New B5 coming?

[AnlaShokGrey]

JMS has been hinting for weeks that we'll get an announcement in April (or after April?). Yesterday, one of the Babylon 5 pages on Facebook, the one that had 35,000 'likes,' disappeared. I had 'liked' that page, so I noticed that it completely disappeared off of my info page. Today it is back, and is quite obviously officially connected with WB (it's obvious from the content and the links). Could this portend an announcement?

Am I the only one who has mixed feelings about this? Of course I love Babylon 5 and wish there were more of it, but I think I want that in a nostalgic way: more of the *original* series. I haven't overwhelmingly loved *anything* that followed the original series, even Crusade. And anything new will have a great big gaping hole in the shape of G'Kar. There are plenty of B5-universe stories that I still want to see, but nearly all of them would involve writing around G'Kar in some way. Short of giving us the Technomage trilogy or the Psi Corps trilogy on screen (which I somehow doubt), what G'Kar-less content could be coming our way? Any speculations or predictions?

 

[Bester]

Sorry, isn't this already being discussed here:

http://www.b5tv.com/showthread.php?t=12037

?

 

[Jan]

Yeah, but that one's really in the wrong forum. Maybe a kind mod will come by to merge the two.

Jan

 

[AnlaShokGrey]

Yeah, since that thread was under "personnel," it just didn't seem right to continue it, which is why I started one here.

 

[hypatia]

Am I the only one who has mixed feelings about this? Of course I love Babylon 5 and wish there were more of it, but I think I want that in a nostalgic way: more of the *original* series. I haven't overwhelmingly loved *anything* that followed the original series, even Crusade. And anything new will have a great big gaping hole in the shape of G'Kar. There are plenty of B5-universe stories that I still want to see, but nearly all of them would involve writing around G'Kar in some way. Short of giving us the Technomage trilogy or the Psi Corps trilogy on screen (which I somehow doubt), what G'Kar-less content could be coming our way? Any speculations or predictions?

No, you are not the only one. I thought Crusade had more potential intially than B5 had for me in its first season. It took me some time and going back to really like season 1.

I think it would be a mistake to do a series around the old cast in any way. I do understand many didn't think much of Crusade, but I thought it had potential (interesting characters and some very interesting plot points that may have come out).

I admit, Rangers was a bit like "let's get it on the air, then watch how it will improve" hoping. Crusade interested me much more from moment one.

Realistically? If the characters are interesting and the writing good, I'll be happy to have a new movie. I don't really think it will happen, but I'd love to be soooo wrong. I'd give it a chance, that is for certain. I have to.

If "it" is real in the first place.

 

[Deseret]

I have no idea honestly if another B5 is coming, I haven't heard any rumors to it but I do know that JMS still owes us a third part of The Lost Tales. Originally there were supposed to be at least 3 portions, the 3rd being Garibaldi's story, which I would like to see.

As for a totally new B5 related series, I think it would be a great idea if done right. Considering what happened to Stargate recently I think the SciFi market is rather shaky as to what it will and will not be able to handle. From what I've noticed continuations following the same timeline as an original series seem to always have difficulty. TNG did well I think because it was far enough away time wise to make the door wide enough for the creators to actually do something creative with the story; but DS9 and Voyager were a bit more closed off because Picard was still around to hover over the storyline ideas. Then Enterprise failed because (partly) because so much had already been shown by Kirk in TOS and there wasn't much room to maneuver. Babylon 5 I think has the same problem. Crusade did have alot of potential but they already had a portion of their script written out by current circumstances that I think made it more difficult to continue. Some of the movies had the same handicap, though they still turned out well, (Thirdspace for example or River of Souls).
I think if there is a new B5 (and I really hope there is) it should follow something a bit more distant. Difficult to do since so much of the timeline has already been established and a good arch would have to accurately coincide with the original idea.
Personally I would prefer seeing the story of the previous Shadow War and the advent of Valen, so little is known about that story that it could prove interesting. Or even a detailed showing of the Telepath war would be exciting, depending.
What do you guys think?

