FROM THE VALHALLA SECTOR
Issue 18 - March 3, 2003
========================

1. Editor's Corner
2. Abyss Exclusives
3. JMS Speaks
4. Coming Attractions
5. Conclusion


EDITOR'S CORNER
===============

We were just about to send out this issue of our newsletter when we were
SLAMMED with brandy-new Jeremiah information regarding the second season.

So, here's the skinny. We know we promised you a Byron Lawson interview,
and we do have it -- but we're going to hold it for the next newsletter to
keep this issue from becoming a cousin of the Incredible Hulk. Keep your
e-box tuned.

For now, we'll go sequentially through all the things that the little
birds have told us, including giving you a link to S2 pictures that we're
SURE you haven't seen.

1. AIRDATE

Although Ingrid Kavelaars' official website touts March 7 as the official
airdate, we're more than a bit skeptical. The official Showtime scheduler
doesn't say anything at all, and there's been no pre-premiere activity
such as print ads, TV ads, articles, etc. So, Monica went to the people at
sftv.org for an answer, and here's what Lee Whiteside, the webmaster, has
to say:

"The earliest [Jeremiah] could air is now April. With Showtime having
pulled O5 from their Main channel in March (but continuing to air it on
Showtime Beyond), it is possible they may run the final new episodes of O5
along with the start of Jeremiah (or run Jeremiah in the same time slot
after they finish up O5). Info from Showtime is definitely lacking. I have
been told by a friend working on "Dead Like Me", that Showtime has told
them they plan to start airing that series in mid-July. It is possible
they may hold back Jeremiah to run at the same time as the new series.
Best info right now on "Dead Like Me" is at this web site:
http://www.writergroupie.com/tvgroupie/tvseries/deadlikeme.htm "

So tighten your belts and hold your horses, folks. It may be a while.

2. PLOT

It looks like some of the speculation we've heard about the second season
is right on, with more than one little twist. If you don't want to hear
what could be possible spoilers, just skip this section. Like always,
we've included links to the original documentation below the Editor's
Corner if you want to access it yourself.

Sean Astin's official website offers some delectable tidbits about his
role as Mr. Smith ("first name Mister, last name Smith") and,
interestingly enough, Lee Chen. The S2 premise, according to Sean Astin,
involves these facts:

"Jeremiah is a prisoner at Valhalla Sector along with Thunder Mountain's
leaders and his own father. Kurdy is free but being hunted and still
devastated by Elizabeth's death. Then he encounters Mister Smith, who says
he has a message for him from God. Kurdy is nonplussed but reluctantly
agrees to team up, at least until they can find and free Jeremiah. When
Lee Chen suggests a desperate plan to free the captives, Kurdy and Mister
Smith find themselves in the middle of a horrific struggle that sets the
stage for many more to come. Order will be restored. The epic question is,
by whom and in what fashion?"

Astin also says that Mister Smith will save Kurdy's life, that he'll join
up with the Thunder Mountain crew, can predict the future, and "takes
photographs of everything and anything."

My only wonderment is: where does he get the film?

Sci Fi Magazine had a long article about Jeremiah, which you can find
scanned and posted at:
http://www.bagendinn.com/sean.htm

I'll just distill it for you here, as we want you to go over and see the
SPIFFY S2 photos there:

1. Devon is a prisoner, too.
2. One of the VS bigwigs is named "Waverly."
3. There will be a helicopter jet explosion.
4. Marcus, Erin, and Theo will have expanded roles in the future.
5. JMS likens Theo to Babylon 5's G'Kar: i.e., first she's a bad guy, now
she's allied to Thunder Mountain, and this season she's also more
involved.
6. Showtime wanted JMS to write the whole season.
7. From JMS: "There's actually a way I found to bring down Valhalla Sector
that's probably the creepiest, unsettling, meanest thing I've ever done
in writing."
(whooooo!)
8. The central question of the series will still center around nation-
building, just like last season.
9. JMS calls Mr. Smith "God's sock puppet."

