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Ask Wil Wheaton Anything
Wil Wheaton [IMDB] is our latest interview victim. Best known here as Wesley Crusher on TNG, Wil has a history doing movies both good (Stand by Me) and, uh, otherwise (see his FAQ). His movie
"The Good Things" just won the grand prize at the 27th Festival of American Cinema at Deuville. His currrent project is "Jane White Is Sick & Twisted". Post your questions for him here, one per post, and we'll forward a few of the highest rated ones to Wil.
When you were on the set of TNG did you ever find yourself running into the automatic doors when there was no one there to open them for you? How about at your house or other places? Was this a problem for any of the other cast members? Did you ever find yourself going to grocery stores and running in and out of the doors just to make you feel better?
So, uh, Beverly Crusher, Troi or Yar?
Wil Wheaton recently did a very funny short interview over at BBSpot.
john
But I have to say that was the best, most interesting and most funny celebrity site, I've ever seen. :)
Do you thing the Python programming-language is Sixty Feet of Pure Terror, too? (I mean, this is Slashdot, afterall!)
How many actors have you heard of that took the time to code their own site in php?
Oh, I'm supposed to ask a question...Hmmm...ok: Wil, vi or emacs?
^_^
NetInfo connection failed for server 127.0.0.1/local
In your FAQ, there is a question about Ashley Judd:
"Is it true that you were really Ashley Judd's first onscreen kiss, and you ruined her for the rest of her life?"
To which you reply:
"Yep. It is 100% true. Ashley Judd played Robin Lefler, in the episode "The Game", and Uncle Willie went to bootytown"
Now, let's be clear here. You "knew" her in a biblical sense?
Seeing as how she is one of the most attractive and emotional actresses in Hollywood, what was the experience like back then?
Just wanted some clarification..
GPL'd web-based tradewars themed space game
Thanks, I enjoy alot of your work.
Wil,
I loved the TNG Marathon played on TNN..the first time I ever watched the network for more than 15 seconds. The character segments in between were great too, but why on Earth did they make all of you run on that stupid treadmill? It was so distracting...and watching Michael Dorn get out of breathe wasn't exactly funny.
Favorite
I'd say, RTFF.
I intend to live forever, so far so good.
His website uses php instead of asp. That's worth at least ten additional cool points, and considering the reputation the poor guy has, that's really something.
As one of the ultra-rare individuals who actually really enjoyed your character, I have had some questions over the years.
Questions like:
Did you ever get to see Marina Sirtis (Deanna Troy) nude?
Was there any behind the scenes booty-calls between cast members that you are comfortable releasing?
How difficult is it for a new actor to get a recurring role on a Star Trek series 'generally'?
More importantly to me..
Would you ever do a movie with Bruce Campbell? If so, have you let him and his people know?
And finally,
I know you were happy to leave the show, and I am glad you retained your integrity and ability to do what you wanted. However, I have often wondered, did you like the WAY you were written off the show?
GPL'd web-based tradewars themed space game
We all can look up your various roles on the web. What kind of roles people attempt to cast you for? Are there any movies that you especially would like to have been in, or possibly in the future?
This sig isn't original enough, it's time to come up with something witty...
As you mentioned on your FAQ page, the Wesley Crusher character from TNG was target of some not very complementary jokes. But are there any Wesley Crusher jokes that you liked ?
Here is the cache of Wil's FAQ:
w ww.wilwheaton.net/faq.htm+wil+wheaton+faq&hl=en&st art=1
http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:fW2sjIXa3m4:
Its karma-whorific.
I liked your brief appearance in the Sprite commercial
Don't blame me - I voted for Howard Dean. http://dean2004.blogspot.com
Jason Alexander once said in an interview that every single episode he did as George on Seinfeld made it harder and harder for him to be marketable in showbiz as any other sort of character. Given that most people know you as Welsey Crusher, do you ever worry about it? If that's a problem, how does an actor break out of it?
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Bleah! Heh heh heh... BLEAH BLEAH!!! Ha ha ha ha...
How does it feel to have wilwheaton.net slashdotted? But seriously, would you ever, ever, ever do a Star Trek anything again, even if its just 10 seconds to get shot to make sure you'll never appear again? Not sure how you'd get written back in though.
