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Htf Chat Kenneth Johnson
Home Theater Forum
Subject: Live Chat with Kenneth Johnson
Date: Monday, October 11, 2010
(RonEpstein) I would like to welcome everyone to our live chat this evening
including our friends and readers from TVShowsOnDVD.com. We very much
appreciate the support all of you have given these events. With the upcoming
release of The Bionic Woman to DVD next week we felt what a better way to
celebrate than invite tonight's special guest to our chat. He is the the
creator of The Bionic Woman as well as other hit shows that include V,
The Incredible Hulk and Alien Nation. As a film director his credits include
Short Circuit 2 and Steel. I would like to introduce to all of you, Kenneth Johnson.
(RonEpstein) Welcome Kenneth to the chat. How are you this evening?
(Kenny Johnson) Please, call me Kenny! I'm wonderful, happy to be here!
I've never done it quite like this before, been in a chat, so I've asked
Annette to help me out here today---she's typing for me.
(RonEpstein) We have a nice group here this evening and I bet that everyone wants
to ask a question so let's start that process
(KyleW) Kenny and all, my first chat too! Will SMDM and BM crossovers
have their respective opening credits on DVD?
(Kenny Johnson) Interesting question, Kyle. The appropriate opening credits
are supposed to be on all of the cross-over episodes. There has been some
confusion however about the actual first episode of the Bionic Woman which
was titled "Welcome Home Jaime" and was supposed to actually be on the
6 Million Dollar Man. Ultimately it ended up being the first episode in
the Bionic Woman time-period, so I'm not sure about that one.
(JoeB) Kenny, thank you for doing this with us. Can you tell me about the
music of the shows, you had some personel changes in the 1975-6 year
including Oliver Nelson's passing and Joe Harnell coming on Bionic Woman.
(Kenny Johnson) When I started doing the series, we used a number of the
"regular guys" at Universal, the regular composers. I didn't think that
any of them quite got what I was looking for. I had worked with Joe Harnell
while I was producers of the Mike Douglas Show and invited Joe to come to LA
and become my prime composer. Joe had been trained classically but also was
a very brilliant, popular pianist and so he combined everything I was looking
for in a composer.
(MichaelK) Hi Kenny, I hope to meet you some day, you seem like such a great
guy...now my question...in reference to your directing style, do you have a
formula that you follow or do you "play it by ear"?
(Kenny Johnson) Hi, Michael, good question. To me, my directing is a bit
like Frank Lloyd Wright architecture ("form follows function") I always try
to determine what the particular essence of the movie or show that I am
directing is and try my best to bring out the most important points and the
drama that comes from that. And also, I am very organized----whenever I walk
on the set, I have a "shot list" that lays out every single camera angle that
I plan to do, but it's rather like Linus' security blanket (Charlie Brown),
it's a guideline, not something that I'm slavish to, because I've learned
that actors will always have great ideas of their own, as will members of
the crew. And suddenly my game plan will evolve into something better than
if I'd tried to do it myself!
(RonBoyt) Hello! Do you know for sure if a 'Bionic Woman' complete series
box set will be released down the road, or will it only be releases of the
three separate seasons?
(Kenny Johnson) I haven't heard anything about a COMPLETE set, I know that
they are planning to release Season 2 shortly after the first of the year
and Season 3 shortly after.
(EdC) Are they going to be Digital Restoration with Enhanced Picture and
Sound? Thank you Mr Johnson
(Kenny Johnson) First of all, Ed----NOBODY calls me Mr. Johnson! Not even
my children's friends! :) It's always Kenny, that's what I expect from all
of you. The film has been carefully digitally restored and the sound has been
treated as best it could be. The shows were all done in mono, because nobody
was broadcasting in stereo in the 70s (although I knew they would be!). What
I have seen of the DVDs, the picture and the sound look just great.
(BillD) Hello Kenny. Thanks for taking the time to do this. I was wondering
that without the benefit of current computer technology what was the most
challenging stunt/scene that you had to do on the Bionic Woman? any in
particular stand out as particularly difficult?
