B5 Reboot?? Is it true??!!?!

[KoshN]

Congrats on retirement. As you know it is much more difficult to accomplish those goals while working. Soooo annoying!!!! So many shows I'm trying to watch and by the time I get home from work it is difficult to keep my eyes open long enough to see an entire show. One that I am watching on Acorn is Murdoch Mysteries. I have to go back and watch every episode from the 30min mark to the 45min mark. Every episode that is the window where I usually nod off. (I used that as an example because it just happened Friday night.)

Personally I was not as big a fan of REACHER SEASON TWO as I was of REACHER SEASON ONE. You should see me standing next to Alan Ritchson before he bulked up to Reacher size. It is comical kind of comical, but now I'm sure it would be hilarious.

And back to the topic at hand. . . . . . this no news is taking forever!

Having to take my dog out at all hours of the day and night (about every 6 hours) feed her twice/day and give her a pain pill and Glucosamine/Chondroitin Joint Health Supplement Soft Chew (both for arthritis), I fell asleep this afternoon during August 26th, 2023 Svengoolie (War of the Colossal Beast) which will be the next to scroll off my 9 month FrndlyTV backlog of recordings.

 

[Looney]

Having to take my dog out at all hours of the day and night (about every 6 hours) feed her twice/day and give her a pain pill and Glucosamine/Chondroitin Joint Health Supplement Soft Chew (both for arthritis), I fell asleep this afternoon during August 26th, 2023 Svengoolie (War of the Colossal Beast) which will be the next to scroll off my 9 month FrndlyTV backlog of recordings.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA I have a customer at work who knows I am a movie guy. Almost every time he comes in he mentions Svengoolie to me. I guess Svengoolie is just a kind of retirement perk I have to look forward to... oh wait I can never retire.

 

[Looney]

I wish I could complain about there not being any news, but I know this is a long process and JMS is either keeping news to himself until it is real.... or until we are closer to Comic Con. Would love any update though. Of course I'm sure there have been more negative updates in the "Pass" category. I guess he can keep those to himself. ........

 

[Jan]

I wish I could complain about there not being any news, but I know this is a long process and JMS is either keeping news to himself until it is real.... or until we are closer to Comic Con. Would love any update though. Of course I'm sure there have been more negative updates in the "Pass" category. I guess he can keep those to himself. ........

FWIW, your Intrepid Reporter will be at SDCC and will spread any news as soon as she gets back to the hotel! But you knew that...

 

[Looney]

Yes, yes I did know that. You took that jealousy shoe right back. (Sorry I just put Jan and I's conversation into a realm across two different sites. )

 

[hypatia]

I was wondering if there was any JMS update at SDCC. I think it is over now, isn’t it?

 

[LateArrival]

I was wondering if there was any JMS update at SDCC. I think it is over now, isn’t it?

In his Writer's Panel JMS compared the confusion/collapse of the music industry when streaming became available to the current wait-and-see state of television as it also adapts to streaming, compounded by the strikes of 2023 when no consideration was given towards what should be done to restart things after the strikes finally ended. Seems like things are On Hold.

 

[hypatia]

That’s too bad, but it is certainly understandable. I cut the cord long ago, and all of my favorite shows are later than originally planned. And most (maybe all) of them are in their last season. Everything is either starting late or on hold, as you say.

 

[LateArrival]

If the general rule is 1-2 years between 8-10 episode "seasons" that could be watched in a few days, studios might be more interested in everyday content to keep subscribers/viewers around when there isn't anything "new" available. If they've got decades of material or an existing IP to fall back on, why gamble on something original?

 

[Looney]

I say "existing IP" so not original - so no gamble required.

 

[hypatia]

I'm not nearly wise enough or know enough about the business to know what I even think. This business has gotten so expensive, I wish there were a wave of medium-cost (independently made) films and series. But it's getting too expensive to produce anything. And how many series that I do watch have been axed or kind of quickly killed when they got to be too expensive.

