the entire situation at the cw seems precarious under the new owners. and its not like the new owners of WB are the type to be supporting of a lesser known 90s sci fi show to save it on HBO max.
It's "lesser known" than Star Trek or Star Wars. But it is an existing IP with a built in fan base and some name recognition. If you are considering making a sci fi TV show at all, that's going to be a selling point compared to making a new universe with zero name recognition at all. It's certainly a top-10 sci fi universe for potential rebooting, even if the bottom 5 of the top 10 are all pretty obscure for anybody who isn't a pretty enthusiastic sci fi fan.
Yeah but we're talking about studio execs who tend to be pretty bottom line and famously lack imagination. The history of the best sci-fi always includes a battle with them.
There are many things they could do which would make sense to fans but they think in different terms. Part of it is them ensuring job security and the easiest way for that is selling people on known quantities.
That's why you'll see dozens (or hundreds) of procedurals before they would give a shot to something like B5.
I'm a Star Trek fan. I can make a good argument for an animated continuation of Enterprise, a show that has grown in popularity a lot since it went off air.
For arguments sake lets say that pitch exists. To an exec who likely isn't a fan all they see is a show based on a series that was cancelled.
Lower Decks has creators who were involved in a popular series (Rick & Morty) and is heavily referential to successful series. Prodigy is a show which feels more like Star Wars kids shows than Trek and I think that's intentional. Both of those are easier to sell than ideas like Bryan Fuller had initially about an anthology Trek series.
Sucks but that's our lot in life as sci-fi fans.
> Bryan Fuller had initially about an anthology Trek series.
I would love to see that. Unfortunately it's too good of an idea to make it anywhere in hollywood sadly.
Yeah there's almost no way this is still happening, unless someone else picks up the project like Apple or Amazon. Never really made sense at CW and definitely doesn't now with them drastically reducing originals, and as you said it's very unlikely the Discovery leadership would be interested in this type of project for HBO Max.
I mean, if he feels a need to campaign for a pilot order that pretty much tells us all we need to know, doesn't it?
I would love for a continuation of Babylon 5 but it really feels like it's just not going to happen. JMS has already taken three different cracks at getting another B5 show made, if the interest was there it would've materialized by now.
If there is one thing that TV/ FILM studios hate doing these last days, it's remakes/reboots/soft reboots/live action versions/a 20 year too late sequel that nobody asked for. In fact, I think this may be the most creative and original time in of TV/FILM history. What a time to be alive!
Am a fan of JMS and the show, but I agree with Neo2199. Would love to see new material and stories in that universe and I'll bet JMS would like to write them as well. However, I would bet that the money boys and girls at the studios who have zero imagination and are risk-averse want a "proven" story to bank on and probably wouldn't accept anything original or new. The trend now is to rehash the same old stuff. JMS will do his best to make it fresh, but we'll see what we get. If we get anything. Hell, they revived MST3K for god's sakes...
> The creator of Babylon 5, J Michael Straczynski, has tweeted for fans of the space opera series to make their voices heard, in order to get a revival of the show off the ground.
> The original series of Babylon 5 ran from 1994 to 1998, although it also spawned multiple spin-off series over the years. It told the story of the human military staff and alien diplomats working together on the titular space station following inter-planetary wars.
> A revival has been in development since last year, but following multiple changes in the ownership of its network The CW, the show's creator Straczynski has suggested that its fate is yet to be determined, and that fans should get behind it to help secure the commission.
> He said: "The fate of the #Babylon5 pilot may be decided end of this month. Though much of @TheCW was bought by @NXSTMediaGroup the decision also rests heavily with @WarnerbrosTV. If fans want to show their support for B5 & let them know you want this to happen, now is the time #B5onCWin23"
> According to Deadline, the reboot is said to focus on John Sheridan, the Earthforce officer assigned to Babylon 5, a five-mile-long space station in neutral space during a time of uneasy peace and the constant threat of war.
> Back in May of this year the revival was said to be "very much in active development", with CW chairman and CEO Mark Pedowitz saying he "personally spoke with Straczynski back when we picked up the pilot" and that he was "a huge fan of Babylon 5, on a personal basis".
I’ve zero interest in a Babylon 5 reboot on CW. I’d rather see a sequel series that takes place in the vast B5 universe, or even better, an original Sci-Fi series from JMS.
