Yeeeeeeessssssss!

[OmahaStar]

Just goes to show how commited she was to making this series the best ever made.

[RCmodeler]

Well I've noticed on other shows that characters are sometimes changed, because the original actor was not available. Like Sam's wife on Quantum Leap.... or Sheridan's wife on B5.... or General Hague who was busy doing DS9.... or the substitution made for the original Drall because the actor was not available.

I'm just surprised that "Jane" was so easily available.... i.e. that she didn't get busy with some other series.

[OmahaStar]

Originally posted by RCmodeler
[B]Soooooo......


...why was this actress so easily available? Most times (like General Hague going to DS9) the actor is off doing some other TV show or movie...and therefore not available.

She needed to be available for Babylon 5. She was the most important character of the series, after all.

Why was the actress who played ISN's "Jane" so easy to get?

Not exactly easy ... But she had worked with Midnight on the Firing Line's director before. He suggested her, and the rest is history.

Did she not do other TV?

She's done a variety of other TV, from Alien Nation and Seinfeld to Malcolm in the Middle, with Ranger Ericcson's Bryan Cranston.

Was she the wife of a producer?

No. Her husband is Jim Cummings. Not the same Jim Cummings who does voice work (The Mummy, etc), but another JC.

What's the Real Story Behind the News (tm)?

Read the story ISN Aftermath on Maggie's website and you'll find out.

[Jan]

*Most* actors are available most of the time. There were other anchors on ISN, too. I always regretted that 'Jane' wasn't the one who reported that President Clark had declared Marial Law.

Jan

[RCmodeler]

Soooooo......


...why was this actress so easily available? Most times (like General Hague going to DS9) the actor is off doing some other TV show or movie...and therefore not available.

Why was the actress who played ISN's "Jane" so easy to get? Did she not do other TV? Was she the wife of a producer? What's the Real Story Behind the News (tm)?

Troy

[The One to come]

Originally posted by OmahaStar
Anybody could be a fan of the characters who are supposedly the "stars" of the series - Sheridan, Ivanova, Delenn, Garibaldi, etc.

In B5, JMS didn't stop at the "main" characters ... He developed dozens of recurring characters, who were fleshed out over the course of the series - Bester, for example. We learn more about the Bester character in one episode of B5 than we learned about Chekov in 35 years of Star Trek.

I had always liked the ISN Anchor over the first couple years ... When "Severed Dreams" took her away, it was a shock. She finally got a first name, we find out there is a hell of a lot more going on than we thought, and we were brought into Her world.

And then she was gone, for over a year.

In "Endgame", when she returned, it was another shock. Instead of that sugary bitch Allison Higgins or that slimy Dan Randall, we had JANE back. "Hello. I want to welcome back our viewers. We've been gone a long time ..." As she describes what she's been though - torture, interrogation, the deaths of her co-workers ... you can see it in her eyes, in her expression. She has been through her own private hell at the hands of Clarke, and now, she's free, and she can finally do what she was born to do ...

She pauses for just a moment, tears streaming, as she relives the last year, before continuing with the news story about Sheridan freeing Earth.

That episode made me a fan of not just the character, but the actress. She is no "minor" or "bit" character. The whole series is about HER.

Sounds odd, maybe, but think about it ... Sheridan and the gang did squat about the situation with Earth until Jane was kidnapped. They fought against the Shadows and against Clarke's forces in an effort to free Her ... Sheridan and Delenn didn't even take 5 minutes to get married until Jane was rescued.

She was there in the first episode aired ("Midnight on the Firing Line") and the last episode filmed ("Objects at Rest"). She gave important information to the crew, and the audience ... the Babylon story is better for her involvement.

And let us not forget, she appeared in Crusade not once, but twice. Sheridan didn't even do that.

I don't think I could have said it better my self, for in esence the series is about the struggles of the common person living through these horible times. Delen, Sinclair, Sharadin, G'kar, Londo all of them were born for a greater reason they are the "singers, shapers, dreamers, makers", people like Vir, Ivanova, and all the lesser know characters are all people changed by these event.