I guess the "market" will "sort it out".

 

[Looney]

I just rest easy knowing any night of the week I can put any part of Babylon 5 the series or Crusade or one of the movies on if I want to. I do wish JMS would discuss more possible straight to digital and physical media projects like THE ROAD HOME, but I'm guessing it didn't sell as well as we all hoped. And I think many fans allowed themselves to be disappointed by it.

 

[Jan]

I do wish JMS would discuss more possible straight to digital and physical media projects like THE ROAD HOME, but I'm guessing it didn't sell as well as we all hoped. And I think many fans allowed themselves to be disappointed by it.

Small reminder that the entire TRH was completed by the time any of us knew anything about it at all. Which doesn't mean anything about getting more, but we really can't read anything into the lack of news about more animated offerings.

 

[Springer]

Small reminder that the entire TRH was completed by the time any of us knew anything about it at all. Which doesn't mean anything about getting more, but we really can't read anything into the lack of news about more animated offerings.

I'm curious. Was there ever a reason given for why it was made in such secrecy?

 

[Looney]

Small reminder that the entire TRH was completed by the time any of us knew anything about it at all. Which doesn't mean anything about getting more, but we really can't read anything into the lack of news about more animated offerings.

Ummmm that is KIND OF true, BUT we did know there was a project they were gathered to do long before we knew what the project was. He told us years in advance that there was a project coming.

 

[Jan]

Ummmm that is KIND OF true, BUT we did know there was a project they were gathered to do long before we knew what the project was. He told us years in advance that there was a project coming.

Well, he hinted to Patreon. But one doesn't discuss what's revealed via Patreon. The cover story for the photo was that Peter J. was in town on vacation, as I recall?

 

[Looney]

It was not just on Patreon that there were two projects. I don't remember that at all. Maybe for the first several months after he told Patrons, but it seems the "B" project was being discussed openly at least a year prior to TRH. NOW that might be based on someone leaking it from Patreon, but I'm pretty sure JMS was talking publically about a Secret B5 project a year or more before TRH. And I recall a dinner photo with several cast members and the hint that they gathered after doing something together. My memory might be a little off, but I do remember the group photo.

 

[Springer]

If it was only on Patreon then it must have got leaked because I'm not on Patreon and I saw all that stuff on Twitter. From what I recall the first inkling we got that something was up was JMS asking for CGI models on Twitter but not saying why other than it wasn't anything bad. I think TripleF on here confirmed it was for an animation. And JMS definitely said there were two B5 projects, and based on the photo of the cast at dinner a lot of people assumed it would be some kind of documentary. Wasn't it one of the actors who posted the dinner photo, not JMS? But after that there was no other information about it at all until last year, I'm guessing there was a little bit more on Patreon.

 

[LateArrival]

As a fan of Big Finish and the Doctor Who lost-episode-reconstructions, was predisposed to expect that if the original actors were to reunite it would be either animation or audio, and the twitter CGI request pointed towards animation. Documentary seemed unlikely since another 90s space station series Did This Already in 2018. While there were some photos posted and the occasional hint possibly dropped during one of the B5Events, I recall reading that someone on his Patreon had been publicly posting member-only information and was "warned" about it.

If memory serves, JMS mentioned afterwards that some of the recording was done remotely from different studios (similar to how Big Finish does things), so figured actors might record their segments without having to travel to California - keeping costs down and allowing those not pictured in the photos to record for TRH. ...then again, now that Earthlight exists, might that unlock the door for B5 audio releases? Or at least clear some of the rubble away so that the door is partially visible?

Unrelated Dr Who Trivia: https://www.fantompublishing.co.uk/who-talk/ - alternate commentaries for some classic Dr Who episodes. Would be incredible if something like this existed for B5!!

 

[Looney]

Yes as I recall Tracy Scoggins recorded her part from a studio in Houston as she must still live in the Galveston, TX area.