NEW Babylon 5 Series in Development!

[moreorless]

I actually think maybe the biggest choice JMS has with this is what is the tone like?

Really to me al ot of the sucess of the original series is just how much ground it can cover from tragic drama to comedy. More modern sci fi does tend to go down the route of taking itself very seriously, the odd bit of comedy in something like The Expanse I spose but generally not. I actually felt that the show closest to Babylon 5 in recent years is actually Stranger Things, obviously big difference in plot/setting but it has that some mix of serious drama and comedy, maybe a little more towards the latter than B5 was but I think the effect is quite similar.

[Ubik]

I actually think maybe the biggest choice JMS has with this is what is the tone like?

Really to me al ot of the sucess of the original series is just how much ground it can cover from tragic drama to comedy. More modern sci fi does tend to go down the route of taking itself very seriously, the odd bit of comedy in something like The Expanse I spose but generally not. I actually felt that the show closest to Babylon 5 in recent years is actually Stranger Things, obviously big difference in plot/setting but it has that some mix of serious drama and comedy, maybe a little more towards the latter than B5 was but I think the effect is quite similar.

A bit of humour is good, but someone please keep JMS away from broken penis jokes. I cringed so hard at the humour in Sense8. Same for a lot of B5, some of it lands, and some it is really just awful. All a matter of taste, of course.

[Looney]

A bit of humour is good, but someone please keep JMS away from broken penis jokes. I cringed so hard at the humour in Sense8. Same for a lot of B5, some of it lands, and some it is really just awful. All a matter of taste, of course.

This gives me an idea for a possible topic, worst joke in Babylon 5. I have my choice. It wasn't a great joke and it was not delivered well. TRY TO TOP THOSE CRITERIA. LOL (I'm not revealing my choice until I read some opinions on whether we should take it to its own thread or let it fly here.

I highly doubt JMS will allow the tone of the new series to be too serious, though I do expect it will be darker overall.

[moreorless]

A bit of humour is good, but someone please keep JMS away from broken penis jokes. I cringed so hard at the humour in Sense8. Same for a lot of B5, some of it lands, and some it is really just awful. All a matter of taste, of course.

I think B5 benefited a lot both from having a lot of excellent comic actors(especially Jurasik, First, Katsulas and Christian) and just generally being very good natured, the jokes themselves weren't always exactly the work of genius but they were delivered in a fashion that made them very charming for me anyway,

[Jan]

A bit of humour is good, but someone please keep JMS away from broken penis jokes. I cringed so hard at the humour in Sense8. Same for a lot of B5, some of it lands, and some it is really just awful. All a matter of taste, of course.

I'm perfectly okay with the use of humor to change the tone, especially to keep tension ratcheting up too high. Not all humor is going to be to my taste. And I also understood, even before JMS posted about it, that some of the humor wasn't meant to be funny to today's audience (any more than "Well, EX-cuuuuse ME" is funny anymore) particularly in regard to Reebo & Zooty. No, I didn't care for the broken penis thing, and I'm not even equipped to empathize with anything of the sort. But as an example of the awkwardness of the Kala and Rajan's marriage, I didn't mind it.

[Jan]

For those who've voiced conceern that the reboot would be slanted toward a young audience, JMS posted last night:

Because the President of the CW is a huge fan of the original show, they let me do whatever I wanted. Nobody tried to skew the show one way or another.

Full tweet:https://twitter.com/straczynski/stat...35335440568322

[moreorless]

I'm perfectly okay with the use of humor to change the tone, especially to keep tension ratcheting up too high. Not all humor is going to be to my taste. And I also understood, even before JMS posted about it, that some of the humor wasn't meant to be funny to today's audience (any more than "Well, EX-cuuuuse ME" is funny anymore) particularly in regard to Reebo & Zooty. No, I didn't care for the broken penis thing, and I'm not even equipped to empathize with anything of the sort. But as an example of the awkwardness of the Kala and Rajan's marriage, I didn't mind it.

I mean that whatever its other faults I don't think was ever intended to be funny at face value, indeed if anything the joke was that they werent funny to the audience..

Really though I think the show benefited from the humour being strongly baked into characters like Londo, G'kar, Vir, Ivanova, Garabali, etc the same way it is to say Tony Stark in the MCU. Theres a big difference between that and trying to throw in ill advised zingers at characters who they really don't work with that end up undermining the drama, with B5 I think a Londo without the humour would be a weaker character.

