Re: NEW Babylon 5 Series
 

What does it say about me that one of my first thoughts was 'The B5 Encyclopaedia is now going to be out-of-date"?! :p The idea of a reboot does unsettle me a bit as the original series has been such a big part of my life. It was an almost perfect story which was neatly concluded (forgetting the Crusade debacle for a moment). What is there to achieve creatively speaking from a reboot? I can't see how it can improve upon what went before in terms of storytelling.

From a production viewpoint, will this have full 22 episode seasons or be more in the modern mould of seasons with 13 episodes or fewer? I guess no-one knows that yet. It seems a risk to plan for another 5-year arc when it seemed the original series only achieved this feat by the skin of its teeth. Will the reboot have the same opportunity to tell such a story if the seasons have less time allotted to them? I'm probably completely wrong but I can't help but think of the 90s Dark Shadows reboot that told a year or more's worth of plotlines from the original series in 12 episodes! I hope JMS is right when he says he plans to use the B5 universe to tell a new story, retelling what went before could be a disaster.

As others have said, my main worry is the CW angle with its tendency to have casts of young and sexy twenty somethings. I hope the new series has the same diversity in casting that the original had and isn't constrained by network preferences.

A lot of suppositions and only time will tell what happens, I think we're all very protective of B5 and are hoping that this reboot is respectful of what we have loved all these years.

Re: NEW Babylon 5 Series
 

Oh my!


I had to find my login info and dust off my account for this. Looks like there's some B5 content on the way at some point.


I was a bit nervous about a reboot at first, and that it's on the CW (although there's upside there too), but since JMS is running it, I feel good about it. B5 is his baby and he wouldn't do anything to tarnish it. I'm down for a fresh story/take on the original concept.


Who else is kicking around here?

Re: NEW Babylon 5 Series
 

For my part, this is why I was excited that we’re getting another run at the B5 story but with a fresh lick of paint. I know a number of people who refused to watch the show because they couldn’t get past the effects.

Hi Recoil! I also went in search of this place when I heard the news. Thank you to the folks who kept it alive.

Re: NEW Babylon 5 Series
 

Welcome!! You can have a seat over here with the rest of us aliens.

Re: NEW Babylon 5 Series
 

We do seem to get a B5 rumor from time to time. I’d love to have more B5, whatever form it takes. But will it be easy to update?

Re: NEW Babylon 5 Series
 

JMS never got the chance to tell the stories he had planned for Crusade or Legend of the Rangers. And he's definitely sneaky enough to claim he's rebooting B5 and then just use those plotlines instead.



That's probably not what he'll do, but if the show is different from B5 and not just a remake, I'll be happy.

Re: NEW Babylon 5 Series
 

I saw one comment on Twitter yesterday that likened the concept of this reboot to a remix in music: In many ways you can still recognize the song even though there are some changes in both the music and instrumentation.

jms seemed to approve of this recent description: "Not the same stories and characters and scenes, but the same questions and themes and *humanity* that the original series had."

Re: NEW Babylon 5 Series
 

I just wish they'd reboot the Crusade story, without TNT interference. B5 is just fine as it is.

Re: NEW Babylon 5 Series
 

I'm excited to see just where JMS is going to go with this from the beginning. Originally in the pilot, In The Beginning, we had Lt. Commander Laurel Takashima as the station's XO. At least one of her character traits was implanted into the Ivanova character, specifically the fact that she uses the Hydroponic Garden to grow coffee beans. I would love to see how Laurel Takashima would have evolved had Tamlyn Tomita stayed on for the series. We may get that chance if JMS chooses to go that route.

Re: NEW Babylon 5 Series
 

Totally off topic, but UK represent :bolian:... I just realised there are a LOT of fans from the UK here.

P.S. I have no idea what that emoji is but it looks like a thumbs up?

Re: NEW Babylon 5 Series
 

I'm really excited about this!

I think we can't loose here at all!

If the new show is good: we win!

If it bad: who cares? WB lost money, and we won't see any other B5 content being made for TV. Well, we got that for the last 25 years and it didn't lessen our love for B5, so what?

If it is in between (say: catering too much to a specific, probably young, audience, who love it, but "we" hate it): So what? we still have the old show, the new show shall have it's fanbase and the influx in interest might finally get us that bluray edition of the original show.

I only see a win-nothing new-win here.

If we're really lucky it's a reboot like snowpiercer. I liked snowpiercer (the movie) and I loved the new show, so I say: let's keep it coming!

Re: NEW Babylon 5 Series
 

Interesting thread here, I think Springer is on the money, reboots are a creatively bankrupt concept and need something special to work.

It's so good to see all the old names!!!

Re: NEW Babylon 5 Series
 

must admit haven't been on here for a very very long time.

as far as the reboot is concerned, I'm not sure it will work unless JMS sticks to the major story beats.

Re: NEW Babylon 5 Series
 

It's a Bolian from Star Trek giving the thumbs up. Think of Mr. Mot, the barber on the TNG Enterprise.

Re: NEW Babylon 5 Series
 

I'm afraid that won't happen. JMS stated, that he will refrain from using characters who's actors are no more. And given how the B5 curse did manifest itself in the end, there're not many left...

Re: NEW Babylon 5 Series
 

He's only made the definite statement about not using G'Kar. And given how very many have passed, I'm perfectly happy if he changes his mind.

As for the 'B5 curse', that's for the weak-brained. No such thing.

Re: NEW Babylon 5 Series
 

I think they were referring to how many people have come out of the woodwork to share in the B5 merriment.

Re: NEW Babylon 5 Series
 

Strangely enough I heard this news at a bar on Monday from a guy sitting next to me that I hadn't even spoken a word to. Naturally I came here to read everyone's thoughts. It's been great to see many old names and faces reappear.

