Caddickisms

J. Michael Straczynksi, the creator of the 5-year TV series Babylon 5 in the 90’s, has been doing little side stories from the B5 universe on and off since the show ended. A few TV movies, a canceled series (Crusade), a backdoor pilot (Legend of the Rangers - LOTR), and a direct-to-DVD anthology (B5: The Lost Tales - TLT) were all made, and none of them really reached the same level of quality as the original show. There was also a theatrical release (B5: The Memory of Shadows - TMOS) in the works for a while, but that fell through before even pre-production. There was a proposal for one more D2D starring fan favorite Garibaldi, but after the announcement JMS just made, it looks like that won’t happen, unfortunately:

B5 as a five year story stands beautifully on its own. If anything
else is to be continued from that story, it should be something that
adds to the legacy of B5, rather than subtracts from it.

As well intentioned as Rangers and TLT were, as enticing as it was to
return to those familiar waters, in the end I think they did more to
subtract from the legacy than add to it. I don’t regret having made
them, because I needed to go through that to get to the point where I
am now psychologically, but from where I sit now, I wouldn’t make them
again.

So I’ve let everyone up here know that I’m not interested in doing any
more low-budget DVDs. I’m not interested in doing any low-budget
cable things or small computer games. The only thing I would be
interested in doing regarding Babylon 5 from this point on is a full-
featured, big-budget feature film.

It’s that or nothing.

And if it’s nothing, I’m totally cool with that because the original
story stands on its own just fine. I’m not lobbying for it, I’m not
asking fans to write in about it (nor should you) because such
campaigns never really have much impact…that’s simply the position
I’ve taken up here. Lord knows I don’t lack for other things to do
these days. I’m busier on more prestige projects with terrific people
and great film-makers than at any other time in my career.

At the end of the day, for me, it’s not just a matter of getting more
B5. It’s a matter of getting more *good* B5 that respects what came
before it and doesn’t have to compromise visually or in terms of
action. The original show deserves better than that, the surviving
cast members deserve better than that, and the fans who have supported
it over the years definitely deserve better than that. A lot better.

So, barring a big-budget movie, which is pretty unlikely, Babylon 5 will see no more stories. That’s a shame, because JMS had created a universe rich with story-telling potential, and there’s a lot left that could be done. But then again, aside from the vast potential snuffed out in Crusade, I’d have to agree that the other efforts suffered greatly when compared to the original series. He’s right in saying that the 5-year story stands on its own. And if it has to end, then I’m okay with that.

And as he says, he’s got plenty of other stuff to keep him busy.

Still… I wouldn’t mind a couple more book trilogies…

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Top five shows that shouldn’t have been cancelled - Quit Your Day Job:

Lee came up with a good Friday Top Five this week. What are the 5 best shows that met an untimely end at the hands of the network suits?

1 & 2: This is a tie for me. Firefly and Crusade were both handled horribly by their respective networks (Fox and TNT), and both were aborted before they even had a chance—Crusade was even cancelled before it aired. They also both had overarching story arcs that would have been amazing. Crusade had a 5 year plan (as its parent show, Babylon 5, did) and would have taken an extreme turn in the very next episode after it was cancelled. Firefly didn’t have a set time that I know of, but it had an obviously evolving story with a defined end point. When the follow-up theatrical release, Serenity, came out, it was obvious that it was compressing multiple years worth of episodes into its running time. While the movie was great, it would have been so much more satisfying, and a more fully-realized story, to have it all play out over the course of a few seasons.

3: The 4400. It had a great run on USA Network, but it needed to resolve the story. Everything was heating up for the big reveal, and fans were left hanging. I still haven’t quite accepted that it’s not coming back.

4. Journeyman. The only reason this is #4 instead of a three-way tie for #1 is that they found out early enough that they were being cancelled that they wrote a suitable finale. While there was plenty left to sustain multiple future seasons, they managed to make the last show feel like an ending. Thanks for that, at least. Still, it was cut down way too early - and again, handled very poorly by the NBC suits, who didn’t seem to know what to do with it. In their defense, it had a bit of a slow start, but when it started firing a couple episodes in it was top-notch TV. Easily the best show to run last year.

