Babylon 5 rumored to be making a comeback by Juggernaut

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Babylon 5 rumored to be making a comeback

POSTED BY: JUGGERNAUT
UPDATED: Tuesday, December 2, 2003 16:50
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Wednesday, August 27, 2003 7:03 AM

Just read an interview with Jerry Doyle (who played Garibaldi) on B5, and it sounds like he has pretty juicy -- yet squishy -- info on a possible series return. Here's the link:

http://filmforce.ign.com/articles/435/435444p1.html

He makes a little bit of noise about early conversations with FOX in the article. Doesn't anybody ever learn? I can see the writing on *this* wall already...

I was never a big fan of B5, but I know people who are. And, heck, let's face it -- there aren't a lot of good sci-fi options out there to choose from today. So I could be persuaded to get into it if it came back.

He also talks about DVD sales, and how they were able to recoup all of the production costs in a first-run set of DVDs. Interestint in that it tangentially relates a little to Firefly's situation.

Anyway, just thought there'd be interest out there about this...

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Wednesday, August 27, 2003 9:15 AM

CAPTBAGGYTROUSERS

I was a fan of B5, but didn't keep up with any of the spin-offs or behind-the-scenes intruige alluded to in this article. As far as I knew, B5 was J. Michael Straczynski's planned, five-year novel for television with beginning, middle and end. Unless there's been a reversal on his part, the book is written and the story- at least the Babylon 5 part of it- is finished.

If bringing back B5 meant bringing it back without JMS, I'd have no interest in it. Even with him, I'd feel like it was operating on the thin premise of a follow-up. Again, in everything I've read JMS is adamant that the story of B5 is done. Without him the show would be as interesting to me as Firefly would be if Joss Whedon wasn't involved.

History repeats the old conceits

http://topshelftvshow.com
Updated! Improved! Shiny!

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Tuesday, September 2, 2003 9:58 AM

CHANNAIN

i DO aim to misbehave

I was a fiend for B5 - still am. I caught the spin off Crusade, all 13 episodes that got aired before TNT bailed on it, and the Rangers pilot, although I forget the name. I also watch the episodes rerunning on Sci-fi on my Mondays off, and not just because it's there. I do agree, however, that if JMS is not part of this revival, there's really no point to it. There's a reason they called him the Gene Roddenberry of Babylon 5 - and the reason why B5 was always edgier than Star Trek would be none other than JMS himself.

Somebody should warn Jerry Doyle about gorram fox's track record when it comes to quality television. just combining B5 and gorram fox in the same sentence makes me shudder.

“We three are the only ones in this place wearing brown.
Means we’ve found something worth fighting for.
Something worth being more than alive for.”
Sarahetc

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Tuesday, September 2, 2003 10:17 AM

SEANMACROS

Here's a post from the B5 newsgroup regarding the comeback:

From: Wendy of NJ <voxwoman@hotmail.com>
Date: Fri, 29 Aug 2003 21:39:20 +0000 (UTC)
Lines: 32

Kathryn Huxtable wrote:
> jrobertson@nitrosys.com (Jon Robertson) writes:
>
>>That story is over. It was great. I loved it. I plan on owning
>>all five seasons in one form or another.
>
>
> As much as it pains me, I have to agree. The story is over.
>
> There are minor stories that can be told, e.g. the telepath war, which
> could have guest appearances by the old cast with maybe one or two of
> them as regulars, but it probably won't happen for a long time.
>
> Consider Trek. TNG didn't have any cast overlap between TOS, did it?
> (I've actually never watched TNG.)

No, they set TNG 80 years in the future from TOS for just that reason.
Even so, McCoy had a cameo in the pilot, and Spock (and Sarek) had
guest shots in later seasons. The other series' (DS9 mostly) shared
characters from TNG. I think that was to boost ratings or something, and
the TNG people had cameos on Vger once in a while, too.

>
> And no matter what, JMS doesn't seem interested in "eating cold
> oatmeal" as Poi Dog Pondering put it so well. He'll likely only do a
> completely different type of story.
>
> -K
>

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
From: jmsatb5@aol.com (Jms at B5)
Date: Fri, 29 Aug 2003 23:44:57 +0000 (UTC)
Lines: 76

A couple of points on this.

There have been no discussions concerning a return of the Babylon 5 series
between myself and WB or any other studio or network. Nor do I think anything
is likely in that area.

Jerry took umbrage when, a few years ago, I commented on his statements that he
would be able to put togeether a new B5 series deal. From the interview, he
still seems to be in high dudgeon over this. But the fact remains: I was
correct in my statement, he didn't have the pieces in place to make it happen.
If he'd had the wherewithal to make it happen, it would've; it didn't, so he
didn't. My statement was correct.

Once again, the pieces simply aren't there. He has lined up a radio guy who
feels the show should return. Which is great, it's a terrific compliment. But
that is not in any way, manner, shape or form anywhere near anything of a
serious nature in terms of getting a show on the air.

I've always been happy to listen to anyone -- Jerry, his pals, anybody -- who
would come to me with a serious proposal and have the moxie, the money, and the
resources to make it happen. It hasn't. That's the simple fact of it.

Jerry's a terrific operator, he always has an angle going, he's always working
it...but that ain't the same thing as always having the real deal in hand. If
WB were involved in this -- and they'd have to be -- both Doug and I would be
in the loop by contract. But that is not the case. I spoke with Doug five
minutes ago as I type this, and he confirmed: there is nothing happening on
this front other than Jerry talkling with the radio guy.

As for his notion that the characters in Crusade were just B5 characters with
the names changed...as the person who created those characters, nothing could
be further from the truth. Nor was Bruce ever set to be the star of Crusade.

