Joseph DeMartino
Moderator
Finally revealed! Where JMS got the \"B5\" idea
Forget all that stuff about the Arthurian legends, how G'Kar was a Cassandra figure and Londo was influenced by King Lear. Don't bother digging through books on Greek myth or Sumerian legend. And file all of that Tolkein crap away with the rest of the conspiracy theories.
I'm about to reveal the true insipiration for Babylon 5.
JMS stole it all right.
He stole it from ...
Mel Brooks!
OK. Mel Brooks and Buck Henry.
He didn't experience a sudden epiphany in the shower. He ate an entire pepperoni pizza, watched a TV Land marathon and fell into a troubled sleep. When he awoke he remembered a strange dream. So he sat down at his desk and in one burst of energy he wrote the outline to his science fiction epic, the one he that would make his reputation and which he would claim as his own original idea for all these years. Now it can finally be told. Babylon 5 is nothing more than a science fiction remake of...
GET SMART!
Ah, starting to see it now, aren't you. The intrepid, but sometimes slightly dim hero? The beautiful but often ignored heroine? The older mentor? The mysterious, never seen associate? (JMS combined the characters of The Chief and Agent 13 when he created Kosh, but he isn't fooling me.) Zack was obviously inspired by Hymie the robot. And what is Sebastian but a poor-man's Dr. Siegfried? (Siegfried had more sinister torture equipment, and a much more sinister accent) Like Sinclair, Maxwell Smart had memory problems. Like Sheridan, Smart was fond of gadgets and liked blowing things up. (Granted in Smart's case the stuff he blew up generally belonged to his own side, but you have to make certain cosmetic changes when your trying to disguise a theft this big.) Like Delenn Agent 99 repeatedly saved her man's bacon, and put up with his quirks. (Max's multiple door locks, his constantly malfunctioning shoe phone, and his annoying catch-phrase, "Wouldja believe". Sheridan's fondness for nuclear weapons, his constantly malfunctioning undead wife, and his annoying catch-phrase, "Straight to hell.")
I'm telling you it's all so obvious. Just watch 15 or 16 S1 episodes in a row, switch over to TV Land at about 3 in the morning and catch a rerun of Get Smart! and you'll see it to.
Babylonian creation myth my ass!
NEXT WEEK: How George Lucas pillaged The Wizard of Oz and made about a billion dollars.
Forget all that stuff about the Arthurian legends, how G'Kar was a Cassandra figure and Londo was influenced by King Lear. Don't bother digging through books on Greek myth or Sumerian legend. And file all of that Tolkein crap away with the rest of the conspiracy theories.
I'm about to reveal the true insipiration for Babylon 5.
JMS stole it all right.
He stole it from ...
Mel Brooks!
OK. Mel Brooks and Buck Henry.
He didn't experience a sudden epiphany in the shower. He ate an entire pepperoni pizza, watched a TV Land marathon and fell into a troubled sleep. When he awoke he remembered a strange dream. So he sat down at his desk and in one burst of energy he wrote the outline to his science fiction epic, the one he that would make his reputation and which he would claim as his own original idea for all these years. Now it can finally be told. Babylon 5 is nothing more than a science fiction remake of...
GET SMART!
Ah, starting to see it now, aren't you. The intrepid, but sometimes slightly dim hero? The beautiful but often ignored heroine? The older mentor? The mysterious, never seen associate? (JMS combined the characters of The Chief and Agent 13 when he created Kosh, but he isn't fooling me.) Zack was obviously inspired by Hymie the robot. And what is Sebastian but a poor-man's Dr. Siegfried? (Siegfried had more sinister torture equipment, and a much more sinister accent) Like Sinclair, Maxwell Smart had memory problems. Like Sheridan, Smart was fond of gadgets and liked blowing things up. (Granted in Smart's case the stuff he blew up generally belonged to his own side, but you have to make certain cosmetic changes when your trying to disguise a theft this big.) Like Delenn Agent 99 repeatedly saved her man's bacon, and put up with his quirks. (Max's multiple door locks, his constantly malfunctioning shoe phone, and his annoying catch-phrase, "Wouldja believe". Sheridan's fondness for nuclear weapons, his constantly malfunctioning undead wife, and his annoying catch-phrase, "Straight to hell.")
I'm telling you it's all so obvious. Just watch 15 or 16 S1 episodes in a row, switch over to TV Land at about 3 in the morning and catch a rerun of Get Smart! and you'll see it to.
Babylonian creation myth my ass!
NEXT WEEK: How George Lucas pillaged The Wizard of Oz and made about a billion dollars.
