Failed Babylon 5 Projects

[RickyWalsh]

I posted this on IMDB and JMS News but on the off chance there are people here who aren't there: I found this interesting article on failed B5 projects.

 

[Sindatur]

I posted this on IMDB and JMS News but on the off chance there are people here who aren't there: I found this interesting article on failed B5 projects.

Cool, thanks. I wasn't aware the first Film actually, definitely was a Telepath War film, and had actually gotten a completed script. I thought it was merely rumored to be, and would most likely be a Telepath War movie, but, it never got even as far as a script. I also wasn't aware that In Memory of Shadows was the 3rd actual attempt

 

[Jan]

There might have been a treatment but I'm pretty sure that the telepath war story never went to script.

Jan

 

[KoshFan]

How much of all that is accurate? I'm particularly dubious of the "reboot" entry -- full creative control and 22 episodes assured, but I've never heard of it?

 

[Sindatur]

How much of all that is accurate? I'm particularly dubious of the "reboot" entry -- full creative control and 22 episodes assured, but I've never heard of it?

That's the "Ask me after April" news that finally came out. JMS, I believe said full season, 2-3 Million per episode, and full creative control. Not sure if 22 episodes was stated, but, at least "Full Season" was mentioned

 

[Jan]

How much of all that is accurate? I'm particularly dubious of the "reboot" entry -- full creative control and 22 episodes assured, but I've never heard of it?

Definitely true. JMS said it at Comic-Con at his spotlight http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34BM_nn-CeA and he repeated it on Facebook and was also included in an email update from the Scripts Team which Vacantlook reposted here.

Jan

 

[vorlonlovechild]

Bugger. Mind you I dont know how JMS would have found the time. He's just so damn busy. Does he ever sleep?

 

[KoshFan]

I can't believe JMS would have done a reboot, though. He is so loyal to his actors.

 

[Sindatur]

I can't believe JMS would have done a reboot, though. He is so loyal to his actors.

Apparently, his idea was to tell the story differently. Some of the available actors might play their previous parts, some of them might play different parts. The Character of G'Kar wouldn't have been re-cast, but, rather the character would be shuttled into the past, where he would be a G'Quon type (or a disciple of his back in the day).

His thinking was that B5 Universe is not really in a good palce right now for a continuation, spinoff, because it's been off the air so long, and a Babylon 5 project now, without the Station wouldn't make sense to most folks (IE: Couldn't do Babylon 5: The Telepath War, because everyone would wonder why there was no Babylon 5 in the Movie)

I too was really taken aback when I first read "Reboot", but, reading his explanation, it made sense.

 

[KoshN]

I can't believe JMS would have done a reboot, though. He is so loyal to his actors.

Apparently, his idea was to tell the story differently. Some of the available actors might play their previous parts, some of them might play different parts. The Character of G'Kar wouldn't have been re-cast, but, rather the character would be shuttled into the past, where he would be a G'Quon type (or a disciple of his back in the day).

His thinking was that B5 Universe is not really in a good palce right now for a continuation, spinoff, because it's been off the air so long, and a Babylon 5 project now, without the Station wouldn't make sense to most folks (IE: Couldn't do Babylon 5: The Telepath War, because everyone would wonder why there was no Babylon 5 in the Movie)

I too was really taken aback when I first read "Reboot", but, reading his explanation, it made sense.

Babylon 5 would still be there for The Telepath War. The Teep War was ~2264-2265. Babylon 5 was demolished in 2281.

p.s. I think the reboot idea was ridiculous.

 

[Sindatur]

I can't believe JMS would have done a reboot, though. He is so loyal to his actors.

Apparently, his idea was to tell the story differently. Some of the available actors might play their previous parts, some of them might play different parts. The Character of G'Kar wouldn't have been re-cast, but, rather the character would be shuttled into the past, where he would be a G'Quon type (or a disciple of his back in the day).

His thinking was that B5 Universe is not really in a good palce right now for a continuation, spinoff, because it's been off the air so long, and a Babylon 5 project now, without the Station wouldn't make sense to most folks (IE: Couldn't do Babylon 5: The Telepath War, because everyone would wonder why there was no Babylon 5 in the Movie)

I too was really taken aback when I first read "Reboot", but, reading his explanation, it made sense.

Babylon 5 would still be there for The Telepath War. The Teep War was ~2264-2265. Babylon 5 was demolished in 2281.

p.s. I think the reboot idea was ridiculous.