There's a natural tendency for people to hear or think what they expect, what
they want to hear. I told all the B5 cast members as a group that there would
certainly be opportunities for guest appearances throughout Crusade, but at no
point did I promise Bruce that he would be the lead of the series, or that we'd
simply transplant the characters. It wouldn't be a new series if we did that.

Finally, in his interview, both Jerry and Bruce seem to blame me for B5 not
being in its 10th year right now. Which is true and not true. B5 was always
meant to be a 5 year story; every actor knew that going in. It wasn't like
this was a surprise at the last minute. We all knew the deal.

WB had told us to shut down after year 4 because even though the show was doing
well, our network, PTEN, was going out of business. At the last minute, TNT
took on the task of financing a fifth year *in order to get the end of the
five-year story*. They never talked about anything beyond that, nor did anyone
else. So anything else is a moot point. I don't think that TNT would ever
have committed to anything more than one season in any event. They wanted the
end of the story to make the package complete. If that had been a six-year
arc, they would not have picked it up because two years would've been too
costly.

So them's is the facts.

Yes, there's one or two things percolating n the B5 universe that may be of
interest, but neither of them are series deals.

I hate to throw water on this, but I don't want fans to get all excited about
something that's simply not happening anywhere except in Jerry's interview.

He probably won't like that I said this any more than he did the last time, but
then as now, I have to put out the facts and let the passage of time validate
them.

jms

(jmsatb5@aol.com)
(all message content (c) 2003 by synthetic worlds, ltd.,
permission to reprint specifically denied to SFX Magazine
and don't send me story ideas)

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Tuesday, September 2, 2003 3:14 PM

HAKEN

Likes to mess with stuffs.

Whatever happened to JMS's Polaris project?

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Tuesday, September 2, 2003 6:02 PM

THRAWN476

JMS posted in a newsgroup post that the sci-fi channel considered Polaris and other project and went with the other project because Polaris was "too sci-fi" and not as mainstream as the other project.

I don't know about you, but I find it a little messed up when a station called the sci-fi channel considers something too sci-fi.

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Tuesday, September 2, 2003 10:45 PM

FAHQ

Regarding the Sci-fi channel; They are almost as bad as the "Belch and Fart" network (Fox) regarding commmitment to a series. Look at their past record, and how they pulled the plug on Farscape for instance.

The "Rangers" pilot (Legend Of The Rangers) was shown on the same night as some sports playoff game, and the ratings suffered for it during the first hour and spiked up during the second. Apparently Sci-Fi's excuse (According to JMS) was that they are/were trying to get away from "Space" based shows.

Perfect examples:

Tremors (Since when is this Sci-Fi?)
Scare Tactics (Shannen Doherty-Give me a break)

Science Fiction shows dont have to be based in space to be Sci-Fi, but please-What they are pushing now couldnt be considered it in any way.

If you are interested in what Joe Straczynski has to say, and you understand that there is more to the Internet than just the 'web, look for the Usenet newsgroup rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated

JMS posts fairly regularly and has some very interesting things to say about Hollywood and politics (Very little relation between the two).

Regarding Usenet- Please dont ask me about it. If you dont know what it is, try a search engine.

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Wednesday, September 3, 2003 2:59 AM

JOHNNYREB

Quote:
Originally posted by seanmacros:

> Consider Trek. TNG didn't have any cast overlap between TOS, did it?
> (I've actually never watched TNG.)

Actually, yes. There was an episode where the Enterprise found a derelict ship, the only thing that was still running was the trasporter. It was stuck in a loop, when Geordi un-stuck it, who stepped out? Scotty!

Antics ensue. He gets drunk on Picard's stash. He nearly phases Worf just for being a Klingon. He uses the holo-deck to make the bridge of the old Enterprise (complete with the incessant pings and beeps) and plops down in Kirk's chair all drunk and maudlin.

Actually, it wasn't a bad episode.

Viva Firefly!

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Wednesday, September 3, 2003 3:45 AM

SEANMACROS

Quote:
Originally posted by Thrawn476:
JMS posted in a newsgroup post that the sci-fi channel considered Polaris and other project and went with the other project because Polaris was "too sci-fi" and not as mainstream as the other project.

I don't know about you, but I find it a little messed up when a station called the sci-fi channel considers something too sci-fi.

Also, if I remember correctly one of the shows they approved instead of Polaris was something about intergalactic vampires or some such nonsense.

Sci-Fi's whole slate of series in development looked pretty bad. Maybe with Vivendi merging with NBC they'll take advantage of the opportunity to make a change for the better. Its unlikely but one can always hope.

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Tuesday, December 2, 2003 3:41 PM

SUCCATASH

This was on Cinescape news headlines today:

The return of BABYLON 5?

JMS speaks: something's happening
Dateline: Tuesday, December 2, 2003
By: PATRICK SAURIOL
By: News Editor

http://www.cinescape.com/0/editorial.asp?aff_id=0&this_cat=Television&
action=page&type_id=&cat_id=270355&obj_id=40299

"The only thing I can say is that phase one of the new project is a go, hence the furious writing schedule at this end of things, which is why I've been silent until deciding to kick up some dust on the political discusion. I've been writing my little brains out." -- J. Michael Straczynski

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Tuesday, December 2, 2003 4:50 PM

DYAIRVATREE

Here's some JMS news you might not have heard. JMS has signed a film deal for his Rising Stars comic book.If your a fan of B5 I highly recomend you check out his Rising Stars comic. Any way here's a link

http://worldsofjms.com/rsfilm/index.htm

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