As I write this, we are now exactly one month, 30 days, from
the launch
of the series. In one month, you will know if I've been blowing
smoke up your
CRTs, or if we've been telling the truth. Starting in one month,
as the
ratings come in, we'll know if our experiment is a success, or if
we've missed
the target.

There are moments when I'm utterly convinced that we've got a
hit on our
hands...and moments when I'm just as convinced that nobody is going
to hear
about us, or notice...and that the future of B5 will be consumed by
a vast,
cosmic yawn. Alternating moments of exhiliration and terror,
confidence and
doubt.

I know that the series contains some of the best writing I've
ever done;
if in my entire life, I never do anything other than "Chrysalis,"
I will still
be content, because that's the single best thing I've ever done,
and it came
out even better than I'd hoped, on every level. Maybe my best is
good enough.
Maybe it ain't. Fundamentally, despite all the planning, and
production, and
advertising, and good will...it's still a crap shoot. You never
know what'll
click. "Picket Fences" is arguably the best-written show on TV,
but it's in a
constant battle to survive.

It's been a very, very long haul...from the 1986/87 writing of
the script
and bible, to the time of TWCBN, and from the pilot to the series.
To some extent, it's become the focus for a lot of people's hopes
and
expectations of what *they* think the perfect SF series would be.
And some of
those people are bound to be disappointed, simply because no show
can equal
every single person's expectations and personal preferences. All
we can do
is tell a story, as best we can, and hope that others like that
story as much
as we do. It won't be the Babylon 5 that's in your head; it'll be
the Babylon
5 that's in my head...and we'll have to see if that is sufficient
to hold the
interest of viewers. Sometimes I think it's too eccentric.
Sometimes I think
we haven't dared enough. Sometimes I think there's too much humor.
Sometimes
I think there isn't enough humor. And on and on and on....

In one month, the reality of what Babylon 5 is will begin to
be seen
across the country. And then we shall see what we shall see. I
showed Harlan
two episodes recently, "Sky" and "Parliament." He has always been
our hardest
critic to please. And he said that there wasn't a single false
note in it
anywhere. I've gotten similar reactions to episodes from D.C.
Fontana and
David Gerrold and Terry Dowling and others known in the SF
community. Which
gives me some measure of hope.

Every once in a while, I allow myself the luxury of thinking
we've really
*got* something here. But in one month, I won't need to wonder,
and *you*
won't need to wonder anymore. It'll be right out there for all to
see.

Yikes....


jms