Script Book #10 - SPOILERS

[Jan]

Yippee! Been a long time since I got to get a nice new thread all ready for a new script book. From what the Scripts Team captain said, Cafe Press should have been all ready for the order influx so hopefully books will be on their way shortly.

Jan

[Joe Nazzaro]

Just got my copy of volume ten here in NJ, so I suspect a lot of you will be getting yours today. I'll sit down and read it cover to cover tonight, but here a couple of comments/observations that come to mind after giving it a quick skim.

First of all how many people think B5: Rangers would have made a better spin-off series than Crusade? It also answers that question about spin-off rumors I was hearing at the time that would feature Sheridan, Delenn and Zathras, or one of his brothers. It might also explain why certain cast members felt left out at the end of B5; assuming they had been hearing rumors of a 'Rangers' spin-off, they might have been under the impression that they were included, not knowing that Crusade was heading in a different direction.

This is all armchair quarterbacking but one of the reasons I think the Rangers series would have worked is because it would have had an emotional core to it, namely Sheridan and Delenn, that I don't think existed with Gideon. Having said that, I may have too much of an axe to grind because I don't like Gary Cole very much due to something crappy he did to me on set one day (and apparently quite a number of crew people weren't delighted with him either) but putting emotion aside, I'm not sure that viewers could empathize with Gideon the way they could with Sheridan and Delenn. Not to mention that we already had five years emotionally invested in these characters.

It was interesting to hear JMS's comments about the character of Number One, because I remember being in Sun Valley the day they were casting the character. I walked in from the art department next door to find the waiting room packed with VERY TALL women, like a roomful of gorgeous Amazons. I asked the receptionist what was going on and she said they were casting the Number One role.

I still think the combination of Face of the Enemy, Intersections in Real Time and Between the Darkness and the Light is one of the show's true high points. But having said that, can somebody with a better memory confirm that the syndication geniuses airing B5 at the time decided to break up the episodes again for season four? That's what I'm remembering now, but I'm not sure if my memory is playing tricks on me

[Jan]

Volume 10...the Tootsi-Fruitsie volume!

It's hard to separate what we did see from what we might have seen in order to decide if "Rangers" would have been better than Season 5 and Crusade. I mean, Sheridan as just a wing-leader instead of President? My first feeling is that if Sheridan, Delenn, G'Kar and Franklin had all carried over, what would really have made it a different series?

Yes, I can definitely now see why some of the cast might have thought they were going to cross over onto a spinoff series if any details of this premise had leaked. Still, I don't think that Crusade would have been without an emotional core. Gideon as he was written was a great character.

One thing I think will really be interesting is when we get to see the notes on Babylon Prime in Volume 15. As we've seen from earlier volumes, JMS is able to take an idea and play with it in various ways until it comes out on screen in some form.

Who else has their book? What do you think?

Jan

[AaronB]

Just got my copy of volume ten here in NJ, so I suspect a lot of you will be getting yours today. I'll sit down and read it cover to cover tonight, but here a couple of comments/observations that come to mind after giving it a quick skim.

First of all how many people think B5: Rangers would have made a better spin-off series than Crusade? It also answers that question about spin-off rumors I was hearing at the time that would feature Sheridan, Delenn and Zathras, or one of his brothers. It might also explain why certain cast members felt left out at the end of B5; assuming they had been hearing rumors of a 'Rangers' spin-off, they might have been under the impression that they were included, not knowing that Crusade was heading in a different direction.

This is all armchair quarterbacking but one of the reasons I think the Rangers series would have worked is because it would have had an emotional core to it, namely Sheridan and Delenn, that I don't think existed with Gideon. Having said that, I may have too much of an axe to grind because I don't like Gary Cole very much due to something crappy he did to me on set one day (and apparently quite a number of crew people weren't delighted with him either) but putting emotion aside, I'm not sure that viewers could empathize with Gideon the way they could with Sheridan and Delenn. Not to mention that we already had five years emotionally invested in these characters.

It was interesting to hear JMS's comments about the character of Number One, because I remember being in Sun Valley the day they were casting the character. I walked in from the art department next door to find the waiting room packed with VERY TALL women, like a roomful of gorgeous Amazons. I asked the receptionist what was going on and she said they were casting the Number One role.

I still think the combination of Face of the Enemy, Intersections in Real Time and Between the Darkness and the Light is one of the show's true high points. But having said that, can somebody with a better memory confirm that the syndication geniuses airing B5 at the time decided to break up the episodes again for season four? That's what I'm remembering now, but I'm not sure if my memory is playing tricks on me

OK, you folks are really tempting me to buy this book....