It always fascinates me, the hatred male trekkies have towards Wil Wheatons character. Now I think I understand why: I watched TNG during my early teens and I always envied his character, I would have killed to be in his characters situation! And I think thats where all this hatred comes from. Instead of looking like a dweeb, they express distaste for him. Also he basically portrayed most of our lives: An above average male teenager who was never appreciated for his abilites by his role models (Especially Picard). This kind of reminds me a bit of the whole Jar Jar thing...
If you're not man enough to admit your envy, then please don't try to satisfy your ego by expressing hate.
To Wes: Great job on TNG....wish you the best of luck in your future endeavors.
Kaypro...
Eddy.WriteLinux.Com
Simple question: were you expecting your site to get slashdotted when details of this interview were posted?
"The invisible and the non-existent look very much alike." -- Delos B. McKown
Did the nick name Wuss-ley hurt you personally? If not, can you maybe recommend one that would?
Krispy Cream is people
On your homepage you mention that you once worked for NewTek during their development or initial release of the Video Toaster. I've always been curious to know how you got the job there and what you exactly did for them? Did you ever own an Amiga prior to working at NewTek?
Do you still use the Newtek Video Toaster for your video productions?
I'm curious about the Star Trek fan circuit - convention appearances and all. Do you actually make some decent money on them or is it more of a favor to the fans? Does Paramount ever pressure the actors to attend events to promote the franchise? And is there a camaraderie between actors from different series, people who otherwise haven't worked with each other?
When did you first hear of the classic usenet group, alt.ensign.wesley.crusher.die.die.die, and what was your reaction?
I'm not a smorgasbord.
You worked at the animation software shop NewTek
for a while. What did you do there? Do you thing you'll get back into tech again someday?
Wil,
You have made comments to the effect of poo-poo'ing celebrity opinions about issues in general. Yet in your blogs, you spend a lot of time discussing politics, and you make no bones about which side of the isle you favor. As someone in the public spotlight - and especially as someone in the geek spotlight (being a celeb that has your own self-coded web site) - do you consider it a duty of sorts to be an activist? Does being a celeb bring any more responsibility over the common, first-amendment-empowered citizen in voicing your opinion? Also, do you feel that you have qualities above and beyond other Hollywood celebrities that makes it important that you share your feelings?
Thanks,
dk
Acts 17:28, "For in Him we live, and move, and have our being."
I've always wanted to know whether or not Wil was even asked to do an episode of Star Trek Voyager. That series could have used a good episode about the Traveler and Wesley. I would think the idea could have popped up in some writers' heads.
You seem to know a lot about music. How big is your collection? What are your favorite bands? What is Radio Free Burrito and what do you think of broadcasting live?
How to Download YouTube Videos
You've played one of the most despised characters in the history of science fiction; do you have any advice for Jar Jar as to how he should handle the rancor of obnoxious fans?
BTW, congrats on moving beyond Wesley and having what looks like an interesting career. In the end, you've done better than some other cast members of ST:TNG! At least you're not narrating alien autopsy videos... ;)
All about me
What is your platform of choice (yes I see your site uses PHP, good job!)? Are you religious about that like the rest of us?
You seem to be a pretty talented person. What made you choose acting as a career? Ever had any regrets?
... about the SSSCA, and the DMCA, how do you, as a producer, view these ideas of 'media industry law' as we have come to call it?
What are your opinions, agreements, and disagreements with these bills that are passed?
Many people have compared Wesley Crusher to Adric on the Dr. Who. In both cases, the character was reviled because of the way the writers handled him. What are your thoughts on this? How would you recommend an actor handle this sort of situation in the future?
www.eFax.com are spammers
As a lifelong geekess whose first crush was on Wesley Crusher, here's a question I'd love answered by Wil Wheaton, as well as the general male slashdot population. Which would Wesley Crusher, in character, prefer? An attractive, yet slightly braindead, clothes/hair/nails oriented girl, or her equally attractive, intelligent geekess identical twin sister? Someone who can't carry on a conversation unless it involves who was seen where, with whom, and what each was wearing, or somone who can argue the pros and cons of which programming language suits a certain task best? What about you as a person?
PS: I happen to like the Wesley character (aside from his final episode, which was lame), so there!
