# Babylon 5



## SayWhat? (Jun 7, 2009)

Clearly one of the best space-based SciFi series ever made. Described by the author as a novel for television.

Anybody heard of any plans to re-air it?


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## Mark Holtz (Mar 23, 2002)

It previously aired on TNT and SciFi Channel. Best to get the DVDs.


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## LarryFlowers (Sep 22, 2006)

Not currently in circulation on U.S. TV, probably in a "rest" cycle. Showing overseas though.


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## RAD (Aug 5, 2002)

It was nice to see a series that allowed the writer to come up with a multi year timeline/story line and we actually got to see all of it. Besides the Sporano's it's the only TV series that I purchased all the DVD's of.


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## Drew2k (Aug 16, 2006)

TNT seriously damaged JMS's 5-year plan by threatening to cancel after season 4, so JMS had to compress his season 5 plot points into season 4 and then when TNT renewed for season 5, he had to go back to the drawing board. Still one of the greatest Sci Fi series ever, though.


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## RAD (Aug 5, 2002)

Drew2k said:


> TNT seriously damaged JMS's 5-year plan by threatening to cancel after season 4, so JMS had to compress his season 5 plot points into season 4 and then when TNT renewed for season 5, he had to go back to the drawing board. Still one of the greatest Sci Fi series ever, though.


I thought it was PTN (Prime Time Network) that screwed things up with not renewing past season 4 and it was TNT that came to the rescue with season 5.


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## bonscott87 (Jan 21, 2003)

Some of the seasons are available on Hulu as well.


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## V'ger (Oct 4, 2007)

RAD said:


> I thought it was PTN (Prime Time Network) that screwed things up with not renewing past season 4 and it was TNT that came to the rescue with season 5.


There will be some die hards here to argue, but this is what I understood (with fairness to all involved).

First, one correction: TNT was not involved in production, broadcast, or distribution of B5 until the fifth season. It later rebroadcast all five seasons in reruns.

PTN was a company either wholly or partially owned by Warner Brothers and it distributed, by syndication, the Kung Fu remake and B5. KF was cancelled, but PTN couldn't continue with just one property to distribute. PTN was dissolved as a distribution company. So JMS had to assume the worst, that there wouldn't be a fifth season as no one at WB would make a commitment before JMS had to write and film the end of season 4. He compressed the story arc to finish by the end of the season.

TNT stepped in at the last second and saved the show's fifth season (they aren't the villian here), but damage was done. First, cable pays lower than syndicated TV (who'd have thought that?) and the actors had to accept a significant pay cut. There are conflicting stories as to who did what, but a casualty of the late renewal was the loss of Claudia Christian (Ivanova), who was replaced by Tracy Scoggins. Some production people had also accepted jobs with other shows. Issues between CC and JMS were well documented at the time as both parties went public with their versions of what happened. As to what the truth was, I leave that for your search/judgement.

Production values dropped, new sets looked cheaper, the lighting was too bright (a lack of detail in set design was revealed by the bright lighting) and the overall cinematography looked different. Only a few of the stories were of the quality of the prior seasons and season five ended with the last episode filmed in the fourth season ("Sleeping in Light"), which was a standalone episode based 20 years in the future that more or less wrapped things up.

Seasons 1 though 4 were dark and had blue tint to the lighting. Season 5 looked more video-like and had a red tint. Some speculated that a different film stock was used, but I talked to a director at Agamemcon III and he said that wasn't so. I also heard a rumor that between season 4 and 5 the lighting was changed.

In any case, Seasons 1 to 4 are, to me, the best SciFi ever produced for TV. Season 5, B5 was at best just average.


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## V'ger (Oct 4, 2007)

I know there was a couple of direct to video releases of B5 done a few years ago (I liked them).

One unexplained plot hole that you could drive the space station through is what happened to Draal? He was only used as a communication device once B4 was sent back 1000 years to help the Minbari in their fight. I'm not sure there was an appearance in season 5.

Although JMS blew up B5, It is plausible in the B5 universe that Draal had the power to open a rift in time (ala B4) and move the station. How about him moving B5 and projecting a holographic explosion? So the station still exists at a place/time ready for return. 

Zathras would like that very much!

Anyway that would be a lot better than "Spock's Brain".


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## SayWhat? (Jun 7, 2009)

^^^ Interesting.


