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IGN FilmForce interviews Jerry Doyle

Moreso than with Pat Tallman and Claudia Christian? /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif
 
There was the time she was supposed to appear in "The Path or Sorrows" and wanted paid a weeks pay for a day's work. Then she contributed a blurb to the Andy Lane book "The Babylon File - Volume 2 (the book which JMS really dislikes, for good reason). I can't find her quote. I only have Volume 1. Must have just read that part of Volume 2 in Narns & Nobles.

I was under the impression that the chances of either Pat or Claudia ever being asked to come back for a B5 show or film is rather thin. Now, it appears that Jerry and Bruce might be in the same boat. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

Aw hell, the chances of there ever being anything new B5-wise, is pretty much non-existant anyway, even if they were all happy campers. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

Here's what JMS had to say:

JMS on Pat Tallman's Afterword to Andy Lane's "The Babylon File - Volume 2"
 
I'm confused though. He states in there that Michael was never supposed to have left after the first season. So he was supposed to be the Sheridan type character? If so, then who would have gone back to become Valen? /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

He confused me about Pat Tallman and Andrea too. I didn't know that originally, there was only one telepath in the storyline.
 
We'll never know the real truth, honestly.

The way JMS tells it to us is that he realized close to the end of the season that one character could never do all the things that Sheridan and Sinclair did - win, do the President thing, become Valen, etc., etc. He said it would have been unbelievable, which is true.

Jerry obviously implies something very different.

So, we'll never actually know what went on.
 
Thanks KoshN for that reminder. I do remember it a bit now.

I think it is a bit sad that quite a few actors seem to have bitter feelings about B5. Not that they did it but that it didn't continue in a way they wanted. I guess I don't blame them too much either since that is the way Hollyweird usually works. You know ... take something successful and beat it into the ground.

I don't think it would be easy to work with JMS if you don't get his "vision". /forums/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif

I just finished reading the interview with Jerry Doyle and the Steven Furst one too. I found them both very interesting. I think there must be some truth to everything we have read about the situations about B5. Truth is indeed a three-edged sword. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

I also got some insight as to why Rangers wasn't a slam dunk ... I think JMS was kind of forced to write a B5 story that he just wasn't ready to write yet. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

As for the situation with Sinclair and Sheridan ... that has been an issue debated for a long time in our house. Of course, we will probably never know what really happened but my husband and I are starting to piece things together. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

I agree with Channe that JMS simply changed his mind about having all those things in one character. There were apparently other factors involved (O'Hare didn't seem happy, some of the cast wasn't comfortable with him, maybe some execs weren't happy, etc.) and it just worked out that he left when he did. I just wish we had gotten a little more foreshadowing of that event but oh well. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

I happen to believe he was always meant to become Valen and leave the show ... but not until season 4 or 5 maybe. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 
He confused me about Pat Tallman and Andrea too. I didn't know that originally, there was only one telepath in the storyline.
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Yes, there was supposed to be one telepath - Lyta. She was introduced in the pilot and scanned Kosh. Either this alone or a subsequent trip to the Vorlon homeworld would have started her powers increasing, and she would have ended up about where she did at the end of S5. JMS actually wrote the part of Lyta with Pat Tallman in mind. He had seen the remake of Night of the Living Dead and decided she had the eyes of a telepath.

Unfortunately the studio failed to make a deal with Pat for the series. (While JMS, as the producer, had the most influence over casting, the studio ultimately paid the bills. The actors were under contract to Warner Bros. and therefore the studio had to sign off on JMS's choices and make the actual deals. One reason there were so many other changes between the pilot and the series was that after reviewing the completed film both JMS and Warner Bros. weren't thrilled with how everything came out. That's one of the reasons you make a pilot, to get the thing on its feet and see what works and what doesn't.)

So JMS created Lyta and Andrea Thompson was cast. Lyta was mysteriously reassigned to Earth (as was Dr. Ben Kyle) and Laurel Takishima sent out to the Rim on a secret mission. This meant that everyone who either saw Kosh or was in MedLab when the encounter suit was opened was off the station within a matter of weeks and added to the intrigue.

