3 main reasons why you will get Season 5 dvd

[Jan]

BMP wrote:

Nothing. Jan didn't say that you said that jms wrote the episode. Please don't take her reply as an insult because it isn't.

Not to worry, OmahaStar and I are cool. I just didn't see that Neil Gaiman had anything to thank the fans for which is why I responded as I did.

Could be right about the Lochley character, but I think that every boss or commander comes on to a new job pretty stiff, formal and by the book. My favorite quote from Lochley was (paraphrased): "I'm going to pound somebody, Mr. Allan. If you can't join 'em, beat 'em."

A lot of people (most, probably) don't know that JMS suggested three people for consideration to play characters on Crusade (in his outline for ACtA - originally titled Eve of Destruction): Andreas Katsulas as the Technomage, and Michael York or Tracy Scoggins as captain of the Excalibur. While I can't picture Crusade without Cole and Woodward because they did so well, it's kind of fun to speculate.

Jan

[AmyG]

A lot of people (most, probably) don't know that JMS suggested three people for consideration to play characters on Crusade (in his outline for ACtA - originally titled Eve of Destruction): Andreas Katsulas as the Technomage, and Michael York or Tracy Scoggins as captain of the Excalibur. While I can't picture Crusade without Cole and Woodward because they did so well, it's kind of fun to speculate.

Augh, tell me about it! I mean, Galen is a great character, and I'm really glad we had Peter Woodward playing him...but I would have dearly loved to have seen Andreas playing a technomage (presumably a human one, so a rare chance for him to do something in SF with his _real_, handsome face!).

Aisling
--
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[Joe Nazzaro]

I'm sure this is very old news to most of the people who post here, but there still seemed to be some minor confusion about when Sleeping in Light was shot versus Claudia Christian's departure from the series. I pulled out the original call sheets for the episode just to confirm that my memory was indeed correct, and sure enough, filming wrapped on May 5, 1997 (my gosh, has it really been that long?). At that point, obviously Claudia was still on board. There was a production hiatus beginning that weekend, after which filming began on Thirdspace on the 18th for 15 shooting days. That was followed by In the Beginning, (with Christian appearing in both) before cast and crew broke for season four. At that point, I don't think anyone really knew whether or not they were coming back for S5.

By mid-July, a good number of the above cast and crew were in Blackpool for the now-infamous convention. By then, TNT had picked up Babylon 5 for a fifth season, and JMS had to write The Deconstruction of Falling Stars as the new fourth season-ender to replace Sleeping in Light, which now became the season five and series-ender. It was at that convention that cast members had to sign on for the new season (some of them less than happy about having pressure brought to bear on them to sign up over the weekend), and the producers discovered that Christian was a holdout. When it looked like she wasn't going to be aboard, I believe it was producer John Copeland who convinced JMS to use the situation as an opportunity, and that's when Captain Lochley was born. So I hope that settles the chronology a bit.

Incidentally, my favorite Sleeping in Light story took place midway through the second day of filming I think. Director of photography John Flinn was talking to his cameraman about the upcoming shot. 'Watch out for Shadows!' he told him. Joe Straczynski was sitting a few feet away, hearing everything as he usually did. 'Good advice,' he said with a straight face. I'll never forget that line.

[Jan]

Joe Nazzaro wrote:

Incidentally, my favorite Sleeping in Light story took place midway through the second day of filming I think. Director of photography John Flinn was talking to his cameraman about the upcoming shot. 'Watch out for Shadows!' he told him. Joe Straczynski was sitting a few feet away, hearing everything as he usually did. 'Good advice,' he said with a straight face. I'll never forget that line.

LOL! Cool story! Thanks for sharing!

Jan

[KoshN]

For the Centauri arc, SiL, and the extras.

[KoshN]

Originally posted by Anders
...and when season 5 comes out, I will be waiting for the TV movies and Crusade coming out on DVD. I have seen maybe two episodes of Crusade while being on vacation in Romania, and I have seen none of the TV movies.

Bear in mind that like B5, Crusade is appreciated more after multiple viewings. Initially, then it was aired on TNT, here in the US, I didn't think very much of it. Later, when viewed in a more correct order (on the US Sci-Fi Channel), and I read the unfilmed scripts, my opinion of it went up considerably. Now, I can't wait to have it on DVD, without all the station logos, pop-up ads. and squashed credits with voiceover ads. for awful shows.

Reading the Centauri trilogy (lightly touches upon Crusade) and Technomage trilogy (star's Galen), also contributes to the enjoyment of Crusade.

[grumbler]

Originally posted by KoshN
Bear in mind that like B5, Crusade is appreciated more after multiple viewings. Initially, then it was aired on TNT, here in the US, I didn't think very much of it. Later, when viewed in a more correct order (on the US Sci-Fi Channel), and I read the unfilmed scripts, my opinion of it went up considerably...

Agreed. It wasn't until I had it all on tape, and so could change the order, that I started to really warm up to it (though I thought it was "okay" from day one).

And the music, which I thought substandard on the first go-around, turned out to be one of the strengths of the show upon re-viewing without prejudice.

[Kevin]

I liked Crusade quite a bit when it first aired, but not nearly as much as I liked B5, so I missed a couple episodes here and there. But man, after it's run was over (having already been canceled before a single episode even aired) and I went online and got a chance to read those unfilmed episodes (especially the season cliffhanger)... I really *felt* the loss. And in a different and much more tragic way then B5, cause at least with B5 it was a loss, but one that came with resolution... an inevitable part of life that we accept knowing in our hearts that we'll always have the memories... and the reruns for that matter

But with Crusade it just felt like something very precious to me had just been stolen. And I've had a hard time shaking off that feeling since.