Expanded quotes from JMS from this article are below in the "JMS SPEAKS"
section, labeled as "April 1."

There's also a new episode title (and that means we now have 14 out of
15!). 213 is called "Interregnum One."

-Channe-


ABYSS EXCLUSIVES
================

Watch this space for the Byron Lawson interview next time. Here's a
teaser:

THE ABYSS: Lee Chen is easily Jeremiah's most controversial character. Is
he *really* loyal to Markus? Is he a Valhalla Sector operative? Is he both
at once? Do you enjoy knowing that you torture your audience completely
like this?

BYRON LAWSON: I'm being tortured just as much as the audience, cause I
really have no idea where Lee is going. Sometimes I truly think he is
loyal to Markus, then I get the script and "BAM" it goes the other way.
the way Joe [Michael Straczynski] writes things, his story arcs go all
over the place in such a way to keep everyone guessing at all times, but
IT ALL makes complete sense. "I LOVE TORTURING THE AUDIENCE!"


NEW AT THE ABYSS
================

New episode title:
http://abyss.hubbe.net/jeremiah/eps/s2.html#213
http://abyss.hubbe.net/jeremiah/eps/index.html#s2

Information from Sean Astin's web site, as well as NEW PHOTOS -- two of
which aren't even featured on his web site:
http://abyss.hubbe.net/jeremiah/premise.html#s2ov
http://abyss.hubbe.net/jeremiah/cast.html#smith
http://abyss.hubbe.net/jeremiah/gallery/jim.pike?key=smith

If you want to see the photos featured in the Sci Fi Magazine article, you
can view them on THE ABYSS' Gallery:
http://abyss.hubbe.net/jeremiah/gallery/jim.pike?key=scifimag

There was just so much information about Season Two that we found out
recently that we decided to create a premise page dedicated to it:
http://abyss.hubbe.net/jeremiah/premise_s2.html

Merchandise update: Fleece jackets and vests were scheduled to be removed
as of February 28th however, they are still available. If you want one of
these items, you better act fast. They will be back next fall. Until then,
check out what else we have for you in our Jeremiah store -- everything
from shirts to clocks to well, you'll have to see.

http://www.cafeshops.com/abyss_logos
http://www.cafeshops.com/cp/prod.aspx?p=abyss_logos.3786772
http://www.cafeshops.com/cp/prod.aspx?p=abyss_logos.3786773

And don't forget to check out our EXPANDED PHOTO GALLERY, now with
photographs from Season Two!
http://abyss.hubbe.net/jeremiah/gallery/jim.pike?key=s2


JMS SPEAKS
==========

He said a lot this month but not in the newsgroups where we usually find
quotes from him. We're just including the Jeremiah-related stuff.

All the items marked with "Feb.1.2003" are from that month's edition of
Dreamwatch magazine. It is a UK publication which ran a story on Jeremiah.
Since they are still in the middle of Season One, there wasn't much
information about Season Two. The rest of the items are marked
"Apr.1.2003" are from that month's edition of Sci Fi Magazine where we
found lots of juicy information.

http://abyss.hubbe.net/jeremiah/premise_s2.html#jms

FEB.1.2003
----------
I've got a couple of years of details worked out. A general story is
already underway. We'll be unveiling conspiracies as we go along. We're
definitely exploring the reality of what Jeremiah is searching for. He's
looking for his Dad, for Valhalla Sector. The thing about being dedicated
to looking for something is when you find it, it may end up not being what
you're hoping for. And he will actually get there -- the series is built
around Jeremiah finding something. And you know he will.

APR.1.2003
----------
In that respect, we accomplished [Jeremiah's personal mission of searching
for his father]. We painted the world, and now in the second year we're
looking more to focus in on, now that he's found his dad, what is the
result of all this?

