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Made in us
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SoCal

In the Beginning was the only TV movie I’d consider genuinely good, but I enjoy Thirdspace. Call to Arms seems like it could have been decent if the score were…anything else, really. Even Yakety Sax would have complimented the story and action better.

   
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Spoiler:
 Tawnis wrote:
Aash wrote:
I think the big benefit this might have over the original is filler episodes.

With tv not needing to stick to 22 episodes per season anymore and streaking series often 6-10 episodes long, the story could be told without the filler.

I rewatched B5 a couple of years ago and there are just so so many episodes with no bearing on the overarching plot, or maybe only a single scene or a couple of lines of dialogue.

It was ahead if it’s time with regard to ongoing storytelling in TV, but by modern standards it is very much very much self-contained episodes.


I both agree and disagree with this.

For season 1 especially, and some in 2, there were episodes that just didn't need to be there, ones like TKO that both didn't fit into the overall plot and were just pretty meh in general. However, I think by season 3, he'd figured out the best way to use "filler" to actually make the story and universe richer.

Just because an episode doesn't directly connect to the overarching plot, doesn't mean that it doesn't build on the characters and their relationships or build up the world they live in. Some good examples of this come in early season three. The episode with the bomber was very stand alone and it was fine, but the scenes with Londo and G'Kar trapped in the elevator were fantastic, subverting the standard tropes of that situation and showing both just how far G'Kar was willing to go for revenge, and very clearly establishing the part of his character that would grow in the Dust episode later. Another good example (and probably my favorite standalone) was Passing Through Gethsemane. It kinda felt like B5 met the Twilight Zone and just did a great job of both building up interesting bits about this version of humanity in the future. Though some of the best of this comes when you think something is filler, but it's actually not. In Grey 17 is Missing Garabaldi meets this crazy cult that believes the universe is sentient and preaches to him about the nature of the cosmos. It's played off in the episode like they're all crazy, but you find out much later through some subtle dialogue that the Mimbari essentially believe the same thing, and it's later pretty much confirmed by Lorien in season 4 to be correct.


I think I agree with pretty much all of you points. But as good as some stand-alone episodes were, there are as many that didn’t really add anything. As you say, this was more of an issue in the first couple of seasons.

IIRC when it was made a B5 season had 22 episodes, 9 were focused on advancing the overarching plot and the other 13 were standalone in one way or another. Making the show now, instead of 22 40 minute episodes, it could be 10-12 one hour episodes, with out losing momentum on the main plot but still giving enough space to have character arcs for background characters, stand-alone stories etc.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2021/10/19 18:11:12


 
   
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Southeastern PA, USA

Yeah, we have to remember the name of the game with TV those days was getting to 5 full seasons worth of rigidly-timed content so you could really cash in with syndication. Five was the magic number, so you did whatever you needed to do to stretch it to that amount.

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Going back to the dialogue - I actually liked the cheesy, melodramatic text. It was part of the 'vibe' of the show. It made Garibaldi (war veteran turned detective with a history of alcoholism) into Philip Marlow. It also suited the more prophesy-related dialogue from those races that were "taking in the heady aroma of medieval deep space".
   
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Ah - good ole' Garibaldi! He had some great lines.

In between that and the discussion about that lift episode (where Lando and G'Kar were trapped together) I have now got hold a very reasonably priced series 1 DVD

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 Pacific wrote:
Ah - good ole' Garibaldi! He had some great lines.


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The thing I remember vividly when B5 came out is that it actually covered real life stuff, like taking a shower or washing hands after going to the toilet. At the time, I couldn't point to any other sci-fi show that did that. However, that may just have been my own lack of horizons

Please excuse any spelling errors. I use a tablet frequently and software keyboards are a pain!

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That kinda makes sense. Star Trek was the template at the time, and that template was sterile (pun not intended) in many aspects.

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Nobody went to the toilet in many 1960s shows.

Wasn't just star trek.

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TV was very much more restrained than it is today. It's often really hard for people today to realise that something like the multicultural cast of Startrek Original series or Kirk kissing Uhura were BIG bold things in their time. Things that today we don't spare a second thought for.



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 chromedog wrote:
Nobody went to the toilet in many 1960s shows.

Wasn't just star trek.


My comment extends beyond toilet habits, but then you know that.

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 gorgon wrote:

Today's streaming televisions shows get large budgets (meaning more appeal to better actors and writers), all the time they need to create, a format that allows as many or few episodes as you need, no rigid time constraints, no need for commercial breaks, etc.