So yeah, I'll be getting the episodes (I think there's still one ep I haven't seen of it yet actually) and I'll enjoy them, but in some ways when I watch them it'll be impossible for me to shake off the feelings of loss it'll always come with, which is indeed the tragedy that is Crusade

[RCmodeler]

(Oh crap. The server crashed and didn't accept my post. This place needs a new/more reliable server.)

.

Season 5's Second Half was Brilliant

Yes the first half about telepaths was quite boring and uninteresting, but the SECOND HALF was brilliant. We get to see the story focus on Londa, G'Kar, Garibaldi, and John/Delenn. It's filled with tragedy, but brilliant.

How could I NOT add these awesome episodes to my collection?

It would be like having the entire Lord of the Rings Trilogy... minus the last 100 pages... that makes no sense.

[RCmodeler]

Originally posted by Kevin
But with Crusade it just felt like something very precious to me had just been stolen. And I've had a hard time shaking off that feeling since.

I know how you feel. I felt *exactly* the same about Earth: Final Conflict. The first season was brilliant... B5-level brilliance... but the suits came in at season two and totally destroyed what was created. Sad.

Likewise, the suits at TNT *tried* to destroy Crusade. I could tell it was going to be another great series, just like Babylon 5, but the suits kept pushing and pushing and pushing.... until JMS just walked.

And I don't blame him. Better to put on quality stories (Jeremiah/Rising Stars) than to put out TNT's crap which verged upon sexual pornography.

[RCmodeler]

Originally posted by The Guy
I will say, I will NOT be purchasing S5 for Sleeping in Light. For me, it was a HUGE disappointment. I found it amazingly slow and very difficult to watch. Could be that the hype was over the top, and by the time it aired I had way too many expectations.

(1) You need to view "Sleeping in Light" as *separate* from season 5... because it is. S5=2262 SIL=2271. In the timeline, SIL is like a stand-alone season 6... all by itself.

(2) Maybe you didn't understand the finale because you didn't understand the point. It was NOT meant to be a Star Trek-style "blow-things-up-real-good" climax. That's been done to death. Like most things in Babylon 5, it was meant to be different from the norm. It was meant to be... basically, a funeral.

I'll let J.Michael Straczynski explain:

"The sad truth is that we die. That is not a happy ending, not a sad ending, simply a fact. The question is what we accomplish during the days and months and years preceding; do we leave the world a better place or a worse place? If we have left the world around us a better place, as these characters did, then it's a happy ending.

"Ultimately, for me, the end of B5 is neither a sad ending nor a happy ending; I'd say it was a graceful ending, a dignified ending, an ending that said individuals can effect profound change, if they are willing to put their own lives and happiness on the line; not happy, not sad, but a testament to the idea that you have used your time here well."

Well said Mr. Straczynski, and thank you for creating this wonderful show. Like a classic novel, Babylon 5 reaches beyond mere entertainment. Thank you.

[LytaaaarGh]

I hadn't read that before - but that describes exactly what it was like. The episode WAS sad, when someone dies of course it is and i DID cry (i remember reading somewhere that JMS had seen a photo of a woman hugging the gravestone of of her husband, and that had moved him to tears. That if he could even put across a small amount of this feeling of loss in SiL he would be happy. He did of course )

But like said - i think it isn't so sad in a tragic way, more in an inevitable way - you just don't want it to happen. The greatest loss i felt wasnt the death of sheridan, but that it was the end of an Era both in the B5 universe and of course for us watching at home. That Jms had truly stuck to his story and given us an end - me sitting there not wanting it to happen but it being inevitable!

[Jan]

The greatest loss i felt wasnt the death of sheridan, but that it was the end of an Era both in the B5 universe and of course for us watching at home. That Jms had truly stuck to his story and given us an end - me sitting there not wanting it to happen but it being inevitable!

Nicely said. It was sad to say goodbye to the characters and sad to say goodbye to the Station itself but the story was over. I was so glad that it wasn't "a Dying Sheridan goes on one last mission with his friends" that some would have wanted! I also thought it was special and symbolic that it was JMS himself who turned off the lights of the station.

Reading what people have written about the movies, they seem to have forgotten that the movies were an opportunity for JMS to *play* in the B5 universe, not necessarily to continue the story. He tried different things and different styles and some worked for some people and not at all for others. That's something that he was doing with Season 5, too. During S3 and S4, the story got so intense that there was no time to do stand-alones and experimental episodes. Once the pressure was off because so many threads had been tied up in S4, it became possible to play and experiment again.

Jan

[RCmodeler]

I wish JMS would do another "novel for TV". I know it exhausts him, but he's so darn GOOD at it.

Too bad Crusade got cut off... it had the potential to be a great 5-year-story.

Maybe Jeremiah?

[Jan]

I wish JMS would do another "novel for TV". I know it exhausts him, but he's so darn GOOD at it.

More than exhausts, B5 quite literally came close to killing him.

Too bad Crusade got cut off... it had the potential to be a great 5-year-story.

Agreed. Though JMS had said the arc wouldn't be as rigorous, I liked the characters and the development that was starting.

Maybe Jeremiah?

Unfortunately, no. Even if there were to be a third season, JMS has said he wouldn't return. As it is, the US hasn't even gotten to see the second half of Season 2.

I'd've loved to have seen where it went, too. The first season was Jeremiah finding his Dad. The second was the beginning of the future and conflict with the old world. Wonder where it would have gone from there? There were some clues that seemed to be being laid for the future (she says vaguely for those who haven't seen all of S2 yet).

B5 was quite a fluke in that they had *no* studio interference after the first part of season 2. I'd love for it to be able to happen again, but don't know if it can. I have faith that JMS won't allow too much interference but that sort of thing doesn't sit well with studio execs. Hopefully there's somebody out there who'll realize that JMS can turn out a hell of a story on time and on budget and let him go do it.

Jan