Rebecca Eschliman <76072.2345@compuserve.com> asks:
> Any chance you'll be squeezing in dropping in on Book Expo
> America in Anaheim before you head out to receive the SFWA award?

"I've seen the grousing (as you undoubtedly have) that "SiL" received
the nomination only because it was impossible to give the nomination to
the entire series and that it doesn't stack up against the other
nominated works for brilliance in advancing the SF in SF dramatic
works."

My response would be two-fold: first, that I didn't know that
advancing SF in SF dramatic works was the requirement, only that it BE
SF. The Truman Show, also nominated, doesn't present any new
ideas...heck, I did a TWILIGHT ZONE episode in 88 that had *exactly*
the same story and structure (simultaneous creation, I'm not saying it
was cribbed, it wasn't). ST:Insurrection likewise doesn't exactly
advance the field of SF by bringing in new ideas...it's another ST
movie, and the core is the fountain of youth idea, not exactly
innovative. Pleasantville has its roots in the Purple Rose of Cairo,
the Last Action Hero and others. Of all the other entries, I'd say
only Dark City really does anything really innovative.

But all are equally in the genre, and thus equally viable
candidates.

As to what SiL might bring that advances the SF in SF dramatic
works, I'd say that it brings something quite new: an ending. This is
the preplanned ending toward which the 5 years of B5 have been working.
We said at the beginning that B5 has a beginning, a middle, and an end.
All SF shows have a beginning, most have a middle...but this is
something new, an ending toward which all has been leading. This
really hasn't been done before in SF TV. B5 introduced the concept of
the 5 year arc to TV...this is the end of that arc, to which all has
been pointing.

(Funnily enough, I think this is the first time that a Hugo
nominated entry has actually had a Hugo visible *in* it.)

jms