• The new B5TV.COM is here. We've replaced our 16 year old software with flashy new XenForo install. Registration is open again. Password resets will work again. More info here.

He's BAAAAaaaaaccckkk!

He\'s BAAAAaaaaaccckkk!

:D

Sorry I've been so silent lately. The storms were problem one, the clean-up and mess at work problem two (including a mold-infestation in our building, no air conditioning and the complete or total loss of a couple of other clinics and office buildings which required lots of shifting of resources and improvisation.) Finally, when all of that seemed to be settling down, people started getting sick. Not sure if it was the mold or the usual health department syndrome - sick people come to our locations, our techs go to the same locations and come back to headquarters, the germs and viruses just keep getting spread around. Throw in immune systems impaired by stress, lack of sleep, poor diet and long work hours and you get what I got - almost three weeks flat on my back followed by several more weeks of sneezing and assorted aches and pains that don't seem to want to go away.

I also had storm-related computer problems that ended up way down on my post-hurricane priority list. (Heck, I only replaced my dead cordless phone and answering machine and retired my "princess phone and 30 foot telephone cable" arrangement last week. <g>)

Oh, and did I mention that I was right in the middle of a home remodeling project in the middle of all of this? (The delivery of my washer and dryer was scheduled for 24 hours before one of the storms was due to hit.)

So I haven't had the time, inclination or energy to deal very much with the internet - and given the passions that got stirred up around election time and inevitably spilled into virtually every discussion on the 'web (except on fora where politics is banned) this didn't seem like such a terrible thing at least through November.

Now I'm suddenly coming back to a couple of rather bizarre controversies.

I'm not sure what to make of the movie rumors and I haven't caught up sufficiently with the newsgroup to know what has and hasn't been confirmed. But here are a couple of thoughts:

1) If the rumors are right and the film is more a "Crusade", technomage, maybe Rangers thing, I'm not all that interested in the first place. Call me crazy, but I think the first "B5" feature film ought to be part of the "B5" story - not one of the spin-offs. If they have to recast such a thing, that's regretable, but it isn't like their tinkering with a TV classic.

2) Given that what supposedly got WB all hot and bothered about doing a feature film was the *"B5"* DVD sales, I can't understand why they would sign off on a script that was not about the regular characters and the station. I'm also not sure why Richard Brigg's passing would require a major re-write for the film described on the 'web. Frankly it strikes me as unlikely that WB would do a non-B5 film and just as unlikely that they'd dump the main cast (which was the big draw for the hugely successful DVDs) on top of everything else. Warner Home Video being stupid and gutless with regard to the Crusade release is a very different thing than the feature film division shooting itself so spectacularly in the foot. And would they really risk big bucks by committing to a Crusade or (worse) Rangers-inspired theatrical film with little or no involvement from the B5 main cast before either of those projects had seen a DVD release?.

Sci-Fi went with Rangers as a B5 project in light of the B5 ratings. They refused to consider Crusade until they'd had a chance to see how it did "on their air". Why would WB take a different approach to gambling what could be anywhere from 30 to 50 million or even more on a movie resembling what's been rumored?

JMS's silence? Could be contractually required. (WB knows what a blabbermouth he is :)) Or it could be strategic. Given how much he hates leaks I don't think it would be beyond JMS to put out some disinformation for anyone dumb enough to pick it up and run with it without confirming the data. Just a thought.

3) I'm not buying the "Crusade" DVDs and have written Warner Bros. to let them know that, and to know why. TNT order? JMS commentary cut? No thanks, no sale. I'd like to see others boycott the discs as well *and* protest the bastardization of the set to WB.

4) I don't think it is too late to express our displeasure about what we're hearing. At least in the U.S. - and I have to assume the U.K. as well - not a hell of a lot of work gets done in any business between mid-December and mid-January.

5) If we find the right angle we might be able to get a mention of this whole thing into the kind of outlet, print, TV or on-line, that *other* media like to quote. Let me think about that for a couple of days.

My thanks to all who have expressed an interest in how I'm doing and where the heck I disappeared to, and to those who included me in the august company of fans who make up the "war council" trying to organize a response to whatever WB is up to.

Regards,

Joe
 
Re: He\'s BAAAAaaaaaccckkk!

Nice to see that you're alive and unharmed, so to speak. Anyway, the community here... well... was disturbed wihtout your presence. Show us the light.
 
Re: He\'s BAAAAaaaaaccckkk!

Hey, man.

Congrats on the re-modeling and I'm glad the storms didn't "remodel" your house for you.

FWIW, I can't believe some of the crap I've been reading about the supposed new movie, that's why I'm not worked up over it or participating in the threads about it. I'll need to hear something substantial to get pissed. Frankly, I'd be shocked if any B5 feature film ever gets made at all.
 
Re: He\'s BAAAAaaaaaccckkk!