(Kenny Johnson) Wow, good one...Part of the problem of doing one-hour episodic
television is that you don't have any money to do practically ANYTHING! There
is a shot in Doomsday is Tomorrow, at the end of the 2nd hour, Lindsay was
running down a huge pipe and water had been released behind her. I couldn't
afford to put my actress in danger, so we had to do a major "cheat"----first
she ran down and out of the pipe, and then we cut to some stock footage of
water rushing. It was the best we could do, but it still looks like crap, and
I always hated it. But when you have no money and you are trying to piece
everything together, that was our idea for big-time effects!
(CurtC) Thanks for spending time with us, Kenny! How frustrated were you over
the wrangling of legal rights between Dimension and Universal that delayed
the release of the DVDs for so many years? Did you have a hand in finally
getting resolution?
(Kenny Johnson) I would love to take credit for finally getting the Bionic shows
onto DVD----but I can't. It just took Universal and Harvey Weinstein a ridiculous
amount of time to work out the rights. Believe me, I was as frustrated as the
THOUSANDS of people who sent me emails asking "what's up?". But I'm delighted
that we've got them now.
(Shawn) Hi Kenny LOVED the way Jaimies human quqlities came out . How much of
that was you and how much was Lindsay?
(Kenny Johnson) It was ALL ME, Shawn. Just kidding, I wrote the character,
of course, and I wanted to make certain that she was a very real, accessible,
funny, human being, that had a big heart and a great deal of compassion.
When we were looking for an actress that captures all of those qualities, I was
struck by how Lindsay really seemed to have the whole package. PLUS she had a
great manner of making everything sound spontaneous, as if she were making it up
as she went, one of the key characteristics that I wanted to have as part of
Jaime's character. I spent a lot of time with Lindsay and listening to how
Lindsay spoke. And when I would write the scripts for Jaime, I wrote them in
such a way that they would slip right into Lindsay's mouth, and that is why
Jaime seemed so natural. Also, heart was one of the major elements that was
missing from the recent "reimagined" Bionic Woman and part of the reason it failed.
(RayCaspio) Hi, Kenny! Thank you for creating Jaime, one of my childhood heroes.
I rewatched the series last December/January while recovering from a spinal injury,
and am so grateful for the hope and inspiration Jaime, through Lindsay, once again
gave me.
(Kenny Johnson) How were you able to watch it, Ray?
(RayCaspio) I never realized how much the show impacted me as a kid, and informed
my values, until rewatching it as an adult. What did Lindsay add to the Jaime
character that you, perhaps, overlooked when initially creating her?
(Kenny Johnson) Wow, that is really important to hear the impact it had on you.
We tried to make every episode about something that was important, and surround
Jaime with characters that would be interesting and whom she could inspire.
I'm glad to know that it carried forth to you, as well. Regarding a characteristic
that I might have overlooked, I think that the spontenaity that I spoke about
earlier was Lindsay's great addition to the project.
(BrandonB) Thanks so much for doing this and for taking the time.. and thank you
Annette!! Most of the question have been about the new dvd release, which is so
exciting by the way! I was wondering if you had any challenging and/or fun
experiences working on the awesome episode Ghost Hunter that you can share?
(Kenny Johnson) That was the first one-hour episodic show that I had ever directed,
so I was pretty much panic-stricken throughout. I wanted a powerful sequence
towards the end and because the show was done so cheaply, I went walking around
the backlot at Universal trying to come up with an idea, and I saw one of the
tourist trams driving over the collapsing bridge. I took my production designer,
Chuck Davis, out and said "Hey, what can we do with this to make it look even
scarier?". It was challenging but we had a lot of fun. We had to do it carefully
so that Lindsay did not fall through the collapsing bridge!
(Kenny Johnson) One more thing---on the director commentary with The Ghosthunter,
so you can listen to me tell you all of the behind-the-scenes goings on. There's
also a photo on my website (www.kennethjohnson.us).
(RodDL) Thank you, Kenny, for creating one of the most remarkable and beloved tv
characters ever. It has been awesome to be a part of the research for the dvd.
Were you approached to write the reunions? Were you where they went and they
developed Jaime?
(Kenny Johnson) No, Rod, I was busy doing other things when they did the Bionic
reunion movies, and I'm embarrassed to say that I've never seen them! So I don't
know what further development took place as far as Jaime and Steve were concerned.
And thank you for your comment about Jaime being remarkable. I was a feminist
before there was a word for it, having been raised by a strong, brilliant career
woman. I always felt that women should be portrayed as being every bit the equal
of men.
