I have always been a MAJOR fan of radio drama, and have even
written for the field (Alien Worlds, Mutual Radio Theater, others); also,
many of those whose works influenced me came out of radio (Norman Corwin,
Arch Oboler, Rod Serling). I love dialogue, and because of the rather
intricate overall story, this is definitely an information-intensive
show, which is certainly like radio drama. I also like trying to make
pictures out of words, which is also out of that tradition, and trying to
blend that with the visuals.

On another level, though, Linda Ellerbee once commented that if you
could walk into another room and, listening to the TV, follow the story,
it isn't TV, it's radio. TV should take fullest advantage of the visual
medium, and that's something that I'm working more on this season, now
that we've established the core of the B5 universe over the first
season, and the information required for that. More and more scenes
without dialogue, or a minimum of dialogue, to balance it all out. It's
really a learning process, every day. I've written over 125 produced
episodes of TV, for some of the highest rated shows around...and I still
feel like I'm just beginning to learn how to write even half-decently.

jms