Ehhh... maybe. Netflix seem to give you two seasons, then your show needs to be bringing in a lot of new subscribers, or off you go.
   
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 AndrewGPaul wrote:
 gorgon wrote:

Today's streaming televisions shows get large budgets (meaning more appeal to better actors and writers), all the time they need to create, a format that allows as many or few episodes as you need, no rigid time constraints, no need for commercial breaks, etc.


Ehhh... maybe. Netflix seem to give you two seasons, then your show needs to be bringing in a lot of new subscribers, or off you go.


A model that only works so long as there are new subscribers to be found.

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 AndrewGPaul wrote:
 gorgon wrote:

Today's streaming televisions shows get large budgets (meaning more appeal to better actors and writers), all the time they need to create, a format that allows as many or few episodes as you need, no rigid time constraints, no need for commercial breaks, etc.


Ehhh... maybe. Netflix seem to give you two seasons, then your show needs to be bringing in a lot of new subscribers, or off you go.


Well...yeah when going past one season on Netflix. But the rest still applies. At this point, I don't know why anyone would write a show for Netflix that has a slow burn. The writers got cute with Jupiter's Legacy (making season 1 prequel material) and now the show was cancelled before they really got to issue 1 of the comics.

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https://bleedingcool.com/tv/babylon-5-jms-sees-pilot-shoot-early-spring-possible-fall-2022-debut/



Looks like there's a good bit of momentum to the B5 reboot.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2021/11/29 16:59:22


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defeat. It would seem that stupidity is as eternal as war.'

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From J. Michael Straczynski's Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/syntheticworlds

FEB 3, 2022 AT 5:59 PM
B5 CW News

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 is a source of constant consternation that my opponents
cannot correlate their innate inferiority with their inevitable
defeat. It would seem that stupidity is as eternal as war.'

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Overlord of the Crownworld of Gidrim
 
   
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Awesome news!
   
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Thanks for the update. I hope this all turns out well and decidely not very CWish.

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Figures there would be bumb but at least just a delay.

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I’m not going to get my hopes up until they start showing set photos.

   
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Haven't seen much about the status of this lately, but say this today:

https://bleedingcool.com/tv/babylon-5-jms-updates-cw-reboot-secret-b5-project-rising-stars/

and

https://www.giantfreakinrobot.com/ent/babylon-5-reboot-the-cw.html
   
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Quite intertested to see what they do - if it ever appears.

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I predict that whatever they do, someone will complain about it.

CoALabaer wrote:
Wargamers hate two things: the state of the game and change.
 
   
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chaos0xomega wrote:
I predict that whatever they do, someone will complain about it.


It's a self fulfilling prophecy when you yourself pre-whine in the same post.

Regardless, I hope it turns out well. I'm not optimistic though given the current entertainment era and the CW branding but hopefully JMS won't trek/who/wars it up with his reboot.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2022/09/06 12:46:50


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where did I "pre-whine"? I'm really looking forward to this, whatever it is. I expect changes and look forward to them, I'm probably going to be one of the last people to complain about the reboot, because in general I'm one of the last people to complain about pretty much any film or tv series (Star Wars sequel trilogy notwithstanding).

CoALabaer wrote:
Wargamers hate two things: the state of the game and change.
 
   
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The Battle Barge Buffet Line

You're pre-whining about the potential reception to it. Complaining about complaining is still unsurprisingly complaining.

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saying that people will find something to complain about is a far cry from complaining about the show itself. They aren't even remotely the same thing, nor even comparable.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2022/09/06 14:13:47


CoALabaer wrote:
Wargamers hate two things: the state of the game and change.
 
   
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Florence, KY

Babylon 5 Creator Calls on Fan Support To Save the Reboot

Today, he asked fans to show their support for the Babylon 5 reboot on social media by tweeting about it in an attempt to sway Warner Bros. Television's final decision. "The fate of the #Babylon5 pilot may be decided end of this month," Straczynski tweeted today. "Though much of @TheCW was bought by @NXSTMediaGroup the decision also rests heavily with @WarnerbrosTV. If fans want to show their support for B5 & let them know you want this to happen, now is the time #B5onCWin23."

'It is a source of constant consternation that my opponents
cannot correlate their innate inferiority with their inevitable
defeat. It would seem that stupidity is as eternal as war.'

- Nemesor Zahndrekh of the Sautekh Dynasty
Overlord of the Crownworld of Gidrim
 
   
Made in us
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SoCal

I wonder what the overlap is between fans of B5 and people on Twitter.

   
 
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