Libidos aside, your favorite character(s)?

I always got a kick out of Zathrus (however it's spelled).


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## RAD (Aug 5, 2002)

SayWhat? said:


> Libidos aside, your favorite character(s)?


G'Kar, the longer the series went on the better I liked him.


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## Christopher Gould (Jan 14, 2007)

RAD said:


> It was nice to see a series that allowed the writer to come up with a multi year timeline/story line and we actually got to see all of it. Besides the Sporano's it's the only TV series that I purchased all the DVD's of.


how do they look on a large HDTV. i've been watching the first couple of seasons of the x-files on a 60" sony a300 using a ps3 and i must say it does not look to good. amazon has all 5 season for $119.99. i don't know if its worth it.


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## RAD (Aug 5, 2002)

Christopher Gould said:


> how do they look on a large HDTV. i've been watching the first couple of seasons of the x-files on a 60" sony a300 using a ps3 and i must say it does not look to good. amazon has all 5 season for $119.99. i don't know if its worth it.


I pulled out season 3 disc 3 and watched a couple episodes since I didn't remember, using PS3 and 73" Mits 1080p DLP RP picture was very grainy.


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## frederic1943 (Dec 2, 2006)

Even though it ran in the 1990s Straczynski was looking ahead. In anticipation of future HDTV broadcasts and Laserdisc releases, rather than the usual 4:3 format, the series was shot in 16:9, with the image cropped to 4:3 for initial television transmissions.


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## rebkell (Sep 9, 2006)

frederic1943 said:


> Even though it ran in the 1990s Straczynski was looking ahead. In anticipation of future HDTV broadcasts and Laserdisc releases, rather than the usual 4:3 format, the series was shot in 16:9, with the image cropped to 4:3 for initial television transmissions.


I mentioned that a while back on avsforums and was told that it would cost a fortune to get B5 to HD, because all the effects were very low resolution and that about the only thing that resembled HD quality was the 16:9 resolution.

My favorites were Londo and G'kar, especially when they were bickering  I also liked Lyta, those eyes were wicked. Garibaldi was a trip, Bester, I loved that show.


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## SayWhat? (Jun 7, 2009)

I'm not sure I remember Lyta ( a blonde? ). Bester gave me the creeps. 

Funny though how when you mention 'lurkers' and 'the down below', nobody knows what you're talking about.


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## rebkell (Sep 9, 2006)

SayWhat? said:


> I'm not sure I remember Lyta ( a blonde? ). Bester gave me the creeps.
> 
> Funny though how when you mention 'lurkers' and 'the down below', nobody knows what you're talking about.


Lyta Alexander was played by Patricia Tallman, she was Kosh's personal psychic, she was on the original pilot, she was off for a year or so. I liked the way some characters would be off the show and then show up again, like Sinclair.


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## SayWhat? (Jun 7, 2009)

Yeah, I remember her now. Brain fart.


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## bicker1 (Oct 21, 2007)

One of the biggest problems with B5 was that (especially during the first four seasons, but probably throughout) the CGI effects were "cutting edge" for the time, but that basically was a no-man's-land (between less sophisticated special effects prior, and higher resolution CGI effects after) whereby the effects were such that they didn't translate well, in terms of production values, into the future (i.e., today). The end result is that there is no way to display the CGI effects on today's big screens, without them looking utterly crappy. There just weren't enough bits in the original production to be able to do anything to make the CGI effects look good on a 65" screen. Otherwise, the series was absolutely excellent.


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## Drew2k (Aug 16, 2006)

RAD said:


> I thought it was PTN (Prime Time Network) that screwed things up with not renewing past season 4 and it was TNT that came to the rescue with season 5.


You're correct ... It's been a long time and I was working from faulty memory.


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## Christopher Gould (Jan 14, 2007)

RAD said:


> I pulled out season 3 disc 3 and watched a couple episodes since I didn't remember, using PS3 and 73" Mits 1080p DLP RP picture was very grainy.


thats what i was afraid of. the xfiles were grainy too. thanks


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## bicker1 (Oct 21, 2007)

With B5, it was a matter of unevenness. The space scenes were okay (still grainy, I'm sure, at some display sizes); what was really bad were the CGI scenes inside the station (the central core -- the big open area in the middle).