(MikeL) Hello Kenny, thanks for taking my question. Can you please explain why
you chose the episodes you did to add director commentary tracks to for Bionic
Woman Season 1?
(Kenny Johnson) It's very simple, Mike....I wanted to put a commentary on the
original Bionic Woman 2-parter where I created the character, even though I didn't
direct it (although I wish I had!). The Ghost Hunter was the first show that I
directed. It was near the end of the first season because when you are producing
a television series you don't have time to be off for 3 weeks. The other show that
I did a commentary for is in the 2nd season and is also one that I directed,
Doomsday Is Tomorrow. (It's my favorite!)
(JayE) Hi Kenny, thanks for giving us fans a treat to mingle with you again....
hadn't done that since the Bionic conventions in 2006 and 2007!
(Kenny Johnson) Wow, you were at BOTH Bionic conventions, I'm impressed! Did
we have a chance to meet?
(JayE) Yep, I got your autograph both sessions too! Speaking of 2007, that was
when the remake of BW came out. Earlier you said the lack of heart was part of
the reason it failed.
(Kenny Johnson) Kenny Smith who created the conventions is a terrific guy and has
become a terrific friend.
(JayE) What in your opinion were other reasons? I know you are not an advocate
of violence, for example, and the new Jamie had that, unfortunately.
(Kenny Johnson) I'm not the only one who felt that it had a lack of heart. David
Eike who created the new show is a very talented writer/producer who had done
wonders with the new Battlestar Gallactica. But after the Bionic Woman failed,
he was very forthcoming about how they had never figured out how to do the show,
and that it was really missing heart. I think that sense of humanism, heart and
also humor were an enormous part of the reason that our original show was so
successful. The new series, from my taste, was much too dark and violent and
mean-spirited. And the audience apparently agreed with me. It was too bad.
(Alain_G) Greetings from Montreal Kenny, thanks for your time. Can you tell
us why the first episode of BW (Welcome Home I) had SMDM soundtrack music during
the episode (not the Jerry Fielding but Oliver Nelson music) ?
(Kenny Johnson) Bon jour, Alain! Because "Welcome Home Jaime" (part I) was supposed
to have been aired in the SMDM time period on Sunday night to set up our BW series
premiere the following Wednesday. But there was some problem with scheduling and
WHJ-1 ended up on Wed with the SMDM music.
(BenB) We met @ the Fake Gallery in LA a couple years ago; thanks for doing that
gig, too. What was your absolute FAVORITE "Working With Lindsay" moment?
(Kenny Johnson) OMG, that's very funny, Ben, thanks alot for reminding me of it!
I think my favorite moment has to come from Doomsday Is Tomorrow when she had
injured her bionic leg and couldn't walk and was trying to plead with Alex the
computer who was dead-set on stopping her. She was trying desperately to make
him understand what it felt like to be ALIVE. It's one of the most remarkable
performances that she gave in the entire series and I still use it as an example
of brilliant acting when I teach my film-making seminar. She is just magnificant.
(DaveC) Kenny, met you at Comic Con 2006 you signed my V dvds. Was it a challenge
to sell the network a show based entirely on a strong female lead and do you think
BW helped to open the doors and inspire strong leading female characters like Linda
Hamilton in Terminator and Sigourney Weaver in Alien?
(Kenny Johnson) Thanks, Dave, it's good to talk to you again. No, it was not
difficult because the network came to ME and asked me to bring Jaime back to
life and when they saw the phenominal ratings that the return of the BIonic Woman
brought to SMDM, they were on the phone immediately, saying "let's do a spin-off!".
I was delighted because I felt that women in leading roles were greatly lacking ---
gee, sort of like today! I'm happy that Jaime did have the effect of raising the
conciousness of the huge TV audience.
(MaxM) Hi Kenny! I don’t really have a question but I also wanted to thank you
for creating one of the most beloved characters in the history of television.
I was a huge Six Million Dollar Man fan growing up & when the character of Jaime
Sommers came along, I was instantly a fan of hers as well. Not just for the
special effects, but for the way she was written. I don’t think many characters
are able to “come to life” from the pages of a script the way Jaime Sommers did.