--GrouchoMarx
Card-carrying member of the EFF, FSF, and ACLU. Are you?
since your site is slashdotted to hell.. ( dear god.. pray for those webpages ) .. what do you have to say about it ? just say something..
something..
Any advise for what is essentially the same role as your TNG character in the new "Enterprise" series? You know, the begal puppy.
Should he apply to starfleet academy?
Should he accept a field commision as an ensign?
Should he take a postion on the bridge?
Or perhaps he should just be careful playing with alien puppys on planets with unknown laws?
So for the uninformed, CmdrTaco is a dick. And the above interview is inclined to be far more informative and funny than anything that will appear here. Go read it.
I only post comments when someone on the internet is wrong.
If Wil always looked the same, I'd guess it would matter. But his it has changed from when a
pre-teen in Stand and a teen in Trek to being an adult.
I noticed a post of yours a few weeks ago on one of the star trek: enterprise stories and was sorta surprised. I'd never thought I'd see a post by a celebrity on slashdot, or at least a celebrity that identified themself. I didn't think it was real, until I went to your webpage and saw that you were a fellow geek. I read quite a bit of your site and found a lot of it interesting. I'd have to say, you have great taste in music.
My question to you is:
How often have you gotten first post?
Are you the gloating first poster, or just the simple "first post, 'nuff said" kinda first poster?
Given the almost complete focus on your typecast role you seem desperate to escape from, and the ridiculous, disturbing fanboy tone of many of the questions, do you regret having given this interview?
In other words, do you think this kind of publicity is worthwhile?
Wil,
You mention in this LA Times article that you dumped Linux for Windows because
"While I'm a champion of open source, I don't think Linux is there yet"
Was there a specific bug in Linux that prompted you to dump it, or was it just the entire operating system?
Thanks!
Have you (or any of the TNG cast) ever rubbed it for good luck?
While this may seem way off the wall, please give me a moment.
Kirk Russell, on the commentary to the Big Trouble in Little Chinia DVD, talks about how his trip down the elevator on the way to confront "the ultimate evil spirit" has generated more comments then any other. Fans are always quoting back lines from that scene, particularly in elevators.
Here is the question. Are there particlar lines from one of your roles that fans repeat back to you? Which role do people most often identify you with when they see you in the real world? If you could change this defining moment to an alternate scene or line, what would it be and why?
~~ What's stopping you?
Blame Roddenbury, sure, but it seems every good bit of big and little screen version of Sci Fi has something to make the thinking viewer consider "hey, that character really sucks and is so beyond authentic or plausible it must be a product or marketroids" Once again it was a case of Hollywood just not understanding what a real geek or hacker is.
Oh, and apologies to those who actually liked Weaselly Crusher and episodes where he linked his Archer-kit crystal radio into the main engineering computer and got 15% more power out of the warp drives. I really mean it, to all both of you.
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
Sheesh, ask a serious and on-topic question (How can a question about Wil Wheaton under "Ask Wil Wheaton Anything" be considered offtopic?) and get modded down as an offtopic troll...
I suppose I would have been modded up if I had asked something vague and unimportant (and Star Trek related) like "After the recent terrorist attacks on the US and the US military response, do you believe that the idealistic peace portrayed in the Star Trek future is more likely or less likely to be in our future?"
Stolen from the ain't it cool interview:
I like things that are traditionally nerdy, like role playing games.
So what do you play? How often? Ever try Over the Edge? If so, what did you think of OTE?
~~ What's stopping you?
Really, did you have any dignity while you were wearing that thing? I mean, come on. A rainbow strip across the front of your Fedaration jumpsuit. Did you at least complain?
Why bother.
do you remember a couple of years back at a time of filming some movie or another, some people happened upon it and you. Some of them asked for an autograph, and you arrogantly handed a dollar (unsigned in case you forgot) to one of them and said, "Here! That is what you really wanted".
So... do you want your dollar back? I am curious if you have had an attitude adjustment yet, if not the dollar could be the start of a downpayment on one
I like this AC question...
I remember back when TNG first came out, Cheerios ran a promotion on the back of the cereal box that let you enter a drawing to be a guest star on the show. At the time I was 8 years old, and winning that contest was pretty much the goal of my life. Since losing the contest, my dreams have been shattered and I shake uncontrollably whenever I see a Cheerios box.