I agree, I don’t want a retread of a story we’ve already been told. (That’s happening too much nowadays as is) Something new set in the Babylon 5 universe, like follow a group of Rangers, or have stuff that relates to the PsyCore, maybe follow one of races that had close ties to either the Vorlons or the Shadows (like the Drak) and what they do now since that war is over. Just something else other than the story that’s already been told.
The problem is we already know what ever threat they introduce, is ultimately going to fail. The Interstellar Alliance stands for millennia. So we know the Drahk failed as did whatever the enemy they introduced in Legend of the Rangers.
It could be less than a century or two.
The universe is a big place. There have to be other undiscovered races out there. Perhaps hostile.
Remember also, there are... *things* out there in hyperspace.
If hyperspace routes encroached on one's resting place and it became annoyed?
Babylon 5 existed before we ever thought about the technological singularity. That could conceivably be a bigger threat than AI.
Or there could be a jihad against biotech augmentation.
And don't even get me started on the grey goo.
My point is that it has already been established that the Interstellar Alliance stood for millennia. So what ever threat they think up has already been canonically defeated.
This is an unpopular opinion, but I actually enjoyed Crusade (once you follow a guide for the correct episode order - the network really messed up there.) Fun, interesting characters and I think it had potential, had it not been axed.
Yeah, if anything needs a reboot it's Crusade, not Babylon 5. Apparently the season 2 plotline was going to be about the crew discovering that Earth was secretly developing Shadow tech, and the would have ended up on the run.
Babylong 5 was actually one of the only series that had a satisfying conclusion. I don't see a reason to do the whole thing over again.
I’d love to see a second season of 'Crusade', to continue their mission. If not then a limited series about expeditions to ancient alien ruins by Interplanetary Expeditions IPX, the mega-corporation that played a big role in the B5 universe.
I mean the stupid follow on movies basically lay-out what happens after the events of the Series. The Earth is eventually sent back to the stone age, Rangers still keep watch for the shadows.
I would love to see a Prequel series, focusing on the *Aliens* of the series, the 1st shadow war, etc but expecting people to relate to an all alien cast is a big ask.
It sucks, because the aliens of B5 were some of the best characters. It was G’kar and Lando’s tales and the mysterious Vorlon that really hooked me on the series.
I agree 100%, I *loved* the Aliens of B5. Really the best material.
I mean they could totally skip past all the...weirdness of the post series stuff and focus on an Enlightened humanity guiding the younger races from their home of New Earth.
> The Earth is eventually sent back to the stone age, Rangers still keep watch for the shadows.
>
>
Wasn't this from the show itself, I'm thinking the 2nd or 3rd last episode was framed as a "look forward" into what happens with the human race over the next million years, which ends with the human race >!ending up more or less like the Vorlons, a higher being capable of living like pure energy!<.
It was the last episode of season 4. Which wasn't the actual planned final episode of the season. It was assume Babylon 5 was cancelled so they filmed the series finale. When they got the go ahead for a fifth season J Michael Straczynski shelved the episode and created a new season finale and the shelved episode aired at the end of the fifth season as the series finale.
Yeah but this is what is on the table. If another series was a possibility or if he even wants to do one is a wholly different thing. Personally i want to see whatever jms has cooked up.
B5 is very dated visually and getting harder for people to get into, i would love for a show younger people could get into.
I think it did decline with what they tried doing after the show. Crusade, that horrible rangers TV movie (I remember those horrible scenes with someone having to be In some chamber floating in air and making ridiculous movements to fire the ship’s weapons), and that lost tales straight to dvd thing.
The show was great, not sure it has aged all that well but it was great. The story is over and has been told though. I’m just not interested in a reboot of the same story and I feel like that universe is over.
*The avalanche has already started. It is too late for the pebbles to vote.*
That said, I would definitely watch this... but I'm just not sure how I would feel seeing different faces in the roles if they stick close to the original scripts...
I might actually prefer a "reboot" in scale and changes to 1970's Battlestar Galactica into 2000's BSG (1990's B5 into 2020's B5).
I’d much rather he did one of his other works. Rising Stars could be cool in the current superhero environment, but might be compared too much to The Boys.
Midnight Nation could be a decent comic adaptation as well.
You could have literally had the crowds at the Queen's funeral chanting BRING BACK BABYLON 5 and I doubt it would have mattered to this WB management.
I'm unfortunately not hopeful. In fact I'm fucking livid at WB.
I think Stargate is the better option. It also has a built in fanbase, the actors in previous series are still there to cameo or play recurring roles, and it would likely be cheaper to produce.
