This is just a heads-up for all of our faithful listeners.
There won’t be a new show on July 26, but we’ll be back in full force on August 2.
In the meantime, catch up on the last 4 episodes of Season 1, if you haven’t already done so, and make sure all of your friends know about our little show here, and subscribe!
BABYLON 5 Returns!!
During last weekend’s San Diego Comic Con…at a panel that (evidently) didn’t enjoy the “in your face” notoriety of, say, TRANSFORMERS or SPIDERMAN 3… producer/writer/director J. Michael Straczynski (JMS, or “Joe”) made an announcement regarding the future of this little concept he has called BABYLON 5.
The thrust of the news is this: straight-to-video BABYLON 5 adventures…involving B5 characters in an anthology format…should arrive late next year. Written and directed by JMS.
Personally, I would love, love, LOVE to see some well-considered B5 adventures. For me, the show stands behind only the original STAR TREK in the pantheon of orgasmically kick ass TV/SF (with STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE and the current BATTLESTAR GALACTICA vying for 3rd).
The franchise’s “universe” is certainly rich enough…and broad enough…to accommodate this undertaking. The only thing that worries me about this is that CRUSADE and LEGEND OF THE RANGERS (both B5 spinoffs for TV) felt unpleasantly self-aware and forced. Given that so much time has passed since their production, perhaps Joe can now step into the universe with greater detachment and clarity: the potential for greatness here boggles the mind.
B5 is clearly a labor of love for JMS — it is clearly an undying and deeply personal committment. Don’t see that too much in either television or film these days. It’s nice to know that passion can pay off. For fans, and for Joe.
More info on that story is here.
So the biggest B5 news in the last few years gets announced and the podcast is off that week.
Have a good week off and look forward to Summer’s geek-gasm over the above news.
Mike had better have been there with iRiver in hand to record it first hand!
Let’s hope so Kurt
Yes, our timing is impeccable, and the irony isn’t lost on us
I’d read about the news from Slice of SciFi, and it was the one moment I kicked myself for not coming up with a way to get to Comic-Con myself.
I don’t know if Michael managed to get anything, but I think he would have told me by now if he had.
And honestly, I’m just as excited about “Rising Stars” being adapted as I am about these direct-to-DVD releases!
As interesting as “Rising Stars” may be as a film, I’d still rather see “Midnight Nation” on the screen.
And in other kick *ss news, Apple just announced today that B5 will be offered in the iTunes music store:
http://www.marketwatch.com/News/Story/Story.aspx?guid=%7B09318D21%2D8AC9%2D4C2D%2DA7A6%2DDB4542D98F19%7D&dist=feed&siteid=netscape
Given that I don’t have AOL, not to mention that I use a Mac, this is great news for me since I don’t have the kind of money to go around buying the box sets.
We’ve been inundated with e-mail and comments about the DVD “Lost Tales” series. Personally, I remain cautiously optimistic.
I’m extremely heartened, however, that WB is continually looking for more ways to deliver content, and that B5 is continually mentioned in the mix.
I think it’d be great if they had an ad campaign along the lines of “If you like (BSG/SG1/4400/etc.), check out the show that taught ‘em all how to do it: Babylon 5.”
Mykie said:
Note that to buy all of season 1 currently available on iTunes will cost you $40 (including The Gathering).
According to DVDPriceSearch.com, you can buy Season 1 on DVD for about $43-44. That does not include The Gathering, but it does include bonus features and of course higher PQ. Using HandBrake, you can easily rip the video from the DVDs for your iPod.
Of course, using iTunes is dead simple, so the convenience may be worth it to you. But I don’t think you’ll be saving money.
Point taken Chris, though, thanks to the podcast, I can now separate the episodes I should buy (like the crew’s flowery recommendation for “Legacies”) from those I can probably skip (like the dog “infection”), in essence, an a la carte viewing of the first season. In any case, I’m all for supporting the format in the hopes of enticing Warner Bros. and Apple to make the later seasons available as well.
