Babylon 5’ Reboot in Development

[Thomas Leitner]

For all nostalgics:
Warner Bros. Television will produce a reboot of Babylon 5.
You can read more about it here (variety.com).

ciao
Thomas

 

[prometheus]

Holy Moly, didn´t see that coming, though I should have since that seem to be a trend.
And Babylon 5 is the reason I ever heard about Lightwave in the first place.

So of course Warner Bro´s will call newtek/vizrt for some feedback on the latest LW development and if they soon will get a new dev team in place, and then utilize Lightwave once again as a flagship for spacehips
Babylon 5, Last best hope for the survival of Lightwave

I would like to see a completly new design on the Babylon station, not really even resembling the old one, by todays standard it feels a bit lame.
Then again, we are all for real stuck on this space vessel Babylon Earth, without the power to communicate well with eachother

Questions will be, the cast, the director, the design of the ships, and the characters..and plot perhaps, after that the usual trivia on what software will be utilized, though that is dependent mostly on what studio they hire I suppose.

 

[Rayek]

Straczynski himself confirming this:

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

 

[Shabazzy]

The CW??!!!!

Oh no.

 

[Markc]

Isn't that a kids channel....?

 

[ccclarke]

"Sheridan was played by Bruce Boxleitner in the original series, with the ensemble cast also including Claudia Christian, Jerry Doyle, Mira Furlan, and Richard Briggs. At this time, none of the original series stars are attached to the project."

No kidding . . . ?

Claudia Christian is the only one of those listed above still alive. Many of the other principles are gone too.

 

[prometheus]

"Sheridan was played by Bruce Boxleitner in the original series, with the ensemble cast also including Claudia Christian, Jerry Doyle, Mira Furlan, and Richard Briggs. At this time, none of the original series stars are attached to the project."

No kidding . . . ?

Claudia Christian is the only one of those listed above still alive. Many of the other principles are gone too.

That came across like Bruce Boxleitner wasn´t alive, me interpreting it wrong perhaps?
It took a while before I could settle with him as being in a space environment, after the huge Impact he had over here as Luke MacHan in " how the west was won"
One of my favourite series at that time over here.

As for Babylon 5, Patricia Tallman (Lyta) still alive..though perhaps her role wasn´t that extensive as compared to Claudia Christian.
And gosh, Ardwight Chamberlain could still play Kosh

 

[Markc]

I met Walter Koenig a couple of years ago (another Psycorps agent).
Loved his character.

He was of retirement age then.

 

[prometheus]

I met Walter Koenig a couple of years ago (another Psycorps agent).
Loved his character.

He was of retirement age then.

Yeah..he´s still around.
To me always Mr Checkov in Star Trek, more pleasant role than the stone cold psycorps agent.

 

[jwiede]

"Sheridan was played by Bruce Boxleitner in the original series, with the ensemble cast also including Claudia Christian, Jerry Doyle, Mira Furlan, and Richard Briggs. At this time, none of the original series stars are attached to the project."

No kidding . . . ?

Claudia Christian is the only one of those listed above still alive. Many of the other principles are gone too.

Huh? Boxleitner is still alive.

 

[prometheus]

Huh? Boxleitner is still alive.

Yup, but I would just be surprised if he was gone, since he was quite young when "How the west was won" was made
2011 one of his last movies with Tron and another in 2013, then perhaps retirement.
He´s "Only 71 now and seem to be quite fit and hansom for his age still.

You know what, a bit off topic..I thought Richard Chamberlain was dead, but is also alive and seemingly well aged at 81.
And Clint west or eastwood only 91.

 

[RPSchmidt]

Isn't that a kids channel....?

I guess it depends on how you look at it

CW has / had done great things with Smallville, The Flash, Arrow, Black Lightning (a personal favorite), Supernatural, Legends of Tomorrow, Supergirl, The Vampire Diaries, The Originals, The 100 (which was a pretty good apocalyptical series), The Tomorrow People (which should never have been cancelled), etc.

There's a lotta geek love there and some excellent writing talent, so I think it's in good hands.

 

[ccclarke]

That came across like Bruce Boxleitner wasn´t alive, me interpreting it wrong perhaps?
It took a while before I could settle with him as being in a space environment, after the huge Impact he had over here as Luke MacHan in " how the west was won"
One of my favourite series at that time over here.

As for Babylon 5, Patricia Tallman (Lyta) still alive..though perhaps her role wasn´t that extensive as compared to Claudia Christian.
And gosh, Ardwight Chamberlain could still play Kosh

You're right, I'm wrong. I thought he checked out last year.

Kosh could be played by nearly anyone tall enough.

 

[Markc]

I guess it depends on how you look at it

CW has / had done great things with Smallville, The Flash, Arrow, Black Lightning (a personal favorite), Supernatural, Legends of Tomorrow, Supergirl, The Vampire Diaries, The Originals, The 100 (which was a pretty good apocalyptical series), The Tomorrow People (which should never have been cancelled), etc.

There's a lotta geek love there and some excellent writing talent, so I think it's in good hands.

Ahh, that's a no then.
A lot of good shows there......

 

[TheLexx]

Can I get a tiny B5 rant off my chest, and see if anyone else noticed the same ?

Been some years, but the episode where they meet Jack the Ripper and finally realise his identity, Boxleitner's Sheridan confronts him as "one of the most notorious killers of London's West End", which is a howling clanger because the Ripper was the notorious killer of the London East End.. My brother mentioned to me that on the DVD release they realised their mistake and overdubbed to East.