Her compassion really came to life. I cannot begin to tell you how many times I
have watched the episodes over the years. I was lucky enough to videotape my
favorites back in the early 80’s and then I was able to collect the entire series
from vaious collectors over the years before Sci-fi. I also recorded the entire
series from Sci-fi (despite how badly it was edited) and even collected the series
from overseas sources and I plan to be first in line next Tuesday when it finally
comes out on DVD here in the US! Thank you so much for creating something that
has been such a big part of my life! By the way, “Doomsday is Tomorrow” is one of
my favorite episodes also & one of the ones I recorded way back in the early 80’s!
I cannot wait to hear the commentary!
(Kenny Johnson) Max, you leave me almost speechless! And obviously, you have great
taste! Particularly regarding Doomsday....From the beginning, I wanted Jaime to be
someone that people would want to KNOW and to spend time with...We tried to fashion
all of the scripts in a manner that would allow that accessibility and compassion
to find a way out. Something else that was important was that I never wanted Jaime
to be threatening. You've noticed, I'm sure, that she never threw a punch at anyone
in the entire series. (And neither did the Incredible Hulk, for that matter.) I
felt that sort of "in your face" aggression was out of character for Jaime, but
also too easy. It was much more fun to watch her literally pull the rug out from
under someone. I'm glad you appreciated it so much.
(Jeff) Let's turn to V -- any money come through for a real remake -- now that there
is a silly version of V out any change of V CON?
(Kenny Johnson) I really do feel like I'm in a room with you all! I think we are
actually getting close, Jeff. You know how they say that reliable electricity
produced by nuclear fusion is 20 years away----and always will be. Sometimes it
has felt like the funding for V - The Movie is 2 weeks away, and always will be!
But we finally feel like we're actually closing in on it....we should know in a
couple of weeks. :) IT'S TRUE!!!
(JamesB) Kenny, you have always been so gracious with your fans. Thank you so much
for joining us tonight!
(Kenny Johnson) Welcome to my room, James! James, without my fan, I wouldn't be
sitting in this room, would I?
(JamesB) Kenny, you’ve often stated that you see yourself as a director first, yet
your career was so early and indelibly marked by the strength of your writing,
particularly with your integrity in never being condescending to the material (in
the sci-fi genre, a big temptation). To what would you ascribe your writing prowess,
which of your shows in your career did you find it easier / harder to mine the
“human drama,” and which of your shows surpassed your expectations in this regard?
(Kenny Johnson) I try to write back to every single person who sends me an email
because I feel a real connection to the people out there that have taken the time
to not only LOOK at my work, but taken the time to write to me about it. I so
appreciate all of you, I wish I could give you all a big hug! Directing, for me,
is where I started and always what I planned to do. My college pal, Steven Bochco,
convinced me when I first came to LA that by writing, I could control my own destiny
a bit more. When I said, "But Steven, I hate writing, it's HARD!". He said no it's
not, you just stare at a page until beads of blood appear on your forehead --- and
he's right! But writing became a means to an end for me. Also, i never intended to
become "The Sci-Fi Guy", but as I tell my students, you have to be careful what your
first success is, because that's what people will want you to do for the rest of
your life. I'm not complaining, tho! Working in Sci-Fi gives me a great opportunity
to work in allegory and metaphor and touch on deep substantive ideas and
philosophies. And hopefully do it in a manner that is entertaining.
(Nick_Galvante) hi kenny. my name is nick. don't know if you remember me from the
2006 san diego comic-con. you were doing a panel on hulk and when it was q&a time,
I told everyone to stand up and give you a standing ovation... because you deserve it!
(Kenny Johnson) oh, Nick, how could I ever forget that?
(Nick_Galvante) doomsday is tomorrow remains one of the highest points of the bw
series. it looked like a big-budget movie. in terms of budget, how was did that
episode cost? and was there anything you had to cut out for that episode? since we're
trying to win dvds here too... sign me up for a shadow chasers or cliffhangers dvd
set too!! i'm kidding! :) One more thing, I can't stomach some later season three
BW... can you?
(Kenny Johnson) Universal asked me to go to Comic-Con and I thought I'd be in a room
with maybe 20-30 people. I walked into that enormous place and I still remember so
clearly when you stood up and forced everyone to give me a standing ovation. I'm
smiling right now remembering because it was one of the highlights of my life.