Jason Ironheart was created to give Talia increased power through another path. In the first instance Lyta scanned Kosh, and thus formed a bond with the Vorlon. This would lead them to trust her and eventually enhance her for their own purposes. In Talia's case she was enhanced first - and this got the Volrons interested in her, when they normally avoided telepaths. The VCR recording was no doubt part of the process of connecting the Vorlons to Talia. The Sleeper personality, and the way it was utlimately reversed, might also have played into this thread. (The recording could have been the basis for the restoration of Talia 1.0, and the Vorlons might have done a little further tinkering while they were inside her head.)

When Andrea decided to leave, JMS pulled the trigger on the Sleeper personality and made it permanent. Pat came back for the guest shot to remind everybody who Lyta was, and the character was packed off to the Vorlon homeworld, ready for her return the following season. (Luckily WB was able to make the deal this time around. It was too late for Lyta to return in S3 anyway, since "Divided Loyalties" was shot as episode 220.)

Lyta then pretty much picked up her own original thread where she left off and continued on from there. The VCR recording, Talia's mentor at Psi Corps and other threads were allowed to quietly fade away as they were no longer needed.

Regards,

Joe
 
I have been thinking about the problems between JMS and the actors. A frequent description of the Babylon 5 set is that it was a family. There is a name for a family break up - divorce. The actors are showing anger towards JMS similar to that people show towards an ex-spouse. /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif
 
Yea, that was obviously just a little slip up there. So many names and similar characters, it's easy to get them mixed up.
 
There were apparently other factors involved (O'Hare didn't seem happy, some of the cast wasn't comfortable with him, maybe some execs weren't happy, etc.) and it just worked out that he left when he did. I just wish we had gotten a little more foreshadowing of that event but oh well.
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Thanks. What you said cleared some of it up.

Personally, I think it worked out better this way. Bruce IS John Sheridan. Plain and simple. I liked O'Hare's Jeff too, but I just don't think he has the charisma, or the cahones to do what Sheridan did. Plus it got to add in more new sutff to the storyline. I mean, who knows if we would have ever had the whole Anna Sheridan type storyline at Zha'Dum? And it gave Melissa a chance to guest star. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 
Unfortunately the studio failed to make a deal with Pat for the series.
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I had always wondered about that, as it seemed that Talia was almost...stuck in there at the last minute. But, that allowed an interesting sideline with Ivanova...so I think it all worked out in the end.
 
B5Elf, I agree. Sinclair is a great character, and I really like him, a lot. but at the same time, I don't think he could have pulled off what Sheridan did nearly as well as well... Sheridan did.
 
<font color="yellow"> Originally posted by Lyta: </font color>
I think it is a bit sad that quite a few actors seem to have bitter feelings about B5. Not that they did it but that it didn't continue in a way they wanted. I guess I don't blame them too much either since that is the way Hollyweird usually works. You know ... take something successful and beat it into the ground.
Click to expand...

You also have to look at it from the actor's perspective. When a series ends, they're losing their job. So, in some respects, an actor wanting the series to go on, and not understanding that the series creator was serious about ending after five years (like he always said he was going to do), is understandable. They're used to shows ending after it's worn out it's welcome. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 
Yup, that was pretty much what I was getting at. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif It is sad about the statistics for actors ... the majority are unemployed for most of the year. Maybe that is why people keep on going when they really should call it quits ... to keep everyone employed.

Like I said, I don't blame them for being a bit bitter about the situation but I am glad JMS stuck to his guns. I think it made for a better story. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
I mean, who knows if we would have ever had the whole Anna Sheridan type storyline at Zha'Dum?
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The point of Catherine Sakaï's job was to have her end up on Z'Ha'Dum pretty much where Anna Sheridan ended
 
The point of Catherine Sakaï's job was to have her end up on Z'Ha'Dum pretty much where Anna Sheridan ended
Click to expand...

And you know this for certain, how? /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif Or is this just an assumption?

Regards,

Joe
 
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