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## rebkell (Sep 9, 2006)

RAD said:


> I thought it was PTN (Prime Time Network) that screwed things up with not renewing past season 4 and it was TNT that came to the rescue with season 5.


That's correct and even though I hate all the dancing logos on TNT and their persistent stretch-o-vision stuff, I've always appreciated them in a big way for saving B5. I think another big problem with the show, which a lot of people harp on(I thought it was great) was that Season #5 was all downhill, and the main reason was that JMS not knowing until pretty late in Season #4 that it was going to get picked up was escalating the storylines so that B5 would have a real conclusiong at the end of 4 seasons, and then when he found out about the pickup he sort of backed off and had to figure out how to make it all work for another season. He didn't get to tell his story the way he intended, because of the looming/potential cancellation.

Hardly anyone liked the Rangers series(can't remember the name of it right now), but I loved all things in the B5 universe, it is without a doubt my favorite Science Fiction series of all time.


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## SayWhat? (Jun 7, 2009)

I forgot about that. A quick web search pulls up "Crusade" and "Legend of the Rangers" but I don't know if they refer to the same program or not.


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## Drew2k (Aug 16, 2006)

"Crusade" was the short-lived series, while "Legend of the Rangers" was a TV movie (aired on SciFi).


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## LOCODUDE (Aug 8, 2007)

I really liked this series. The books are really good also, but a bit hard to find.


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## Galaxie6411 (Aug 26, 2007)

Cool to see this thread. I just pulled out my season sets and started from season 1 since it has been a few years since I watched them all. Unfortunately my second disc has a scratch and a few episodes have 1 chapter that isn't viewable. Anyway I too am mad that the resolution on my 42" plasma isn't great at all. Last time I watched it was on a 32" CRT and I didn't notice how grainy it was. 

Anyway I was an original viewer in my early teens. It aired on Saturday nights IIRC at 10:30pm on out NBC affiliate. Since we didn't have cable I never saw the 5th season until it was in reruns and I was in college, same thing with Crusade. I liked Crusade, and own the DVD set, but when you knew the plague cure would be found because of the future scenes in the last episode of B5 it kind of killed some of the story. From what I remember JMS also said TNT tried to sex up the show too much as well as show the episodes out of order so it just never had a chance. I'll also admit every time I watch Sleeping In the Light I get a tear in my eye at the end.


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## CoriBright (May 30, 2002)

At one point I had all the episodes on VHS off-air, complete with commercials! Then I grabbed a 'gold box' offer on Amazon and got the complete five season DVD set for $105, a real bargain since at one point just one season was $85. I also adored Crusade and will forever wonder about the stories in the canceled episodes. I have Legend of the Rangers too. One of the most missed shows in this household.

I wonder if it will ever be in BluRay.


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## bicker1 (Oct 21, 2007)

I snagged that Gold Box deal, too.

And I think the aforementioned graininess preclude most chances of a BD release. There just aren't enough bits there. I think that's the general case, for programs that were videotaped (even only in part), rather than filmed (in entirety), before HD.


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## LOCODUDE (Aug 8, 2007)

This is still one of my all time favorite series...The spin-offs were not bad either.


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## V'ger (Oct 4, 2007)

rebkell said:


> Lyta Alexander was played by Patricia Tallman, she was Kosh's personal psychic, she was on the original pilot, she was off for a year or so. I liked the way some characters would be off the show and then show up again, like Sinclair.


I have the 1998 B5 Calendar with nearly everyone's signature except Pat's and Steven Furst's. Too long a story to tell how I got the autographs, but it was fun!

The change over in cast was sometimes due to conflicts with the actors and JMS. Generally speaking, once you ticked him off, he wrote you out of the series and gave your storyline to another actor.

Andrea Thompson, Jerry Doyle's ex wife, was the Psi Corp physic that was supposed to deal with Psychic issues. I am not sure what the issue between them was, but JMS wrote her out, having Psi Corp disect her body, her brain in a bottle somewhere. JMS made sure there was no return. So Patricia Tallman was given the story arc that she had. Claudia Christian, Ivanova, was also supposed to be a latent psychic. When she did not sign, quit or was fired for season five, her latent evolving psychic power story arc was also given to Pat.

I believe JMS has also stated that he originally wrote the story for Micheal O'Hare to be the station commander for the whole arc. Micheal left, but came back to do the Valen bit.