My question: Do you remember who won the contest? Was he/she cool? Did he/she actually make it into an episode?
Gdarn Moderators on crack, how is this OffTopic? Krelboyne, Ive got karma to burn - Ill re-post for you.
Hi Whil,
First I'd like to say that I really liked your character and I was upset when he was written out of the show.
A lot of questions have focused on either your level of geekiness or how many of your Trek co-actors you got to see nude. I have a bit more concrete question, which I think might tell us a lot more about you:
What's your geek code?
I am disrespectful to dirt! Can you see that I am serious?!
What's the most gloriously awful way you've been offered to cash in on your Wesleyness?
I took my copy of Titus Andronicus (Anthony Hopkins) to a friend's house this weekend, and we all remarked at how this story of the consequences of unthinking violence has tremendous bearing on recent world events.
I also remember hearing Joseph Campbell in one of his many lectures state that the artist has a responsibility to set the moral tone for the culture.
I have seen you in a number of your roles (the last being The Invisible Man if I am not mistaken), and while your parts have great entertainment value, they do not IMHO have much to say about fundamental aspects of the human condition.
Is this an avenue that you might want to explore in your career, even at the cost of financial liquidity?
I want to be an actor. Do you have any advice?
Yes, I do. Eventually, this site will have a whole section devoted to aspiring actors. My immediate advice is: study, study, study. Read the classic plays and see the great movies. And for the love of Bob, study!And read Backstage. Get yourself into some sort of acting program or workshop. Just avoid anything that tells you they'll give you a free book by L.Ron Hubbard. It's a scheme to recruit you into Scientology.
And a mention of Bob? As in Dobbs, perhaps?
--
"Open source is good." - Steve Jobs
"Open source is evil." - Microsoft
It's Kurt Russell, not Kirk.
Your weblog is neither a celebrity weblog nor a purely geek weblog, but is rahter a postmodern meta-commentary on many phenomena, including celebrity and technology.
How has having this weblog changed 1) your daily life, 2) your views of technology, and 3) your views of celebrity?
Goat sex free since 2001
I assume you've learned to handle the celebrity-side of "Ohhh - he was on Star Trek" by now but how does it affect you in your day-to-day life, particularly when you've been involved in the high-tech industry?
Does it ever get to be annoying when folks get fixated on your former role? Do you ever take advantage of it and get invited to events you wouldn't be otherwise? How about bring it up when dealing with phone-support ("If I can fix a dilithium interociter & phase through space I can be trusted with the ntp server address!".) How about vendors, try and get new gear out of shops: "But I'm Wil Wheaton, y'know, Wesley from Star Trek - it'd be great PR for you if I said I bought my Whizbang2000 at your store so howzabout it half-off and with that sweet wireless card thown in?"
Or is it you just make headlines when you slap a Beverly Hills cop ("Nooo mooore Beverly!...")
I don't read ACs: If a post isn't worth so much as a nom de plume to its author then I wont bother either.
Since you're part of Hollywood and somewhat of a geek (if you really are 'CleverNickName') here's the thing:
...
;-)
Would you be interested in becoming a (scifi/hollywoood/?) contributor to Slashdot (a la Jon Katz)? I'm sure you could get lots of exclusives from Paramount, actor friends etc
.. assuming of course you're prepared to be a lightning rod for all the Katz-haters cum Wesley-haters
How did you feel about being Slashdotted? And did you expect this to happen?
Since returning from the depths of space, do find Earth life to be unsatisifing? Would you say that this is the primary cause of your drug habit?
You were great in The Curse and Stand By Me.
I also did like your character on Star Trek TNG.
I have to admit that after a while, like most, got really cheesed at your character but it's not your fault you were playing a boy genius.
You represented the next generation of star trek actors. How come you are not casted in the star trek movies? Are we going to ever see you back on board the enterprise?
"If a show of teeth is not enough, bite
Did you have a technical inclination prior to STTNG? Did you become more/less interested in tech from your ST experience? If so, in what ways?
Were there any regular cast members you got along with particularly well?
Were there any who you constantly butted heads with?
What characteristics of Wesley are completely unlike you, and vice versa?
Happiness is relative, Based upon the way we live.
