Been Away Forever-Need B-5 News

[vacantlook]

It was pretty clear in the last B-5 season that she was pretty friendly with Bester.

If my memory serves, that's incorrect. She worked with Bester because she felt she had to. She told one of the other characters, I can't remember which at the moment, that she did not actually like Bester. She wasn't friends with him, she was professionally cordial as she felt her job required it of her.

 

[GaribaldisHair]

By the way, when are these "direct to DVD movies" or whatever they are going to be available? Does anyone have any idea what the storylines are?

No idea of the story lines, except that the first disc features Sheridan, Lochley and Galen, with a proposed Garibaldi story pushed back to the (hopefully) second disc. JMS has also released details of a few new characters including a new ISN reporter played by Teryl Rothery (who also played Dr Frasier in SG1 and Jeremiah's Mother).

Release, as far as we know, is still planned for second quarter 2007, so still up to 7 months away. Filming finished just this past week, so I imagine they will be making a start on post-production right about now.

Unless JMS is just yanking our chains and it really isn't going to happen ...

 

[Galahad]

Thing is, it had his voice before he died. I'm not sure JMS do would do another Time Travel thing in order to get Gideon's soul inside the apocalypse box, and then end up in Gideon's hands earlier.

I'm not sure I implied time travel by what I said. I liked the symbiote explanation that was put forward.

 

[Dayton3]

How long are the new DVD episodes or movies supposed to be anyway?

 

[Sindatur]

How long are the new DVD episodes or movies supposed to be anyway?

Supposed to be 1 1/2 hour of Show (No commercials) and 1/2 of Special features for the 3 episode disks (So 1/2 hour per episode with no commercials). This disk, however they dropped the Garibaldi episode, so it seems each episode will be 45 minutes, since it is only 2 episodes

 

[Dayton3]

You mean the episodes themselves are only half an hour long?

That doesn't really seem adequate to tell much of a story

 

[hypatia]

Initially, the first release was to have three half-hour episodes. With some cross over. JMS said something about that. Anyhow, it didn't seem to bother him.

But it is interesting that one of the first decisions he made was to make them 45 minute episodes, instead.

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

You mean the episodes themselves are only half an hour long?

That doesn't really seem adequate to tell much of a story

Without commercials the original series episodes were a bit under 45 minutes - and most of them had a main "A" story intercut with a shorter "B" story. (And sometmies a "C" story as well.) Many of the best original Twilight Zone episodes ran in a half-hour time slot, about 26 minutes of story in those days. That's without even considering the whole genre of sitcoms, which somehow mange to tell complete stories in about 22 minutes of screen time.

There are novels, and there are novellas and there are short stories. All are valid forms and you can tell a perfectly story in any one of them. Some stories are just better suited to one than the other. I trust JMS to pick stories that will work within the constraints he himself has set.

Regards,

Joe

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

F***ing TNT.

Agreed.

 

[Galahad]

In the UK a lot of tv programmes don't stretch beyond 30 minutes. It is normally only the high quality expensive dramas or crime thrillers that last an hour or more.

 

[hypatia]

I just wonder if JMS will get to the second DVD (which I'm sure will happen ) and say "I just can't tell this story in half an hour either" and they'll all end up being 45 minute episodes.

I suppose not, and I'm quite content with 30 minutes.

 

[Dayton3]

I'll agree that you can pack alot into 30 minutes. Especially a writer of the caliber of JMS.

He could probably do a 15 minute episode that stands up better than most TV science fiction.

I guess its just the ultra American in me that automatically says

"Less is NOT more".

"More is More"

 

[Sindatur]

You mean the episodes themselves are only half an hour long?

That doesn't really seem adequate to tell much of a story

Also, the stories are interconnecting. So, in a way it's a 2 hour movie (Which is typically about 1 1/2 hours without commercials), where you have the "A" story playing out first, and then the "B" story playing out afterwards, kind of, moreless, it seems.

 

[Chris Springob]

Sorry to go back to the stuff that was discussed at the beginning of this thread, but, in answer to those who say that the Excalibur crew going rogue would be a retread of B5 going rogue, it occurs to me that we would likely have seen this from a far different perspective. In fact, I think Excalibur going rogue might have been a lot more interesting.

In the case of B5, the *buildup* to the breakaway was incredibly interesting. But after "Severed Dreams", the focus of the show shifted back to the Shadows, and the consequences of B5 being independent didn't really take center stage until "Epiphanies". At which point, we had about a half season that dealt with B5's political dissociation from Earth, with much of that time spent on Sheridan leading a revolution to topple Clark.

