One other reason the producer credits are out of the way fast is that we
don't have a big staff of writer/producers, like many other shows. There's
me, my story editor Larry...and that's all. Many shows have anywhere from 4-7
staffers. I like lean staffs.

Re: merchandising...the concensus at Shore Leave is, of course,
breathtakingly inaccurate. WB doesn't have to "invest" anything for any
merchandising to be done; that's done by those who license the show. As of
this writing, there are basically about a dozen B5 licensees, and I am
informed that there are about another dozen or so currently in the process of
negotiation. I mean, jeez...we've got a comic from DC, novels from Dell,
comics from Cardz, shirts, mugs, keychains from Creation and others, a CD-ROM
from Compton's...what the hell more do they want? No, B5 is not a ***MAJOR
FRANCHISE*** like ST with ten zillion licensees, and I don't *want* it to be
that, and hope it never *becomes* that. As it is, there is more licensing
committed to this show than to *any* of the other live-action Warners series,
with the possible exception of Lois and Clark.

And, as stated, I resisted licensing during year one to keep our focus on
the story (as did the creator of Calvin and Hobbes for the first year or two).
It amazes me how a group of people can look at the licensing of one show on
less than a year, compare it to the licensing of a show on for 25 years in one
form or anther, and decide because it's less that somehow Warners doesn't want
to "invest" in the show, turning this into a negative. Well, I guess if
people gotta find something to pick at, they may as well make up stuff as
anything else. (Like the bunch of folks in Tennessee who just sent a petition
to the B5 offices protesting the firing of me, Harlan, and all the other
writers on the show, and the total recasting of the series.)

jms