I wouldn’t recommend that. There are often moments in the weaker episodes that are worth watching. Infection had what I thought was a pretty good scene between Garibaldi and Sinclair that is often overlooked after the hoky plot.
I always remember that scene when it comes to Sinclair’s later, definite, purpose in life. Just a shame that it was stuck on the ass end of that episode.
For better or for worse, each episode adds to the series, and skipping them (if you haven’t already seen them, and remember them well) might not be worth the savings.
Ah, yes, the eternal question - what episodes are absolutely must-haves, versus ones worth skipping?
FWIW, the First Season DVD collection was the last one I aquired. Generally speaking, while the first year has great material throughout, I think that a viewer could concievably jump into the show at the beginning of year 2 (it worked for my wife) without really missing a whole lot.
As far as the ala carte method, I think it’s a good way of delving into the show. It makes it less intimidating for new viewers- they don’t have to drop a huge chunk of change on a DVD set they may not like; on the other hand, they download “Signs and Portents” and go WHOA - and then start downloading the rest…
Anything that gets B5 in front of more eyes is a good thing.
That is excellent news. I am glad that WB is following NBC/Universal’s lead in using iTunes. It’s already got a track record with music, and you don’t have to worry about leaving out a huge chunk of your potential audience by ignoring a platform.
Anyone one know what the international availability of these episodes on iTunes is?
I may go back and add iTunes links to the episodes we’ve already discussed, to make it easier for listeners to go grab those eps, if they haven’t already downloaded the entire season.
And I just love how doing an iTunes Music Store search on “Babylon 5″ brings up Season 1, this podcast, and Mur’s Geek Fu Action Grip podcast.
jms has been speaking a bit on rastb5.mod about the whole situation, including some tidbits on the CBC Radio series, “The Adventures of Apocalypse Al” and the effect that the announcement of “Changeling” has had on him recently.
As always, http://www.jmsnews.com has it all archived
“We have a budget, we’re greenlit, we’re going.”
http://www.jmsnews.com/msg.aspx?id=1-17575
“you really won’t get it until you’re
in it.”
http://www.jmsnews.com/msg.aspx?ID=1-17576
Anyone one know what the international availability of these episodes on iTunes is?
——————————————
In Canada: Nada. It took over a year for us to have access to the Music Store (Nov 2004), and all we get for videos presently is music vids.
I was at the panel at Comic-Con.
Joe made it clear that this is something Warner Bros. has given the green light to, just about the same time as he sold the script for The Changeling to Imagine and Ron Howard. Joe mentioned that when he had a phone conference with Ron, he wasn’t sure what to call him, and Ron told him “You hired my dad for Babylon 5, you can call me Ron”.
He’s in the process of determining which characters to feature in the first production and hopes to start filming in September. I imagine he’ll have more info on its progress at WorldCon.
With the sale of the movie script, he is now much higher on Hollywood’s radar and has been fielding more calls from people wanting to know what else he might have to offer.
He also did quite well with the script sale, saying it redefined the “money truck” for him.
Lee Whiteside
SFTV.org Webmaster
And given that Dragon*Con is the first weekend in September, JMS will likely be deep into pre-production or even beginning filming. Meaning he probably won’t be there to give more updates.
Figures, since it’s the first big media con I’ll be attending this year.
Nothing to do with this report, but you might be interested to see this Babylon 5 set visit report from the mid-90s, broadcast on a UK kids’ programme:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcrqtoA_g90
Thanks for that link, Tom. It was pretty neat to watch.
Thanks Tom, that really was interesting in a ‘were childrens tv presenters and have NO idea what were talking about’ kinda way. Though it was nice to actualy see some behind the scenes stuff.
On the news of some direct to video B5 stuff, im elated as a matter of fact. Its some of the best news ive heard in a while!
Looking forward to the next ep!