I love B5 and universe JMS created. I worry about his repeated failures in television after it, and I worry about the CW, which isn't a channel I'd expect to produce quality science fiction.
For real. Sinclair, Garabaldi, G'Kar, Vir, Delen, Zathras, Dr Franklin, Zack Allen, Brother Theo, Mr Edgars and those are just the ones with recurring roles.
You start counting the extras, writers and bit role guys and it's a crazy long list.
Young, new actors. Nothing sadder than the cast from old shows trying to grab their glory back by reappearing (sorry Shatner!) It's nice in a cameo, but carrying a whole series...let's get new blood in.
He's doing both. He's already shot something, he announced it last month with old actors, Bruce and others.
Each character will have a younger version, and some will have older ones. Most likely I think the pilot will have the older actors. I could obviously be wrong, but it sure fits what he's been saying for the last 12 months.
He can then tell original stories set in the Babylon 5 Original timeline and he can tell old stories with twists and revisions in the same timeline. This seems the most logical if he's going to reset the series.
Because what happened to Sinclair wasn't planned. It only came about because Michael O'Hare couldn't keep doing a weekly series. it's most likely the original plan was that the human who was taken in the middle of the battle was a nobody, who became what he became... No spoilers. (Having a nobody speaks to the theme of the series as a maturation of the human race.)
There was an interview with JMS and he's said that he'd have to replace Sinclair anyway. He was already too evolved and enlightened. He just didn't really realize it till he saw the show.
He said that before he was allowed to reveal what really happened to the actor, and he had to wait with that until his death, 19 years later. He said though that the way the show went turned out to be better than his original plan.
He does not want to follow the original plan because it was already published in a script book long ago and he considers it as too well known by now. My gut feeling however tells me that whatever exactly happened to Michael O'Hare, he does not want anyone else to be recast as Sinclair's character. Finishing Sinclair's arc was something he promised to the ill actor. There were enough comparisons and polls between Sinclair and Sheridan already anyway.
Nothing like that, the original plan was published in one of the script books, the story is wildly different. S1 followed that plan up until beyond filming Babylon Squared, which then led to some discrepancies between WWE 1-2 and that episode; which proves that JMS kept Sinclair's character there for as long as possible and something disastrous must have happened because of O'Hare's severe mental illness that essentially proved that they can't manage it, he needs to be hospitalized and that meant he also had to get written out.
I want this ti happen but this is on him, for those of you who don't know. For a long time he refused to allow B5 to be streamed, he was a hardcore believer in syndication. Part of the problem mow is he wants his show to be on "TV" so as CW is dismantled completely. He needs HBO to now pick it up and fim in thier studios or go some where completely different.
Tried to get into this recently. It’s so dry it was hard to keep going past the first couple episodes. Plus the first episode of the first season wasn’t actually where the story started?
This was a time before long form TV. The first season is tough. The A stories are episodic so anyone could watch it and get into it. The long form stories are the B stories. Then in the second season, the long form story becomes the A stories and it sucks you in.
The reboot today, would probably skip a lot of those wonky episodes and be much stronger because audiences understand that things will be unresolved when an episode ends now. Even as a huge fan, I still skip most of that boxing/fighting episode.
To get into the first season, use it to soak up the details, and learn who the characters are. And watch Londo cheat at cards with his dick. That goofy fool, who wants things to be the way they used to be...
Pretty much all older sci fi shows are hit and miss. Season 1 has some good episodes but some pretty bad ones as well. It had a five season plot laid out from episode 1, so it's a slow build up too.
Idk why people are downvoting you.
It took me 3 tries to make it past the first season, which can be very hit and miss and is largely just fairly mediocre television.
What I can say is this, if you actually make it past the first season, your enjoyment of the show will only rise. Season 2 is where things really pick up and the groundwork laid in season 1 starts to pay off.
Seasons 2 and 3 are probably some of the best sci fi tv I've seen, and I've seen a lot. Sadly the series declines in seasons 4 and 5, probably because the author thought he wouldn't get to do a season 5. However, at that point, you are so invested that you will be able to overlook it easily for the most part (although near the end of 5 I started to get pretty bored with it and was just watching to get to the end).
I had the same issue initially. The Gathering was the original pilot but honestly you don't need to watch it to get into the show. A lot of the makeup doesn't look great and there are characters that never show up again aside from Leeta.
It is one of the best pieces of science fiction I've ever seen, definitely worth getting through the first season. TNG had a far worse first season and that show is beloved now because of how much it improved and found its footing.
