I started B5 tonight another watch through is in order. Started with the Gathering. I remembered when this first Aired I hated it. I fell for the series a year later when the show premiered. The Gathering had some rough spots, some of the acting is poor, but I like it a lot more. I Wish WB would remaster the show it looks horrific on my 4k tv
For those in Louisiana, Jason's announced that he'll be a guest at CyPhaCon in Lake Charles, LA in April. http://www.cyphacon.org/celebrities/ For those who've never seen him in person, he's a *lot* of fun and as likely as not to hang out with the fans most of the night.
Worst thing I remember about him off-screen is that he put a lot of effort into promoting his wife's career off the back of his own. Which is quite admirable really. Wish Rick Biggs and Jeff Conaway were still with us; they just came over the road to the pub after a con 20 years ago (despite Jeff being on the wagon then); a gorgeous woman there was determined to pull Rick just because she thought he was incredible, no idea that he was a Hollywood actor.
Jason Carter is hilarious and a ball of pure energy. He was at DragonCon years ago. I've met around 300 actors/actresses, and he's easily in my Top 10 of great to be around.
The original version of The Gathering with Stewart Copeland's music or the re-edit with Chris Franke's music? As far as I can tell, WB have zero interest in doing anything with the franchise.
Superheroes seem to be the thing now - cerebral stimulating sci-fi drama is not. How lucky we were in the 90s. Funny to think that Crusade would have have finished its run 12 years ago had it lasted a full 5 years.
I don't know that I'd call B5 particularly cerebral, but it definitely would be nice if it was remastered, though I believe there's some regrettable technical limitations there.
Relative to much sci-fi TV in the late 90s, it seemed cerebral (although not approaching the level of literary SF). Certainly more than much of Voyager. DS9 approached its level on occasion. Perhaps I'm just being pretentious.
I think when I think "cerebral", for better or worse I tend to think of "The Cage" or "Emissary" (the Prophets portions), and for better or worse I don't feel B5 usually went to that level. That said, I'm not sure I would really want a tv show to regularly be at that level. At least, not if keeping me watching was a goal.
B5 is pretty cerebral by 'accessible media' standards. But, it's trying to tell a cool story with highly stylized and intricate melodrama more than it's trying to be cerebral. I wouldn't even mind comic book movies if there was more originality involved. Like, "Oh great, they're telling the same well known story for the 15th time, only with better technology than they had last time!" I'd be totally down for a totally original story in the superhero genre. I'm skeptical that there is any more room in the hearts of the fans for a hero invented later than the 1940s. And apparently so is the studio.
You do realize that the majority of the comic book characters who are getting movies now were introduced long after the 1940s.
"Cerebral" wasn't a good choice of adjective on my part. Perhaps "Lovecraftian" would have been more accurate in steering away from generic alien forehead of the week although B5 and Crusade had those as well. It was probably the obviously serial continuity of the series that drew me in plus the, for the time, dramatic use of CGI. - From The Haunter Of The Dark by H P Lovecraft - From The Call Of Cthulhu by H P Lovecraft -- both extracts quoted in http://www.nerdware.org/doc/lovecraft5.html
Because each movie makes half a billion or more at the box office, expect it to get worse as Hollywood gets increasingly desperate to stay relevant.