Babylon 5

[Jan]

News from JMS about the pilot. It's not what we'd hoped, but not all bad.
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Today, about an hour ago, Deadline Hollywood announced the slate of pilot scripts being picked up for production by The CW. Babylon 5 was not on that list.
When a pilot script is not picked up to production, 99.999% of the time, that’s the end of the road for the project, the script is dead.

However: shortly before that piece was published, I received a call from Mark Pedowitz, President of The CW. (I should mention that Mark is a great guy and a long-time fan of B5. He worked for Warners when the show was first airing, and always made sure we got him copies of the episodes before they aired because he didn’t want to wait to see what happened next.)

Calling the pilot “a damned fine script,” he said he was taking the highly unusual step of rolling the project and the pilot script into next year, keeping B5 in active development while the dust settles on the sale of the CW.

Here’s the bottom line:
Yesterday, Babylon 5 was in active development at the CW and Warner Bros. for fall 2022.

Today, Babylon 5 is in active development at the CW and Warner Bros. for fall 2023.

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https://www.patreon.com/posts/62084557

 

[Sci]

News from JMS about the pilot. It's not what we'd hoped, but not all bad.
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https://www.patreon.com/posts/62084557

Ya beat me to it!

I still think the remake of Babylon 5 would work better on HBO Max as a competitor with Paramount+'s Star Trek and Disney+'s Star Wars.

 

[Jan]

Ya beat me to it!

I still think the remake of Babylon 5 would work better on HBO Max as a competitor with Paramount+'s Star Trek and Disney+'s Star Wars.

Could be. But they didn't offer to pay JMS to write a script and the CW did.

 

[valkyrie013]

From what I read, the CW president is a big B5 fan, and even worked with JMS.
So I'm guessing the revival was his doing. If he's not going to be the pres moving forward, I don't have high hopes.
But I am severely bummed..

 

[DigificWriter]

If Pedowitz didn't expect to still be President of the network after its sale, he wouldn't have told JMS what he did, especially given their long history with one another.

 

[Jan]

From JMS' Patreon page, with permission:

J. Michael Straczynski
Feel free to quote this anyplace the “oh, the show is dead” nonsense sprouts up.

Whenever there’s news in the TV/film business – good, bad or indifferent – there are always those who, for their own pleasure, throw dust in the faces of fans in the hope of eliciting tears. The history of B5 is rife with them. Every season they would cite sources who said the show was definitely not going to be renewed, only to be proven wrong, which never stopped them from doing the same exact thing the next season, and the next, to try and upset people.

These stories are then repeated through ignorance, arrogance, spitefulness, foolishness, clickbaitery, or the desire to appear tuned-in to an industry which they were never a part of in the first place, or to which they are no longer relevant. (Or any combination thereof.) So let me put the lie to this latest one in terms that are clear, verifiable, and unambiguous.

1) Every year, dozens and dozens of network pilots are picked up for production, or turned down. Telling those on either side of that equation where they’ve landed is not considered a big deal, it’s part of the everyday process of making TV. If the B5 pilot were dead, the network would not hesitate to say so because they’d have no reason to do so. They gain nothing by obscuring the truth. But the president of the CW network called personally (followed by a second call from his top executives) to say that they loved the script, that it was most emphatically not dead, and that they were going to roll the script into their development slate for 2023. And in the days since those calls there have been more discussions with the network and studio about how best to ensure B5’s future.

2) In the nearly 35 years that I’ve been online, and the nearly 30 years of B5 history, I have never once prevaricated or soft-pedaled the facts related to any aspect of Babylon 5. The one and only time I withheld information was in regard to Michael O’Hare’s struggle with mental illness because it wasn’t my story to tell at that time, and while he was still with us it was none of anybody else’s goddamn business. In every other instance, I have been blunt and honest and straightforward with the fans through good times and bad. Don’t take my word for it, ask those who’ve been around for those 30 years. There is nothing to be gained by saying the show’s still in development if it isn’t, and much to lose, since doing so would agitate both the network and the studio and I would hear from legal affairs within an hour of making such a statement.

3) When in doubt, always go with enlightened self-interest. In the event the pilot were not to be picked up, my contract gives me the legal right to immediately turn around and shop the pilot script elsewhere. If the CW had simply said we’re not doing it, end of conversation, I would be shouting from the metaphorical rooftops and knocking on every literal door to take it elsewhere, and the fans would know about it because their help in making that effort visible would be essential to the process. (And there are several networks who are very much aware of B5 and the fan base and how well it’s done on HBO Max who would be extremely interested in that prospect.) Saying that I and the pilot are sticking with the CW precludes the script from being taken elsewhere, so you can be damned sure I wouldn’t say it if it wasn’t true.

