Babylon 5: TMOS - What I Don't Want To See...

[JJCoolbean]

Babylon 5: TMOS - What I Don\'t Want To See...

With tongue planted firmly in cheek, I offer you my list of things that I do NOT want to see in Babylon 5:TMos :

1) Two hours of Byron combing his hair.
2) Another scene where Garibaldi takes off his shirt! (Now Lyta...Hubba-hubba! Hotcha! Grrrrrrrrrr!)
3) The return of that damn weapons system interface used by Liandra in "Legend Of The Rangers."
4) A ten minute scene with Walker Smith, Captain Jack, and Laurel Takashima trapped in an elevator together playing "guess the smell."
5) Lines like: "I need a healer! Stat!", "Hell!" and "Crap!!" repeated ad nausaum as in "The Legend Of The Rangers." Or new ones like "Damn, Delenn, thems some booty-licious waffles you made right there!"
6) With the producers unable to come to terms with either Tracy Scoggins or Claudia Christian, the later still riding the success of that movie career (You know, "The Substitute 3"!), they cast Denise Richards as yet another "no nonsense" female Earth Force chic. Not since thespian Tamlyn Tomita first stole our hearts in essentially the same role, has one actress been less convincing playing someone of authority. The ghost of Yahoo Serious begins to stir...

Feel free to add your own suggestions...

 

[Londos6]

Re: Babylon 5: TMOS - What I Don\'t Want To See...

7) The Telepath Song
8) "We live for the one, we die for the one" repeated ad nauseum

 

[Sindatur]

Re: Babylon 5: TMOS - What I Don\'t Want To See...

7) The Telepath Song
8) "We live for the one, we die for the one" repeated ad nauseum

Why does everyone hate the Telepath song with such a passion? I readily admit, it's not something I would listen to for the pleasure of listening to it, but for me, it added yet one more layer to the whole creepy cult thing, that I don' think would be quite as strong without the singing.

9. The Zarg

 

[RW7427]

Re: Babylon 5: TMOS - What I Don\'t Want To See...

That freaking telepath song was annoying!!!

And as much as I like Sheridan, I don't want to hear any stories about his dad.

 

[grumbler]

Re: Babylon 5: TMOS - What I Don\'t Want To See...

And as much as I like Sheridan, I don't want to hear any stories about his dad.

And I don't want it to turn out that Lwoxanna [sp?] Troi was his mom!

And no Q! Not even briefly! Not even as a plot device!

 

[RW7427]

Re: Babylon 5: TMOS - What I Don\'t Want To See...

I think you're getting your scifi shows confused.

 

[superbob]

Re: Babylon 5: TMOS - What I Don\'t Want To See...

everything Byron related sucked the root. The seriously flubbed when they decided to go that route. Could have been better and just when you thought you had enough of Byron and his "twin peak" outcasts they come up with their own "tlepath song" instead of inspiring I think all it did was cause naseau!
The saving grace for S5 was the fall of Centauri prime!

 

[Tarondor]

Re: Babylon 5: TMOS - What I Don\'t Want To See...

"Damn, Delenn, thems some booty-licious waffles you made right there!"

Oh, hell, I'd pay to see that!

Not since thespian Tamlyn Tomita first stole our hearts...

I'm glad I'm not the only one. Ms. Tomita reminds me, in a strange way, of Britney Spears. Nice to look at, but make sure you have the sound muted.

 

[Londos6]

Re: Babylon 5: TMOS - What I Don\'t Want To See...

Why does everyone hate the Telepath song with such a passion? I readily admit, it's not something I would listen to for the pleasure of listening to it, but for me, it added yet one more layer to the whole creepy cult thing, that I don' think would be quite as strong without the singing.

Personally, I've never liked musicals either. It just seems so unnatural for people to spontaneously burst into song. Admittedly I despised the whole telepath story line of season 5 (although I do see its necessity for setting up some things with Lyta). But the Telepath Song took my annoyance to the next level. The last few times I watched those episodes I made sure to fast forward through it.

 

[JJCoolbean]

Re: Babylon 5: TMOS - What I Don\'t Want To See...

And as much as I like Sheridan, I don't want to hear any stories about his dad.

That is too funny, RW7427! Sheridan must have watched a lot of "Welcome Back Kotter" on the Agamemnon.