Welcome back. :)

JMS's silence? Could be contractually required. (WB knows what a blabbermouth he is :)) Or it could be strategic. Given how much he hates leaks I don't think it would be beyond JMS to put out some disinformation...

Why? What would be the desired end result, to make some fans look foolish?



... for anyone dumb enough to pick it up and run with it without confirming the data. Just a thought.

How is anybody supposed to get confirmation?


3) I'm not buying the "Crusade" DVDs and have written Warner Bros. to let them know that, and to know why. TNT order? JMS commentary cut? No thanks, no sale. I'd like to see others boycott the discs as well *and* protest the bastardization of the set to WB.

Still, that'll only hurt Crusade. Chances are that they won't read the letters, and will only see dismal DVD sales for Crusade, and then will blame that on the show, not the unethical suits who cut JMS's comments after they said they'd include them on the set, and not the suits that decided to use the screwed up TNT order.

I'm keeping my set. The quality is great, and the extras, while not as extensive as I would have liked (Wanted to see JMS comment on more than just one episode.), are very good.

See:

http://www.jmsnews.com/msg.aspx?id=1-17253

http://www.jmsnews.com/msg.aspx?id=1-17254

http://www.jmsnews.com/msg.aspx?id=1-17260
 
Re: He\'s BAAAAaaaaaccckkk!

Welcome back Joe. Yes the storms were terrible, having survived three Hurricanes myself I consider myself lucky. No damage at least.

Paul
 
Re: He\'s BAAAAaaaaaccckkk!

Heh,

You can tell JoeD is back when KoshN starts busting out the multi-quote posts in reponse to his. :p

Good to see someone tracked you down successfully. A lot of your comments about the movie make sense. While JMS did want to tell the Crusade story somehow, I see your point about it being odd that a movie inspired by B5 DVD sales would not be about B5, but Crusade, a story which never saw the airwaves and whose DVD was just now released. Does seem strange...

Guess we will wait and see. Welcome back to the fray. :)
 
Re: He\'s BAAAAaaaaaccckkk!

Welcome back.

I am off to my brother's for Christmas. Back in a few days.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY.
 
Re: He\'s BAAAAaaaaaccckkk!

1) If the rumors are right and the film is more a "Crusade", technomage, maybe Rangers thing, I'm not all that interested in the first place. Call me crazy, but I think the first "B5" feature film ought to be part of the "B5" story - not one of the spin-offs.

Agreed 100%. As soon as I saw all the recent news I lost alot of interest in the film anyhow, since I never really was nearly as much of a fan of Crusade and the whole Technomage thing as I was of the original B5.
 
Re: He\'s BAAAAaaaaaccckkk!

If the group of diplomats or whatever the term used that we've read about in regards to the potential plot of TMoS is comprised of people such as Sheridan and Delenn and Londo, etc, then it's plenty possible they'd have plenty to do in the movie and that the characters being listed in the various lists going around aren't as huge over original characters as the lists (and perhaps those involved that want to recast established characters) want us to believe. Then, as such, the plot would be parts of what Crusade would have gone into regarding leftover Shadow tech but would be done from the perspective of a few new characters as well as characters from Babylon 5.
 
Re: He\'s BAAAAaaaaaccckkk!

Welcome back Joe! I was starting to think the Vorlons had abducted you for some secret purpose.:cool:

Regarding the movie, it seems to me that although the telepath war was the original idea JMS had for a feature that the cancellation of Crusade changed his priorities and made the wrapping up of the Crusade storyline the primary candidate for a B5 feature film.
 
Re: He\'s BAAAAaaaaaccckkk!

Welcome back.

All of us are glad to hear you are fine (I was wondering whether you had an accident) and overcomed the bad time.

Regards,

Cadu
ZAHADUM
 
Re: He\'s BAAAAaaaaaccckkk!

Good to see you back, Joe. You make some good points, but I find the fact that three posters have independently discovered the same story about the recasting (even if one of them is CE! :D) to be most disturbing. Enough to remind WB of our presence, but certainly not enough to try to rattle cages. The letter campaign as presented/currently executed seems to me to be deliberate and without a downside.
 
Re: He\'s BAAAAaaaaaccckkk!

1) If the rumors are right and the film is more a "Crusade", technomage, maybe Rangers thing, I'm not all that interested in the first place. Call me crazy, but I think the first "B5" feature film ought to be part of the "B5" story - not one of the spin-offs. If they have to recast such a thing, that's regretable, but it isn't like their tinkering with a TV classic.

2) Given that what supposedly got WB all hot and bothered about doing a feature film was the *"B5"* DVD sales, I can't understand why they would sign off on a script that was not about the regular characters and the station. I'm also not sure why Richard Brigg's passing would require a major re-write for the film described on the 'web. Frankly it strikes me as unlikely that WB would do a non-B5 film and just as unlikely that they'd dump the main cast (which was the big draw for the hugely successful DVDs) on top of everything else. Warner Home Video being stupid and gutless with regard to the Crusade release is a very different thing than the feature film division shooting itself so spectacularly in the foot. And would they really risk big bucks by committing to a Crusade or (worse) Rangers-inspired theatrical film with little or no involvement from the B5 main cast before either of those projects had seen a DVD release?.