5. The Dead Zone. This one, again, had a good run on USA Network. But just like The 4400, they were gearing up for the big stuff when they got axed. I appreciate that they were kept on as long as they were, but if the writers could have gotten some advance notice of the cancellation, they could have tied the show up properly - even if it had to be rushed into an episode or two.

Honorable mention: Nowhere Man. We’re re-watching this on DVD now. It’s showing its age a little, but I was hooked on this show during its short original run. Again, cut off way too early, but the writers saw it coming and had time to cram an ending into the last few episodes. It felt rushed, but it was good stuff.

Agree? Disagree? What are your picks? Lee has an almost completely different list, but I’d agree they all should have gone on a little longer (except Seaquest DSV… that one had to go. I cringed when it came on.)

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It’s been quite a while since I found some worthy Babylon 5 geeking. Check this out.

An impressive job. He fits a huge number of major points from the show into that song.

For those who want the lyrics, there’s a normal and annotated version.

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We’ve got a firm street date for the new Babylon 5 movie! In fact, you can start ordering now!!

As a reminder, here’s the early description from JMS, as I reported earlier:

This first DVD, entitled “Voices in the Dark,” covers the same 72 hour period of time as Sheridan travels on board a Presidential Cruiser en route to Babylon 5 from Minbar for a celebration marking the 10th anniversary of the founding of the Interstellar Alliance. One part of the story follows Sheridan as he picks up an unexpected visitor on the edge of Centauri space, Prince Regent Dius Vintari, and a warning about what will come afterward delivered by the techno-mage, Galen. The other part of the story is set aboard Babylon 5, as Colonel Lochley summons a priest from Earth space to deal with a problem that may have dark supernatural overtones. The two parts of the greater story intersect at certain key plot and thematic points, so that they overlap and complement each other while telling separate, but simultaneous, stories.

I can’t wait.

Technorati Tags: Babylon 5, Bruce Boxleitner, Peter Woodward, Tracy Scoggins, JMS, technomages

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I just caught up on my JMSNews reading and found a few items I thought I’d point out.

First, we have a tentative release time for Babylon 5: The Lost Tales (which I previously posted about in more detail): they’re shooting for a release during the week of July 27th.

For those into seriously trivial information about JMS, he also released a list of his entire video/DVD collection. I didn’t read through the whole list, but I did scan it. In general, we seem to have similar tastes. Not sure if that’s a good thing…

Answering a follow-up question, he noted that he used software and a scanner to gather all the catalog information. Here’s what he said about the process:

I got this nifty new hand scanner and software that lets me just scan the imdb number on the back and it auto-loads the full info about the movie, takes about a second per dvd, not counting the load-up time online.

Sounds kinda cool. I don’t have nearly that many DVDs, but I know a couple people who could use it.

Technorati Tags: JMS, Babylon 5, dvd catalog software

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J. Michael Straczynski - B5:TLT Pre-Production - Babylon5scripts.com

Babylon 5: The Lost Tales, Disc 1 has now finished principle photography. B5:TLT is a series of Direct-to-DVD stories that focus on a single character, or a few, in the B5 universe. Characters are played by the same actors who created the roles in the previous Babylon 5 series (both B5 and Crusade, at least). Creator/writer/director/producer J. Michael Straczynski describes the first offering:

This first DVD, entitled “Voices in the Dark,” covers the same 72 hour period of time as Sheridan travels on board a Presidential Cruiser en route to Babylon 5 from Minbar for a celebration marking the 10th anniversary of the founding of the Interstellar Alliance. One part of the story follows Sheridan as he picks up an unexpected visitor on the edge of Centauri space, Prince Regent Dius Vintari, and a warning about what will come afterward delivered by the techno-mage, Galen. The other part of the story is set aboard Babylon 5, as Colonel Lochley summons a priest from Earth space to deal with a problem that may have dark supernatural overtones. The two parts of the greater story intersect at certain key plot and thematic points, so that they overlap and complement each other while telling separate, but simultaneous, stories.

