-headed drivel? I mean by that, something
devoid of the psychological depth, cultural allusions and
variously-voiced wit that we currently appreciate in B5."

Never have before, and see no reason to start now. Any time
I've worked on any show, I've tried to bring something special to it.
Even when I was doing animation...the references in "The Real
Ghostbusters" got blindingly obscure and arcane from time to time (we
once referred to a group of eskimos of specific professions gathered to
handle a spiritual problem an "inuit minyan," which I figure about 8
people in the country got.)

One thing that tends to be true of TV writing in general, not
just my case, is that once you know who's running and writing the show,
you have a fairly good idea of the kind of show you're going to be
getting, because shows tend to be direct outgrowths of the personality
of that writer. You can use phrases like "a Chris Carter show," which
calls up one kind of show, or a "Carl Reiner kind of sitcom," or "a Rod
Serling kind of show." A jms show falls into the same category. I
like sharp, witty, in-depth writing; always have, always will. So that
can be counted on as a constant.

The other kind of writing you describe I couldn't do on a bet.

jms