Oh, and that song...

Adding to our list:

10) A "clumsy" computer generated character who's catch phrase is "Weza gonna die!" Did Lucas just get finished watching "Birth Of A Nation" before he wrote that?

My sincere fear with this project is that JMS will either be forced by the "powers that be" or himself feel like he needs to change the whole B5 formula. Gone is character development and in is empty battle sequences.

The thing that I thought made the whole war with the Shadows and the campaign to overthrow Clark so enjoyable is that the battle engagements MEANT something. It wasn't just about "Hey, let's watch something blow up" but the effects shots furthered the story. (See the original Star Wars Trilogy verses the more recent films.)

Also, I think JMS has a spotty record with one-off B5-related stories. "The Gathering," while it has it's moments and was also compromised by budget, wasn't exactly JMS's most brilliant script. It's all rather "by the numbers" and contains some very heavy-handed dialogue.

The same goes with "The Legend Of The Rangers" and most of the telemovies. "In The Beginning" is an obvious exception, but that one is really an arc story which framed some of the most exciting moments from the 5 year arc.

Also, I hope he doesn't basicallly retell the B5 story and just replace the names. Sort of like The Hand, which I found to be a bit too much like the Shadows.

Finally, I hope he doesn't hold things back. If this movie bombs (assuming that it is, in fact, a movie), then it will be the last Babylon 5 movie and will seriously jeopardize any chance of a new Babylon 5 series or anything else. JMS and the cast aren't getting any younger, so a failure that causes Warner Brothers to be trigger shy could doom the further growth of franchise.

So don't hold anything back, JMS! Go for the jugular. Frankly, I think a lot of the Babylon 5 movies played it a bit safe (except the epic "In The Beginning") and they were like mediocre episodes of the series.

Also, season 5 just didn't have the thrust of the previous seasons. The basic arc was concluded in season 4 and JMS seemed to leave things in neutral. Why didn't he more aggressively play up the telepath conflict or let us see the events leading up to the demise of Londo and G'Kar? Didn't JMS say that Babylon 5 could be viewed as the story of Londo? Why did he hold back? I know he wanted the telepath war as a movie, but why not raise the stakes in the series and still leave room for a movie, or since he's supposed to be creative, he could have always come up with another movie idea.

Anyway, I just hope he doesn't expect that, after five films, fans new and old will enjoy the films. The FIRST film must stand on it's own or there will not be additional films. They can then hint at things to come but not depend on them until the B5 film franchise is a proven success.

By the way, this forum seems to have the most thoughtful collection of Babylon 5 fans and I'd like to read your thoughts on the topic of B5: TMOS as a whole - serious and otherwise.

 

[Tarondor]

Re: Babylon 5: TMOS - What I Don\'t Want To See...

I agree with the basic thought here - give us more of what makes us loyal B5 fans. We can see explosions and wacky aliens in half a hundred venues. Only Babylon 5 respected us enough to give us serious, complex character development and an epic story that made us hungry to find out what happened next.

We still hunger for that knowledge. Feed that and you'll be successful. Give us a self-contained story like "Thirdspace" and you won't. Better to say no to the suits and execs than to knuckle under and dilute the franchise. We'll wait for the "right" movie as long as it takes, but we won't be happy with the "formula" movie, no matter how soon or glitzy.

Me? I have faith. Go get 'em Joe!

 

[JJCoolbean]

Re: Babylon 5: TMOS - What I Don\'t Want To See...

I agree with the basic thought here - give us more of what makes us loyal B5 fans. We can see explosions and wacky aliens in half a hundred venues. Only Babylon 5 respected us enough to give us serious, complex character development and an epic story that made us hungry to find out what happened next.

We still hunger for that knowledge. Feed that and you'll be successful. Give us a self-contained story like "Thirdspace" and you won't. Better to say no to the suits and execs than to knuckle under and dilute the franchise. We'll wait for the "right" movie as long as it takes, but we won't be happy with the "formula" movie, no matter how soon or glitzy.

Me? I have faith. Go get 'em Joe!

Well stated. I second that!