Well, ok, I knew that there would be a bunch of ST:TNG-related questions on here because, well, we're a bunch of geeks. So here's something kind of related to Trek, but more along the lines of show biz...
/. just ate wilwheaton.net)
What sort of problems have you had, if any, with typecasting, and what did you do to break those? I would imagine you could get pidgeonholed into the "brainy adolescent" or "anything sci-fi" parts and productions, especially with the mythical proportions that Trek can get to within the industry (positive and negative).
(And BTW, your little spot on TNN is funny.)
(And I think
- emilio
neurostyle dot net - it's all in your head
Ginger Or MaryAnn?
(+1 Funny) only if I laugh out loud.
The fuck? "Off topic"? Are IQ's dropping sharply around here? Do we not understand that "coming out" in this context (with the "quotes") refers to Wil "outing" (look, "quotes") himself as a /.'er?
Bloody hell. Maybe we should ask Wil why he bothers reading this site at all.
Mod me down again, beeyatches, I've got karma to burn, and you're only displaying your own idiocy.
If you were blocking sigs, you wouldn't have to read this.
Most popcorn movies these days have big holes in their script, be it plot-wise or technology-wise.
:-)
While it sometimes works to abandon logic or science (Armageddon comes to mind), this trend seems to backfire more and more often (Godzilla comes to mind, a movie that even Roger Ebert dissed for its science goofs).
How come that the way technology or science is depicted on screen (computers, technology, sci-fi) hardly ever gets proofread in Hollywood scripts? You seem to be a tech-nerd - do you ever correct something in a script? (If you know a script-writer who needs a proofreader, give him my e-mail address
2nd question: Do you think that having been a member of the Trek franchise was good or bad for your career? I'm a big trek fan, yet it often amuses me how Trek actors can consider themselves superstars in the Trek world, but nobodies outside.
I often feel sorry for the dead-end careers that it meant for Nichelle Nichols or DeForest Kelley. I often wonder when I will finally see the TNG actors in bigger roles. (Don't tell me that Brent Spiner's recent work was a stellar career. Why doesn't he get better roles? Or Marina Sirtis? Or almost any other Trek actor?)
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You may like my a cappella music
You're a well-known, established actor; but I guess you won't take this as an insult if I don't call you a superstar. So you're not yet in the position to choose all your projects and be granted every wish you have about a script.
So, I always wondered how actors choose their scripts - what is your job like when you're not acting?
What kind of scripts do you get offered? What silly (or not silly) scripts did you turn down? Can you talk about roles or projects that you were chosen for and then it didn't work out?
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You may like my a cappella music
While waiting through the slashdotting, I noticed Free Dmitry and and anti-DMCA links on your google-cached web site.
I don't think we're going to get a better chance to find out what happens to both than by asking a guy who not only time travelled regularly, but near the end of TNG was able to manipulate time itself.
So, my questions -- is Dmitry finally free for real in the future, and if so, how did it happen? And don't say "holodeck" or "transporter" because that's cheap.
Next -- is legislation in the future as bad as it is now? I mean, if you circumvent a Klingon holo-copy control mechanism, would you be thrown in a detention cell on Kronos and be force fed Gahk (or whatever the hell those worm things are called) without starbail or startrial for a few staryears?
What gives? Enquiring minds with no sense of reality want to know.
J
(no offence to our Geekess but here it goes):
There are two types of girls: pretty and smart.
___
If you think big enough, you'll never have to do it.
Are you really user 129189?
Patrick Doyle
I mod down every jackass who puts his moderation policy in his sig. Oh, wait a sec....
As an amateur geek, does being interviewed by a rabid geek site like Slashdot -- a site that normally interviews people who rewrite kernel modules in brainf*ck for fun -- scare you? Or is being a gen-u-wine celebrity and the actor formerly known as "the boy" insulation against such terror?
And (sorry if this is in your FAQ but since your server is melting so I can't check) are there actors in Hollywood that are as geeky / more geeky than you that one would never suspect? Or are there actors who portray geeks that are confused by the number of switches on a hair-drier? In other words who do you talk code with and who do you poke fun at?
...and you need to keep what work the other person can do in mind as you select them.
Intelligence and sophistication are not as important as motivation in a romantic relationship; always choose substance over form.
Select someone with abilities vastly below your own only when you know what you are doing...