[Joe Nazzaro]

Baron, I wouldn't necessarily recommend going out and buying every volume unless you're a real completist, but I think this one is particularly notable. For one thing, it shows where the series diverges from the original five-year plan and where JMS had to reshape his storyline to fit into four season (thanks for nothing, WB!). And secondly, it also features Joe's original treatment for a B5 spin-off, which was the Rangers series. Again, this shows a very different direction the B5 storyline could have gone if it had with that series instead of Crusade.

And by the way, if you buy the book right NOW, using one of the coupon codes on another thread, you're pretty much going to pay $25 bucks instead of $50, which is a lot easier to handle.

[Jan]

That's right. Remember, the $10 introductory discount ends today.

Jan

[AaronB]

That's right. Remember, the $10 introductory discount ends today.

Jan

So what would the price be with the discount and excluding shipping?

[OmahaStar]

So what would the price be with the discount and excluding shipping?

Normal - 40;
10 day sale - 10 bucks off any orders over 25 bucks (30)
Coupon, ends today - another 10 bucks off = 20 bucks, plus shipping

[Vyse]

I noticed that in the script for "Between the Darkness and the Light" the openign scene with Sheridan hallucintaing, he's hallucinating Ivanova. But in the show he is of course hallucinating Franklin, I don't see JMS addressing this at all, a minor point, but I'm still curious. Did I miss something he wrote?

[nottenst]

I still think the combination of Face of the Enemy, Intersections in Real Time and Between the Darkness and the Light is one of the show's true high points. But having said that, can somebody with a better memory confirm that the syndication geniuses airing B5 at the time decided to break up the episodes again for season four? That's what I'm remembering now, but I'm not sure if my memory is playing tricks on me

I remember that Intersections in Real Time aired right before the break. I haven't read JMS' comments on the individual episodes yet, but I thought in his original plan (before he thought that S5 would not exist) that this would have been the S4 cliffhanging season finale, so having the break gave us some of that feeling.

Checking over at the Lurker's Guide I see that Intersections aired on June 16, 1997 and Between the Darkness and the Light aired on October 6, 1997.

Neil

P.S. Here is his comment from the Lurker's Guide about what I just said:

I don't usually comment on this, but...if I had known *with absolute certainty* that there would be a season 5, then season 4 would have ended with 418, "Intersections in Real Time." So you only pull 4 episodes forward, really. You'll understand when you see it.

[Garibaldi's Hair]

Interesting ... because JMS states in Script Book 10 that Face Of The Enemy was supposed to be the last ep of S4, and the time lag between the that episode and Intersections as the opening of S5 would help to emphasise that time had passed between Sheridan's capture and where we see him being tortured.

[Joe Nazzaro]

I don't think JMS had any say as to where the series was being interrupted, any more than in the first couple of seasons when the geniuses at PTEN thought it was a GREAT IDEA to hold back the last four episodes of the season so they could build up a head of steam going into episode one. Mind you, I usually made it a point to be back in London so I could actually see them in the order they were intended.

[frulad]

I remember when I was freelancing for the local newspaper and PTEN was gearing up the publicity for season 3 and sent out screeners for the first two episodes. Since I had pitched my editor on an interview with Peter Jurasik, I had to watch the tapes before Season 2's final four episodes had aired.

[Garibaldi's Hair]

I don't think JMS had any say as to where the series was being interrupted ...

I am sure you are right about that Joe ... but script book 10 doesn't seem to be talking about where the series was being interrupted. JMS is saying straight out that "The Face of the Enemy" was originally intended to be the season finale.

Had the order to wrap up the show in four years not come, we would have expanded the Minbari War and the Earth Civil War elements ... and ended season four with Sheridan's capture in "The Face Of The Enemy".

He may not have been able to control the interruptions, but he was certainly able to control which was the final ep of the season. Sure, PTEN could then choose to show it the week before the S5 premiere, but that is another story.

[nottenst]

I am sure you are right about that Joe ... but script book 10 doesn't seem to be talking about where the series was being interrupted. JMS is saying straight out that "The Face of the Enemy" was originally intended to be the season finale.

I thought it was just almost convenient that PTEN did break it off at the point where we would have had a season break had things gone otherwise. I don't think JMS had any say in that matter.

Unfortunately there seems to be a contradiction between Joe 1997 and Joe 2007 as to whether "The Face of the Enemy" or "Intersections in Real Time" had been "originally intended" as the S4 season finale. C'est la vie.

Neil