Babylon 5

[Asbo Zaprudder]

The script was online for a time.
The website wouldn't let you copy the text.
Years later I picked up a pdf, but I have no idea where I put it.

The following site appears to have a downloadable copy online. http://bureau13.narod.ru/vj.htm
The address is http rather than https but it appears to be safe to read the text. Downloading and scanning revealed no viruses or similar.

I don't have links to the scripts for "To the Ends of the Earth" or "The End of the Line". However, synopses are available on worldsofjms.com:
http://worldsofjms.com/crusade/reviews/script1.htm
http://worldsofjms.com/crusade/reviews/script3.htm

 

[RJDiogenes]

This book appears to have the scripts for "Value Judgments" and two other unfilmed episodes. The price is a bit steep, though.

 

[Booji]

This book appears to have the scripts for "Value Judgments" and two other unfilmed episodes. The price is a bit steep, though.

I'm still pissed that JMS never finished the 'What the Hell Happened' Crusade script books. Those script books were a lot of fun to read and you got a ton of behind the scenes stuff in them.

 

[DigificWriter]

I'm rewatching Infection right now, and it's not actually as bad as I remember it being, and it's actually reminding me of some of my favorite Doctor Who episodes both modern and classic.

 

[RJDiogenes]

I'm still pissed that JMS never finished the 'What the Hell Happened' Crusade script books. Those script books were a lot of fun to read and you got a ton of behind the scenes stuff in them.

Does that mean there was supposed to be a third volume in the series I linked to, or is it something else? I'd love to know what the full story of Crusade was supposed to be.

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

Me too. To my knowledge, JMS has never revealed his full 5-year synopsis for the series. He had one for B5 but, as we all know, it had to be amended because of the departures of Michael O'Hare, Andrea Thompson, and Claudia Christian and the threat of cancellation after 4 seasons. In broad brushstroke terms, however, it stuck to the original outline.

 

[Booji]

Me too. To my knowledge, JMS has never revealed his full 5-year synopsis for the series. He had one for B5 but, as we all know, it had to be amended because of the departures of Michael O'Hare, Andrea Thompson, and Claudia Christian and the threat of cancellation after 4 seasons. In broad brushstroke terms, however, it stuck to the original outline.

JMS revealed pretty much everything in the B5 script books, including the original plan.

 

[Booji]

Does that mean there was supposed to be a third volume in the series I linked to, or is it something else? I'd love to know what the full story of Crusade was supposed to be.

There were 3 series of Crusade books released by the B5books people who produced the B5 script books. One was called 'Behind the Scenes' with interviews with the actors, designers, directors, etc. 'Other Voices' v1 & v2 were the scripts written by writers other than JMS. Then there was 'What the Hell Happened?', which included scripts written by JMS. All we got of this one was the first volume with the scripts for "A Call to Arms" and "Racing the Night", as well as 28 pages of JMS behind the scenes info. We were supposed to get a few more volumes of 'WTHH?' with the rest of the JMS scripts and other behind the scenes stories. Of course, that didn't happen. The curse of Crusade continues

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

JMS revealed pretty much everything in the B5 script books, including the original plan.

I'm referring to Crusade - for which I think we're only ever had detailed the barest of outlines and that is likely to remain the case as far as I can tell.

 

[Booji]

I'm referring to Crusade - for which I think we're only ever had detailed the barest of outlines and that is likely to remain the case as far as I can tell.

Ah, my bad. yeah, as far as Crusade all we got was what would have happened up to the first season finale. I was hoping JMS would have delved into seasons 2-5 in the remaining Crusade script books, but he pulled a George RR Martin instead.

 

[Mysterion]

I'm rewatching Infection right now, and it's not actually as bad as I remember it being, and it's actually reminding me of some of my favorite Doctor Who episodes both modern and classic.

The inclusion of David McCallum really helped this one to be a better episode than it might have been, IMO.

 

[JD]

I was a little surprised JMS didn't include some kind of a reference to what happened with the Drakh plague in the Lost Tales movie.

 

[DigificWriter]

The inclusion of David McCallum really helped this one to be a better episode than it might have been, IMO.

Since I don't personally have any affinity for that actor, my revised assessment of the episode is based entirely on the story, which wasn't as weak as I remembered it being.

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

There was a whole technical theory of the Drakh plague, which JMS had worked out with some researchers at JPL. I don't think we'll ever hear the details. My suspicion is that it was an engineered nanovirus that could communicate, function as a gestalt entity and thereby develop resistance to any countermeasure.

 

[RJDiogenes]

We were supposed to get a few more volumes of 'WTHH?' with the rest of the JMS scripts and other behind the scenes stories. Of course, that didn't happen. The curse of Crusade continues

Indeed. They left out the best part.

 

[somebuddyX]

Was there a full 5 year plan for Crusade? I know that might have been the case for B5 and a ten year plan for Babylon 5/Babylon Prime but I thought that other than ideas for how the Drakh plague might end Crusade would be more a looser show and he knew vague ideas for maybe til the end of Season 2. I wonder if people take comments where's he's hinting towards Babylon Prime and it having a 5 year plan and apply it to Crusade.
I read To The End of The Earth and The End of the Line way back around 2001 when they were published for free on some website. I always loved the Shadow-Hybrid and having that come back was great along with Gideon's Ahab like pursuit of it. I was searching for them a year ago or so and pretty sure I saw links on a reddit post. I wondered about using natural reader software to make some kind of audio book (I tried this once with the First Contact draft script and it had turned out okay except for mispronunciations)

 

[Triple-F]

If there was a 5 year plan for Crusade it wasn't fleshed out to anything like the same degree as B5. From an interview with John Copeland.

I think that folks should just let Crusade go. It wasn't nearly as planned out in Joe's head as B5 was, he had five years to contemplate the intricacies of the series while we were trying to find a home for it on television and it is also hard to make lightning strike twice in the same bottle.

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

If there was a 5 year plan for Crusade it wasn't fleshed out to anything like the same degree as B5. From an interview with John Copeland.

I think also JMS kind of burned himself out doing B5, judging by Legend of the Rangers and Lost Tales. I think I remember reading a comment somewhere from him that Crusade was going to be more episodic and less serial than B5 as it was based on on spaceship. It seems plausible that he might only have had an idea where it was going for the first season and a bit beyond. It's a pity we didn't get more but this is true of many science fiction series that have been cancelled over the past 20 years or so. Some others did struggle through to a conclusion but because of production changes and executive interference ended up as a hot mess.

 

[Farscape One]

I agree that he was likely burned out. The man wrote 3 entire seasons in a row, except for 1 episode in season 5 and did a teleplay that same year. Between that, and everything else that came with running a show, I'm amazed he took on CRUSADE so quickly after B5 ended.

 

[BlueStuff]

Those of you who were following this thread about a year and a half ago might remember that I was doing a "first-time watch" of Babylon 5 and had been posting my mini-reviews of each episode up until around 10 episodes or so into the first season, then stopped. Life got in the way.

I'll resume shortly, I hope.

Edit: I started the reviews on https://www.trekbbs.com/threads/babylon-5.277345/page-147