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I find this a little discouraging

Found this message from Bill Mumy. I know it's almost three weeks old, but the news of B5:TMOS had been around for a good two months by that time. If he still hasn't been contacted, then we may be looking at something other than the Telepath War. I don't think he would purposely lie or mislead us, especially when all he has to do is simply NOT reply.

Friday 04/30/2004 11:19:51pm
Name: Mumy
Comments: Hi Mindy,
You're not the first person to ask me about the recent Babylon 5 rumors. However, I know nothing and am in no way "in the loop". If I do hear something about it, I'll report it here.

Note: He hasn't posted anything yet. :(
 
JoeDM probably knows a lot more about this than I do but it may have something to do with the contracts? As I recall, B5 had a type of contract that stipulated that if one person on the cast got a raise, everyone had to. It's possible that they're negotiating with the larger parts/stars first?

No news is good news....

Jan
 
I agree, as tight a lid as this seems to have on it, probably nobody is being told anything until they "Have a need to Know"
 
Well, that would be the general assumption but JMS did say that they were in "phase 2", i.e. getting the money right for everybody. Even though the actors probably would be the last ones to get a call, one would think that essential actors (as Mumy would be for a Telepath flick) would have at least been contacted by now. But he has no idea.

All I know is this waiting is driving me ****ing nuts!
 
That is discouraging news no Bill Mumy maybe the new flick is something completely new to the b5 universe but a telling of other characters POV like if the movie is set during the shadow war.I guess we will have to wait and see.
 
Simply because Mumy and Christian aren't saying anything, or confirming anything, or indications are that they're about to start doing something else, that under no circumstances means that they still aren't in negotiations, or that they haven't already signed their contracts.

It's called a gag order. Even if they just signed a multi-million dollar deal, they can't say anything and have to appear as if nothing is going on until WB officially announces.

Christian's series appears to still be in pre-production, or could even have made arrangements to let her be somewhere else for a while to shoot TMoS.

Have patience folks. I'm not saying these signs aren't accurate measures of the possible story, but they aren't valid indications that these cast members aren't going to be there either.

We'll know when we know.

CE
 
I'm aware of the "gag order" aspect, however, Mumy seems like a straightforward guy (can you believe he turned 50 a few months ago?); it would've been just as easy for him to ignore the post, or to simply say, "Sorry, there's nothing I can tell you" or "No comment". If he says he doesn't know a thing about it, I tend to believe him.

There's nothing much else to do but speculate around here. What can I say? It's been a slow news month... or three.
 
Why everybody assume that there would have to be many B5 original cast members in B5 feature?

ACtA had only 4
TLaDiS had only 1

Maybe TMoS has only 1 or 2 B5 stars.
 
Why everybody assume that there would have to be many B5 original cast members in B5 feature?

ACtA had only 4
TLaDiS had only 1

Maybe TMoS has only 1 or 2 B5 stars.

Hi Sigma,

When JMS first started talking about the possibility of a theatrical feature (Back when Crusade was first being filmed, I believe) JMS had mentioned the possibility of wanting to do a Telepath Movie, and he also indicated that a Theatrical Feature would be a way to reward the original cast for sticking with B5 so long (IE: Theatrical release could allow higher salaries to be paid to the primaries)
 
Why everybody assume that there would have to be many B5 original cast members in B5 feature?

ACtA had only 4
TLaDiS had only 1

Maybe TMoS has only 1 or 2 B5 stars.

Besides, it's the most bankable option for getting the fans in the theatre seats. To not use the original cast would be like STII with only Kirk or Spock. No ST fan would've been happy in the least.

I would imagine that JMS will tell a story in which he can bring together all or as much of the original cast as possible...or risk alienating fans.
 
Why everybody assume that there would have to be many B5 original cast members in B5 feature?

Because

(A) It is almost certainly true that the reason the feature film is finally being made after all these years is that Warner Bros. unexpectedly made $70 million on the DVDs - which happen to star the original cast.

(B) Because B5:TMoS is not a pilot or lead-in for a new series that would feature a different cast by design as were ACtA and the Rangers pilot.

Regards,

Joe
 
I hope that TMoS will have nothing to do with teep-war. As I said, to me it just isn't interesting topic. I never did like telepaths anyway, they seemed to be too "generic scifi addon". Of course, they played a major role in the Shadow War back then... But... I just hope that TMoS will not be about telepaths. I hate half of Season 5 because of Byron and telepath "crisis". It's utterly pointless.

Of course, this is my opinion, you may or may not disagree with it.
 
I never did like telepaths anyway, they seemed to be too "generic scifi addon".

The telepaths were an integral part of the story from the opening moments of the pilot when Sinclair is called to the docking bay to meet the newly-arrived Lyta Alexander. "Generic sci-fi add-on"? No, teeps in Star Trek, where the privacy and other implications of telepathy were never explored, were generic SF add-ons. B5's telepaths, from Lyta, to Talia to Bester and Ivanova, were as critical to the over-all story as Centauri and Narn, as Londo and G'Kar. Or are semi-reptilian aliens also just a "sci-fi add-on". Doesn't what you do with an SF idea matter most? (Given how few original ones there realy are?)

