Welcome to Show #108!

Interview: This week, George Johnsen, Babylon 5 co-producer (and apparently one of Jeffrey’s cohorts in mischief), at last joins us!

Jeffrey had been trying for a while to get George on the show, but George is a busy busy guy. He’s worked on a lot of the films and shows we love, and he loves the scifi!

We talk to George about the show, including some of the questions sent in by listeners, and the anecdotes and production details are both fascinating and fall-down funny.

Did you know George was also an original Cylon? Summer didn’t, and that just warms her heart.

This is an interview you have to hear again and again, and you won’t care that it runs the full hour.

Your feedback does matter, and is welcome! You can call us at 206-338-2259, or email us and tell us what you think… and likely hear it played or read on the show. Please try to keep the voicemail comments as brief as possible.

Second Life Info: FarPoint Media’s castle is at http://slurl.com/secondlife/beraudes/203/151/49.

Babylon 5 Information Gathering: If you know of a dead or abandoned B5 related website that may be in need of a new home, let Summer know! Maybe we can mirror it here or house it on a sister site.

Guess what? Thanks to “Babylon Podcast” listener Don McMillan, Summer is finally going to get copies of the remaining TNT B5 promos! Yes, once they’re ready, we’ll make them available for you to listen to and download.

Promo: Geeko Insurance (Technorama)

 

 Babylon Podcast: Show #108 [1:02:43m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (2242)

Welcome to Show #102!

Yes, we recorded a new Season 3 intro, to lessen the confusion about what we really meant by “it failed”, and since JMS made some exciting announcements at Wondercon 2008, the joke became moot.

(L to R) Jeffrey Willerth, Key Grip John Warner, Gaffer John Smith

Interview: John Warner, Best Boy and Key Grip on Babylon 5, joins us to talk about his time on set, and making sure everyone’s lit correctly and all the cameras move where they need to, and manipulation of the sets.

So head on down to your nearest production, and if it’s safe to get into the studio, go hug a key grip for all that they do.

Then we talk about what you can find in Second Life as far as FarPoint Media and Babylon Podcast goodies, and traverse a small tangent into Technorama level tech geeking. Fear not, it loops back to B5 related chat at the end.

Second Life Info: FarPoint Media’s castle is at http://slurl.com/secondlife/beraudes/203/151/49.

Babylon 5 Information Gathering: If you know of a dead or abandoned B5 related website that may be in need of a new home, let Summer know! Maybe we can mirror it here or house it on a sister site.

Summer is still looking for one more of the long versions of the B5 promos that ran on TNT prior to Season 5, the ones narrated by Keith David… anyone have any old VHS copies of S5 they taped from TNT? Specifically, the :30 spots, one featuring Ivanova and the other G’Kar… they were part of the series of ads TNT ran promoting the addition of B5 to their lineup. We have a copy of the G’Kar one, now we’re holding out that someone out there has the Ivanova one!

Your feedback does matter, and is welcome! You can call us at 206-338-2259, or email us and tell us what you think… and likely hear it played or read on the show. Please try to keep the voicemail comments as brief as possible.

Promo: Cup Car Update
Promo: The Zombie Channel

 

 Babylon Podcast: Show #102 [55:18m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (2471)

Welcome to Show #83! Summer’s literally so rushed off her feet she doesn’t have time to post this, so notes by Jarsto. Please, be gentle.

Summer, Jeffrey, Tim (the first one) and Tim (the younger) open up the show. The opening pretty soon moves two universes over into the realm of the Jedi. Then it goes to Summer’s life as a girl geek. And then to an apology from Jeffrey, for a bad joke he made. Somehow they manage to close the opening and move on with the show.

Interview: Keegan Macintosh (Prince Vintari) joins the Babylon Podcast crew for an interview, “confesses” to listening to the show, and moves straight on to mastering the accent, how he got cast as Vintari, and what David Bowie had to do with it.

The discussion moves on to the “no mercy” atmosphere among the B5 cast on the set, the nature of green-screen work, and the joy of being a Starfury, both while filming and watching it back on the screen.

The “start at season two” B5 recruitment advice leads to a discussion of good television series. Then a brief look back at how Keegan first heard about the role, and a discussion of the potential for more Lost Tales (and more Vintari).

Doug Netter’s (and JMS’s) sense of humor, comparative times spent in makeup for Vintari’s hair versus Galen’s lack of same, the need to be careful with the hair, the convention scene, Keegan’s current lack of website, and possible future parts round out the interview.

Fan Cast: The Three-Edged Sword Episode 13: “Examinations and Recalibrations” (TS: 35:06-44:33) This is the long version of TES that will normally only go out on Voices of Babylon, because of the short(ish) show.