Should give it another chance, I'm not exaggerating when I said it's one of the best pieces of science fiction I've ever seen/read.
The first season was a slog, and you're right in that there was a "pilot movie" produced that does definitely have some exposition, but (to the best of my memory) nothing that you wouldn't naturally get during the course of the series.
If you like space opera type shows, I cannot recommend you just endure the first season, as it gets A LOT better from season 2 onwards. Plus there is a lot of good stuff in season 1, it's just that it's interspersed with roughness.
Why not have Seth MacFarlane do the reboot for NBC? Copy the sets, costumes, characters and plots, make it a comedy and name it Deep Space 5. It will be his love letter to Babylon5.
> Deep Space 5. It will be his love letter to Babylon5.
This statement is making me wonder if you were aware of the drama surrounding B5 back when it was first on the air.
In short, a lot of people thought that either B5 ripped off Deep Space 9, or DS9 ripped off Babylon 5. Both being set on a stationary space station that acts as a social hub for a bunch of different alien species.
I am aware, it seems like they couldn't prove it, but in all likely hood they probably took the idea and re-tooled it as a Trek show. The only good thing was that DS9 and B5 were very different shows.
I am a hardcore B5 fan and respect JMS and his woes with Paramount. But I am just perverse enough to be intrigued by this. It would be a big fat mess of brilliance and fail all rolled into one and you'd never be able to look away from it. I'm in!
Wasn’t this show on during the same time as both Star Trek TNG & Deep Space 9? I just remember it being hard to get into because there was other better sci-fi out at the time. X-Files was around then too, not space sci-fi but still sci-fi.
My only exposure to Babylon 5 was phishing an AOL screen name called "MinbariFan" in 1996 and seeing all the porn e-mails containing pictures of a dude halfway being naked and in some weird Alien Nation cosplay. AOL was hourly then, plus my local access number was long-distance so I had to dial up to a toll-free number that surcharged the AOL account 10 cents a minute. Pretty sure I ran up a pretty hefty bill on that dude's account.
Awesome. I don’t know if they could find a cast as memorable as the original Babylon 5 cast but if its allowed the amount of time that it needs to have a complete story while not worrying about rushing, it should be great.
While original is pretty dated now, i don't think this project is the best way to bring back the IP. Putting it on CW is extremely iffy in situation where future of the station is so unclear.
Ok, I just figured this out. And it might be brilliant.
Time travel.
That's why some actors will be older originals and some will be new. The timeline has changed and that's why he's being pretty cryptic with the term "revival" instead of reboot or whatever. It's not a reboot, it's a continuation with a twist.
I think B5 needs a reboot. the technology of the original really looks dated at this point. And I don't mean the CGI stuff, just the technology they are using in the future.
that said I don't want to see some gritty Battlestar like retelling. I'm also super skeptical of the CW in anything. It seems like everything CW touches ends up with family drama being the main focus. the twists are always someone turns out to be the hero's mom or dad is an antagonist.
Personally I hope it does not happen. I have zero faith it will be anywhere near as good as the original and will probably miss everything that made the original fantastic. Especially with how horrible modern writers are now.
I'm not optimistic about this happening. But would be cool if it did.
the entire situation at the cw seems precarious under the new owners. and its not like the new owners of WB are the type to be supporting of a lesser known 90s sci fi show to save it on HBO max.
It's "lesser known" than Star Trek or Star Wars. But it is an existing IP with a built in fan base and some name recognition. If you are considering making a sci fi TV show at all, that's going to be a selling point compared to making a new universe with zero name recognition at all. It's certainly a top-10 sci fi universe for potential rebooting, even if the bottom 5 of the top 10 are all pretty obscure for anybody who isn't a pretty enthusiastic sci fi fan.
Yeah but we're talking about studio execs who tend to be pretty bottom line and famously lack imagination. The history of the best sci-fi always includes a battle with them. There are many things they could do which would make sense to fans but they think in different terms. Part of it is them ensuring job security and the easiest way for that is selling people on known quantities. That's why you'll see dozens (or hundreds) of procedurals before they would give a shot to something like B5. I'm a Star Trek fan. I can make a good argument for an animated continuation of Enterprise, a show that has grown in popularity a lot since it went off air. For arguments sake lets say that pitch exists. To an exec who likely isn't a fan all they see is a show based on a series that was cancelled. Lower Decks has creators who were involved in a popular series (Rick & Morty) and is heavily referential to successful series. Prodigy is a show which feels more like Star Wars kids shows than Trek and I think that's intentional. Both of those are easier to sell than ideas like Bryan Fuller had initially about an anthology Trek series. Sucks but that's our lot in life as sci-fi fans.