The link above includes behind-the-scenes photos from Straczynski’s personal stash, as well as more information about the process and effects.

Technorati Tags: J. Michael Straczynski, Babylon 5, B5, Crusade, TV, Direct-to-DVD

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JMSNews

J. Michael Straczynski, the creator/writer/producer of Babylon 5 and Crusade, has been writing for television for twenty years. He’s been pretty successful at it, too. He doesn’t just write for TV, though. He’s also writing for comics (currently The Amazing Spider-Man, among others), and has published anthologies, short stories, novels, articles, and just about anything else you can imagine. The guy literally writes all but three days of the year, if I remember correctly. Plus he’s extremely active on USENET, where he is known as JMS (or at times, Joe), and is very open and accessible to fans.

He’s very well known in sci-fi/fantasy circles, and in the world of TV scriptwriters, but he’s not a household name. In fact, even within Hollywood he’s apparently not well known within movie studios. TV studios, yes; movie studios, not so much. As a fan of his work, sometimes that’s hard to remember. I tend to picture him as much more visible professionally than he actually is.

Recently, one of his stories, “The Changeling,” was picked up by Ron Howard and will be made into a movie. This is a huge deal for him. Even he was not prepared for the whiplash this caused as his career was catapulted from near obscurity (within the movie world) to A-list screenwriter. As he wrote on rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated:

And then the offers started. Rewrite offers. Original film offers.
Adaptations. I’ve had no less than one and in many cases two or three
studio meetings every day for the last several weeks, and my calendar
is one big mass of black type for the next four weeks. A big-budget
feature that Sony wants me to rewrite because it has to go into
production fast, one that Universal wants developed, on and on and
on…all I have to do is say yes to whichever ones I want and they’re
mine. Everything I’ve ever written is suddenly being pored over and
optioned.

I have never seen anything like it. I’ve read about this sort of
thing, but to experience it personally is…strange, so strange. The
stuff I’ve had out there before, the novels and short stories and the
like, are all exactly what they were before this…the words didn’t
change on the page, the stories didn’t alter, but suddenly the
*context* in which they are being seen has changed radically.

This is really interesting to me. First of all, it reminds me that not everyone who has their name in the credits of shows or printed on books is “living large” - most are toiling in relative obscurity like the rest of us. Even, oddly, some of the more successful ones. Secondly, it’s an indictment of how fickle and political Hollywood can be. That’s certainly not a revelation, but the end of the above quote does bring it into sharper focus for me. Suddenly, things that have been written for quite some time are getting a whole new level of attention because one guy liked one story, and the author is now getting a whole new level of respect. As he says, the content didn’t change, just the mindset of the reader.

Sadly, that kind of thing goes on all the time, all over the world. If you don’t have a “sponsor” in the corporate world, it’s really hard to climb past a certain level on the ladder. Once you get one, suddenly people start listening to everything you’ve been spouting off about for the last umpteen years. The content of what you say hasn’t changed, just the expectation of the people listening to it.

When you think about it, that’s really disheartening. It implies that your ideas have no value until one of them are endorsed by someone in power. Then, and only then, can you be labled a “genius.” Without that endorsement, you are just some schmuck who has a lot of hair-brained things to say, some of which may sound good, but will ultimately fall on deaf ears and go nowhere.

Hey… did anybody notice that the focus of this post took a wild left turn?

Congrats, JMS. I wish you much success in the wake of your newfound notariety. It’s about time.

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FOR WHAT IT’S WORTH | Bryce Zabel: Spaced Out: Hawking Colonies & Re-Booting Star Trek

Bryce Zabel (Dark Skies, Lois & Clark) and J. Michael Straczynski (Babylon 5, Crusade, Jeremiah) were sitting around in 2004 talking about the poor turnout in the Star Trek franchise and came up with an idea to reinvigorate it. And they wrote it down. And now, with J.J. Abrams named as the head of the next proposed Star Trek offering, their ideas will never be filmed—so they’ve released their treatment proposal to the public.