Of course, they played a major role in the Shadow War back then... But... I just hope that TMoS will not be about telepaths. I hate half of Season 5 because of Byron and telepath "crisis". It's utterly pointless.

1) The teep thread only extended through 8 of 22 episodes, and was only the "A" story in about 5. So much for "half the season".

2) That "half season" would have been considerably more dramatic and involving had Claudia Christian not decided to leave the series. Those 8 episodes were supposed to pay off the latent telepthy thread that had been built up around her since her first appearance (when practically the first thing she does is snub new telepath Talia Winters - in marked contrast to Sinclair's warm greeting for Lyta.) Don't blame the teeps if a lot of the dramatic force was sucked out of that thread. Blame Claudia for bailing at the 11th hour. (Even Byron becomes easier to understand when you realized he was intended as someone that Ivanova could be attracted to - briefly - as a substitute for Marcus.)

3) One reason the whole thing seemed "pointless" is that the Crusade debacle wrecked JMS's plan to continue exploring the aftermath of the Teep War in the new series while telling the full story of the War itself in a then-planned feature film. That part of S5 was partly a matter of setting up future events that would have been covered on-screen down the road. It isn't JMS's fault (or the Teeps :)) that TNT went nuts and Warner Bros. lost faith in the viability of the B5 universe.

Of course your preferences are your preferences. No one can argue over emotions or matters of taste, because they are purely personal and not subject to fact checking and the like. But when you cite supporting evidence or reasoning to explain your dislikes, that evidence and reasoning is fair game for a challenge.

Regards,

Joe
 
99.99% agreed. Thanks for saving me all that typing. :D

ps. the 0.01% of disagreement was about:
"Even Byron becomes easier to understand when you realized he was intended as someone that Ivanova could be attracted to - briefly - as a substitute for Marcus."

I guess I dislike the guy too much to ever be able to imagine Ivanova or Lyta being attracted to him. :p
 
Why does everyone hate Byron? He wasn't that bad! Granted, the singing was a little ridiculous, but it was the perfect excuse to have a couple of Bester episodes, and I'm not going to complain about that ;)
 
Why does everyone hate Byron? He wasn't that bad! Granted, the singing was a little ridiculous, but it was the perfect excuse to have a couple of Bester episodes, and I'm not going to complain about that ;)
I've said it before, but it's been a long time- One of the reasons I didn't like Byron was because even though he was living in down below and presumably had limited access to shower facilities (and hair conditioner) he and most of the teep men had long silky hair, while most of the women looked like they were wearing fright wigs. :eek: :rolleyes:
 
One of the reasons I didn't like Byron was because even though he was living in down below and presumably had limited access to shower facilities (and hair conditioner)...

Oh, nonsense. He and his merry band obviously went around pulling that Jedi mind-trick of theirs and making members of the group briefly "invisible" all the time. In addition to letting them spy on alien ambassadors this made it very easy to use other people's shower and grooming products. I'll be they also watched TV and read magazines and books while they were at it. There probably wasn't a copy of The New Yorker anywhere on the station that hand't had its cartoons read, nor an issue of Playboy that hadn't had its centerfold oggled by someone other than the legitimate owner. I'll bet the whole time the teeps were there roomates were arguing over who used the last of the shampoo while single people asked themselves, "Didn't I just buy a bottle of this stuff?" But no one ever noticed a pattern because this isn't exactly the kind of thing you report to station security. :)

Regards,

Joe
 
Not certain about showers. Highly advanced species would probably employ other means against gathering dust...

...but are you sure it was not the associates who tasted the shampoo... and did the free reading? (All perfectly acceptable and motivated by genuine scientific interest.)

Of course, any loss of shampoo after the departure of Shadows... is unacceptable, and must be blamed on Byron and his oddball cult. :p
 
Not certain about showers. Highly advanced species would probably employ other means against gathering dust...

...but are you sure it was not the associates who tasted the shampoo... and did the free reading? (All perfectly acceptable and motivated by genuine scientific interest.)

"tasted the shampoo"? "free reading"? Sleepy, this reads like a reply to a post that nobody's made. I keep thinking there is an invisible message somewhere between my last post and yours that somehow bridges the gap between the two, and to which your reply makes sense. But no matter how long I stare at the screen, I can't see it. :)

Regards,

Joe
 
No invisible message, rest assured... just a very old Jedi mind-trick. :D

Now let me remember what the Jedi called it... was it not "approximation"? Seems somehow inaccurate. Or was it "derivation"? No. That sounds too un-original. Far-fetched as it may appear... perhaps it was "association"? ;)

It seems I cannot recall what the mind-trick was. But I am fairly certain it was not exclusive to the Jedi, and could be employed to disguise a messageboard post. :D

Either way, I suspect that someone has used it here -- and recommend carefully observing this obvious... outside context problem. It could develop further. ;)
 

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