In both these instances, he actually made a better story by changing the story to new characters. Boxleitner/Sheridan was more of an action hero, O'Hare/Sinclair/Valen was more cerebral, more likely to win with words than actions.


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## rebkell (Sep 9, 2006)

V'ger;2177874 said:


> I have the 1998 B5 Calendar with nearly everyone's signature except Pat's and Steven Furst's. Too long a story to tell how I got the autographs, but it was fun!
> 
> The change over in cast was sometimes due to conflicts with the actors and JMS. Generally speaking, once you ticked him off, he wrote you out of the series and gave your storyline to another actor.
> 
> ...


JMS must have had a lot of troubles out of the female telepaths  here's a snippet from the Lyta Alexander wiki page:



> Lyta Alexander is a character from the fictional universe of the science-fiction television series Babylon 5, played by Patricia Tallman.
> 
> *Lyta* was introduced in the pilot episode "The Gathering" as a telepath assigned to the Babylon 5 space station by the Psi Corps, a fictional organization providing support to telepaths and monitoring their activity. *However, she did not appear in the remainder of Season One due to a dispute concerning Tallman's salary[citation needed]. Lyta's role in the series was largely taken up by Andrea Thompson*, who was cast as Talia Winters, a telepath who took over Lyta's responsibilities in the station. In the script it was implied that the latter had to be replaced, as she had made telepathic contact with Kosh, the ambassador of the secretive Vorlon Empire. *After Thompson left the series due to disagreements regarding the amount of screen time given to her characte*r[1], Lyta returned as a recurring character in Seasons Two and Three, and became a regular cast member from Season Four onward. Her character simply resumed the dramatic arc once intended for Thompson.


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## djlong (Jul 8, 2002)

The "screen time disagreements" were along the lines of "I want to be paid for 'x' episodes but only have to appear in 'x - y' episodes".


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## dreadlk (Sep 18, 2007)

Bab 5 was one of my favorite shows.
Just in case any of you wanted to see a little more, I am not sure if everyone knew that JM released another mini installment in late 2007, it's called the lost tales and was made for DVD Direct sales. (Its low budget, but it still has JM's great story telling)

http://www.amazon.com/Babylon-5-Tal...X8RA/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1249754230&sr=8-9


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## dreadlk (Sep 18, 2007)

From what I have heard, JM made a whole lot of enemies, he is literally black listed with the Hollywood crowd. I heard that they even destroyed all the B5 props costumes and sets even though he wanted to buy and save them.



djlong said:


> The "screen time disagreements" were along the lines of "I want to be paid for 'x' episodes but only have to appear in 'x - y' episodes".


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## rebkell (Sep 9, 2006)

dreadlk said:


> Bab 5 was one of my favorite shows.
> Just in case any of you wanted to see a little more, I am not sure if everyone knew that JM released another mini installment in late 2007, it's called the lost tales and was made for DVD Direct sales. (Its low budget, but it still has JM's great story telling)
> 
> http://www.amazon.com/Babylon-5-Tal...X8RA/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1249754230&sr=8-9


That's the only SD DVD I've bought since I got into Blu-ray. He had plans for more direct to DVD, but I guess it depended on how well the first one went. Not really sure if it did very well or not.


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## SayWhat? (Jun 7, 2009)

dreadlk said:


> From what I have heard, JM made a whole lot of enemies, he is literally black listed with the Hollywood crowd. I heard that they even destroyed all the B5 props costumes and sets even though he wanted to buy and save them.


Citation?


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## LOCODUDE (Aug 8, 2007)

dreadlk said:


> From what I have heard, JM made a whole lot of enemies, he is literally black listed with the Hollywood crowd. I heard that they even destroyed all the B5 props costumes and sets even though he wanted to buy and save them.


WOW!!!... That is harsh.


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## djlong (Jul 8, 2002)

I've been following jms since his "GEnie" days where he announced the project that became Babylon 5. It's the one thing that I've totally geeked out over because of the unprecedent look behind the scenes and watching it unfold over the years. People have come and gone and made various kinds of statement and innuendoes over the years. However, not a single written word from JMS has been able to be proven wrong. People have recanted their words over the years, the most notable case being Claudia Christian's admission that yes, she DID quit and WAS trying to get more money.

