I don't think it's so much "feeling" that I'm responsible for the
cast members, and for the fans, I *am* responsible for them, on some
levels. Particularly in the case of Big Bang, because I foolishly and
stupidly fell for the okeydoke and said it looked like a good thing prior
to flying out and personally checking the thing out...at which point every
alarm bell in my brain began ringing overtime.

If B5 is used as endorsement, inducement or connection to an event,
a product, anything, it has to be done *right*, or people are going to get
burned. And there's no one out there in that position of verification
but me. So I tend to be somewhat protective of our fans, and our cast.

And, I guess, for me, in a lot of ways this show is personal...it's
potentially the last thing I'll do for TV, if it goes the full 5 years,
and this is the thing you do for yourself, to leave something you hope
will be of value behind, that will survive you. You're not just doing it
for the money, you're doing it because you kinda *have* to, and when it
gets reduced to that, or exploited, or those who believe in the show are
exploited, or ripped off, or conned, or cheated, or given something that
is inferior or cheap...I go into meltdown.

It is, to quote a Twilight Zone episode about a pitchman, the pitch
of a lifetime...one for the angels.

And I guess it's because, being a fan, I've been ripped off same as
everybody else, and I won't have it here. I refuse.

Finally, in the BB case, I feel particularly strongly; we're fighting
for Mark every bit as hard as for the regular B5 cast, as for the fans.
And, again, *I* can be found...others who ran BB can't. So many of those
screwed over come to me...and I've heard some doozies...because they
can't do anything about it. But I can. And I will.

jms