They wanted to “re-imagine” the Original Star Trek—the same Kirk, Spock, and McCoy, but with more up-to-date situations, motivations, and relationships, and a cohesive story arc. It’s the same kind of idea that has been accomplished so well with Battlestar Galactica.

I was one of the ones who hated the idea of re-imagining Battlestar Galactica, and I now think it’s one of the best shows on TV, so I’m not going to dismiss a “re-imagining” idea out of hand. That’s not to say that it would be easy to see this kind of thing happen, but I’d at least give it a chance (if it were to get one).

(I did find it funny that in their listing of Universe A, they left out Star Trek: Insurrection. Am I the only person who thought that was a worthwhile movie? Certainly not the best, but I’d put it above Generations, for sure.)

Interesting stuff, anyway. I’m glad they released it.

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I just watched Disc Three of the Crusade series, written by J. Michael Straczynski (JMS). Luckily, I was apparently watching one of the early discs produced since it had his commentary on the episode Racing the Night. (All of his commentaries were removed from later discs at his request since Warner Bros. broke their contract with him by not including his full commentary, including criticisms of TNT.)

I just listened to the commentary and wanted to share the things that JMS said about the direction the show and its characters would take, had it run its course.

• The cure for the plague would have been found in the middle of the second season. (I had heard that elsewhere, but it was in the commentary so here it is.)
• In the process of finding the cure, the crew would have discovered that Earth was running its own secret program, continuing to use Shadow technology (which they weren’t supposed to have in the first place) for its gain.
• Gideon and the crew would have been “blacklisted” from Earth as a result of this discovery. It sounds like they would have been in a similar position to that of Babylon 5 when they seceded from Earth in the mid-third season of Babylon 5.
• The first season cliffhanger, which was one of two scripted but unproduced episodes, would have ended with Gideon being shot. He would have died. (But of course this is sci-fi; read on.)
• Somehow, Gideon’s conciousness would have been transferred to the Apocolypse Box. The implication in the commentary is that Gideon would have been resurrected, in a sense, later - I assume early in Season Two.(Though I’m sure it would have been handled differently, that’s another obvious parallel to B5.)
• At some point, Dureena would have disappeared for two episodes. When she returned, she would have carried a special sword of some kind, and begun a transformation into a technomage of sorts, though with a much darker bent than Galen appears to have. Her path would be led by a need for revenge. Galen and Dureena would have been set up to have some rather interesting conflicts. (Again, another parallel to B5: that sounds reminiscent of Londo and G’Kar.)
• There is a reference to the Biblical book of Job in the episode. JMS said he thought that was probably the single best story in literature, and this early tip was a foreshadowing of the arc of the entire series. If you know that book, you know, in broad strokes, what Crusade was about.

So there you have it.

I was fortunate enough to read the two aforementioned unproduced scripts, and I can say that it was obvious that there would have been a quantum shift in the tone and direction of the show come the season finale. I remember reading it and then sitting in front of the final page saying, “Whoa.” Shocked. The more I learn, the more disappointed I am that the show was cancelled before it even aired! I am SO disappointed in TNT.

As I’m sitting here typing I think I might have figured out at least one level of the Job parallel (I’m sure it would have worked on multiple levels). My guess is that Galen, whom Gideon completely trusts to save him, would have been the God analog, while Dureena, after slowly progressing down her darker path, would have been the Satan analog. Gideon would have, in a sense, been caught between the two and forced to choose his allegience.

In all likelihood, Gideon would also have been put in a similar situation politically - with EarthGov as the Satan analog and … I don’t know … Earth rebels, Mars, or the Interstellar Alliance, maybe … as the God analog.

Anyway… that’s conjecture. Cool stuff though. I wish it could have been produced to the end.

There is some hope to find out the truth, however. I recently read a note from JMS that when the Crusade script books are published, he will probably report what the whole story arc would have been! Can’t wait to buy those!

Some B5/JMS/Crusade related links:

• B5 Script books (limited editions, won’t be available forever)
• JMS News
• Lurker’s Guide to Babylon 5
• Free B5 episode downloads from AOL (IE-only)

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