[Kevin]

I think the character of Jane is one thing that really sets B5 apart from the rest... cause it's only of the few, if only series, that supposedly works for the good of the common man and actually *shows* you the common man (or woman, in this case) and how the actions of our main characters have effected them.

It's a rather cool thing that B5 did multiple times, and other series could gain much to consider it.

[colonyearth]

Originally posted by OmahaStar
The ISN Anchor, of course.

http://www.isnanchordesk.com/autos/megan.html

OH!...Duh. Hello...such a wonderful moment when she comes back on the air...I always cry. Yep...it's a B'gasm.

[OmahaStar]

Originally posted by CRONAN
Hmmm. So why the heck is Jane, out of all of the B5 cast, your fave character?

Anybody could be a fan of the characters who are supposedly the "stars" of the series - Sheridan, Ivanova, Delenn, Garibaldi, etc.

In B5, JMS didn't stop at the "main" characters ... He developed dozens of recurring characters, who were fleshed out over the course of the series - Bester, for example. We learn more about the Bester character in one episode of B5 than we learned about Chekov in 35 years of Star Trek.

I had always liked the ISN Anchor over the first couple years ... When "Severed Dreams" took her away, it was a shock. She finally got a first name, we find out there is a hell of a lot more going on than we thought, and we were brought into Her world.

And then she was gone, for over a year.

In "Endgame", when she returned, it was another shock. Instead of that sugary bitch Allison Higgins or that slimy Dan Randall, we had JANE back. "Hello. I want to welcome back our viewers. We've been gone a long time ..." As she describes what she's been though - torture, interrogation, the deaths of her co-workers ... you can see it in her eyes, in her expression. She has been through her own private hell at the hands of Clarke, and now, she's free, and she can finally do what she was born to do ...

She pauses for just a moment, tears streaming, as she relives the last year, before continuing with the news story about Sheridan freeing Earth.

That episode made me a fan of not just the character, but the actress. She is no "minor" or "bit" character. The whole series is about HER.

Sounds odd, maybe, but think about it ... Sheridan and the gang did squat about the situation with Earth until Jane was kidnapped. They fought against the Shadows and against Clarke's forces in an effort to free Her ... Sheridan and Delenn didn't even take 5 minutes to get married until Jane was rescued.

She was there in the first episode aired ("Midnight on the Firing Line") and the last episode filmed ("Objects at Rest"). She gave important information to the crew, and the audience ... the Babylon story is better for her involvement.

And let us not forget, she appeared in Crusade not once, but twice. Sheridan didn't even do that.

[CRONAN]

Hmmm. So why the heck is Jane, out of all of the B5 cast, your fave character?

[OmahaStar]

Originally posted by colonyearth
Hey Omaha,

I'm suffering from a complete brain fart here...Jane on B5 and Crusade? Who is this? Why am I not remembering? HELP!

The ISN Anchor, of course.

http://www.isnanchordesk.com/autos/megan.html

[colonyearth]

Hey Omaha,

I'm suffering from a complete brain fart here...Jane on B5 and Crusade? Who is this? Why am I not remembering? HELP!

[OmahaStar]

Originally posted by CRONAN
Your favorite character is ''Jane''? But what about Dick?

And, Spot? Is he the runner up?

Jane - yes, my favorite character.

Dick - Doesn't have anything to do with characters, but yeah ... It's no secret, I like dick.

And Spot? He's on the Enterprise with Data. :P

[OmahaStar]

Originally posted by Kevin
Where on earth did you get that last name?

Maggie Egan is the actress who plays Jane on B5 and Crusade. She put out a cd of sci-fi swing music, and one of the in-jokes was that her character was Jane - no last name ... and the way she pronounces it makes it sound like a name, so there you go. (She follows this up with several other one-name jokes) ... She's also been referred to as Jane Egon, a reference to Egon from Ghostbusters (where JMS was a writer) and a twist on her own last name Egan.

And not only is she my favorite character, I am Maggie's number one fan.

[CRONAN]

Your favorite character is ''Jane''? But what about Dick?

And, Spot? Is he the runner up?