JMS knows better than us, if he would have a reason for Babylon 5 to actually show up in a Telepath War movie, so, if he says B5: The Telepath War would be a problem, because of the lack of B5 confusing the audience, I'm inclined to go with his belief that the Station wouldn't be used in the Telepath War movie over the belief of another fan.

 

[Crusader]

I posted this on IMDB and JMS News but on the off chance there are people here who aren't there: I found this interesting article on failed B5 projects.

Just said this on JMS news, but the fact someone found this article and posted a link tickles me as I am the one who wrote it. Thanks Ricky

 

[RickyWalsh]

Ok, Crusader has been talking on JMS News but not on here so I though I would re-post what was said:

I find this disconcerting if only because I am the person who wrote this article. The website has asked me to beef up their TV section in general, with a specific focus on Science Fiction. Suprised to see it pop up here, pleased though. Thanks, Ricky.

You're more than welcome. I really enjoyed the Memory of Shadows article you posted yesterday, was the most in depth piece on the subject I think i have seen.
And when you say beef up their Sci Fi tv section, what does that mean? Will we be seeing some more B5 articles going up *hint hint*

Okay story time: Three (nearly four) years ago I took a job as a staff intern for digital spy. After working there for eight months, a colleague of mine decided to leave the website and launch one of his ow, which was called TV Wise. He asked me to go with him, and within a year I had been promoted to deputy editor for North-American Television. Fast forward to six months ago, the company (which to be honest had never really taken off) goes under and I find myself unemployed.

Then about six weeks ago, a former colleague from Digital Spy, who is now working for the website where you found the Failed B5 article, contacted me to see if I would be interested in joining their TV division. After some preliminary discussions, I learnt that the website was largely doing fluff pieces and weren't reporting on TV news (from development to cancellations), doing exclusive interviews or ratings analyses; in short they were not doing any of the things I had done for TV Wise. So after some more discussions of editorial policy, I agreed to help and star writing those pieces for them.
As for Sci Fi TV specifically: Thanks to some old contacts within the various studios, Warner Bros have provided me with all of B5 on DVD to review (I did have it anyway, but there you go), Image Entertainment have given me the complete series of Space Precinct for the same purpose, and Fox (just this morning) have sent over the complete series of Stargate SG-1, Atlantis and Universe for review. There are also requests in to CBS and A&E for Star Trek and Farscape. So a lot of pieces will be up, in an attempt to widely expand the Sci Fi section.

As to when these reviews and so on will be live on the site, we're looking at mid-November at the earliest due to a prior commitment to another writing project which I am now beginning (can't say any more on that unfortunately).

Pat

Quickly responding on my lunch break. But that sounds like A LOT of work, kudos to you, sir. I remember Space Precinct from years ago around the same time as B5 if I recall correctly.

But given this secret writing project (which now you've said you can't talk about, I want to know more) does that mean you definitely wont be posting any more articles until November? Also can you post the links on here of mayber B5TV when your reviews and such go up. I'm sure there are plenty of us on here that would like to see them, Thanks

There will be some more up by the end of the week (specifically a piece on B5: TLT to round out the Failed B5 series). But come monday I have to focus on this *secret* project so I can only give one maybe two hours which is waht will necesitate only posting strict news items between Monday September 20th and October 31st.

Without my lawyer present the only detail I can offer is that I have been given a window of four weeks to complete it. It is fiction and in no way connected to my TV reporting gig and no, alas, I can not even name the company involved. (Ricky, I hope that is enough for you)

As far as posting links, my concern would be spamming the forum. B5 alone (review wise) will run over 130 articles. Strictly speaking, if people want those links, it would be easier to post on B5TV on the various Ep Dis threads. But unless I see a number of people ask for it, I'm not sure it's something I would do. So if a few others on here ask, I may post those links.

As for new articles though, if you want to be kept updated when I post new ones your best bet is either the RSS feed or following me on Twitter.

Pat

 

[RickyWalsh]

Another update of posts from JMS News. Crusader has said he will start some dedicated threads on JMS News' forums for reviews of SF he will be doing fo his website starting in november, so if you are interested I would keep an eye out, i'm especially looking forward to his crusade reviews given his username and avatar

We now have a full list of review titles, which are as follows (In order we will be reviewing due to studio timescales):

1. Space Precinct
2. FlashForward
3. Firefly (Including Serenity)
4. Babylon 5 (incl B5, TV Movies, Crusade, Rangers and TLT)
5. Stargate SG-1
6. Stargate Atlantis
7. Stargate Universe
8. Farscape
9. Lost
10. Buffy The Vampire Slayer
11. Angel

We have had to turn down the following review offers due to the heavy work load listed above (To be honest I didnt expect every studio we contacted to readily agreee, so serves me right for over-requesting): Andromeda and Earth: Final Conflict from Tribune, Battlestar Galactica from Universal and Star Trek from CBS. We will look at revisiting those titles in 2012 though.

