Changes because of O'Hare

[redone]

How do you guys think B5 would have gone had Michael O'Hare decided to continue after series one.

Would he have just taken over the Sheridan role?

Do you think there would have been any major changes to the main story arc?

War without end 1+2 are they only major changes I can think of.
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vaporizer

[bakana]

If you search JMS posts on the subject of Michael O'Hare, you can see what JMS had to say about the subject.
Mostly that Sheridan would have been brought in during the second season no matter what.
Sinclair would have "gone elsewhere" at some point.
But, when he told JMS that he had a pretty good offer for some work on Broadway and asked just When that was going to happen, they sat down and discussed things and both decided that the end of season One made better story sense than having the two characters overlap.

At one point, I recall JMS posting a remark the O'Hare had actually suggested a couple ways that JMS could use his sudden absence to improve things that JMS had already planned for season two.

[grumbler]

One of those "hot topics" about which I think JMS rationalized after the fact.

My take is a bit more straightforward:
1. Several actors on the series have said ininterviews how uncomfortable O'Hare was with the pace of acting/memorizing/shooting. He was a stage actor used to much more rehearsal time, and none of the TV guest shots he had done prepared him for the shooting schedule required on B5 for budget reasons. By the end of season one he was looking for an out.
2. JMS had created in Sinclair the main charactor he wanted to have in seasons four and five - but he had created him too early. there could be no "journey of self-discovery" because Sinclair already "talked like a Minbari" in season one. JMS needed to hit the reset button and have Sinclair be a less well-defined, less self-aware guy. Replacing Sinclair with Sheridan (Sinclair less two years' experience) was clearly the way to go.

Both (1) and (2) meant Sinclair had to go, and it must have been quite a relief to both parties to see how closely they agreed. it was win-win for both, as JMS said. I just don't think it would have developed as JMS claimed if Sinclair had not left (he would have married Delenn and gone back in time at the end of Season 5 vice the middle of Season 3, IMO).

[Kloreep]

Originally posted by bakana
If you search JMS posts on the subject of Michael O'Hare, you can see what JMS had to say about the subject.
Mostly that Sheridan would have been brought in during the second season no matter what.

???

I recall reading JMS saying Sinclair was originally to be the leading B5 commander throughout the series, but that he changed his mind as he began to look at where Sinclair would (or rather, where he even could) go in Season 2.

So JMS came up with the idea of simply bringing in a new commander, allowing him to do more than he would have with the position of the station commander character by using Sheridan, while allowing Sinclair to go off and lead the Rangers off-screen (and return for WWE of course).

[WorkerCaste]

I doubt even JMS could really say what things would've been like if Michale O'Hare stayed. My impression from JMS's posts lines up pretty closely with Grumbler. JMS has told the story several times of how Harlan Ellison will sometimes, at a public appearance, write a short story by taping each page up as he goes. That way he can't go back and smooth things out if he gets into trouble. JMS has said that creating B5 was like that trick. I think he found that he had written himself into a corner in some respects. As it turned out, the mutual feelings created a situation where he could deal with it without as much fuss, but if that hadn't happened, I have no doubt that JMS would've been quite successful in applying his talent to working his way out of the corner. I think when he has mentioned bringing in a new character, he's probably talking about one of the steps he would've taken to do this. Way back when B5 was born, he might not have been planning it, but as the episodes got "taped to the wall" I think the idea was growing, so the idea of a second character, or commander, probably began shaping up fairly early.

[Satai Delenn]

I seem to remember one of the posters over at b5tv.com mentioned that Tim Choate had said when he got the role of Zathras that his charater would only appear one other time and that was at the series finale .So I think WWE may have been the original ending to B5 with Sinclair and Delenn leaving.IMHO I always loved O'Hare's performance and wish he had stayed but ....

[The_One]

Originally posted by grumbler
(he would have married Delenn and gone back in time at the end of Season 5 vice the middle of Season 3, IMO).

Would that have meant that Delenn's great great great Grandmother would have been Delenn?

That's some mind-bending inter-breeding there

[Satai Delenn]

Would that have meant that Delenn's great great great Grandmother would have been Delenn?

That's some mind-bending inter-breeding there



JMS I think changed his mind about the direction of the B5 story when O'hare left so Delenn would not have been her own greatX grandmother.

[JDSValen]

A lot of what happened on B5 was not JMS' original intentions, but when he was writing the 5 year arc he realized that the possibility of getting the arc made exactly how he wrote it would have been impossible, therefore he wrote in "trap doors" as he called them to adjust for what happened.

