All Things Babylon 5

Laurana Kanan said:
:mad:

Click to expand...
O-kay... :huh:

There's a fan feud that's been going on for literally 20 years over at TrekBBS, between the B5 fans and the "Niners". I've stayed out of it, because I don't see why both shows can't co-exist and fans can't enjoy both of them. I did, though I don't consider myself more than a casual fan of B5. I've seen the entire show, have the DVDs, and own the trilogy of novels about Bester.

DS9 is well down my list of favorite Star Trek series. It comes after TOS, TAS, and Voyager, and whether it comes before or after TNG depends on the season/episode (I didn't like either of them much once they became Worf's Klingon Soap Opera).
 
If anyone has seen JMS talking or writing about B5 Crusade please send me a link here.
 
I will now, thank you :goodjob:
 
JMS posted on his patreon some new information regarding the B5 reboot at The CW in light of the news that the network is going up for sale.

I will be posting a link to this shortly so that other online folks can get the news, but wanted to let Patrons here get the word first, even if only by a little bit.

Anyone who knows the history of Babylon 5 knows that the path of this show has never been easy, and rarely proceeds in a straight line. Apparently, that has not changed.

About a month or so ago it was announced that the CW Network, B5’s home for the last year while the pilot script was in active development, was up for sale. When news of this broke, the immediate question was: will this have any effect on B5? Situations like this have a way of upending development because new owners usually want to put their imprimatur on what programs go forward. Like everyone else, I’d hoped there would be no immediate impact, and that progress on the project would continue onward unabated.

A few days ago, I heard from inside Warner Bros. that there were a number of High Level Conversations taking place with the CW to determine how many pilots, and what sort, could be picked up during this transition, especially given pre-existing deals and commitments. This made sense given the preceding paragraph, but I remained optimistic.

Today, about an hour ago, Deadline Hollywood announced the slate of pilot scripts being picked up for production by The CW. Babylon 5 was not on that list.

When a pilot script is not picked up to production, 99.999% of the time, that’s the end of the road for the project, the script is dead.

However: shortly before that piece was published, I received a call from Mark Pedowitz, President of The CW. (I should mention that Mark is a great guy and a long-time fan of B5. He worked for Warners when the show was first airing, and always made sure we got him copies of the episodes before they aired because he didn’t want to wait to see what happened next.)

Calling the pilot “a damned fine script,” he said he was taking the highly unusual step of rolling the project and the pilot script into next year, keeping B5 in active development while the dust settles on the sale of the CW.

Here’s the bottom line:

Yesterday, Babylon 5 was in active development at the CW and Warner Bros. for fall 2022.

Today, Babylon 5 is in active development at the CW and Warner Bros. for fall 2023.

That is the only difference.

Would it have been wonderful if we’d gotten the green light today? Absolutely. Of course. But it seems we will have to wait a little longer. What matters is that the project is still very much alive, and when the time is appropriate, that window will give B5 fans the opportunity to express their passionate support for the series to the new owners of the CW.

As noted above: the road to Babylon 5 has never been easy. But the good news to come out of today is that the road is still very much intact.

Onward.

JMS​
 
It seems that the B5 reboot has either been cancelled or shelved for the time being. However, a week ago JMS teased a new animated movie that continues the original story. More info has arrived today via THR. It makes me sad that so many of the original cast are no longer with us, but I'm glad their characters can live on in a new medium.

www.hollywoodreporter.com

‘Babylon 5: The Road Home’ Voice Cast Unveiled (Exclusive)

J. Michael Straczynski's project brings back the original stars as well as new additions.
www.hollywoodreporter.com www.hollywoodreporter.com

Babylon 5: The Road Home will continue the story he started in the 1990s, with the logline stating, “Travel across the galaxy with John Sheridan as he unexpectedly finds himself transported through multiple timelines and alternate realities in a quest to find his way back home. Along the way he reunites with some familiar faces, while discovering cosmic new revelations about the history, purpose, and meaning of the Universe.”​
​
Returning Babylon 5 castmembers include Bruce Boxleitner as John Sheridan, Claudia Christian as Susan Ivanova, Peter Jurasik as Londo Mollari, Bill Mumy as Lennier, Tracy Scoggins as Elizabeth Lochley and Patricia Tallman as Lyta Alexander.​
​
Straczynski wrote the film and executive produces. Matt Peters, known for Batman and Superman: Battle of the Super Sons, directs, with Rick Morales serving as supervising producer. Sam Register is the executive producer on the project.​
​
The voice cast also includes Paul Guyet as Zathras and Jeffery Sinclair, Anthony Hansen as Michael Garibaldi, Mara Junot as Reporter and Computer Voice, Phil LaMarr as Dr. Stephen Franklin, Piotr Michael as David Sheridan, Andrew Morgado as G’Kar and Rebecca Riedy as Delenn.​
​
Warner Bros. Animation and Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment are plotting a summer release for the new animated feature.​
 
