It was the year 2023, the name of the place was...

[Springer]

So, with 2023 coming to a belated end, I wanted to look back at the most successful year for Babylon 5 since 2007.

We got The Road Home, which seemed to split opinion on here but judging by the Amazon bestsellers list it seemed to do well. Whether it did well enough for WB to commission another animated movie or series I am beginning to doubt given the radio silence on this matter from everyone involved. Regardless, what The Road Home showed was that B5 is not a dead franchise.

And something else we never thought we would see came this year, which is the blu-ray set. I received mine at Christmas, and while the packaging and lack of extras or TNT movies is undeniably cheap, the package didn't feel quite as flimsy to me as I was expecting. And the episodes themselves look fantastic – annoying ad bumper after 10 minutes aside. For me, these remastered episodes are definitive and I am delighted to be able to own them.

So how did everyone else see 2023? Was it a success for B5? Did it put the show back on the map, or were The Road Home and the blu-ray boxset a disappointment?

Beyond that, what are our hopes for 2024? Given the finances at WB and this mooted merger with Paramount, I think it's going to be very difficult for any new B5 shows, be it the live-action reboot or new animation, to happen. I think it's still possible we could get new B5 content from a third party, perhaps as a comic or audio dramas. I live in hope that Master Replicas will produce a line of B5 ships. A new boxset of Christopher Franke's soundtrack from one of the speciality soundtrack labels would be nice too, though apparently Warner Archive have shut-up shop recently with regards soundtracks.

So the question is, was 2023 the last hurrah for Babylon 5, or will it prove to be the dawn of a new age?

 

[LateArrival]

If it is a last hurrah, at least it went out on a positive note with TRH and the blu-ray release. The re-mastered streaming update allows for a wider audience, so there are more options now to view the series than there were three years ago. Certainly wouldn't hurt to have at least a streaming/digital version of the soundtracks, as that way they wouldn't have to expend funds for physical product.

Other than Big Finish // Doctor Who, are there other franchises opting to rake in cash on older properties? Certainly Trek has books/comics and various continuing series, but Big Finish seems be printing money with their audio releases.

 

[Looney]

I have to say it is way too early to judge anything. The strikes have set everything back and there is no telling when WB will take the time to evaluate any future B5 until they have reset everything they pushed back or they were in the middle of producing.

I say 2023 was a great year for Babylon 5 and the future. Sales is everything and if Amazon Sales were good then WB is happy. Hopefully that will lead to more great B5 related material.

DEFINITELY agree on the soundtracks. And please produce more for the episodes we didn't get. BUT I REALLY want more CDs.

 

[Ubik]

Great to see the series get a remaster / Blu Ray treatment even though I'm not remotely interested in physical media where my film / TV is concerned. I have a big solid state hard drive, and that does me fine.

I remain very unsure about the future of B5 on the basis of TRH. I won't repeat my review, but I was less than impressed. Off the back of that, I'm not exactly enthused about more B5 in any medium based on how bad TRH was. It just left me shrugging my shoulders in terms of how lazy and embarassing it was. Sorry. IMHO, someone else needs to be given a run at it, or other writers with JMS exec producing or something.

We always have the original series. At the very least, that has been preserved for future generations to enjoy.