I'm excited about this. I know it will never be the original, but hopefully this will revive the franchise in a new way. It'll also renew interest to a newer audience and may cause them to go watch everything we've all come to know and love for so long. I am concerned about it being on CW as I can't think of anything I've ever watched on it.

Re: NEW Babylon 5 Series
 

I really liked the first two seasons of Arrow, the first two or three seasons of The Flash, and the first two seasons of Legends of Tomorrow. Though they were all three superhero shows, they each had different tonal qualities. Because the network has had so many superhero shows, I think that suggests the network is very sci-fi friendly.

Re: NEW Babylon 5 Series
 

If it has a Psi Cop as cool as Bester I will be happy

Re: NEW Babylon 5 Series
 

I haven't seen all of those, but I can agree on Arrow Season One being excellent as well as the first few seasons of The Flash. I didn't get into Legends of Tomorrow because I am not a fan of Time Travel and the like. :rolleyes: But early Arrow was fantastic. Plus I felt Dylan Neal was absolutely great as Dr. Ivo and he should have been a series regular. I really enjoy his series The Gourmet Detective, but Ivo was definitely the best performance of his I've ever seen.

Re: NEW Babylon 5 Series
 

Anybody else hoping the Crusade storyline gets incorporated into this?

Re: NEW Babylon 5 Series
 

No kidding. It's an interesting gesture, and it makes sense. I mean, who else could pull off G'Kar?

Re: NEW Babylon 5 Series
 

Small reminder that JMS has only explicitly said that he'd never recast G'Kar. And that was when Katsulas was only the second major cast member to pass away. I'll be perfectly happy if he changes his mind about that. There are many wonderful and talented actors out there who could play G'Kar as well, if differently, as Katsulas.

Re: NEW Babylon 5 Series
 

An excellent point. Perhaps that was in context to continuation rather than reboot. I don't know if you could tell the Babylon story without Londo and G'Kar unless you change the character's names and keep the core elements in place.

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Crusade should be kept from the core Babylon story. But if this series does well enough as Arrow did for the CW, there no reason why there couldn't be a spinoff in the Babylonverse like with Flash etc.

Re: NEW Babylon 5 Series
 

Wild speculation on my part, but I kinda expect a lot of new characters that occupy the same kind of thematic roles as the existing show. So, the trajectory of say 'Londo' is roughly the same but it's 'Kronkulon, the Centauri Ambassador' or whatever, this time around.

Re: NEW Babylon 5 Series
 

Curious as to whether the Centauri will give off as much Transylvanian vibes as their previous incarnation.

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Just wild guessing here, but wouldn't it be awesome if this time an other race would get the centauri arc? So JMS would keep fans guessing as to what goes on in this timeline?

Re: NEW Babylon 5 Series
 

That could be very interesting. I wonder if they'll keep/use Bester.

Re: NEW Babylon 5 Series
 

The thing that I felt helped Bester work, was that Walter Koenig was so beloved as Chekov in Star Trek... and then he was a detestable little troll in B5 (YMMV). So whoever they get to play Bester in the new B5, they would have to be someone people would be all "Oh it's them! I love them in such and such..." Just before they do something to shatter their perceptions.

Re: NEW Babylon 5 Series
 

Oh yes, now that would be an interesting switch up! There really is a LOT of scope for tinkering and making it something distinct from the original show. JMS has made it abundantly clear it will be different. It's weird seeing fans argue about actors and using old story lines. If I see 'do the Dilgar war' one more time I may scream...

That said, I would love to see more depth to the Telepath war / telepath arc, if it does indeed feature in this new iteration.

Re: NEW Babylon 5 Series
 

One thing that has me concerned. CW shows are only available in the US. But a large part of the B5 fanbase resides in the UK and other European territories. Does this make CW a poor choice for the revival?

Re: NEW Babylon 5 Series
 

They're the one who asked for it. So it was the only choice. And I don't know it personally but I understand that lots of things migrate over to HBO Max from the CW.

Re: NEW Babylon 5 Series
 

Unfortunately, HBO Max is not available in the UK either. I'm just concerned that the show's chances of a long and fruitful life may be negatively affected if it is not made available in the UK market.

I appreciate that the CW approached JMS. But who's to say that he didn't or wouldn't get other offers following the recent success of B5 on Amazon/iTunes/HBO?

Re: NEW Babylon 5 Series
 

Pretty sure I've seen CW shows on Netflix UK in the past. Plus, with a VPN, no issues. It's what I do these days.


In fact yes, the Sabrina reboot and Arrow are both on Netflix UK.

Re: NEW Babylon 5 Series
 

It's kind of infuriating that in this day we still have "Regions". It's getting in the way of our access to entertainment, and people willing to pay. I wanted to watch the film "Oldboy" but it's not available in my area.

Is this what NordVPN can help with? Am I allowed to ask that question, here? :o

Re: NEW Babylon 5 Series
 

I'd love to see that, but I think isn't the direction they are going. And will we ever get the story of the Telepath War?

Re: NEW Babylon 5 Series
 

I have a VPN and it works pretty well with Netflix. But it's very hit-and-miss with other streaming services.

Re: NEW Babylon 5 Series
 

Yes, it's really infuriating! No wonder people turn to VPNs and Piracy: Here we are, willing to pay for a certain content, only to be told "I'm sorry, we only can take your money if you're in the right area of the world." The CW Homepage does not even load at all here, it just tells me, that It'S only available in the US.
On Amazon prime I wanted to buy an episode of Columbo. The local Site did not have all episodes, so i figured: doesn't matter, I just buy it from the US site. Yeah, no way: I can only by it, if my IP and my credit card are US based.

That's so stupid for both sides!