If you keep an eye on Usenet you'll know that JMS is HARDLY 'blacklisted'. He's as busy as any man in Hollywood and has been getting an ever higher profile. In fact you might be familiar with "Changeling" - a movie from last October that he wrote, directed by Clint Eastwood. Yeah. That's a real blacklisting.

Look at his IMDB page and you'll see that he's part of the following projects in development: "Lensman", "The Flickering Light", "World War Z" and "Forbidden Planet", "Silver Surfer" and more. He did the two seasons of "Jeremiah" for Showtime after B-5 so the 'blacklisting' wasn't around then either.

Now, if you've followed his career you know there have been arguments with "suits". The most classic case, IMO, being when 'suits' told him to change the opening scene of the B-5 follow-on series "Crusade" to include a fistfight because it would be starting after wrestling (on TNT).

You'll also hear him speak well of certain organizations who don't interfere and be less kind to those who do.

He's always been more than gracious to the fans, always signing autographs for everyone in line.

Striking the sets comes from the fact that it becomes cheaper to rebuild than store when you have no idea how long something will be in storage. In addition, set construction is a pretty normal line item in the budget of any project. Plenty of props were around, though, because they've been offered at charity auctions in the past. Heck, sometimes fans were allowed to buy more props made by the original manufacturer (I'm thinking specifically of the Ranger pins but I know there were more).

Now, I don't know which "Hollywood crowd" has "blacklisted" him, but he sure doesn't seem to have the oodles of free time that would be implied by such a situation.

I *have* heard many rumors come out that are frequently started by Star Trek fanboys (and don't get me wrong, I'm a long-time Trek fan) who think that, somehow, there was no room for more science-fiction than "Trek". Unfortunately, it's true that a lot of studio execs thought that way. Doesn't seem to be the case now (mercifully).


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## bicker1 (Oct 21, 2007)

I think a lot of people might interpret how little JMS' stock has risen since B5 as some indication that he's getting the short-end of the stick. The reality is that, as great as B5 was, it was JMS' best idea to date, and didn't really make as much money as some of those who put money into the endeavor would have liked. Fans don't necessarily translate into money, and they call it show "business" because it is a business, and as such money really does matter.


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## dreadlk (Sep 18, 2007)

You seem to be more on top of this than me  I only heard this from a guy who is a B5 fanatic, so in no way was my statement researched or a first hand account. I do know from an article that when he was leaving B5 he tried to buy and secure the sets and props and was denied, he also said that when they went back to do the Lost Tales only one Star Fury cockpit was left and one flight suit. All the other sets, costumes and props hdd been stolen or destroyed. I had asked my B5 friend what was up with that and he was the one that told me he is Blacklisted.

Djlong I hear what your saying, but I am puzzled, why have they not made any more Bab5 productions when this show is such a hit? I mean if you mention the top 3 scifi series almost every geek in the world has B5 in that list. You sure that something else is not going on, cause I hear that JM would love to make more B5 but he cant get any funding! (Not sure if thats true but thats the rumour I have heard)



djlong said:


> I've been following jms since his "GEnie" days where he announced the project that became Babylon 5. It's the one thing that I've totally geeked out over because of the unprecedent look behind the scenes and watching it unfold over the years. People have come and gone and made various kinds of statement and innuendoes over the years. However, not a single written word from JMS has been able to be proven wrong. People have recanted their words over the years, the most notable case being Claudia Christian's admission that yes, she DID quit and WAS trying to get more money.
> 
> If you keep an eye on Usenet you'll know that JMS is HARDLY 'blacklisted'. He's as busy as any man in Hollywood and has been getting an ever higher profile. In fact you might be familiar with "Changeling" - a movie from last October that he wrote, directed by Clint Eastwood. Yeah. That's a real blacklisting.
> 
> ...


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## bicker1 (Oct 21, 2007)

I have some potential sacrilege to put forward. It stems from a stupid message I saw posted as a reply to a blog message about the premiere of the reboot of the "V" franchise (now scheduled for Tuesday, November 3, on ABC). The message expressed the kind of absolutism that I really find ridiculously inane but all too prevalent in science fiction fandom -- the proprietary sentiment that the original is always best, that everything done since [pick arbitrary date, maybe when the person saying it first started shaving] has been crap, etc. and so on. In this case, of course, the poster was saying that "V" should never be redone, remade, what-have-you.