Finally our intrepid editor Brad, and his lovely assistant Christina, provide a close and explain what’s going on with the end of this show (and where the promised geeking on Over There is).

Babylon 5 Information Gathering: Can we and should we mount a Babylon 5 propaganda campaign, in order to get sales of The Lost Tales to the point where Warner really really wants to greenlight more volumes of TLT? Let us know…

Also, if you know of a dead or abandoned B5 related website that may be in need of a new home, let Summer know!

Jerseys Are Go! (really… we’re still moving forward with these!) Interested? Let us know if you’d place a pre-order!

Your feedback does matter, and is welcome! You can call us at 206-338-2259, or email us and tell us what you think… and likely hear it played or read on the show. Please try to keep the voicemail comments as brief as possible.

Link: Voices of Babylon
Promo: The Scape Cast

 

 Babylon Podcast: Show #83 [45:59m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (3413)

Welcome to Show #82!

Summer, Jeffrey, and Tim are joined by Brad and Tim A, and the sock puppets just plain take over the joint. Tim throws out a theory for JMS’ sock puppet escapade, that maybe there was a method behind the faux madness.

And just how can we convince WB that more B5 product from them would be just as well received, if not better, with just a little bit of well-placed advertising? How can it make sense to not advertise a project because you’re worried about the financial risk, when running an ad in a space targeted to Babylon 5 fans will ensure maximum saturation in the group most likely and most interested in buying said project?

Summer’s confused and upset about the lack of support and promotion for “The Lost Tales” DVDs, and Brad wonders if WB does it on purpose. Which opens up ten other cans of worms, but we want to do more, and in return, receive more B5 for it.

Interview: Peter Woodward joins an excited B5 crew to talk about his Babylon 5 experience, which all began with his being late for an audition for “A Call to Arms”, and how Galen’s enigmatic nature just *is*.

We hear how yet another cast member would gladly rent out body parts to continue to do more B5 projects, and gives us as much insight into Galen as he can without activating the remote zapper feature in JMS’s secret B5 cast & crew implant.

Peter’s also been a cog in other genre shows, with appearances in “Brimstone” and “Stargate”, and portraying the Source of All Evil in “Charmed”, and he tells us about growing up watching Doctor Who, and enjoying science fiction and it’s characters, and more.

The Galen-focused show titles get a little silly.

images courtesy of Legion Six Victorius and their “Conquest” gallery

Fan Cast: The Three-Edged Sword Episode 12: “The Aftermath” (TS: 41:04-46:29)

We promise to get to the Deep Geeking on “Over There” next week. Oh, and put down the sock puppets, and slowly back away.

Bonus: Stay tuned after the closing credits… there’s an extra treat. Trust us.

Babylon 5 Information Gathering: Can we and should we mount a Babylon 5 propaganda campaign, in order to get sales of The Lost Tales to the point where Warner really really wants to greelight more volumes of TLT? Let us know…

Also, if you know of a dead or abandoned B5 related website that may be in need of a new home, let Summer know!

Jerseys Are Go! (really… we’re still moving forward with these!) Interested? Let us know if you’d place a pre-order!

Your feedback does matter, and is welcome! You can call us at 206-338-2259, or email us and tell us what you think… and likely hear it played or read on the show. Please try to keep the voicemail comments as brief as possible.

Link: Voices of Babylon
Promo: Things Are Looking Up

 

 Babylon Podcast: Show #82 [53:22m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (1955)

Welcome to Show #79!

Tim is back, and Jeffrey is Kentucky, and Summer is always here. Jeffrey’s wrangled up some “Lost Tales” fan related interviews for us! Also stay tuned for more video content as part of the Lost Tales-apalooza month long (or longer) fest.

Interview 1: Adam Francis, production assistant during Season 2, joins us to tell us about how long his fan interest in Babylon 5 extends back, some of the running around he did during his tenure on the show, seeing and talking with the cast and crew he worked with after so much time, and more.

Fan Cast: The Three-Edged Sword Episode 10: “The Storm” (TS: 24:01-28:30) What you’re hearing here on The Babylon Podcast is just a small part of the story… the full audio drama can be heard at Voices of Babylon, so what are you waiting for? Go over and check them out!

Interview 2: Acclaimed conceptual artist Tim Earls rejoins us to give us some of the work he did for “The Lost Tales”, mostly storyboarding for all the scenes and visual effects. He also talks about some of the updates that went into set and ship design, and how some of his changes were incorporated into the finished product. Will we ever see the CG-intensive Garibaldi-focused story that Tim laid out?