But we felt that it should have been left intact. It would have made perfect sense that in the future time of Sheridan it would be a fine historical mistake on the part of the character to get it wrong, with the viewer smart enough to figure that out. I really feel they should have left it as West End. Grrr. Anyone else notice/agree/disagree ?

Still, I guess in the new version it will be Jack the Rapper, maybe from East L.A. or something. They should leave that in too. Oh boy...

 

[Markc]

Still, I guess in the new version it will be Jack the Rapper, maybe from East L.A. or something. They should leave that in too. Oh boy...

You mean the track by LL Cool J....?

 

[David_CGC]

"Sheridan was played by Bruce Boxleitner in the original series, with the ensemble cast also including Claudia Christian, Jerry Doyle, Mira Furlan, and Richard Briggs. At this time, none of the original series stars are attached to the project."

No kidding . . . ?

Claudia Christian is the only one of those listed above still alive. Many of the other principles are gone too.

While the main characters will be recast (and I'm seeing a lot of jokes about them all being CW-hot; even the space station is going to have an eight-pack!), JMS and several of the cast members have indicated he hopes to have them appear in the remake in different roles, a la Richard Hatch as Tom Zarek in the new Battlestar Galactica.

 

[Shabazzy]

Can I get a tiny B5 rant off my chest, and see if anyone else noticed the same ?

Been some years, but the episode where they meet Jack the Ripper and finally realise his identity, Boxleitner's Sheridan confronts him as "one of the most notorious killers of London's West End", which is a howling clanger because the Ripper was the notorious killer of the London East End.. My brother mentioned to me that on the DVD release they realised their mistake and overdubbed to East.

But we felt that it should have been left intact. It would have made perfect sense that in the future time of Sheridan it would be a fine historical mistake on the part of the character to get it wrong, with the viewer smart enough to figure that out. I really feel they should have left it as West End. Grrr. Anyone else notice/agree/disagree ?

Still, I guess in the new version it will be Jack the Rapper, maybe from East L.A. or something. They should leave that in too. Oh boy...

I don't hold any hope for the reboot to appeal to me today because of how the entertainment industry is so (shall we diplomatically say) "different" from the old days.

Audiences back then were a LOT more rationally minded and didn't get "upset" over "plainly innocuos content", so shows were so much more interesting. I just know that this reboot is going to be a former shadow of its former glory due to today's "sensitivies" stifling creative exploration of various topics.

But I digress.

WRT @TheLexx post, I think that the historical aspect of that part of the story would possibly have been lost on American audiences, and as such would probably have led to an entire generation of American B5 fans being "led down the garden path", as it were, by TV telling them that this historical inaccuracy was true.

It would only serve to have their entire world come crashing down on them when they later realise that TV misinformed them and this would be unacceptable. It would lead to absolute chaos of biblical proportions. Old Testament wrath of God type stuff. Fire and brimstone coming down from the skies! Rivers and seas boiling! Forty years of darkness! Earthquakes, volcanoes... The dead rising from the grave! Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together... MASS HYSTERIA!

You get the point?

No. It's better to be honest. Correct the error and give the audience the truth. Not re-write the history to fit a mindset. The World and the fans will thank you.

But then again, given today's sensibilities, maybe that's an old fashion way of thinking since re-writing history seems to be the in thing these days.

And that's my rant for today over.

 

[prometheus]

New spaceship designs, or enhanced derived from the old ones, that is one question.

As for Babylon 5 itself, I never liked the to me boring design of it, they should make something more exciting this time around I think.

Only a few ships I liked like the Minbary garlic style, though by todays standard I don´t think that kind of procedural texturing works anymore, but the main concept shape was nice, I think it should be intact but enhanced and with new texturing.
I also liked the smaller earth starfury ships.
The shadow ships I just felt was a bit silly, though I can see why they tried the approach of something spider like.

Ron Thornton on the secrets of spaceship design..

Babylon 5's Ron Thornton on the secrets of spaceship design

Ron Thornton's passion for sci-fi has lead him to work on popular TV shows, including Babylon 5, Star Trek and Starship Troopers. Here he reveals the secrets to a successful spaceship design.

www.creativebloq.com

 

[Rayek]

New spaceship designs, or enhanced derived from the old ones, that is one question.

As for Babylon 5 itself, I never liked the to me boring design of it, they should make something more exciting this time around I think.

Only a few ships I liked like the Minbary garlic style, though by todays standard I don´t think that kind of procedural texturing works anymore, but the main concept shape was nice, I think it should be intact but enhanced and with new texturing.
I also liked the smaller earth starfury ships.
The shadow ships I just felt was a bit silly, though I can see why they tried the approach of something spider like.

Ron Thornton on the secrets of spaceship design..

Babylon 5's Ron Thornton on the secrets of spaceship design

Ron Thornton's passion for sci-fi has lead him to work on popular TV shows, including Babylon 5, Star Trek and Starship Troopers. Here he reveals the secrets to a successful spaceship design.

www.creativebloq.com

I don't see the Vorlon ships? I thought those to be quite interesting as well.

All ships' designs look outdated to a lesser or greater degree. None were truly iconic designs, unlike the ones from earlier Scifi shows such as Star Trek, Space 1999 or even Buck Rogers or the original BSG. I recall seeing the flying saucer design of one of the elder races at the time, and thinking "wow, that's rushed and unoriginal" .

The Star Fury design is in my opinion the strongest design, although I felt it was copied from The Last Starfigher. The White Star was quite nice, as were the Vorlon ships.

In short, I loved watching the series at the time, with interesting characters and storyline(s). The ship designs were good, but never thought most of them that interesting. Those were functional designs, and the story was great fun to watch.

I am looking forward to the reboot!