That said we will be reviewing the Blu-ray sampler disc of TNG as soon as CBS complete it and send one over.

Pat

Thats a pretty awesome selection. Make sure you post links either in the Babylon 5 forum here, or in Off Topic when they go up.

PS as you said earlier that the B5 reviews would run over 130 articles, does that mean you will be reviewing the episodes/movies rather than the DVD box sets?

Thats a difficult question, prior to some re-allignment (for some unfathomable reason) Film & TV and DVD reviews were in different sections. So if the website doesn't have a DVD review, I'll post one of those as well, but the primary focus is reviewing the series (episodes and films) themselves rather than DVD sets.

An example being that of Space Precinct, there is a review of the DVD set which Imagine have sent me but not the series and episodes. So I wont be posting a DVD review just one on the content of the series.

Pat

Also, WB have been kind enough to provide both versions of The Gathering so I'll touch upon the differences in said reviews when the time comes.

Okay things have been fairly hectic here, especially with the fall season upon us. But that said, I was able to carve out some time and the final article in the Failed Babylon 5 Projects series, Babylon 5: The Lost Tales, is now live.

You can view it here, if you feel so inclined.

Expect me when you see me.

 

[JonFrain]

I can't believe JMS would have done a reboot, though. He is so loyal to his actors.

Apparently, his idea was to tell the story differently. Some of the available actors might play their previous parts, some of them might play different parts. The Character of G'Kar wouldn't have been re-cast, but, rather the character would be shuttled into the past, where he would be a G'Quon type (or a disciple of his back in the day).

His thinking was that B5 Universe is not really in a good palce right now for a continuation, spinoff, because it's been off the air so long, and a Babylon 5 project now, without the Station wouldn't make sense to most folks (IE: Couldn't do Babylon 5: The Telepath War, because everyone would wonder why there was no Babylon 5 in the Movie)

I too was really taken aback when I first read "Reboot", but, reading his explanation, it made sense.

Unfortunately the show is pretty obscure at this point. I had assumed that once it went into syndication, it would pick up a lot of fans as it works better airing 5 times a week. I think too many people couldn't look past the lower budget sets, FX and actors. Some couldn't get past Centauri hair styles or the fact it wasn't Trek.

A reboot could benefit from many things. He could avoid the mistakes of the first run. He could be more arc centric from the beginning by removing the stand alone episodes. FX these days are much better and more economical.

At this point, I'm pretty pessimistic about any Babylon 5 reboot getting good enough ratings to survive a full run. I definitely think it would be better served as limited runs of 13 episodes per season.

 

[vacantlook]

I was shocked about the idea of a reboot when I first read it, but by now, the idea's kind of grown on me. As long as jms was in total control of it, I'd like to see what he'd do. We'd always have the original, and seeing how he'd do things differently now by being able to compare the two would be interesting in understanding the big mystery that is tv show production.

 

[Jade Jaguar]

I can't quite decide if I want Nick Nolte or Liam Neeson to play G'Kar...

 

[GaribaldisHair]

I can't quite decide if I want Nick Nolte or Liam Neeson to play G'Kar...

Not Morgan Freeman?

Or Danny Glover as G'Kar and Mel Gibson as Londo?

 

[Sindatur]

I can't quite decide if I want Nick Nolte or Liam Neeson to play G'Kar...

Not Morgan Freeman?

Or Danny Glover as G'Kar and Mel Gibson as Londo?

Eh, turn it on it's head. Let Peter Jurassik play the G'Kar role (Though remember, the actual character of G'Kar would not have been a current character in this reboot, he would become a legendary character of history) and Stephen Furst could play Londo.

 

[Jade Jaguar]

I can't quite decide if I want Nick Nolte or Liam Neeson to play G'Kar...

Not Morgan Freeman?

Or Danny Glover as G'Kar and Mel Gibson as Londo?

How about Eddie Murphy for G'Kar, and Chris Tucker for Londo?

Mel could play Sheridan, and obviously Bruce Willis would be Garibaldi. Meryl Streep as Delenn...