Poking a stick, perhaps (but I actually do believe it, to some extent, though clearly nowhere near as absolutely as I worded it -- I did that just to mirror the previous poster's inane perspective), my reply implied that I think everything should be remade, *whenever *either new artists (screenwriters, directors, actors, etc.), or new technology exist, that would result in a new take on the original concept.

So here's the potential sacrilege: When would it be appropriate to remake B5*? What changes would you like to see applied to the remake? If it was being remade today, who would you like to see play which roles?

Personally, I really think B5 is a series that should be redone *sooner* than later, because it was made in a very inopportune time. (I think I alluded to this a few days ago.) It was made with a lot of very sophisticated special effects, after the beginning of the use of digital video for such effects, but before that technology was sufficient to translate into HD. Film effects can be remastered into HD, but digital video effects, made without sufficient resolution, cannot, and if the original source material for the superimposed live action is not available, you couldn't even redo all the special effects from scratch, assuming you were so inclined.

_______________
* I suspect JMS owns it, but let's say he doesn't, and instead the asset is owned by Paramount or someone like that. Alternatively, perhaps JMS would allow it to be redone, or would perhaps lead the remake himself.


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## dreadlk (Sep 18, 2007)

Yep thats the odd thing about B5, it's probably the best SciFi series ever produced yet it gets very little recognition. I am sure that one day people willl look back and revive it, but by then it will be all new actors.



bicker1 said:


> I think a lot of people might interpret how little JMS' stock has risen since B5 as some indication that he's getting the short-end of the stick. The reality is that, as great as B5 was, it was JMS' best idea to date, and didn't really make as much money as some of those who put money into the endeavor would have liked. Fans don't necessarily translate into money, and they call it show "business" because it is a business, and as such money really does matter.


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## rebkell (Sep 9, 2006)

bicker1 said:


> I have some potential sacrilege to put forward. It stems from a stupid message I saw posted as a reply to a blog message about the premiere of the reboot of the "V" franchise (now scheduled for Tuesday, November 3, on ABC). The message expressed the kind of absolutism that I really find ridiculously inane but all too prevalent in science fiction fandom -- the proprietary sentiment that the original is always best, that everything done since [pick arbitrary date, maybe when the person saying it first started shaving] has been crap, etc. and so on. In this case, of course, the poster was saying that "V" should never be redone, remade, what-have-you.
> 
> Poking a stick, perhaps (but I actually do believe it, to some extent, though clearly nowhere near as absolutely as I worded it -- I did that just to mirror the previous poster's inane perspective), my reply implied that I think everything should be remade, *whenever *either new artists (screenwriters, directors, actors, etc.), or new technology exist, that would result in a new take on the original concept.
> 
> ...


JMS should be in charge and take the story on out as he planned, with the Crusade series, reboot the whole thing and take off with the story he intended to tell. It would be a sequel, but it would still entail the B5 universe and would be what I would like to see. I'm not sure it would be a big money winner though, but I think it's the way I'd like to see the B5 universe continue.


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## dreadlk (Sep 18, 2007)

LOL we posted at the same time.

Ok so when do I think it should be redone? I am going to do a 180 on you and say that I think it should be longer than sooner, I would say about 10 years from now. B5 was just too good to try and remake it this soon, people are going to be comparing eveything to the orginal and its going to be really hard to get a group of actors who can replace Delen, Sheridan, JKar and Lando (forgive the spelling). IMO before you can remake it, the orginal has to look Dated and B5 still looks pretty good when compared to current shows. What they could do in the meantime is to rerelease the orginal with all new special effects and some added clips.

Updated
______________
OK thats what I get for rushing to reply, I did not read your post all the way through:bang

As you can see, I agree that it should have a special effects update.
If Galactica is going with this new ".5" stuff why cant B5 have all new .5 seasons.



bicker1 said:


> So here's the potential sacrilege: When would it be appropriate to remake B5*? What changes would you like to see applied to the remake? If it was being remade today, who would you like to see play which roles?
> 
> Personally, I really think B5 is a series that should be redone *sooner* than later, because it was made in a very inopportune time. (I think I alluded to this a few days ago.) It was made with a lot of very sophisticated special effects, after the beginning of the use of digital video for such effects, but before that technology was sufficient to translate into HD.
> 
> ...


