Crusade???

[Crusader]

Right i have a few questions

(1) At what point did TNT interfere with production, and to hwat extent did they interfere???

(2) There were two diiferent Uniforms, as TNT aired the episodes out of their intended sequence which one was the "original" uniform???

(3) Did JMS ever discuss how the series would have progressed over the five years had it not been cancelled???

(4) What was the primary reason for the cancellation, from what ive read Crusade was cancelled before a single episode aired. So raitngs couldnt have really been an issue could they???

(5) JMS said NASA's JPL were consulted on B5 in order to make it realistic, was this the same case for crusade and if so how involved were they in production, ie designing of vessels etc???

(6) and finally was there ever any insight into others that JMS and the production team considered for the main roles???

Those of you who have read my other posts will know that the info provided is to go into the Crusade article on The Babylon Project (http://babylon5.wikia.com/wiki/Crusade), so thanks in advance.

 

[vacantlook]

I'll try to answer what I can.

(2) There were two diiferent Uniforms, as TNT aired the episodes out of their intended sequence which one was the "original" uniform???

The episodes filmed with the grey and red "bell hop" uniforms were the episodes filmed first. The black uniform episodes were filmed afterward.

(3) Did JMS ever discuss how the series would have progressed over the five years had it not been cancelled???

Not too much. He's told us that the cure would be found somewhere mid season two or so. The show would have evolved into something much different than a hunt for a cure, similarly to how B5 changed from being about Sinclair's missing 24 hours into the Shadow War. We know that left over Shadow technology, and Earth's using it in black projects would have become significant, and that the Excalibur would have gone rogue as a result of clashes with Earthforce. Based on one of the unfilmed scripts that used to be available online (but aren't anymore), we know that the ship that destroyed the ship Gideon served on years in his past when he was rescued by Galen was one such Earth-Shadow black project. We also know that Gideon was going to have been shot and killed at the end of season one, and that the Apocalypse Box was going to have played some role in his return. We also know that Dureena was going to have disappeared for a while in the first season and return with a sword and no memory of what had happened to her, and that she would acquire some level of abilities along the lines of what she wanted Galen to teach her, and that would leave Galen disturbed over the direction she was going.

(4) What was the primary reason for the cancellation, from what ive read Crusade was cancelled before a single episode aired. So raitngs couldnt have really been an issue could they???

As TNT was gearing up for Crusade, they finished a study they were conducting of their ratings over the past five years, which included the time that the fifth season of Babylon 5 aired on their network. In so doing, they learned that Babylon 5 did not expand their audience. People who tuned in to watch B5 did not stick around to watch anything else, and the regular TNT viewers tuned to something else while B5 was on. This led to TNT deciding that they didn't want Crusade after all, but they had already signed the contracts, so they tried to make life as miserable as possible for jms through sending so many conflicting and absurd requests and demands for changes in the show so that he would pull out of the show or so that they could claim that they weren't getting the show they wanted and thus pull out of the contract. They couldn't just flat-out pull out otherwise they could have been sued for breach of contract.

(6) and finally was there ever any insight into others that JMS and the production team considered for the main roles???

I think Jan knows more about this than anyone, but I think there were moments when jms was considering having either Lochley or having Michael York play the lead character captaining the Excalibur, and that he considered having Andreas Katsulas play Galen.

 

[Crusader]

Yeh thanks. Jan already replied on JMSnews forums so ive gt what he said. Though id post here to see what others had to say, that and my account on JMSnews wont let me post anymore because i changed my email adress and i never received the confirmation email

 

[Jan]

Though id post here to see what others had to say, that and my account on JMSnews wont let me post anymore because i changed my email adress and i never received the confirmation email

Crusader, PM me with your email and whether you want to stick with the screen name you were using before and I'll write to DougO and see if he can help you out.

Jan