Re: OT: B5 reboot?

On 27/09/2021 20:15, Kim Wall wrote:

 > 
<https://deadline.com/2021/09/babylon-5-series-reboot-j-michael-straczynski-development-cw-1234845022/> 


Ah, you beat me to posting something about this! :)

> Does this mean that the cast would all have to be about 12?

LOL!

FWIW, the Great Maker himself said in a Twitter thread:

'To answer all the questions, yes, it’s true, Babylon 5 is in active 
development as a series for the CW.  We have some serious fans over at 
the network, and they’re eager to see this show happen.  I’m hip deep 
into writing the pilot now, and will be running the series upon pickup.

The network understands the uniqueness of Babylon 5 and is giving me a 
great deal of latitude with the storytelling. As noted in the 
announcement, this is a reboot from the ground up rather than a 
continuation, for several reasons.

Heraclitus wrote “You cannot step in the same river twice, for the river 
has changed, and you have changed.”  In the years since B5, I’ve done a 
ton of other TV shows and movies, adding an equal number of tools to my 
toolbox, all of which I can bring to bear on one singular question: if I 
were creating Babylon 5 today, for the first time, knowing what I now 
know as a writer, what would it look like?  How would it use all the 
storytelling tools and technological resources available in 2021 that 
were not on hand then? How can it be used to reflect the world in which 
we live, and the questions we are asking and confronting every day? 
Fans regularly point out how prescient the show was and is of our 
current world; it would be fun to take a shot at looking further down 
the road.

So we will not be retelling the same story in the same way because of 
what Heraclitus said about the river.  There would be no fun and no 
surprises.  Better to go the way of Westworld or Battlestar Galactica 
where you take the original elements that are evergreens and put them in 
a blender with a ton of new, challenging ideas, to create something 
fresh yet familiar.

To those asking why not just do a continuation, for a network series 
like this, it can’t be done because over half our cast are still 
stubbornly on the other side of the Rim. How do you telling continuing 
story of our original Londo without the original Vir?  Or G’Kar?  How do 
you tell Sheridan’s story without Delenn?  Or the story of B5 without 
Franklin?  Garibaldi?  Zack?

The original Babylon 5 was ridiculously innovative: the first to use CGI 
to create ships and characters, and among the very first to shoot 
widescreen with a vigorous 5.1 mix.  Most of all, for the first time, 
Babylon 5 introduced viewers accustomed to episodic television to the 
concept of a five-year arc with a pre-planned beginning, middle and 
end…creating a brand new paradigm for television storytelling that has 
subsequently become the norm. That tradition for innovation will 
continue in this new iteration, and I hope to create additional new 
forms of storytelling that will further push the television medium to 
the edge of what’s possible.

Let me conclude by just saying how supportive and enthusiastic everyone 
at the CW has been and is being with this project. They understand the 
unique position Babylon 5 occupies both in television and with its 
legions of fans, and are doing everything they can to ensure the maximum 
in creative freedom, a new story that will bring in new viewers while 
honoring all that has come before.'

Link to the first tweet in the thread:

https://twitter.com/straczynski/status/1442621159221043202

Claudia Christian was a little less verbose. She said:

"Boom"

https://twitter.com/ClaudiaLives/status/1442541373996032007

<g>

Okay, she said a little more later:

'I know some of you saw the announcement that WB is doing a B5 reboot 
series and I know you have lots of questions for me like “Are you 
playing Ivanova?” “Are there going to be telepaths?” “What year is it 
taking place in?”

Well folks, I know nothing…..zip…nada. Joe has kept us in the loop from 
day one on this, because he wants us involved with the show, but we have 
no idea at this time what's in the script or what the story is.  Only 
Joe knows that for now, so you should go bug him about it.

He won't tell you, but the results should be amusing. :p :p I personally 
am grateful that I will, once again, be uttering the great maker’s 
fabulous dialogue….but I know not what that will entail. Exciting, eh? 
:D :D :D :D'

https://twitter.com/ClaudiaLives/status/1442541842726260738

And an accidental encounter on Twitter as a result of all this, Morgan 
Sales says 'hi' to everyone here who remembers him. He lamented that 
newsgroups weren't a thing anymore, so I put him right about that.

So you never know, he may very well show up again.

-- 
Vince M Hudd - Soft Rock Software   - www.softrock.co.uk
                RISCOSitory          - www.riscository.com