One never really got the sense that the B5 crew was *alone*. They were on good terms with a great number of alien governments, and there were also quite a few other dissidents from Earth, including the governments of several of the colonies.

In the case of Crusade, however, you could have the Excalibur completely on its own, hunted down as criminals, no sanctuary anywhere...with the crew thinking the whole time that they'd never see their friends and family again. (Sure, folks like Lochley on B5 would help them out, but all of that would happen in the shadows.) It would be a very different dynamic from what we saw in B5.

 

[Sindatur]

Sorry to go back to the stuff that was discussed at the beginning of this thread, but, in answer to those who say that the Excalibur crew going rogue would be a retread of B5 going rogue, it occurs to me that we would likely have seen this from a far different perspective. In fact, I think Excalibur going rogue might have been a lot more interesting.

In the case of B5, the *buildup* to the breakaway was incredibly interesting. But after "Severed Dreams", the focus of the show shifted back to the Shadows, and the consequences of B5 being independent didn't really take center stage until "Epiphanies". At which point, we had about a half season that dealt with B5's political dissociation from Earth, with much of that time spent on Sheridan leading a revolution to topple Clark.

One never really got the sense that the B5 crew was *alone*. They were on good terms with a great number of alien governments, and there were also quite a few other dissidents from Earth, including the governments of several of the colonies.

In the case of Crusade, however, you could have the Excalibur completely on its own, hunted down as criminals, no sanctuary anywhere...with the crew thinking the whole time that they'd never see their friends and family again. (Sure, folks like Lochley on B5 would help them out, but all of that would happen in the shadows.) It would be a very different dynamic from what we saw in B5.

I think those comments were what the average person looking at it would automatically think. Not something that those of us who re geeky enough to analyse this stuff like this would think.

 

[MMarin]

The telepaths are very sensitive towards the Shadow technology. Even Ivanova, who is just a latent telepath, started sensing that there was something wrong with the Warlock class destroyer under her command. After a while Sheridan confirmed that there indeed was some amount of Shadow technology incorporated into the ship. So I'm not so convinced that Excalibur would have been on the run without any backup or any friends. Now just bare with me here, alright?

Lochley would have given Gideon all the help he would have needed at any time and the same goes with Sheridan and the Interstellar Alliance. But, of course, those are the most obvious choices. What about the good old Alfred Bester and the secret fleet of the remaining Psi Corps hiding in the hyperspace? There is a good chance that the cure would have started to influence the telepaths first and what a better way to bring Bester back and give him the chance to stir things up. Sheridan could have accepted the alliance of Gideon and Bester to some degree, but what about Garibaldi for instance? Or Matheson?

 

[PillowRock]

Lochley and (most likely) Sheridan would have helped Gideon and crew where and when they could. However, there would have been severe liimitations to that help. Think in terms of the help that Sheridan and Delenn could offer G'Kar for the Narn in the period before B5 broke away from Earth. Just as in that case, there would be only so much that they could away with doing ..... beyond that the help would be too noticable and would end up getting cut off entirely.

Bester ...... at most would have been the kind of "ally" that he was to B5 for part of the Shadow War. He would be kinda helpful, so long as any aid also directly benefitted him. Also, I don't see him acknowledging the secret telepath fleet to *any* mundane, including Gideon (and probably not to Matheson, either; Matheson's loyalties are too vague for Bester's taste given his position at that point in time).

 

[KoshFan]

Also remember that the Excalibur is probably the most powerful warship in the galaxy. If her crew goes rogue, there's going to be a massive hunt for it -- and until they persuade Sheridan or Lochley that they've got a case, there's no place to hide. In fact, I imagine, there would have been an extremely uncomfortable period in which Sheridan ordered the White Star fleet to hunt them, as the White Stars would have the best chance against Excalibur's power.

 

[fisheggs]

What effect/resistance do Technomages have with telepaths? Ya'll seem to be forgetting Galen.

I would expect that the Excalibur has docking space for a White Star or 2, it is after all, designed as a Capitol ship. :beer:

Might want to watch Gary Cole's schedule, if he's going to Canada for a few weeks, could be good things.

 

[Galahad]

White Stars are monitor class so wouldn't they be too big for internal docking? My guess is there might be a hardpoint for external docking. The White Star also has a docking implement on it's lower hull... I would imagine it works just as well with existing docking ports (especially ones designed using the same technology) as it does when it has to cut a hole in the hull. However, when we have seen Rangers talking to Gideon... haven't the White Stars been flying alongside the Excalibur - implying the use of shuttles.