Doomsday cost about $900,000, which was twice what a 1-hour episode cost. I was eager
to give it as much big-screen production value as I could. When I direct for television,
I don't try to think SMALLER, I look at it like it is a MOVIE, and so when I wrote
Doomsday, i sent my location manager out and told him to find me the biggest, coolest
places to film and I'll write a script to fit the locations. Much of it was filmed in
the Hyperion Sewage Treatment Plant, which is why so many people say that my work is
kind of crappy. But listen to the commentary on the DVD and I think you will enjoy it.
And thanks, Nick, again, for your great appreciation of my work and that magical moment
you created for me at Comic-Con.
(EdP) Hi Kenny, Its a pleasure to be able to be here to chat! I am a big fan of both
shows and my question is when both the BW & SMDM were aired how was it for the actors,
specifically Richard Anderson to keep his lines and stories seperate from each episode
it must have been challenging every week.
(Kenny Johnson) Richard was too busy cashing checks, Ed. There were some days when
he'd start with us and finish with SMDM, or vice versa. He always felt that he was
the luckiest actor in Hollywood to not just be on 2 shows, but to be on 2 of the TOP
5 shows in the nation at the same time! And the actors were all very professional.
Lindsay and I would always read through every episode in her trailer, just she and I.
She would read Lindsay and I would play all the other characters. She often joked that
we should actually do one episode like that!
(DavidEC) Doomsday was one of my favorites as well (I have the UK sets). How difficult
or interesting was it doing multi-part stories as opposed to single episode stories?
(Kenny Johnson) I loved doing the longer stories because they felt more like I was
actually doing a movie! Movies have always been my first love and doing the Bionic
shows was like graduate school with pay where I learned the best ways to go about
making movies.
(ScottC) The bionic shows were one of the reasons I went into television myself.
My question is, why did ABC decide to cancel BW when the ratings were still great?
(Kenny Johnson) Because they had their head up their butt, Scott! William Goldman
has classically said that "in Hollywood, nobody knows anything", and this was a
perfect example of it.
(ToddS) Hi Kenny, I read somewhere that when you intially created the two part
SMDM episode "The Bionic Woman" that you had not intended for Jaime to die at the
end and that this was a "network" decision. What was your original intent for the
character's evolution at the end of the 2 parter if she had not died? Bionic Woman
is my all time favorite show!Thanks.
(Kenny Johnson) You are correct, Todd, I did not want Jaime to die. I suggested
that we keep her in a deep freeze or something like that, in case we ever decided
to revive her. But that was the year of "Love Story" and everyone felt that it was
important that Jaime not be around at the end. You'll notice that when I brought
her back, she had been in a deep freeze. (I just didn't tell anybody!).
(Shawn) Hey Kenny I am the guy that sent you the Crazy send up of The Hulk . How
is it that Lee Majors only directed one SMDM. What was your experience with him and
why did the show not have a closure when cancelled.
(Kenny Johnson) , Shawn. Lee was interested in trying to direct, but I don't think
he ever really cared that much about it afterwards. He directed the first episode
that I produced because he needed to have time to prep the show, which he wouldn't
have had in the middle of the season. I had left SMDM by the time it was cancelled,
so I don't know what happened or why it didn't have closure.
(KeithL) Hi Kenny, it is a pleasure to chat with you, I am huge fan of your work!
How did you come up with the idea that Bigfoot would be a Bionic alien? The Bigfoot
stories are some of my favorites, Great Fun!
(Kenny Johnson) Bigfoot was very BIG (parden the expression) in those days, and it
seemed like a worthy adversary to take on a bionic man. I thought of him being
literally larger than life and an alien creation, and it sort of made me chuckle,
so I went for it. On the SMDM DVD, I did a commentary on the Bigfoot 2-parter, even
though I didn't direct it. Working with Andre the Giant was amazing, and I still have
the plaster cast of Andre's big foot right here in my office.
(DavidJ) Hi Kenny, thanks so much for spending your time with us ! I know that
BW filmed at least one episode at the Santa Susana Rocketdyne Labs (Fembots in
Las Vegas). What was your experience filming there? Any interesting stories to tell?