APR.1.2003
----------
We have the characters really asking themselves the same questions you're
asking: "What now?" Jeremiah's found his dad, but he hasn't seen him since
he was a kid. He doesn't know who this person is. And they have to
reestablish that relationship. He has to find a reason for living, because
having lived so many years to achieve this, now that he's got it, having
defined himself for so long by that search, who is he without that search?
How does he relate to his father now?

And now we have Thunder Mountain saying, "What's our obligation here?"
So it really is a process of Nation Building and watching this new country
forming out of the ashes of the old.

*****

http://abyss.hubbe.net/jeremiah/cast.html

FEB.1.2003
----------
These guys are carrying the entire series on their backs. If they aren't
getting along, if they aren't bringing that chemistry to the screen,
you've got nowhere to go with the show. We began by casting Malcolm first.
He just blew us out of the water as this character. We cast Luke as he
became available.

The performances have been great. They have a nice chemistry on screen.
They work very hard and they bring all kinds of different strengths to the
characters.

APR.1.2003
----------
His name is Mister Smith. That's his proper name, Mister Smith. No first
name, just Mister. Mister is his first name. So they're addressing him as
"So this is Mister Smith, who hears from God on occasion." This guy isn't
particularly proselytizing, he's just this poor jamoke who is God's sock
puppet from time to time and spitting out things that God thinks the world
should hear.

Whether he actually is hearing these things from God or if he's making
them up--or if he's just plain nuts--is a question we kind of play around
with. I would rather not define that for a while but he ends up being a
very important ally to Kurdy and our characters, to whom he is drawn
because, as he says, "You guys are going to make history; I'm here to
record it." He's a very eccentric character, also at times a very funny
character because he is just a full-tilt bozo.

APR.1.2003
----------
I believe in changes. I believe in exploring characters who evolve over
time rather than get locked into one mold, like the guys you'd see at high
school reunions, who never came out of that [mold].

*****

http://abyss.hubbe.net/jeremiah/cast_re.html

APR.1.2003
----------
We gave a short shrift to our other characters [in season one] like
Markus, Erin, Theo and others. But this is still an ensemble show and what
we want to do this year is to bring those characters up a little bit more
and do more with them, in interesting ways.

APR.1.2003
----------
I always like to see characters arc and change over time. Theo is like
[Babylon 5's] G'Kar, in the sense that she's starting off as this
phenomenal bad guy, and eventually, through circumstances somewhat beyond
her control, she ends up allied with our guys, first in an uncomfortable
way and then where they're gradually building a rough respect for each
other. [In season two,] she's much more involved with our side of things.

*****

http://abyss.hubbe.net/jeremiah/writers.html

FEB.1.2003
----------
They chased me down for the better part of a year. At first I wasn't sure
what to do with the show because I'd seen a lot of movies of that type
done and I didn't know what to do to make this interesting within the
confines of what they gave me. But then they said, "You can make changes
to make it interesting. You have the freedom to make this work for you."
[So] I agreed to come on and do it. All of a sudden, from a "back-burner"
project it came to life and was a "go" series!

APR.1.2003
----------
I like world building. It's a favorite sport of mine.

*****

http://abyss.hubbe.net/jeremiah/faq.html#comic

There was an interview with J. Michael Straczynski in February's issue of
Dreamwatch and had this to say about what he used from the original comic:

Basically, you have the two characters, Jeremiah and Kurdy. These two guys
are toiling around a post-apocalyptic environment in a vehicle. That was
all I took from the books. The rest, the Big Death, all the other elements
that are in the series now, were cobbled together after the fact.

The comic seemed quite interesting to me. There's what works in comics and
what works in television. That's where I had to make the distinction and
changes. They were afraid to change elements that wouldn't work in
television and I wasn't afraid to go ahead and do that. That's why I had
to come in and take the germ [of an idea] that was there and do it in a
different way that would work for television. (Feb 2003)

*****

http://abyss.hubbe.net/jeremiah/faq.html#hope

Here is what JMS had to say on the subject:

One aspect of the show is that the Big Death was the huge, horrible
planetary event that wiped out a little more than half of the human race.
And yet, we've survived. We've persevered. We've gone on and rebuilt. A
post-apocalyptic environment is an important message to communicate.
We're often at our best when we're most put upon. Even if the most
horrible thing were to happen, the human race does indeed go on. The
cockroaches don't just inherit the planet.

