Say it ain't so, Joe!

 Posted on 10/9/1996 by J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com> to CIS


{original post had no questions}

Obviously there's a lot I can't say...obviously the fact that
PTEN as a functioning entity really no longer exists is a
factor...obviously no show ever gets more than one season's commitment
at a time, unless you're a Spielberg or the like...and there's a lot
that I just can't say because of the position of WB, and because,
frankly, I just don't know anything for certain.

All I can say is this:

That at the time of renewal, a number of parties at WB assumed
that this would be our final year, in large measure because PTEN was
vanishing, and you simply don't continue to pay out money on an
enterprise that no longer exists; you cash out the assets, stop
spending money, and start making profit. I know that many people there
operated under that assumption.

Then the later ratings started to come in...and people at WB
began to notice that our reruns were now doing what our first-runs used
to do...and gradually those same people began to say much the opposite.
I can say that, as recently as last week, WB was asking about a fifth
year, and what we would do. As of 24 hours ago, we've been in
considerable negotiations for 2 two hour original movies for TNT set
during the arc, and WB is looking at the possibility of a
sequel...which would, in theory, be set up in part during a fifth year.

So you've got some who say there won't be a fifth year, some who
say there might be a fifth year, and some who say there *will* be a
fifth year.

Through all this, I am constructing and honing the story to
ensure that it will get through to its conclusion.

The assumption in all this is that anybody knows ANYdamnthing
out here. But as William Goldman noted, nobody knows *anything*. That
somehow I have *THE ANSWER* to the question, and am simply declining to
answer. WB doesn't know, and I don't know, and anybody who says they
*do* know is either woefully misinformed or deliberately lying.

"Saying, I would know. Do not know, so cannot say." -- Zathras

jms



Say it ain't so, Joe!

 Posted on 10/15/1996 by J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com> to CIS


Daniel F. Evan <104377.1433@compuserve.com> asks:
> Is TNT a prospective outlet for that show?

Thanks, we'll try.

jms



Say it ain't so, Joe!

 Posted on 10/15/1996 by J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com> to CIS


Scott Baker <76072.1744@compuserve.com> asks:
> 1) Do you *want* to do a sequel?
> 2) Or has your mind changed since the lurker guide posting?
> 3) And more importantly, what is it that *YOU* want?

I've always kept a separate B5 project in a different
pocket...yes, I'd love to do a B5 sequel if the story could be made
sufficiently worth doing. And the treatment that's been turned in could
well be that. So we'll see.

jms