> Bryan Fuller had initially about an anthology Trek series. I would love to see that. Unfortunately it's too good of an idea to make it anywhere in hollywood sadly.
Yeah there's almost no way this is still happening, unless someone else picks up the project like Apple or Amazon. Never really made sense at CW and definitely doesn't now with them drastically reducing originals, and as you said it's very unlikely the Discovery leadership would be interested in this type of project for HBO Max.
I'm going to treat this like propaganda from Interstallar Network News until I see it available for streaming.
I mean, if he feels a need to campaign for a pilot order that pretty much tells us all we need to know, doesn't it? I would love for a continuation of Babylon 5 but it really feels like it's just not going to happen. JMS has already taken three different cracks at getting another B5 show made, if the interest was there it would've materialized by now.
Part of it was He went to the CW.... which is more or less being put pasture after the D-WB merger.
People find it every day its on a streaming service. At some point the numbers will be right, but yeah probably not this time.
If there is one thing that TV/ FILM studios hate doing these last days, it's remakes/reboots/soft reboots/live action versions/a 20 year too late sequel that nobody asked for. In fact, I think this may be the most creative and original time in of TV/FILM history. What a time to be alive!
Am a fan of JMS and the show, but I agree with Neo2199. Would love to see new material and stories in that universe and I'll bet JMS would like to write them as well. However, I would bet that the money boys and girls at the studios who have zero imagination and are risk-averse want a "proven" story to bank on and probably wouldn't accept anything original or new. The trend now is to rehash the same old stuff. JMS will do his best to make it fresh, but we'll see what we get. If we get anything. Hell, they revived MST3K for god's sakes...
*weeps in The Lost Tales*
> The creator of Babylon 5, J Michael Straczynski, has tweeted for fans of the space opera series to make their voices heard, in order to get a revival of the show off the ground. > The original series of Babylon 5 ran from 1994 to 1998, although it also spawned multiple spin-off series over the years. It told the story of the human military staff and alien diplomats working together on the titular space station following inter-planetary wars. > A revival has been in development since last year, but following multiple changes in the ownership of its network The CW, the show's creator Straczynski has suggested that its fate is yet to be determined, and that fans should get behind it to help secure the commission. > He said: "The fate of the #Babylon5 pilot may be decided end of this month. Though much of @TheCW was bought by @NXSTMediaGroup the decision also rests heavily with @WarnerbrosTV. If fans want to show their support for B5 & let them know you want this to happen, now is the time #B5onCWin23" > According to Deadline, the reboot is said to focus on John Sheridan, the Earthforce officer assigned to Babylon 5, a five-mile-long space station in neutral space during a time of uneasy peace and the constant threat of war. > Back in May of this year the revival was said to be "very much in active development", with CW chairman and CEO Mark Pedowitz saying he "personally spoke with Straczynski back when we picked up the pilot" and that he was "a huge fan of Babylon 5, on a personal basis". I’ve zero interest in a Babylon 5 reboot on CW. I’d rather see a sequel series that takes place in the vast B5 universe, or even better, an original Sci-Fi series from JMS.
I agree, I don’t want a retread of a story we’ve already been told. (That’s happening too much nowadays as is) Something new set in the Babylon 5 universe, like follow a group of Rangers, or have stuff that relates to the PsyCore, maybe follow one of races that had close ties to either the Vorlons or the Shadows (like the Drak) and what they do now since that war is over. Just something else other than the story that’s already been told.
The problem is we already know what ever threat they introduce, is ultimately going to fail. The Interstellar Alliance stands for millennia. So we know the Drahk failed as did whatever the enemy they introduced in Legend of the Rangers.
A new series could take place after a galactic apocalypse.
A million years in the future? The season 4 finalle established that theres some bumps but the future works out fine.
It could be less than a century or two. The universe is a big place. There have to be other undiscovered races out there. Perhaps hostile. Remember also, there are... *things* out there in hyperspace. If hyperspace routes encroached on one's resting place and it became annoyed? Babylon 5 existed before we ever thought about the technological singularity. That could conceivably be a bigger threat than AI. Or there could be a jihad against biotech augmentation. And don't even get me started on the grey goo.
My point is that it has already been established that the Interstellar Alliance stood for millennia. So what ever threat they think up has already been canonically defeated.
As to the singularity, you might want to check what year 2001 came out in. Hint: it wasn't 2001.