(Kenny Johnson) We filmed at several Rocketdyne facilities on Doomsday, and later
in the Fembots show, but I had left the BW series by the time the Vegas show was
shooting.
(JohnM) Hi Kenny! Just want to say Thank You for creating one of my favorite TV series
and I’m thrilled it’s coming to DVD. Do you have any other favorite episodes of TBW?
I remember how moved I was the night “Jaime’s Mother” first aired.
(Kenny Johnson) There are a couple of BW episodes that I've always been particularly
fond of. One is "Sister Jaime" (the bionic nun) --- everything she did was a miracle,
and we thought that would be funny. I also enjoyed the humor in "Once A Thief" which
was also unique in that I tried to use as many names as the crew as I could in the
episode. The crew, of course, really got a big kick out of that. The lead character
was named Inky, who was in fact, our special effects guru, who was always blowing
everything up. It was great fun.
(BrianS) Hi Kenny -- thank you so much for taking the time to do this. If you had
stayed with Bionic Woman through to the end of the third season, is there any particular
way you would have liked to have ended the series?
(Kenny Johnson) If I had stayed with the show through the 3rd season, it probably would
have gone on to the 4th and 5th and 6th season! I heard that they sort of went astray
after I left and I never saw any of the later episodes. I heard that they were not so
good and I was sad because we had created such a vibrant, important female character
that is was a shame to see it drift away.
(DanA) there was never enuff shows about the Fembots IMHO. Do you have blu-ray and
if so what do you think of it?
(Kenny Johnson) Dan! How can you think otherwise! Of course Alex was a cousin of HAL
and I was intrigued by the idea of a machine with the mind of a human taking on a
human who had the parts of a machine. There were also other homages to Stanley Kubrick,
particularly as the B52 is flying in to drop The Bomb---alot of that dialogue came
right out of Dr. Strangelove. I'm glad that you liked the show so much.
(MitchG) Hi Kenny thanks so much for doing this, its a great thrill for me as a huge
fan of TBW.
(Kenny Johnson) The thrill is all mine, Mitch. I love to be in a room with people
who like my stuff!
(Mitch G) What was it like working with Lindsay? She seem so natural as Jaime that
I think most people think they are very similar.
(Kenny Johnson) Lindsay was (and is!) a unique spirit. She had a tremendous energy
and I would joke that she sometimes got on her horse and rode off in all directions
at once! She was very serious about making the character of Jaime reflect exactly
what I had created on the pages, and in being true constantly to the character that
she and I continued to evolve. Together. And she was funny.
(JerryL) IS it true that the concept in the episode Biofeedback was later used in
the story of Married from The Incredible hulk?
(Kenny Johnson) No, it's not true. The episode of Married came from research that
a psychiatrist friend of mine had been doing to use hypnosis to help people fight
their cancer. I see what you mean about the similarity, but I honestly never
thought about it until now! I later used the psychiatrist's technique to make my
allergies go away, and it worked!
(DrewM) Hi Kenny i missed the first hour if this chat..if question has been asked
I appologize - My question is did you purposely try to move away between the
relationship of Jaime and Steve to focus more with Chris & Jamie via Season 3
(which btw that actor reminded me quite a bit of Lee Majors) Was it just not working
out with the Steve and Jamie characters?
(Kenny Johnson) Actually, I don't know who the character of Chris was, because
after I left the show, at the beginning of that season,I never saw another episode.
I always liked the poignancy of Steve being in love with Jaime and her not remembering
how she loved him, it was a great device that audiences could really relate to.
(KevinW) Hello, Kenny. I know this is about TBW and SMDM, which are two of my
favorites, but I really loved the Incredible Hulk what were your favorite episodes
in that show and how was it to work with Bill Bixby.
(Kenny Johnson) Bix was a force of nature, an incredibly compelling actor. Try to
rent a DVD called "Steambath" --- a play that Bill did on PBS in the 70's. When I
saw that performance, it stayed in my head and I knew that Bix was the guy that I
wanted to play the lead. When he read the script, he was very excited about it,
but eager to be certain that we would always approach the scripts in the same adult
way that the pilot was written. I miss him to this day. He was a brother as well
as a colleague. We often joked that we were twin brothers from different mothers,
and it was true.