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## RAD (Aug 5, 2002)

dreadlk said:



> Yep thats the odd thing about B5, it's probably the best SciFi series ever produced yet it gets very little recognition. I am sure that one day people willl look back and revive it, but by then it will be all new actors.


Maybe it was because of it's syndication system, a loose set of local stations that usually has low viewer ship to begin with. It didn't hit a major outlet until season 5 on TNT and by then it's bese days were over.


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## rebkell (Sep 9, 2006)

RAD said:


> Maybe it was because of it's syndication system, a loose set of local stations that usually has low viewer ship to begin with. It didn't hit a major outlet until season 5 on TNT and by then it's bese days were over.


That was definitely the case around here, it was first on a local independent station that was low powered, eventually became a WB station(I had it on cable thank goodness). They dropped it after the first season and I had to depend on a buddy at work that could get the Knoxville UHF station, but he barely got it and the tapes were almost unwatchable at times. Finally the 3rd season(possibly late in Season #2) was picked up by our local Fox station and I also found the feed on satellite and watched it during the week that way and then finally TNT picked it up for season #5. It was certainly a chore keeping up with, but it was definitely worth it.

I did watch it all the way through again, I think it was TNT that ran it every day while they were running Season #5 and they also ran all the movies.


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## SayWhat? (Jun 7, 2009)

dreadlk said:


> why have they not made any more Bab5 productions when this show is such a hit? I mean if you mention the top 3 scifi series almost every geek in the world has B5 in that list. You sure that something else is not going on, cause I hear that JM would love to make more B5 but he cant get any funding!


It ended because it ended. It was a specific story line with a specific conclusion.

No, I don't think B5 should be remade. Ever.

The only thing worth watching on "V" was Diana.

Now, why do people quote the entire post instead of just the relevant portion?


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## dreadlk (Sep 18, 2007)

V was not one of my favorite shows, IMO a complete waste of cash by ABC, I give it one season or less.



bicker1 said:


> I have some potential sacrilege to put forward. It stems from a stupid message I saw posted as a reply to a blog message about the premiere of the reboot of the "V" franchise (now scheduled for Tuesday, November 3, on ABC).


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## bicker1 (Oct 21, 2007)

I wouldn't dismiss it so quickly -- this time around it has a much more impressive cast than last time AFAIC.


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## dreadlk (Sep 18, 2007)

Lets hope 
What I really wish would come Back is Terminator SCC. If V and Defying Gravity are succesful, maybe FOX will want to have a Scifi show to put up against them! But hey it's FOX so I know thats never going to happen.



bicker1 said:


> I wouldn't dismiss it so quickly -- this time around it has a much more impressive cast than last time AFAIC.


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## LOCODUDE (Aug 8, 2007)

Here's another hope for that thought......


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## V'ger (Oct 4, 2007)

rebkell said:


> That's the only SD DVD I've bought since I got into Blu-ray. He had plans for more direct to DVD, but I guess it depended on how well the first one went. Not really sure if it did very well or not.


I bought it when it first came out. It definitely felt like B5, but the limited number of characters did make the place seem 'smaller'.


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## V'ger (Oct 4, 2007)

dreadlk said:


> From what I have heard, JM made a whole lot of enemies, he is literally black listed with the Hollywood crowd. I heard that they even destroyed all the B5 props costumes and sets even though he wanted to buy and save them.


That might be revisionist history on JMS wanting to buy everything. He wrote nearly every episode after the first season. He was reported working 20 hours per day. When he finished the series, he had used up all the ideas in his story arc.

When the fifth season was over, they wasted no time destroying sets. The series was filmed at a former warehouse in Sun Valley CA which was owned by the production company. I seriously doubt Warner Brothers owned the props or sets. Certainly they didn't have possession of them. It is my opinion they were destroyed to prevent Warner Bros from recreating the series without JMS' control. They also needed room in the studio for the Crusade sets.

The CGI models were in JMS's possession and he stated several years later that the hard drives that the CGI models were on were no longer in existance (with implication again to prevent an easy series return). Blowing up B5 in Sleeping in Light was an intentional attempt to prevent a series resurrection.

Now there might have been bridges burned, but there was a greenlight for preproduction on a theatrical B5 movie, surviving the death of Richard Biggs and then ended with the loss of Andreas Katsulas.


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