I believe that he said somewhere that about 80-85% of what he originally invisioned B5 to be made it to the screen, which went far beyond his intentions.

My personal theory regarding Sinclair is that he never intended that character to go away. If you look at "Chrysalis" just about every character had a way of not returning (Delenn could have been recast due to the transformation, Garibaldi could have died and then gotten replaced, etc.) except for Sinclair. I've always had a feeling that JMS wouldn't or couldn't tell us the whole truth about Sinclair leaving, not that I'm complaining because the show turned out fine, it'd just be interested in seeing how B5 would have turned out.

[SpooRancher]

I also remember reading some things about where other cast members, although they liked O'Haire, still thought of him as somewhat reclusive and, in the words of one interview, "creepy".

O'Haire was good in his role, I don't deny that, but from just about everything I read, he was not the kind of personality that would have been able to keep up the show for 5 years, at least not without driving everyone around him crazy.

[redone]

I seem to remeber delenn was orginally going to turn male in the very early B5 palns, althouth I can't remeber where.

Could have been a dodgy rumour.
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RT100
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TOYOTA HILUX PLATFORM SPECIFICATIONS

[JDSValen]

If my memory is correct, Delenn was supposed to be male, so when she went through the chryslis she would turn not only human, but female. Mira's makeup in "The Gatherning" is obviously more male looking, and they were going to dub her dialogue with a male voice, but it sounded bad so they just stuck with her original dialogue, and when B5 went to series the makeup was changed to make her an obvious female.

[bakana]

somewhat reclusive and, in the words of one interview, "creepy".

Well, I met him a few years back at a Con and, in person, he came off as a very warm and giving person.
Friendly and considerate.
He answered even the "dumb" questions with a thoughtfulness and warmth that turned "Dumb" into "Great Question".
He also had the very Young fans sit up front so they could see what was going on and tried to make sure most of them got to ask a question as well instead of letting the adults dominate the Q&A session.

The fact that, by the End of the session, it was apparent that O'Hare was very ILL at the time made his performance (at the Con) even More impressive.
He walked within 2 feet of me on his way out of the room and was visibly Trembling and Pale.
Most people in that condition would have begged off.
He showed up and made it all the way through the session in spite of his personal discomfort.

[Firebird]

Originally posted by bakana
Well, I met him a few years back at a Con and, in person, he came off as a very warm and giving person.
Friendly and considerate.
He answered even the "dumb" questions with a thoughtfulness and warmth that turned "Dumb" into "Great Question".
He also had the very Young fans sit up front so they could see what was going on and tried to make sure most of them got to ask a question as well instead of letting the adults dominate the Q&A session.

The fact that, by the End of the session, it was apparent that O'Hare was very ILL at the time made his performance (at the Con) even More impressive.
He walked within 2 feet of me on his way out of the room and was visibly Trembling and Pale.
Most people in that condition would have begged off.
He showed up and made it all the way through the session in spite of his personal discomfort.

Mmmmm, It's not the 1st time that I have read these kinds of things about MO'H. Even on the DVD commentaries some talk of his stage experience leaving him perhaps unprepared for the part of a show Lead. It may be that this 'reclusiveness' was just him trying to get his lines down without disturbing others?

It is also true that time does change a person. My fella, LightStorm, had read all these things about him before, but was still eager to meet him. In the end, he was charming, polite and giving for the fans (though he did pace nervously and non-stop!).

My take on where B5 was going to go if MO'H had stayed echoes alot of the points made above.

Didn't Sinclair 'marry' Delenn early in the season, along with those meaningful stares and little red pieces of fruit? It would clear up with certainty exactly how Sinclair's DNA got into the Minbari bloodlines, and just who there would have been for him to mate with back then, Valen being a hybrid and all.

However, this ending would have meant a radically different Sil as Delenn would not be there, having already gone back in time with Sinclair. So who would have been there to greet the Minbari sunrise? The title suggests that the final setting of the scene (being bathed in light) would be the same, but to whom would it have applied?

[LytaaaarGh]

I agree with the reasons given above, but also think that JMS planned for a Sheirdan character from the start. The reason for this is JMS's obsession with '3s' - that 3 is a sacred number - especially for the minbari.
So, imo there had to be a 'one who was', 'one who is' and 'one who will be' therefore heavily suggesting there would have to be 3 characters.