I can't tell if the animation style looks good or cheap.....
I'm not super enthused about it. I've never been big on time travel plots and this looks like it may be on big on fanservice.
 
I'm also not terribly excited about the animation, but I'm willing to overlook it if the story is compelling. And, considering B5 is my favorite TV show of all time I'm more than willing to give JMS the benefit of the doubt concerning the time travel / alternate universe angle. I'm just happy that the surviving OG cast members are returning to voice their characters, but sad that so many have passed. I'm also disappointed that Christopher Franke won't be doing the music.
 
No Christopher Franke music? Darn, his scores were absolutely epic and elevated the battles so much.
 
Hah excellent, I was just checking to see if anyone had covered this wonderful news here (otherwise I would have). So happy about this.. finally we get that remastered blu-ray release! :)

Also recently ordered the anime.. while I'm not a big anime person, anything that helps push a B5 resurrection is a wonderful thing in my book and I'm looking forward to watching it.

Also I just noticed this rather interesting comment from JMS on my feed...

1689780814215.png
 
Laurana Kanan said:
https://twitter.com/x/status/1681333005082820608

Awesome news! Apparently the MSRP is $99.99 and includes all five seasons including The Gathering movie.

Contrary to what JMS tweeted, I couldn't find product listings anywhere except this one at Amazon that hasn't gone live yet.

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Is there any point to a blu-ray release? The episodes themselves will all be at 90s tv broadcast definition, or were run though the AI upscaling algo which is very hit or miss.

This article goes into detail on why a TNG-style remaster is basically not possible for B5.
(tl;dr: Blame the show having no budget, not planning for the far-off days of HD televisions, unexpected side effects of their innovations, and how badly the show was treated by WB/TNT.)
www.engadget.com

‘Babylon 5’ is great, so why does it look so bad?

When the histories of this golden age of television are written, they will likely begin with The Sopranos. But that would be a mistake because the template a lot of modern-day TV copies was instead created by Babylon 5. A decade before The Wire would be hailed as a "novel for television," B5 was...
www.engadget.com www.engadget.com
 
Ajidica said:
Is there any point to a blu-ray release? The episodes themselves will all be at 90s tv broadcast definition, or were run though the AI upscaling algo which is very hit or miss.

This article goes into detail on why a TNG-style remaster is basically not possible for B5.
(tl;dr: Blame the show having no budget, not planning for the far-off days of HD televisions, unexpected side effects of their innovations, and how badly the show was treated by WB/TNT.)
www.engadget.com

‘Babylon 5’ is great, so why does it look so bad?

When the histories of this golden age of television are written, they will likely begin with The Sopranos. But that would be a mistake because the template a lot of modern-day TV copies was instead created by Babylon 5. A decade before The Wire would be hailed as a "novel for television," B5 was...
www.engadget.com www.engadget.com
Click to expand...

The blu-ray release is based off the recent remastered B5 streamed version which was made from fresh scans of the film negatives.. yes the CGI had to be upscaled (as we're not getting the expensive TNG treatment) but at least it's not stretched like the dvd version was and all the non-cgi stuff looks better than the broadcast or dvd versions due to the fresh scans.

That article you link to is 5 years old so here's a something a little newer from them on the situation:
www.engadget.com

‘Babylon 5 Remastered’ now available to buy, or stream on HBO Max

Nearly thirty years after it first aired, and twenty years after its troubled DVD release, Babylon 5 is getting a polish as part of its release on HBO Max.
www.engadget.com www.engadget.com

Here's a comparison video showing the differences.. nothing massive but it's noticeable..

 
Hmmmm, will they get another $100 out of me as I bought the DVD set a few years ago?
Maybe when I get a proper TV instead of watching everyone on my ipad or fairly small computer monitor.
 
That does look better, but since I already own the mega box set on DVD, I don't think it's really necessary for me to splash out on Blu-ray too.
 
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