Starting Thursday, we're on Christmas break (well, for
everybody else
maybe; I've got to finish "The Ressurectionist" and then start on
my next
script, taking advantage of the quiet time to plow through some
work). We're
roughly two-thirds finished with production on the first season.

One thing I can mention now, since it's nearly finished: see,
I have this
real problem with nepotism. Specifically...I hate it. As a
result, I make
people I know work twice as hard. The closer the tie, the more the
person has
to work to prove him or herself.

Kathryn Drennan, my Spousal Overunit, is also a writer, and
has written
for many other shows, primarily in animation, but with some forays
into other
areas. (She was co-author on the Night Gallery series of articles
I wrote
for Twilight Zone Magazine, as one fr'instance, and was a producer
with public
televison for some time.)

Anyway, she desperately wanted to write a B5 script. But
because of my
feelings about nepotism, I refused to give her an assignment. (I
can be a
REAL pain in the ass.) Something similar happened when I was
working on The
Real Ghostbusters; she loved the show, and wanted to write for it.
I put her
through the wringer: she had to submit written premises, just like
any other
freelance writer, which were then sent on to the producers for
final approval.
They did not know of any relation between her and me; they based
their
approval only on the merits of the story. Period. And she ended
up writing
two episodes: "Egon's Dragon" and "The Man Who Never Reached Home."
(The
former is considered a favorite by many viewers of the show.) Only
long after
we finished production did the exec producers on TRGBs learn that
there was a
relationship there; it was all based on the quality of the work.

But in the case of B5, I *am* the exec producer, so it became
more
difficult. At first I said simply no. Finally, I set into place
a number of
conditions/provisions. NOT because she wouldn't do a great script,
but only
because I don't like the look of nepotism; I hate it, and I hate
the way this
town operates on the principles of nepotism. The conditions were
that she had
to write the script completely on spec, no assignment; not a spec
outline,
which is shorter, but a spec *script*. It would then have to pass
muster in-
house; if even one person thought it wasn't up to snuff, it got
deep sixed.
And revisions would not be handled by me, for the most part; she
would have to
work with Larry, who has a reputation (as Katherine Lawrence can
attest) to
not pulling his punches. No favoritism. Then the script would
have to pass
muster with Warners. IF, after all that, the script was approved,
then it
would be bought, and not a moment before. If anywhere along the
line it
didn't meet one of those criteria...then it would be a 50 page
learning
experience and nothing more.

Well, I'm pleased to say that it *did* pass muster with
everyone, and "By
Any Means Necessary" is now over halfway through production, with
a number of
people -- including Michael O'Hare -- saying it's their favorite so
far,
mainly for very odd reasons. The premise is one that ST would
never, EVER do,
which is one thing I like about it; it also shows us more on the
inner
workings of B5, the blue-collar types who keep the whole place
operational...and what happens when that falls apart. The B story
gets into a
confrontation between G'Kar and Londo when Londo interferes in an
important
Narn religious observation.

We brought back John Snyder (Soul Hunter #2) minus prosthetics
for one
guest role, and Katy Boyer as our other guest star. They're both
doing
terrific jobs, and it's a very intense script in which we basically
put
Sinclair through the wringer for 48 hours and try and make him
absolutely
nuts. And succeed, for the most part.

Anyway...there you have it.

(Incidentally..."Mind War" has come out so well that it looks
like we're
going to move it up in the schedule a bit. It was orignally slated
to run
about episode 10 or so, but the studio is so hot on it that it'll
probably run
#6, right after "Parliament." And Walter has agreed to be the
voice-over and
on-camera narrator for the Behind the Scenes/Making of Babylon 5
documentary.)

jms