I really don't know how to make an e-mail mailing list, and it would seem
inappropriate to ask anyone here to go through the hassle of doing it for all
1800-2000 people here to accommodate the handful with dishes. Or silverware,
for that matter. If someone here would like to be your "Dish Buddy" and send
you a note when it goes on, that might be one way of doing it.

Re: kids/robots...the exact phrasing of that has gone through various
permutations and paraphrasings; the specific line is "No kids or cute robots."
The latter specifically entails entities such as Twiki (got the spelling right
this time, thanks to whoever corrected me), who should be run down by a truck
at the first opportunity. (In fact, I can say without hesitation that if you
ever DO see what passes for a cute robot on this show, keep a close eye on it,
because you'll probably see somebody drop an anvil on it REAL fast.)

So this allows us to explore the question of robotics, but to do so in a
fairly serious context. Because logically, 200+ years in the future there are
going to be some changes; robotics will be more common, though likely in some
different form. (If you've seen the promos or the pilot, you've seen the
maintenance 'bot that checks out the hull of B5; it has arms, it moves, it's
independent, it's a robot. It just doesn't begin its report with "Bida-bida-
bida.")

On the topic of kids...it's a deliberate decision to steer clear of that
part, not because I think it's invalid, but because a) it's been done on
another show, and its spinoff, rather intensively, and b) it's part of the SF
stereotype, "We have to have kids because SF is a kid's genre."

Might there be a story about a family of refugees who come seeking
sanctuary, or opportunity elsewhere? Of course. But any kids in that family
won't be at the *center* of the story. And they'll be gone by the end of the
episode. It's also a matter of context; absent the scenario just posed, this
is a place for businessmen, travelers, mappers, traders, diplomats and others,
it's not a place for kids. It's also potentially a very DANGEROUS place.

jms