I highly doubt this is being viewed by WB as a Crusade or Rangers story. My theory is that, while JMS's preference was to do a movie that featured the original characters, presumably about the Telepath War, WB insisted that TV actors wouldn't sell tickets, so they asked JMS to write a story that features new characters played by new actors, with the original series B5 characters comprising the supporting cast. The storyline that JMS thought would work best given these constraints happened to involve one of the unresolved plotlines from Crusade (the Technomages' efforts to stop the spread of Shadow tech), but I doubt the folks in WB's film division know or care about this connection to Crusade. Now WB wants to go even farther and get rid of even the original castmembers.

Anyway Joe, that's my theory, and I'm curious to know what you think of it.
 
Re: He\'s BAAAAaaaaaccckkk!

But, as Joe said, and as I said a couple of times, it makes no sense for WB to recast the TV roles. The lead roles are new (assuming plot rumors are true), so they can be "stars," but paying for "star" film actors to replace the TV/DVD cast in supporting roles doesn't make financial sense, and is sure to piss off the fans. I guess we are all agreed that the WB suits can do things that make no sense, but I just find it very hard to believe they would waste money on expensive actors for supporting roles, in what is sure to be a modestly bugeted film.

So, welcome back, Joe. My question is, don't you think that if this whole recasting controversy was completely unfounded, JMS could, and would, say something cryptic, like 'the current controversy on the web is unfounded.'? As I've said before, the situation doen't make any sense to me, from any angle.
 
Re: He\'s BAAAAaaaaaccckkk!

You have a point JJ. However, I do think that wanting "movie" actors is not necessarily the same thing as wanting high priced actors. I think Quentin Tarantino once said that most casting people have a list of actors that they tend to draw on for even supporting roles, and aren't too comfortable with going outside the box. There are actors with recognizable faces in Hollywood who still aren't big enough stars that they command huge paychecks. WB might prefer folks like that. They also might be after younger actors, in order to appeal to the 15-35 demo. Of course I think the idea that this recasting would actually pay off is ridiculous (any new people they draw in would be more than offset by the negative reaction of diehard fans, who, were no recasting to take place, might see this movie 20 times). But this is the WB film division we're talking about. The TV division may have experience with B5, but the film division doesn't, and it's quite likely that they have zero understanding of what the fans want in this situation.

I also agree that JMS would say something cryptic to dissuade us from writing those letters if there was nothing to this. Some of the fans are putting an enormous amount of time into the anti-recasting campaign and, if JMS thought we were wasting our time, he could simply say "While I can't provide any new information about TMoS, I believe the information which led you to begin the 'Keep B5 Alive' campaign is incomplete, if not innacurate, and your energies would be better devoted to some other endeavor."
 
Re: He\'s BAAAAaaaaaccckkk!

Believe it or not, I actually do pay some attention to casting people. Did you know that Junie Lowery-Johnson who casts for Trek also casts for Six Feet Under? I don't think I've seen any overlap there, but I'm not really trying to refute your contention that casting directors have their own lists of familiars. But, I would also point out that the putative director is a relative novice, and therefore probably doesn't have his own list of familiars, like Tarantino, and the Coen Bros.

Joe seemed to think that maybe JMS couldn't say anything, even cryptically, so I'd still appreciate his opinion on the limited kind of statement WE both think he would issue. I still say that something doesn't make sense about this whole thing. If we assume that JMS approves of the campaign, it seems to me that perhaps the info on new characters and plot is distorted, and maybe the new characters aren't as prominent in the story as we have been lead to believe. I guess time will tell. :rolleyes:
 
Re: He\'s BAAAAaaaaaccckkk!

I also agree that JMS would say something cryptic to dissuade us from writing those letters if there was nothing to this. Some of the fans are putting an enormous amount of time into the anti-recasting campaign and, if JMS thought we were wasting our time, he could simply say "While I can't provide any new information about TMoS, I believe the information which led you to begin the 'Keep B5 Alive' campaign is incomplete, if not innacurate, and your energies would be better devoted to some other endeavor."

If the rumor was not true, couldn't JMS easily have dissuaded people from writing letters by saying:

"As I have said in the past, letter campaigns no longer work." ...or something to that effect.

Hell, he could even have come right out and said "Please do not take part in the 'Keep B5 Alive' letter campaign." if he thought the letter campaign would be counterproductive.

Because he hasn't said something like that, and instead said that he could not comment, it leads me to believe that the rumor is TRUE, or at least that the studio is looking for a fan response..
 

Latest posts

Members online

No members online now.
Back
Top