It's really a show about hope. It's about new beginnings rather than
endings. It's not the end of the world. The end of the world is overrated.
(Feb 2003)

*****

http://abyss.hubbe.net/jeremiah/eps/111.html#jms

FEB.1.2003 (re: "Journeys End in Lovers Meeting")
----------
On the first day of shooting, we had to go indoors because we had this
huge white-out. It was incredible, there was snow everywhere. George
[Horie], my producer, said, "No, no! Use it to your advantage!" So, we're
getting ready for a shot and we're out there and it's just pure white!
The road, trees and sky are white. It looks like we're driving into a
fairy tale. The snow gave the whole show tremendous production values! It
gave us the feeling of a fairy tale, a myth. It helped us a great deal to
create the mood, which had to be almost delicate in some ways. You can't
plan for the snow. It just gave us an extra bonus. Weather is our number
one ally or enemy, depending on the story.

*****

http://abyss.hubbe.net/jeremiah/eps/116.html#jms
http://abyss.hubbe.net/jeremiah/eps/118.html#jms

FEB.1.2003 (re: "Things Left Unsaid")
----------
It's probably the biggest thing we've shot to date. It pulls together a
lot of threads from the whole season into one big tapestry. It changes
forever the nature of the show. Mike Vejar directed it [and] he's one of
my favorite directors. It's just huge. It's bigger than our pilot. More
locations, more stunts ... everything!

APR.1.2002
----------
The main thing was testing out directors, testing the storyline, and
finding what worked and didn't work. And I found some approaches that
worked very well for us in the tone and tenor of shows like "Firewall" and
"... And the Ground, Sown With Salt" and the two parters.

APR.1.2003
----------
Mike Vejar's directing, I think, set the one for what to strive for in
terms of the intensity of the directing on one hand, but also the
character moments that he found, and in terms of being a little more
visually interesting with the camera.

*****

http://abyss.hubbe.net/jeremiah/eps/s2.html

APR.1.2003
----------
I've already made a deal with Mike [Vejar] to [direct] five episodes this
year, and for Martin Wood, who did the one for us last year called
"Journeys End in Lovers Meeting" which was a beautiful episode. He's also
going to do five this year.

APR.1.2003
----------
On every possible level ["Things Left Unsaid"] was the big set piece for
us -- as is this season's opening two-parter, which also has those same
elements. You've got the helicoper jet explosion; you've got troops on the
move; you've got a lot of stuff going on, a lot of [stuff] blowing up, and
in terms of the plot and characters, things take a ver dark turn for some
of them.

APR.1.2003
----------
The first two episodes, a two-parter, deal with Jeremiah, who has been
caught by the [military from Valhalla Sector] and reunited with his dad,
whom he was looking for all of last season. And our other characters who
have been caught with him, they're all kind of stuck in the box. The
question, of course, is how are they going to get out of that box when
there's almost no support out there for them tactically? They only people
running around loose are Lee Chen, who has questionable loyalties, and
Kurdy, who is kind of on the zone. And where we eventually end up is in a
massive conflict between Thunder Mountain, and the forces there, and
Valhalla Sector.

There's actually a way that I found to bring down Valhalla Sector that's
probably the creepiest, unsettling, meanest thing I've ever done in
writing. I won't tell you what it is yet because you have to have the
shock value there. [It will be] chilling.


COMING ATTRACTIONS
==================

USA: Showtime
-------------
Still no sign of an airdate. No originals. No encores. Nothing. We're as
anxious as you, and as soon as we find out when the airdates are, we'll
let you know.

