Babylon 5 to be Rebooted on the CW

[Donocropolis]

Read the article here:

https://gizmodo.com/babylon-5-is-getting-rebooted-with-j-michael-straczyn-1847752907

J. Michael Straczynski still in charge.

I loved the old series, and am glad to see more of it, but I do wish it was a sequel series instead of a reboot.

 

[Dekafox]

People asked for B5 on Blu-Ray. And the monkey's paw curls...

 

[Guardian Prime]

Yeah, would prefer a sequel over a reboot as well.

Always laughed over this bit...

 

[Cybersnark]

Yeah, I'd prefer a good follow-up to Crusade, if they really want new content. There's no need to revisit the already-perfect series.

I mean, I trust JMS to not disrespect his own baby, but he's already told this story, and a remake just feels like it'd be disrespectful to all the irreplaceable stars we've lost.

 

[Ironbite4]

Here's my thought process on this.

New Bab 5-YAY!
On CW-NOOOO!
JMS in charge-YAAAAAAAAAY!

This is either gonna be really good, or it's gonna really suck.

Ironbite-depends on how much rope they give him.

 

[LiamA]

Same stories new cast

 

[Ungnome]

Not like they could get a good chunk of the old cast back even if they wanted to.... Maybe Boxleitner can play the new Sheridan's father, once they get to that part of the story.

 

[Dekafox]

That's assuming he doesn't go back to the original plan where Sinclair was around the entire time. You can see the remnants of that here and there, like how easy it would have been to swap out Sheridan's ex-wife for Sinclair's girlfriend who was a planetary surveyor, perfect to stumble into Z'ha'dun. The Sinclair -> Sheridan switch was one of his "escape hatches" he built in in case an actor had to drop like Michael O'Hare had to(due to mental issues).

That's one of the few things that might escape the monkey paw that this is - if JMS gets to pull out the original outline and follow it without having to make allowances for actor changes or the "will they/won't they" renewal for season 5 that made them cram both planned seasons into season 4.

*edit*
Well things are looking up a bit. JMS has spoken up, saying he has a lot of leeway from CW, and he's planning to pull a "Battlestar Galactica" on it and come at it fresh with the very base concepts... so we might get a Narn and Centauri ambassador at odds, but they won't necessarily be an attempt at Londo and G'Kar. Is there a term for optimistically pessimistic? I'm still not gonna put much hope in this until the pilot hits and we get a real idea of what he's doing.

Thread:

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1442621159221043202

 

[Ungnome]

True. Kinda crazy that he had those planned for EVERY major character. Would kind of miss a Londo and G'Kar angle, though. Many of my favorite scenes from the series were between those two. Then again Jurasik and Katsulas had excellent chemistry. Might be hard to find two actors who could pull that off again.

 

[wonko the sane?]

The higher production values and greater exposure provided by the CW might just be bump needed to bring these stories for the first time to people who didn't get their chance the first time, or simply didn't know B5 even existed.

I don't know about anyone else, but babylon 5 got shafted in local media, shifting air dates and times, frequent bad spots for content: basically the full "fox show: but fox is trying to kill that show" treatment. One place and easy access because they are actually TRYING to make it successful would do wonders for this kind of high science fiction.

 

[Cybersnark]

The higher production values and greater exposure provided by the CW

Higher production values. . . On the CW?

That aside, it occurs to me that there's already an in-universe justification for a reboot.

If they play it right, it could even work as a deliberate commentary on reboots and our obsession with nostalgia rather than creativity.

And, to remind us why it won't be the same without Jerry Doyle:

 

[Covert Agent Rodimal]

Won't be the same without Jerry has Michael Garibaldi for sure, but with JMS in full control I'm cautiously optimistic

 

[The Predaking]

I kind of want to see this, but on the other hand, I would have liked a sequel series more.

Still, we always have the original, so more B5 isn't a bad thing.

 

[Ungnome]

Only issue I'd see with a sequel series is that it would almost have to be set a generation or two into the future. So many of the original cast are gone now so cameos would be problematic. Sheridan would have 'gone beyond the rim' at this point and both Lennier and Lyta Alexander died offscreen during the Telepath War. Londo died in accordance to his vision. Of the surviving characters, the actors who played them are mostly dead.... We have what, Susan Ivonova to pass the torch?

 

[Dekafox]

Only issue I'd see with a sequel series is that it would almost have to be set a generation or two into the future. So many of the original cast are gone now so cameos would be problematic. Sheridan would have 'gone beyond the rim' at this point and both Lennier and Lyta Alexander died offscreen during the Telepath War. Londo died in accordance to his vision. Of the surviving characters, the actors who played them are mostly dead.... We have what, Susan Ivonova to pass the torch?

It'd also have to be something like Crusade, given B5 is explicitly called out as the last of the Babylon stations. If we were jumping a generation ahead, it would be too late to finish the planned plot for Crusade too, so using that as a bridge is out also. There was that "Legend of the Rangers" spinoff, but that one didn't go over well.

 

[Kalidor]

Just finished watching the first 2 episodes of Babylon 5. The only two episodes I've ever seen. I've barely watched so much as a scene of this show until now.

So far so good. The special effects are pretty sub par for the 90s. There's a reason Paramount stuck with models and practical effects rather than going the CGI route for space shots. But the stories, acting and music so far make up for it.

Shame half the cast I'm watching have since died.

 

[Ungnome]

Heh, only two episodes in, you're in for a real treat. Series really starts to pick up steam in the second half of season 2.(that reminds me, I need to rewatch it soon.)

Yea, the Babylon 5 Curse is a horrible thing.

 

[The Predaking]

Just finished watching the first 2 episodes of Babylon 5. The only two episodes I've ever seen. I've barely watched so much as a scene of this show until now.

So far so good. The special effects are pretty sub par for the 90s. There's a reason Paramount stuck with models and practical effects rather than going the CGI route for space shots. But the stories, acting and music so far make up for it.

Shame half the cast I'm watching have since died.

Its a great show, especially for its time! Stick with it until the end, and you will love it.

 

[Shadewing]

I've always wanted to watch B5, but have never found a good way to watch it. So this reboot, with JMS having a lot of control makes me interested. JMS has enough of my trust to think this will be good, as little of what he does, when he's allowed to do what he wants, is really awful in my experence.

 

[The Predaking]

I've always wanted to watch B5, but have never found a good way to watch it. So this reboot, with JMS having a lot of control makes me interested. JMS has enough of my trust to think this will be good, as little of what he does, when he's allowed to do what he wants, is really awful in my experence.

They released an HD version of it on HBO Max this year. Its totally worth the subscription price to watch it in a month or two. Also, there are some other cool stuff on there too.