(LesK) Would you like to see a full-blown Hollywood film of The BW? Who would you
like to see as the lead role actress and thanks soo much for all the memorable
Universal TV shows.
(Kenny Johnson) Thanks to you, Les, I really appreciate you being here. I think that
the BW could certainly be a wonderful movie, and my first choise would be.....Hillary
Swank! Think about that.
(ParkerClack) I have heard other writers say that you write what you know. Where
did you draw the inspiration for Jamie? Did you know a strong woman like her in
your life that even though she had a physical problem she still excelled at everything?
(Kenny Johnson) Is that your real name, Parker?
(ParkerClack) Yep. Named after my mom's family. Another strong woman.
(Kenny Johnson) No, Parker. Jaime is a pure creation that is probably fashioned
from different characteristics of different women. As I mentioned, my mother was
a very strong woman, and that certainly had an impact on me growing up. But I've
always enjoyed writing strong female characters. if you look at my work, you'll
see those characters going head to head with their male counterparts, particularly
in V, for example. And I tried to write Jaime with the same feelings that I would
have if I had suddenty been thrust into that situation.
(Parker Clack) You and James Cameron lead the pack on writing strong women characters
and I and my daughter thank you for that.
(Kenny Johnson) I met Jim on the Fox lot when I was filming Alien Nation and he was
editing Abyss with the guy who had been my editor on Short Circuit 2. Alien Nation
is another example of strong and substantive females -- long may they wave!
(Neva) Jaime helped me in so many ways. As a kid, I lived overseas and I would
pretend I was Jaime when I didn't know what to do or how to act. I am an Army Brat.
Also, seeing kids on the show during the first season really impacted me because
I had never seen a military base with kids on tv before or since. How much did
Lindsay's input shape the series in a way that it might not have if she wasn't
playing Jaime?
(Kenny Johnson) I made Jaime a schoolteacher, Neva, because I wanted her to be
very accessible to young people and so that we could also do episodes that were
of a more personal nature, always more interesting to me than running off after
some mission. The military base was a natural because of the ties that the show
had to the military. But the hominess of that concept really appealed to me.
Lindsay pretty much followed my lead for the first 2 seasons in terms of the
overall character of the show, but I heard that after I left, she got more
interested in leaning into more holistic story lines and took the show into
more of a new age premise.
(Boodlums) Hi Kenny, love your work! V question if you don't mind (though I
love Lindsay, and she reminds me of someone I knew in a past incarnation, lol).
When V was up for NBC, I read it was sent back to you for reworking, and then
I didn't hear anything until ABC. What happened in between? Thanks! (Aside:
I remember Steambath!)
(Kenny Johnson) The NBC story is long and boring. I sold NBC on the idea of
doing the sequel to V that picked up the story 20 years later, called "V -
the second generation", which I have since turned into a novel. NBC dawdled
endlessly...and by the time we might have gone forward, they had no money
because of mismanagement and stopped doing movies and mini-series altogether.
It was shortly after that when I discovered that I owned the motion picture
rights and I began moving in that direction. Warner TV owns the TV rights,
and that's where the new "reimagined" V series came from.
(MarkM) Hello Kenny, what was the reaction to the death of Oliver Nelson
on TSMDM? I don't think the show ever completely recovered from it.
(Kenny Johnson) He did amazing amounts of work in a very short amount of time
that still sounds great today. I had left SMDM before he passed, but it was
a great sadness to me, as was the death of another dear musician friend from
those days, the great Shelley Mann. And also, my long-time composer friend,
Joe Harnell. I will always miss them all. And I'd like to say a great thanks
to everyone who has taken the time to sit in this room with me tonight and
thank Annette whose fingers are probably falling off right now (no way!).
Please feel free to write to me at the website and I'll be happy to answer
any other questions you all might have.
(Ron Epstein) I wish to thank a few people who were involved in making tonight's
chat a success. First, Annette Gregorich for being a terrific typist. My
HTF partners, Parker Clack and Adam Gregorich. Also to Kevin Koster for putting
us in touch with Kenny. And, all of you who showed up this evening to the chat.
Most of all....last but not least, Kenny Johnson who seemed to be having a ball
tonight talking with all of you.
(Parker Clack) Let me follow the tradition of giving you another standing ovation.
This one at HTF.
(Kenny Johnson) Thank you, everyone!
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