CANADA: Adrenaline Drive
------------------------

Mar.4.2003 @ 12:00 PM (MT)
#12: The Touch

Mar.11.2003 @ 12:00 PM (MT)
#13: Mother of Invention

Mar.18.2003 @ 12:00 PM (MT)
#14: Tripwire

Mar.25.2003 @ 12:00 PM (MT)
#15: Ring of Truth

For more information, visit:
http://abyss.hubbe.net/jeremiah/eps/sch_ca.html#ad

CANADA: The Movie Network
-------------------------

Mar.3.2003 @ 9:00 PM (ET)
#8: Firewall

Mar.10.2003 @ 9:00 PM (ET)
#9: The Red Kiss

Mar.17.2003 @ 9:00 PM (ET)
#10: Journeys End in Lovers Meeting

Mar.24.2003 @ 9:00 PM (ET)
#11: Thieves' Honor

Mar.31.2003 @ 9:00 PM (ET)
#12: The Touch

For more information, visit:
http://abyss.hubbe.net/jeremiah/eps/sch_ca.html#tmn

FRANCE: CineFaz
---------------
You guys are coming up on the breathtaking finale of season one!

Mar.8.2003 @ 8:00 PM (CET)
#18: A Means to an End

Mar.15.2003 @ 8:00 PM (CET)
#19: Things Left Unsaid (Part 1)

Mar.22.2003 @ 8:00 PM (CET)
#20: Things Left Unsaid (Part 2)

For more information, visit:
http://abyss.hubbe.net/jeremiah/eps/sch_fr.html

NEW ZEALAND: Sky Network
------------------------
You guys are also coming up on the breathtaking finale of season one!

Mar.8.2003 @ 8:30 PM (NZT)
#18: A Means to an End

Mar.15.2003 @ 8:30 PM (NZT)
#19: Things Left Unsaid (Part 1)

Mar.22.2003 @ 8:30 PM (NZT)
#20: Things Left Unsaid (Part 2)

For more information, visit:
http://abyss.hubbe.net/jeremiah/eps/sch_nz.html

UNITED KINGDOM: Sky One
-----------------------
Again, many thanks to Zath.ras (and others!) for providing the schedule
information! He said that the March 31 episode is at 11pm (an hour later)
to make room for an ST:Voyager re-run.

There was also a surprise with March 3rd's episode (The Touch) as it was
preempted for a Michael Jackson documentary. We got word that the encore
episodes weren't aired for the rest of that week. All episodes for March
have been bumped forward one week and have adjusted our schedule to
reflect this.

Mar.10.2003 @ 10:00 PM (GMT)
#12: The Touch

Mar.17.2003 @ 10:00 PM (GMT)
#13: Mother of Invention

Mar.24.2003 @ 10:00 PM (GMT)
#14: Tripwire

Mar.31.2003 @ 11:00 PM (GMT)
#15: Ring of Truth

Apr.7.2003 @ 10:00 PM (GMT)
#16: Moon in Gemini

For more information,
visit: http://abyss.hubbe.net/jeremiah/eps/sch_uk.html

SOUTH AFRICA: SABC3
-------------------
Great news that yet another country has picked up Jeremiah!

Mar.14.2003 @ 8:30 PM (SAST)
#1: The Long Road (Part 1)

Mar.21.2003 @ 8:30 PM
#2: The Long Road (Part 2)

Mar.28.2003 @ 8:30 PM
#3: Man of Iron, Woman Under Glass

Apr.4.2003 @ 8:30 PM
#4: ... And the Ground, Sown With Salt

For more information,
visit: http://abyss.hubbe.net/jeremiah/eps/sch_za.html


CONCLUSION
==========

So, I told you Lee Chen was -- um, better not, just in case you skipped
all the spoilers.

See you in a few days with the Byron Lawson interview!

Monica & Channe
--------------
To reach Monica, ABYSS webmaster extraordinare, write abyss@...
To reach Channe, newsletter editor, write channethewriter@...