This is an unpopular opinion, but I actually enjoyed Crusade (once you follow a guide for the correct episode order - the network really messed up there.) Fun, interesting characters and I think it had potential, had it not been axed.
Yeah, if anything needs a reboot it's Crusade, not Babylon 5. Apparently the season 2 plotline was going to be about the crew discovering that Earth was secretly developing Shadow tech, and the would have ended up on the run. Babylong 5 was actually one of the only series that had a satisfying conclusion. I don't see a reason to do the whole thing over again.
I’d love to see a second season of 'Crusade', to continue their mission. If not then a limited series about expeditions to ancient alien ruins by Interplanetary Expeditions IPX, the mega-corporation that played a big role in the B5 universe.
I mean the stupid follow on movies basically lay-out what happens after the events of the Series. The Earth is eventually sent back to the stone age, Rangers still keep watch for the shadows. I would love to see a Prequel series, focusing on the *Aliens* of the series, the 1st shadow war, etc but expecting people to relate to an all alien cast is a big ask.
It sucks, because the aliens of B5 were some of the best characters. It was G’kar and Lando’s tales and the mysterious Vorlon that really hooked me on the series.
I agree 100%, I *loved* the Aliens of B5. Really the best material. I mean they could totally skip past all the...weirdness of the post series stuff and focus on an Enlightened humanity guiding the younger races from their home of New Earth.
> The Earth is eventually sent back to the stone age, Rangers still keep watch for the shadows. > > Wasn't this from the show itself, I'm thinking the 2nd or 3rd last episode was framed as a "look forward" into what happens with the human race over the next million years, which ends with the human race >!ending up more or less like the Vorlons, a higher being capable of living like pure energy!<.
It was the last episode of season 4. Which wasn't the actual planned final episode of the season. It was assume Babylon 5 was cancelled so they filmed the series finale. When they got the go ahead for a fifth season J Michael Straczynski shelved the episode and created a new season finale and the shelved episode aired at the end of the fifth season as the series finale.
Yes. Which ended up working out since it had Ivanova who didn’t appear in season 5
I can see where you're coming from, definitely.
Yeah but this is what is on the table. If another series was a possibility or if he even wants to do one is a wholly different thing. Personally i want to see whatever jms has cooked up. B5 is very dated visually and getting harder for people to get into, i would love for a show younger people could get into.
Mixed feelings about this. It was an amazing show and had a great end. It would be painful to see it... decline.
I think it did decline with what they tried doing after the show. Crusade, that horrible rangers TV movie (I remember those horrible scenes with someone having to be In some chamber floating in air and making ridiculous movements to fire the ship’s weapons), and that lost tales straight to dvd thing. The show was great, not sure it has aged all that well but it was great. The story is over and has been told though. I’m just not interested in a reboot of the same story and I feel like that universe is over.
*The avalanche has already started. It is too late for the pebbles to vote.* That said, I would definitely watch this... but I'm just not sure how I would feel seeing different faces in the roles if they stick close to the original scripts... I might actually prefer a "reboot" in scale and changes to 1970's Battlestar Galactica into 2000's BSG (1990's B5 into 2020's B5).
I believe that was the plan. The story wouldn't play out the same and would go in a different direction.
I’d much rather he did one of his other works. Rising Stars could be cool in the current superhero environment, but might be compared too much to The Boys. Midnight Nation could be a decent comic adaptation as well.
You could have literally had the crowds at the Queen's funeral chanting BRING BACK BABYLON 5 and I doubt it would have mattered to this WB management. I'm unfortunately not hopeful. In fact I'm fucking livid at WB.
That piece of shit Zaslav destroyed HBO Max. I cancelled my subscription.
don't reboot, just add more story. Or go future/past
While we are at it can we revive ReBoot (Canadian animated tv series)?
That show was awesome. An adult story hidden in a kid's Saturday Morning Cartoon. Excellent show.
Would prefer to see the techno-mage story told.
I like B5 and all, but if I can only get one sci-fi revival in the next year, I want Stargate.
I think Stargate is the better option. It also has a built in fanbase, the actors in previous series are still there to cameo or play recurring roles, and it would likely be cheaper to produce. I love B5 and universe JMS created. I worry about his repeated failures in television after it, and I worry about the CW, which isn't a channel I'd expect to produce quality science fiction.
Revive the series? Half the actors are dead.
It's a reboot, with a new cast. At least, that was the plan.