It’s unfortunate that after all these years I still have to come online to do this sort of thing, but I suppose that, too, is just a part of the process.

Onward.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

I saw JMS address this situation in small parts on Twitter the other day but it's good to see a more detailed, reassured post about this. Thanks as always, Jan!

 

[gweeps]

Haven't done this in a long time, but when I rewatch the series, here's my usual watch order.

TVM: In the Beginning
TVM: The Gathering
S1: Signs and Portents
S2: The Coming of Shadows
S3: Point of No Return
S4: No Surrender, No Retreat (TVM: Thirdspace after episode 9; minus TDoFS)
S5: The Wheel of Fire (minus SiL)
TVM: River of Souls
TVM: A Call to Arms
The Lost Tales: Voices in the Dark
S5e22 Sleeping in Light
S4e22 The Deconstruction of Falling Stars

I've yet to see Crusade, but it would fit in after ACtA. I always just want to focus on the more B5-centric stuff.

Most of my idea for order comes from Lurker's Guide: http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/countries/master/eplist.html

 

[DigificWriter]

^ I used to swear by the Lurker's Guide Master List viewing order, but there's actually a more in-depth Chronological Order that I found last year and that I intend to follow should I ever get around to once again trying to rewatch the series:
http://www.b5tv.com/showthread.php?t=45825

 

[gweeps]

^ I used to swear by the Lurker's Guide Master List viewing order, but there's actually a more in-depth Chronological Order that I found last year and that I intend to follow should I ever get around to once again trying to rewatch the series:
http://www.b5tv.com/showthread.php?t=45825

Wow. Thanks for this. I'll definitely keep it in mind.

 

[Ray Hardgrit]

Here's another S1 viewing order for people to consider, along with all the reasoning behind it: https://b5season1order.wordpress.com/

Personally though I've just been following the Lurker's Guide Master List.

 

[DigificWriter]

The reason that I was intrigued by the Viewing Order I linked to and want to try it out at some point is because it's based on/derived from an outline used internally by Babylonian Productions during the actual production of the series and was painstakingly researched and compiled with direct input from JMS.

The Lurker's Guide Master List, by contrast, was authorized by JMS, but not directly shaped by him the way that the B5 Historical Database Chronological Order was.

The B5 Historical Datab Database Chronological Order also accounts specifically for continuity and narrative points that the Lurker's Guide Master List viewing order doesn't.

 

[theenglish]

It has been years since I've watched In the Beginning-- it should only be watched first if you've already seen the series in its entirety, correct? I've been thinking about the movies now that I am planning to introduce my kids to the series.

 

[Ray Hardgrit]

Yeah I think it works better to watch it after season 4 or at the start of a rewatch. It spoils some of the mysteries of season one, it ends in a confusing place for new viewers, and I don't think it'd work nearly as well if you don't already have an attachment to the characters.

 

[DigificWriter]

it should only be watched first if you've already seen the series in its entirety, correct?

Depends on how spoiler-averse you are.

 

[DonIago]

It has been years since I've watched In the Beginning-- it should only be watched first if you've already seen the series in its entirety, correct? I've been thinking about the movies now that I am planning to introduce my kids to the series.

I don't know. It can be an interesting preview of things to come, but then there will be spoilers. Also there will be a noticeable VFX step-down from the movie to S1.

OTOH, I had minimal interest in S1 until I was already attached to the show from late S2/S3 stuff, and ItB might have kindled my interest much sooner with a sense of what was to come.

 

[Orac]

In the Beginning should be watched LAST as it's set in 2278 with some flashbacks to the Minbari Vs. Earth war in 2245-2248.

Of course that's just MY opinion and its probbly past its half-life.

 

[DonIago]

In the Beginning should be watched LAST as it's set in 2278 with some flashbacks to the Minbari Vs. Earth war in 2245-2248.

Of course that's just MY opinion and its probbly past its half-life.

It still pre-dates SiL.

 

[Orac]

I stand corrected. Taking this info into account In the Beginning should be watched before the final episode of season 5 then.

 

[Ray Hardgrit]

Technically it comes right between the events witnessed in War Without End in season 3, but it probably shouldn't be placed there as it spoils events we don't learn about until season 4.