...at which point, you will discover that you don't.
All the WesleyGod must do is ponder the possibility of travelling backwards in time, and it shall be so.
Thats an excellent point!
I hope he improves on the method a little, because we wouldn't want him phasing in and our of spacetime like the Traveler...
Though I think a return of WeslyGod to trek (in Enterprise) is actually unlikely, I do hope that they somehow work the Q into it. Since Encounter at Farpoint was supposed to be the Q's first encounter with humans, I'm not sure how they would explain it though...
Oh well, anything is possible with patented StarTrekPhysics(tm), right?
___
The way to see by faith is to shut the eye of reason. --Ben Franklin
Of course, that was 100 years before Muldair joined Enterprise-D.
I, for one, think Gene Rodenberry was truly an amazing man. He really understood exactly why the future will and should be different from the past. Since his death, the Star Trek universe has slowly begun shifting away from his inspiring utopian dreams into a much more twisted "day-time-talk-show" inspired realm. Personally, I find the marketing driven erosion to be incredibly depressing, and haven't really felt the desire to keep watching the newer series. How do you feel about the way the franchise has been moving since his death? Do the other cast members have similar feelings, or are they divided (or perhaps, do they not even care)? And finally, do *you* watch Star Trek (the new series, I mean, not just the "uncut" versions of TNG where you get to fondle hot alien babes) in your spare time?
"Your superior intellect is no match for our puny weapons!"
I know 'I' was amazed when I realized that Jerry O'Connel (Sliders fame
Years ago, I heard some stories that said you were outspokenly antigay. The story went that you held gays in contempt for religious reasons, resented speculation about your own sexual interests, and endured friction with two allegedly gay actors on the ST:TNG set -- Brent Edwards and Michael Dorn. Note: I never saw substantiation for rumors about your attitude, religion, or the sexual orientation of any cast member. (I'm frankly not enough of a Trek fan to care. :) )
Yet I see here that you said the following regarding homosexuals: "I'm sorry that I don't play ball with your team...but I always cheer for you when I'm in the stands."
Could you clarify your feelings about homosexuality, past and present? Many thanks,
--
Tom Geller
Alright, we all know about the Anti-terrorism bill that Congress approved last week. But what about the RIAA's hacking ammendment they tried to add to it? Do you have any opinions on the subject of MP3's or hacking? And how do you feel about what they tried to pull over on us?
no signature required
Losing an acquaintance (river, and perhaps others) to addiction, do you have any feel for that fine point in a friendship where not confronting them ("you have a problem and need help") would be practically criminal, and forcing the issue would not also drive them away?
(/serious) I'd also like your opinion on Debbie Gibson, and what you were thinking in that picture :)
Wil, what is up with Killoggs.com? Yer cartoon mug is all over it.
thelocust[dot]org
When Wesley Crusher took off with that dimensional traveller alien, I thought it would be interesting if he eventually returned as a sort of wandering enlightened character, roaming the Star Trek universe like Kane in the old Kung Fu series. Has anything like that ever been discussed by people who matter, and would you do it?
Consider that 2 years ago I was telling my friends that the next Star Trek series should be set in a time before the Captain Kirk era, when warp drive technology was new and they hadn't met very many aliens yet. I said they should use shuttlecraft a lot because the transporter would be new and unreliable, and the ship's doctor would be a Vulcan woman who attended Earth medical school to study humans. Ok, I got the doctor part wrong, and I saw her as an older wise-woman type rather than another petulant, skintight space babe. But not bad for a geek fan.
Even if she had given him a blowjob behind the warp core. Can you say "Wil, Ashley's lawyer on line 2" ??
Do you keep in touch with any of the actors or actresses from ST:tNG (or any trek, for that matter)? Is it because you're 'pals' with them, or is it more like a secret order of ex star trek performers? Like the stone masons or the illuminati. And, if so, do you have a spiffy song that you sing to celebrate your secret society-ness?
Your
Being a science-fiction fan, what is your opinion of Babylon 5? Did you watch it? If so, how do you compare its writing, originality, and special effects with the Trek-of-the-Day? Did you want to make an appearance on the show?
:)
I know Babylon 5's run was near the time you were driven out of Florida by the "pigs-in-a-blanket-fiasco" so you may not have gotten the chance to see it.