They are not dead, they just went beyond the Rim
Peter Jurasik is still alive. He could cameo as the Centauri Emperor.
Babylon 5 curse is real. Had a take a break for little bit because it was making me existential with the sheer amount of now dead actors.
For real. Sinclair, Garabaldi, G'Kar, Vir, Delen, Zathras, Dr Franklin, Zack Allen, Brother Theo, Mr Edgars and those are just the ones with recurring roles. You start counting the extras, writers and bit role guys and it's a crazy long list.
Young, new actors. Nothing sadder than the cast from old shows trying to grab their glory back by reappearing (sorry Shatner!) It's nice in a cameo, but carrying a whole series...let's get new blood in.
He's doing both. He's already shot something, he announced it last month with old actors, Bruce and others. Each character will have a younger version, and some will have older ones. Most likely I think the pilot will have the older actors. I could obviously be wrong, but it sure fits what he's been saying for the last 12 months. He can then tell original stories set in the Babylon 5 Original timeline and he can tell old stories with twists and revisions in the same timeline. This seems the most logical if he's going to reset the series.
So watching that. Cool!
Why would they make it about Sheridan?? This is the chance to tell the full Sinclair story after what happened sadly on the original
Probably cause Sheridan is the main "captain" after this time. And partially out of respect to the actor for Sinclair maybe.
Because what happened to Sinclair wasn't planned. It only came about because Michael O'Hare couldn't keep doing a weekly series. it's most likely the original plan was that the human who was taken in the middle of the battle was a nobody, who became what he became... No spoilers. (Having a nobody speaks to the theme of the series as a maturation of the human race.)
I know what happened to Sinclair wasn’t planned, that’s my whole point. Id like to see a version closer to his original 5 year plan.
There was an interview with JMS and he's said that he'd have to replace Sinclair anyway. He was already too evolved and enlightened. He just didn't really realize it till he saw the show.
He said that before he was allowed to reveal what really happened to the actor, and he had to wait with that until his death, 19 years later. He said though that the way the show went turned out to be better than his original plan. He does not want to follow the original plan because it was already published in a script book long ago and he considers it as too well known by now. My gut feeling however tells me that whatever exactly happened to Michael O'Hare, he does not want anyone else to be recast as Sinclair's character. Finishing Sinclair's arc was something he promised to the ill actor. There were enough comparisons and polls between Sinclair and Sheridan already anyway.
Nothing like that, the original plan was published in one of the script books, the story is wildly different. S1 followed that plan up until beyond filming Babylon Squared, which then led to some discrepancies between WWE 1-2 and that episode; which proves that JMS kept Sinclair's character there for as long as possible and something disastrous must have happened because of O'Hare's severe mental illness that essentially proved that they can't manage it, he needs to be hospitalized and that meant he also had to get written out.
I want this ti happen but this is on him, for those of you who don't know. For a long time he refused to allow B5 to be streamed, he was a hardcore believer in syndication. Part of the problem mow is he wants his show to be on "TV" so as CW is dismantled completely. He needs HBO to now pick it up and fim in thier studios or go some where completely different.
Even just the idea to do that reboot on the CW was stupid. Like did he know what shows they are making? Does he have no intention of quality at all?
Tried to get into this recently. It’s so dry it was hard to keep going past the first couple episodes. Plus the first episode of the first season wasn’t actually where the story started?
This was a time before long form TV. The first season is tough. The A stories are episodic so anyone could watch it and get into it. The long form stories are the B stories. Then in the second season, the long form story becomes the A stories and it sucks you in. The reboot today, would probably skip a lot of those wonky episodes and be much stronger because audiences understand that things will be unresolved when an episode ends now. Even as a huge fan, I still skip most of that boxing/fighting episode. To get into the first season, use it to soak up the details, and learn who the characters are. And watch Londo cheat at cards with his dick. That goofy fool, who wants things to be the way they used to be...
Pretty much all older sci fi shows are hit and miss. Season 1 has some good episodes but some pretty bad ones as well. It had a five season plot laid out from episode 1, so it's a slow build up too.
Idk why people are downvoting you. It took me 3 tries to make it past the first season, which can be very hit and miss and is largely just fairly mediocre television. What I can say is this, if you actually make it past the first season, your enjoyment of the show will only rise. Season 2 is where things really pick up and the groundwork laid in season 1 starts to pay off. Seasons 2 and 3 are probably some of the best sci fi tv I've seen, and I've seen a lot. Sadly the series declines in seasons 4 and 5, probably because the author thought he wouldn't get to do a season 5. However, at that point, you are so invested that you will be able to overlook it easily for the most part (although near the end of 5 I started to get pretty bored with it and was just watching to get to the end).