 

[Jan]

I have no idea honestly if another B5 is coming, I haven't heard any rumors to it but I do know that JMS still owes us a third part of The Lost Tales. Originally there were supposed to be at least 3 portions, the 3rd being Garibaldi's story, which I would like to see.

It was published in the TV Movie book published in 2009.

Jan

 

[darth_librarian]

I have no idea honestly if another B5 is coming, I haven't heard any rumors to it but I do know that JMS still owes us a third part of The Lost Tales.

In the nicest possible way, no creator really owes us anything. See this lovely post by Neil Gaiman on why that is:

http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2009/05/entitlement-issues.html

And JMS did deliver!

All in favour of more B5, if done with the right budget, people, time and care, in TV, film, book or any other medium tbh. LA Noire is currently showing how video games can deliver better cinematic experiences. I'd love to see motion cap like that in a B5 adventure game.

Missing actors and characters can be worked around, sad though it is. I'd also even be happy with a next-generation leap 100 years or so into the future, again, if done right.

 

[Deseret]

I have no idea honestly if another B5 is coming, I haven't heard any rumors to it but I do know that JMS still owes us a third part of The Lost Tales. Originally there were supposed to be at least 3 portions, the 3rd being Garibaldi's story, which I would like to see.

It was published in the TV Movie book published in 2009.

Jan

TV movie book?

 

[vacantlook]

TV movie book?

One of the script books published through Cafe Press.

And regarding the Garibaldi story, while ultimately the story really didn't do anything, it would've been interesting to see jms's take on a Martian.

 

[Galahad]

I have no idea honestly if another B5 is coming, I haven't heard any rumors to it.

The rumours are out there. At the moment we are waiting for the fruition of JMS's previous statement that he would tell us more as soon as things were more set in stone... and that he estimated it would be sometime after April.

As we are now in that period, two interesting things have happened that may be connected. Firstly, the B5 Facebook page has been brought in house by Warner Bros... who are seeding clips from episodes and making the page more active than it ever was previously. Secondly JMS now has a Twitter account... he says he's just trying it on for size more or less... but it's a perfect forum to start promoting new projects.

I wouldn't be surprised if that announcement is coming.

 

[darth_librarian]

Hmm. Good stuff. The Lost Tales was heavily marketed on MySpace (remember that?) .

 

[KoshN]

I have no idea honestly if another B5 is coming, I haven't heard any rumors to it.

The rumours are out there. At the moment we are waiting for the fruition of JMS's previous statement that he would tell us more as soon as things were more set in stone... and that he estimated it would be sometime after April.

As we are now in that period, two interesting things have happened that may be connected. Firstly, the B5 Facebook page

Just curious, which page?

These are the only Facebook pages that I ever knew about which might possibly have B5 news.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Fans-of-J-Michael-Straczynski/139652459402959?ref=ts

or Pat Tallman's
http://m.facebook.com/profile.php?id=128609907215548&fc=f&refid=0&_rdr

I hardly ever visit Facebook, but these are the only pages I ever knew about that might have B5 info..

has been brought in house by Warner Bros... who are seeding clips from episodes and making the page more active than it ever was previously.

If fact, realizing what little use I have for Facebook, I just deactivated my account. I prefer Usenet and forums like this.

Secondly JMS now has a Twitter account... he says he's just trying it on for size more or less... but it's a perfect forum to start promoting new projects.

I wouldn't be surprised if that announcement is coming.

I wouldn't get my hopes up. A watched pot.....

 

[Deseret]

I tried checking the facebook page too but I could only find the likable fan page mentioned. Has it been pulled again for another update? I think someone said that the page was shutdown for the change over to WB maybe they're tweaking it a bit for some reason????

