Galen played by an imposter! Forget TmoS!!!

[circularREASON]

I mean if you follow that train of thought for a minute we should all have been in uproar when JMS had the nerve not to cast all the B5 regulars in Crusade.

[Jan]

Originally posted by circularREASON
I mean if you follow that train of thought for a minute we should all have been in uproar when JMS had the nerve not to cast all the B5 regulars in Crusade.

Not sure what you're referring to here since nothing was quoted? Why would we have been upset when JMS made it clear that there wouldn't be a lot of crossover at first?

Jan

[Capt.Montoya]

Originally posted by circularREASON
I mean if you follow that train of thought for a minute we should all have been in uproar when JMS had the nerve not to cast all the B5 regulars in Crusade.

If you are referring to my post at the bottom of p.4 on this thread CircularReason I'm sorry I wasn't clear enough, I didn't want to go that far into speculation, but I will to be clearer:

I speculate that JMS may have included some new leading roles to please the studios and give them an opportunity to put the "film stars" they want, instead of asking them to take the chance of having the TV series actors in the leading roles. I am almost sure that JMS then put as many of the series roles as the story demanded expecting them to be filled with the original cast (hence the re-write after Richard Bigg's death, instead of even thinking of recasting him).

The suits, instead of taking the inclusion of new lead roles as a favor and a sign of defference to their wishes, however decide that all roles should have "film actors" instead of the original "TV actors." The suits misguidedly think that people would want to see name actors in those roles, no matter who played them in the original series.

The rest of the speculation would be not mine, but the one I summarized in that previous post. I'll repost and expand on it with some speculation to prevent further confusion:

JMS has fought this according to several sources (Jan, CE, Amy), but can't comment on it publicly.
The studios leak information about a new cast and the potential recasting of Galen and Lochley, expecting that the fans won't say anything. It seems that they think that leaking the information in small pieces would lead to acceptance. They start with the part about Galen being recast, since he might not be so important a character for the fans of B5, if the fans can take this without flinching they might do the same when it's announced that Boxleitner won't play Sheridan or Jurasik won't play Mollari.

If the fans keep quiet the suits can tell JMS "see, no one minds nor cares if we replace the actors." Some people have informed us that there have been casting sheets with character descriptions that would fit established characters beyond Galen and Lochley (e.g. Delenn, Sheridan), but the only official leaks are for the new characters (and Galen).

JMS can't ask directly nor tell people anything about writing letters to WB, but he has not denied the rumors of recasting, nor said that writing letters is unnecessary, and has said instead that he'd like to say something but can't.

My train of thought would compare to the Crusade situation only if we had heard rumors that TNT had asked JMS to recast Sheridan, Delenn, Londo, etc. in any guest appearances by those characters in Crusade. Or to have a comparison to the Galen situation for TMoS, if there had been a leak of a casting call for Lochley to be recast for Crusade.

My point is that if JMS already tried to please the suits and anticipated their wishes of having "film stars" by including new leading roles the suits have no business trying to impose a recast of any B5 series character, and they should try to defer to the film producer/franchise-creator wishes on including members of the original cast reprising their roles as supporting characters for TMoS.
I will speculate that Doug Netter, who has been listed as Executive Producer in the leaked casting calls, would be on JMS's side on the idea of the series actors reprising their roles. Given their prior history on B5 projects I'd say this is more of an informed guess than just sheer speculation.

You could speculate that since it all points to the series characters (except for Galen) playing a supporting role in TMoS it would seem unlikely that the WB suits would want to mess with that, however JMS has had a chance to deny that rumor and he hasn't, and it comes from people that have connections in the industry.

There are indications that Peter Woodward may have other project that conflicts with his appearance in TMoS, as much as I'd wish that his project and TMoS could be rescheduled so that he appears as Galen I can accept it if the recasting of Galen is a necessity and JMS approves and endorses the new actor taking the mantle and staff of our beloved technomage.

But I can't accept it if Galen, Sheridan, Londo, Delenn, G'Kar, Lochley and/or any other character of the series included in the story for TMoS is recast only due to the whims of the studio suits. That is the problem of which several people have warned us and of which JMS wishes he could say something about but can't. (the underlined words are a link to that post)

[colonyearth]

You are also forgeting, Capt., that the story "leaks" may not be the full story, but purposefully slanted to exclude any roles the original characters may play. Therefore, it is likely (very likely if you ask me) that the original cast plays a much larger and perhaps even central role in the story of TMoS.

How often did a character come on board the station with news or being chased or after someone only to involve the entire cast in the affair? This is, to me, the more likely story.

This Baker and other characters (and Galen) are only a part of the tale. This story was "leaked" (again I tell you there ain't no such beast in this business -- it was on purpose) with no mention of the original characters for a reason. This reason? To prepare the fans for a B5 film without their main cast (or at least that's the way it would seem). Why? So they wouldn't be pissed (having accepted that no main cast would be in it at all) when said cast was, in fact, recast if they were to win their fight with JMS.

It's a mind game and a dirty one. Two things screwed it up.

First, we fans aren't as stupid and blind as the suits think we are (in fact we're thousands of times more intelligent than any suit -- especially B5 fans whom JMS has taught a great deal about the biz).

Secondly, they were blind to the possibility that there would be B5 fans with major connections who would find out the truth and warn the fans.

In short, they massively underestimated us. But then, they're suits and not to bright after all.

CE

[Andrew_Swallow]

Originally posted by colonyearth

Secondly, they were blind to the possibility that there would be B5 fans with major connections who would find out the truth and warn the fans.

In short, they massively underestimated us. But then, they're suits and not to bright after all.

CE

What sort of person will the suits be trying to recruit?

I know the real top stars do not answer public casting calls; they are sent scripts and asked if they are interested. Would they be interested in a second hand part?

How far do we have to drop down the list before they are willing to risk someone else's fan throwing things?