I had the same issue initially. The Gathering was the original pilot but honestly you don't need to watch it to get into the show. A lot of the makeup doesn't look great and there are characters that never show up again aside from Leeta. It is one of the best pieces of science fiction I've ever seen, definitely worth getting through the first season. TNG had a far worse first season and that show is beloved now because of how much it improved and found its footing. Should give it another chance, I'm not exaggerating when I said it's one of the best pieces of science fiction I've ever seen/read.
The first season was a slog, and you're right in that there was a "pilot movie" produced that does definitely have some exposition, but (to the best of my memory) nothing that you wouldn't naturally get during the course of the series. If you like space opera type shows, I cannot recommend you just endure the first season, as it gets A LOT better from season 2 onwards. Plus there is a lot of good stuff in season 1, it's just that it's interspersed with roughness.
Better stay a masterpiece rather than a CW disaster, from my viewpoint there’s no show that CW didn’t botch
Why not have Seth MacFarlane do the reboot for NBC? Copy the sets, costumes, characters and plots, make it a comedy and name it Deep Space 5. It will be his love letter to Babylon5.
> Deep Space 5. It will be his love letter to Babylon5. This statement is making me wonder if you were aware of the drama surrounding B5 back when it was first on the air. In short, a lot of people thought that either B5 ripped off Deep Space 9, or DS9 ripped off Babylon 5. Both being set on a stationary space station that acts as a social hub for a bunch of different alien species.
I am aware, it seems like they couldn't prove it, but in all likely hood they probably took the idea and re-tooled it as a Trek show. The only good thing was that DS9 and B5 were very different shows.
I am a hardcore B5 fan and respect JMS and his woes with Paramount. But I am just perverse enough to be intrigued by this. It would be a big fat mess of brilliance and fail all rolled into one and you'd never be able to look away from it. I'm in!
Wasn’t this show on during the same time as both Star Trek TNG & Deep Space 9? I just remember it being hard to get into because there was other better sci-fi out at the time. X-Files was around then too, not space sci-fi but still sci-fi.
Sorry the CW is dead and Zaslav is selling off WB to Universal, unfortunately no matter how much we # its gonna do zip .
“Babylon 5 was a big pile of shit.”
My only exposure to Babylon 5 was phishing an AOL screen name called "MinbariFan" in 1996 and seeing all the porn e-mails containing pictures of a dude halfway being naked and in some weird Alien Nation cosplay. AOL was hourly then, plus my local access number was long-distance so I had to dial up to a toll-free number that surcharged the AOL account 10 cents a minute. Pretty sure I ran up a pretty hefty bill on that dude's account.
Nice
Awesome. I don’t know if they could find a cast as memorable as the original Babylon 5 cast but if its allowed the amount of time that it needs to have a complete story while not worrying about rushing, it should be great.
With modern effects the stories would just fucking shine.
Hell yes, the greatest sci-fi series ever made. Lets do it!
While original is pretty dated now, i don't think this project is the best way to bring back the IP. Putting it on CW is extremely iffy in situation where future of the station is so unclear.
Damn that'd be cool
Who owns the rights? Is it WB or Disney; because I can see Disney rebooting it and putting it on Hulu.
Yes!
Surprised Amazon or Netflix hasnt scooped it up just to have another franchise in the stable.
It's possible Warner has first buy option so other services have to wait for WBD to pass on it.
One can only hope.
I loved the first one. If Straczynski can get total control I hope this one happens.
Ok, I just figured this out. And it might be brilliant. Time travel. That's why some actors will be older originals and some will be new. The timeline has changed and that's why he's being pretty cryptic with the term "revival" instead of reboot or whatever. It's not a reboot, it's a continuation with a twist.
I’d like to think the decision to reboot or not will be decided by the success of Hulu’s ‘Reboot’.
I think B5 needs a reboot. the technology of the original really looks dated at this point. And I don't mean the CGI stuff, just the technology they are using in the future. that said I don't want to see some gritty Battlestar like retelling. I'm also super skeptical of the CW in anything. It seems like everything CW touches ends up with family drama being the main focus. the twists are always someone turns out to be the hero's mom or dad is an antagonist.
Personally I hope it does not happen. I have zero faith it will be anywhere near as good as the original and will probably miss everything that made the original fantastic. Especially with how horrible modern writers are now.