Ambiguity in the way that the original Star Wars films left things open made that trilogy better. But, if the series had ended after the first film, it would still be an enjoyable film. Let's hope Babylon 5 can have a "New Hope" type of opening and then, if it's a box office success and more films are promised, they JMS could go for a "Empire Strikes Back" or "Lord Of The Rings" type of cliffhanger and really raise the stakes. That's basically what I'd like to see.

 

[iamsheridan]

Re: Babylon 5: TMOS - What I Don\'t Want To See...

I agree with the basic thought here - give us more of what makes us loyal B5 fans. We can see explosions and wacky aliens in half a hundred venues. Only Babylon 5 respected us enough to give us serious, complex character development and an epic story that made us hungry to find out what happened next.

I want both!

/IamS

 

[grumbler]

Re: Babylon 5: TMOS - What I Don\'t Want To See...

I think you're getting your scifi shows confused.

Ah, but you remember the Trek comment JMS made at the convention this last weekend? I don't want him to get confused!

 

[Sindatur]

Re: Babylon 5: TMOS - What I Don\'t Want To See...

Why does everyone hate the Telepath song with such a passion? I readily admit, it's not something I would listen to for the pleasure of listening to it, but for me, it added yet one more layer to the whole creepy cult thing, that I don' think would be quite as strong without the singing.

Personally, I've never liked musicals either. It just seems so unnatural for people to spontaneously burst into song. Admittedly I despised the whole telepath story line of season 5 (although I do see its necessity for setting up some things with Lyta). But the Telepath Song took my annoyance to the next level. The last few times I watched those episodes I made sure to fast forward through it.

But they didn't spontaneously burst into song, it was like a religious ceremony (Candles and everything), that's why it added an extra layer to the whole creepy cult thing for me, and when they went up in smoke, they were re-visiting that "religious ceremony" before passing beyond the veil.

Like I said, I agree it was a horrible song, but I see the artistic addition to the story.

 

[Tarondor]

Re: Babylon 5: TMOS - What I Don\'t Want To See...

I'm with Sindatur on this (could it be the names?). The song is annoying precisely because it is emblematic of B5's most annoying character. It was obviously meant to evoke a religious atmosphere, but didn't.

Hey, JMS knocked enough balls out of the park that I'm willing to give the Byron episode a pass. Even Babe Ruth struck out more than he hit.

 

[rangerPHIL]

Re: Babylon 5: TMOS - What I Don\'t Want To See...

Babylon 5.

It took chances.
It had good stories.
It made you care about what was happening.
It made you question what each epidose was trying to say.

If you hark back to Episodes like 'Confessions and Lamentations' - The whole of the Markab being wiped out by a plague ( probably the work of the Shadows or Vorlons ). It was delenn and lenniers compassion for the dying, and the terror when they emerged from their isolation with the markab. The realisation that they were indeed all dead.

It was really really good stuff. The end joke about 'planetary re-decoration' for me was what B5 was all about. Who else wanted to grab the bar tender by the throat.

What we dont want is singalongaByron or Grey 17 etc...

 

[RW7427]

Re: Babylon 5: TMOS - What I Don\'t Want To See...

I agree with the basic thought here - give us more of what makes us loyal B5 fans. We can see explosions and wacky aliens in half a hundred venues. Only Babylon 5 respected us enough to give us serious, complex character development and an epic story that made us hungry to find out what happened next.

Indeed! I'd love to see stuff that fills in some of the holes that were left after season 5 was over. In the same token, character development is good too.

 

[colonyearth]

Re: Babylon 5: TMOS - What I Don\'t Want To See...

JJCoolbean,

Every aspect of speculations and arguments over faith in JMS, the differences between TMoS and the TV films...all of it has seen point and counter-point ad-infinitum over in the B5.related section of the forums.

I would love to go into it here, but there's been tons said, and I've made many arguments about the film and why it will be above and beyond any TV film. Why it could be a part of a trilogy, etc. It's all been said over there and is way too much to say again.

So go there and check it out...that's where the TMoS stuff has all been said.

There's specifically a thread about the recent comic con in Jersey, and prior to that some great thoughts are in the earlier thread about the latest word from JMS...the one that made the "in spades" comment.

Go read and respond there....most of this discussion has been in that section.

CE

 

[Recoil]

Re: Babylon 5: TMOS - What I Don\'t Want To See...

WTF is "The Telepath Song" ?