[Looney]

WOW! Glad I didn't start that thread. LOL

And I totally moreorless agree. LOL Comedy is a slippery slope, but it is soooo vital in certain instances. Without the humor the original would not be what it is. And so many of the characters fit different humor perfectly. Londo and G'Kar were larger than life and bombastic. Ivanova and Garibaldi were cynical and sarcastic. Vir was innocently trying to keep his head above water. Lennier was somewhat of a deadpan fish out of water. And the list goes on. Take those qualities away from any of characters and you aren't left with much entertainment value.

[Jan]

No real news, but confirmation that the B5 reimagining is still active:

https://deadline.com/2022/05/babylon-5-reboot-status-alive-the-cw-1235027808/?fbclid=IwAR1X3ep8uIMbofTs2DBxa2nle7a8a4iwYrRowJLSMWdt-Oqo-7Gw4n-XHzs

[Ubik]

Good to hear, I still hope it happens. Not convinced it will, as past experiences have taught me to temper my expectations. Would still just be nice to see something in the B5 universe again after so long.

[Jan]

When JMS posted the Deadline link to his Facebook page, a number of people commented who apparently hadn't seen much of what he'd written before:

https://www.facebook.com/officialjmspage/posts/546885926816347?comment_id=287874823464253&reply_comment_id=547495973422009

[Looney]

I have to admit that I am very excited .....and equally terrified.

[Jan]

I'm going to go ahead and pin this in hopes of news by/around the end of the month. Also, just for reference, since I'm sure I'll want to have it close by when the news comes, this is what JMS said almost a year ago now:

J. Michael Straczynski - Hang with JMS

Favorites · dtrneoospSS1g1m2e,26 pl7 1hb7ft207c023e2iagu89c27t0c8r8hieg8 ·
To answer all the questions, yes, it’s true, Babylon 5 is now in active development as a series for the CW. We have some serious fans over at the network, and they’re eager to see this show happen. I’m hip deep into writing the pilot now, and will be running the series upon pickup. The network understands the uniqueness of Babylon 5 and is giving me a great deal of latitude with the storytelling.

As noted in the announcement, this is a reboot from the ground up rather than a continuation, for several reasons. Heraclitus wrote, “You cannot step in the same river twice, for the river has changed, and you have changed.” In the years since B5, I’ve done a ton of other TV shows and movies, adding an equal number of tools to my toolbox, all of which I can bring to bear on the question: if I were creating Babylon 5 today, for the first time, knowing what I now know as a writer, what would it look like? How would it use all the storytelling tools and technological resources available in 2021 that were not on hand then? How can it be used to reflect the world in which we live, and the questions we are asking and confronting every day? Fans regularly point out how prescient the show was and is of our current world; it would be fun to take a shot at looking further down the road.

So we will not be retelling the same story in the same way because of what Heraclitus said about the river. There would be no fun and no surprises. Better to go the way of Westworld or Battlestar Galactica where you take the original elements that are evergreens and put them in a blender with a ton of new, challenging ideas, to create something both fresh and familiar.

To those who have asked why we’re not just doing a continuation…for a network series like this, it can’t be done because over half our cast are still stubbornly on the other side of the Rim. How do you telling continuing story of our original Londo without the original Vir? Or G’Kar? How do you tell Sheridan’s story without Delenn? Or the story of B5 without Franklin? Garibaldi? Zack?

The original Babylon 5 was ridiculously innovative: the first to use CGI to create ships and characters, and among the very first to shoot widescreen with a vigorous 5.1 mix. Most of all, for the first time, Babylon 5 introduced viewers accustomed to episodic television to the concept of a five-year arc with a pre-planned beginning, middle and end…creating a brand new paradigm for television storytelling that has subsequently become the norm. That tradition for innovation will continue in this new iteration, and I hope to create additional new forms of storytelling that will further push the television medium to the edge of what’s possible.

Let me conclude by just saying how supportive and enthusiastic everyone at the CW has been and is being with this project. They understand the unique position Babylon 5 occupies both in television and with its legions of fans, and are doing everything they can to ensure the maximum in creative freedom, a new story that will bring in new viewers while honoring all that has come before.

[Jan]

It's worth noting that it's now a full year since the reimagining was announced. Today would be a lovely day to announce a green light, CW & WB!!

[Dodger]

Good God! Where did the year go?