I just finished re-watching "Atonement" S4 and thought that maybe a spin off involving Minbari reincarnation could be interesting. lol weird though, watching the journey of a Minbari soul as it goes from one person to become another in a later generation, learning about itself and the universe as Babylon 5 so aptly puts it.... just a thought.

 

[Jan]

This is the page taken over by The WB

This is where some of the folks from the other page have migrated. (Amy and I are both mods on this one)

I wouldn't think too much about JMS joining Twitter. Patricia Tallman appears to have talked him into it. Though he does seem to be having fun. I'm enjoying his fractured definitions.

Jan

 

[Deseret]

Thank you Jan for posting those links, quite helpful... I am kinda frustrated though that facebook wouldn't let them appear in my Babylon 5 page search results, but that's life.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Babylon-5/108313162527086

That was the only page I was able to find on my own.

 

[Mentallooser]

I would really love to see a show made out of the Rangers slowly rebuilding earth after it's Armageddon. Would really be a combination of Jeremiah and B5. Hard to market that as a show for people who weren't the biggest fans of B5 though. Maybe a mini-series about Valen would be nice. And as sacrilege as it may seem to some, a reboot with awesome cast would be great. Keep the same basic stories, but with more focused writing and concentration on the things they now know were most popular with the show. I love the original cast, but so much of the story can be expanded on and the original cast is too aged now to really be able to pull that off.

 

[hypatia]

I find it interesting that he's still even listening to proposals involving B5. I had wondered if he hadn't moved on in his career, and wouldn't even want to try something in the B5 universe again. He's certainly doing fine without it, and we have a series to have fond memories about. A series that wasn't ruined by running it into the ground. It had a definite beginning, middle, and end. It had a point, it wasn't just passing time.

I'd love to see what else he might do, if he feels it's still something that is worthwhile for him to do.

 

[Republibot 3.0]

I'd prefer a TV series. It really wouldn't make sense to continue Crusade at this point - the cast are mostly pretty old, or, in the case of Daniel Dae Kim, busy and way too expensive to use. Given how little we got to see anyway, a reboot would make more sense.

Actually, I'd like to see a complete re-think of the whole crusade project. The overall story can remain the same, but, I dunno, ship-based shows? Kinda' done to death, and kinda' derivative beyond that. And there only being *one* ship given the size of the problem, the number of species in the ISA, and the number of explorer ships in Earthforce, really didn't make much sense.

What I'd prefer would be something with a JLU structure: Core cast working all together, individually, or as small groups, along with a much larger revolving cast of supporting characters, with a central base of operations (Could be B5, but probably better somewhere new) zipping around in Whitestars, looking for a cure and putting out political and military fires.

 

[Galahad]

Actually, I'd like to see a complete re-think of the whole crusade project. The overall story can remain the same, but, I dunno, ship-based shows? Kinda' done to death, and kinda' derivative beyond that. And there only being *one* ship given the size of the problem, the number of species in the ISA, and the number of explorer ships in Earthforce, really didn't make much sense.

It wasn't the only ship... it was just the only ship capable of carrying out part of the mandate it was issued with (namely going into areas of space formerly occupied by First One races). It was a ship that had First One tech installed and unlike the White Star fleet was large enough to house and support the labs and research facilities needed to work on potential cures discovered at source. While Explorer ships would have the research capability... they'd be cut to ribbons on Drakh encounters... and appear quite sluggish... and even on some of the adventures we briefly saw on Crusade... they would have not survived. So Alliance & Earth ships would be searching conventional sources for the cure, but the White Stars were going into the riskier parts of space and finding leads for Excalibur to follow up on.

What I'd prefer would be something with a JLU structure: Core cast working all together, individually, or as small groups, along with a much larger revolving cast of supporting characters, with a central base of operations (Could be B5, but probably better somewhere new) zipping around in Whitestars, looking for a cure and putting out political and military fires.

My "Post Burn" series would work along these lines.