Babylon 5 Is Coming Back.

[Camp Tramp]

...as a reboot, no way it can carry on from where it left of, with half the cast being beyond the rim.

https://twitter.com/straczynski/status/1442621159221043202?s=20

Straight from JMS himself. Fantastic news.

[HamishMacbeth]

Interesting. He cites Westworld and Battlestar, obvs, as the models for the reboot which makes sense. Raises a question though, has there ever been a reboot like that with the original creator at the helm?

Fury Road maybe?

[Alberon]

Still more likely to not go to series, but this is interesting. I think it was the case for years he held the film rights but not the TV ones and he was angling to reboot it as a movie series.

[HamishMacbeth]

Still more likely to not go to series, but this is interesting. I think it was the case for years he held the film rights but not the TV ones and he was angling to reboot it as a movie series.

Is this why its final years were a few not-great straight to DVD flicks?

[The Mollusk]

GET OUT!!

[Blumf]

Sure, why not, fuck it.

[Ignatius_S]

Is this why its final years were a few not-great straight to DVD flicks?

No - virtually all of the films were done when the show switched channels for its final season and were shown around the same time. They were done for various reasons - introducing the show to people who may not have watched it, acting as pilots for spin-off shows and fill in the gap between the finale and the launch of a spin-off series.

[Ignatius_S]

...as a reboot, no way it can carry on from where it left of, with half the cast being beyond the rim.

https://twitter.com/straczynski/status/1442621159221043202?s=20

Straight from JMS himself. Fantastic news.

Some interesting remarks from him about it - hope it goes well as it's a franchise I'm fond of and it's grand narrative was, well rather grand.

[Famous Mortimer]

My abiding memory is of them racing to wrap up all the main plotlines then, out of nowhere, getting renewed for their final season, so it's a bit of a "whoops, we're out of plot" thing. Not saying it's bad, but it felt weird at the time. And how that bald lass got hair so it was okay for the boss man to fancy her.

JMS's comments are interesting, and if it's as good as the reboot of "Battlestar Galactica" (at least in the beginning) then I'd watch. But the CW feels like a weird home for it, these days. The lead would have to be a sexy early-20s type, not a middle-aged captain, I'd have thought.   

[monkfromhavana]

I haven't even seen the first four.

Arf Arf

[purlieu]

My abiding memory is of them racing to wrap up all the main plotlines then, out of nowhere, getting renewed for their final season, so it's a bit of a "whoops, we're out of plot" thing. Not saying it's bad, but it felt weird at the time.

Yes, the final season is very slow because of this. It was especially unfortunate as the idea to have it cover

Spoiler alert

the aftermath of the war rather than end on a big climax

[close]

meant it was always going to be a somewhat subdued final run of episodes, so when it had to be stretched further it definitely lost some of the momentum. Which is a shame, because the first four seasons are some of the most wonderfully plotted television ever made, even if the dialogue in early episodes is a bit clunky.

I remain cautiously optimistic about this, anyway. JMS obviously holds the original very dear to his heart, so I can't see it being a disaster. The CW is a weird choice for it, though.

[Mister Six]

Not seen it since it aired, but if he can recapture the epic sweep of the story (without it getting buggered around by cancellation and renewal this time), it'll be grand. Probably better suited to 13-episode seasons without all the filler episodes, too.

I still get goosebumps when I remember the intro sequence. Not sure why, but that "The year is 2258. The name of the place is Babylon 5," capper always thrilled me. Still does.

[Ron Maels Moustache]

Assuming this does go to a series, I hope it gets allocated a decent budget this time. It was always slightly frustrating in the original how so much of this epic saga was people arguing in the same few small sets (often with the furniture moved around to disguise the fact). I'm guessing this won't have Netflix-scale money behind it but hopefully it'll look decent.

[Mr Trumpet]

Fantastic news. Remaking the show as he would have done with the experience and resources he has now. Could be a Star Trek/Next Generation situation? But better, because Straczynski is still compos mentis.

[purlieu]

I still get goosebumps when I remember the intro sequence. Not sure why, but that "The year is 2258. The name of the place is Babylon 5," capper always thrilled me. Still does.

I love how the intro music gets darker and more dramatic as each series goes on, the first being "rom pom pom space adventures" Star Trek type stuff, and by the third it's all "everything's gone to shit, we're all doomed".

[beanheadmcginty]

Are they still going to render all the external shots on a Commodore Amiga? I bloody well hope so.

[Poobum]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9EbGd1AlMg

I like, also don't post half asleep.

[mothman]

Obviously I'm very happy, it being my favourite TV show. I'll remain cautious however, it's a long way from realisation and, as someone has said, it is the CW...

Poor old JMS has been fielding the same "why not remake/reboot/etc.?" queries on Twitter for years, and he was always plain that while he owned the movie rights, the TV rights remained at Warner Bros. where a legacy cadre of execs resented the show for its PTEN origins and refused to countenance doing anything with the property OR relinquishing control of it to anyone else. So I wonder what's changed? I suspect JMS will judiciously elect NOT to spill the beans on that at this time!

I've noticed recently that B5 has finally been getting the reappraisal it deserved, and more importantly getting namechecked for its place in TV history as one of the earliest examples of "modern" arc-heavy pre-prestige TV.

And yes, the TV films aren't without their problems. But The River Of Souls had Ian McShane at the start of his career renaissance after years of just doing Lovejoy. And In The Beginning had this, quite simply one of the most stunning VO/montage sequences ever despite its obvious budget limitations.

https://youtu.be/q_rj2xnJ3II

[Alberon]

The sequel series was fucked about with and never stood a chance. I seem to remember one of the studio execs demanding they open the series with a fistfight. So to JMS' despair that's what happened.

[Mr Trumpet]

Hey the B5 spinoff show gave us one of the greatest sequences ever committed to film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZapAjjTDbh4

[mothman]

Jesus Christ. I'd blotted that from my memory...

[Alberon]

That was the second attempted spinoff after Crusade got cancelled. Legend of the Rangers is truly the worst of the B5 universe. I can see the reasoning to trying to avoid someone hunched over a console pressing buttons to fire the weapons, but that was just awful.

[mothman]

I can see what they wanted to do. It might even be possible to portray convincingly. But not like... that.

B5: The Lost Tales was perhaps a belated return to something resembling "form" after Babylon 5 - The Legend Of The Rangers: To Live And Die In Starlight (no kidding, that was what it was called) but it was clear the magic was gone. Filmed on mostly green screen sets in Vancouver I think in... Christ. 2007. I'm getting scared now, I really don't know where the last decade went...

I wonder if he'll have Christopher Franke back doing the score?

A Tweet from Claudia Christian suggests the (remaining) cast have been kept in the loop regarding developments and there may be (presumably-recast) roles for them in the new version (a la Tom Zarek in NuBSG?).

[Alberon]

The company wanted to do more 'Lost Tales' but JMS wasn't interested in such low budget green screen stuff. He felt the first one had proved itself and they should up the budget.