Tim’s currently the set designer for the new fall show, “Pushing Daisies”, and is working on a still-secret new Serenity project for Quantum Mechanix

Deep Geeking: Tim and Summer conclude the geeking for the first episode, “Over Here”. We talk about the possible implications of Lochley’s theory and solution to the problem of what to do with Simon Burke… what could humanity do without the threat of devils and demons to haunt their dreams, and without a need for the Church amongst the stars? Will ancient evil be left behind when the cradle of humanity vanishes into dust when Sol goes nova? Will new battles be waged for the souls of all races, not just humanity, out beyond our galaxy?

And how do we know that all of this couldn’t have been investigated by a telepath? Lochley used to have a good relationship with Bester… did what happened during the Telepath War change her willingness to use a telepath first, or did her upbringing cause her to lean towards something in her comfort zone?

Babylon 5 Information Gathering: Can we and should we mount a Babylon 5 propaganda campaign, in order to get sales of The Lost Tales to the point where Warner really really wants to greelight more volumes of TLT? Let us know…

Also, if you know of a dead or abandoned B5 related website that may be in need of a new home, let Summer know!

Summer still needs to find the long versions of the B5 promos that ran on TNT prior to Season 5, the ones narrated by Keith David… anyone have any old VHS copies of S5 they taped from TNT? Specifically, the :30 spots, one featuring Ivanova and the other G’Kar… they were part of the series of ads TNT ran promoting the addition of B5 to their lineup.

Jerseys Are Go! (really… we’re still moving forward with these!) Interested? Let us know if you’d place a pre-order!

Your feedback does matter, and is welcome! You can call us at 206-338-2259, or email us and tell us what you think… and likely hear it played or read on the show. Please try to keep the voicemail comments as brief as possible.

Shameless related begging: There’s a box of Babylon 5 novels sitting here, books that were rescued from unknown fates at used bookstores in his area by Brad from the PodCulture podcast. The B5 library collection grows… if you have a request, send it in.

Promo: George Hrab’s Geologic Podcast
Promo: PodCulture
Link: Voices of Babylon

 

 Babylon Podcast: Show #79 [58:28m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (1612)

Welcome to Show #76!

Tim, Summer, and Jeffrey dive right into “Lost Tales” celebration month, and forget any previous plans for separate episodes geeking on TLT… we’re going into overdrive coverage of The Lost Tales, and there will be spoilers contained in all the August episodes, so be forwarned. If you want to avoid spoilers, then skip these next few shows until you’re all caught up!

Jeffrey gives us a recap of the Los Angeles Best Buy release party event, attended by Tracy Scoggins, Bruce Boxleitner, Peter Woodward and Doug Netter. He obtained plenty of video and audio footage covering the event, so stay tuned for clips!

Interview: Bruce Boxleitner joins us to talk about his experiences filming The Lost Tales, and doing promotions for it at the adventure now known as Comic-Con.

Bruce recounts working with Peter Woodward, Tracy Scoggins and newcomer Keegan MacIntosh and the fun of portraying an older, wiser and more sage President Sheridan; the bane that was the sock puppets; and the resurgence of interest in TRON, even all these years (and advancements in CG) later.

Fan Cast: The Three-Edged Sword Episode 7: “Word Gets Out” (TS: 43:34-49:19)

Babylon 5 Information Gathering: Can we and should we mount a Babylon 5 propaganda campaign, in order to get sales of The Lost Tales to the point where Warner really really wants to greelight more volumes of TLT? Let us know…

Are you interested in listening to more Babylon 5 audio drama? Voices of Babylon is coming soon, and maybe you can get your own story out, too.

Also, if you know of a dead B5 website that may be in need of a new home, let Summer know!

Summer would also like to find the long versions of the B5 promos that ran on TNT prior to Season 5, the ones narrated by Keith David… anyone have any old VHS copies of S5 they taped from TNT?

Jerseys Are Go! Interested? Let us know if you’d place a pre-order!

Your feedback does matter, and is welcome! You can call us at 206-338-2259, or email us and tell us what you think… and likely hear it played or read on the show. Please try to keep the voicemail comments as brief as possible.

Shameless related begging: Summer’s working on an idea for that essay collection on Babylon 5. If you’d be interested in buying one if they did do a B5 collection, let Summer know, either here in comments, or over in the Babylon Podcast forums.

There’s a box of Babylon 5 novels sitting here, books that were rescued from unknown fates at used bookstores in his area by Brad from the PodCulture podcast. The B5 library collection grows… if you have a request, send it in.

Promo: GeekCred
Link: The Official Site for Bruce and Melissa

 

 Babylon Podcast: Show #76 [54:31m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (4113)

Welcome to Show #63!

Once again, the boys are loose in the studio all by themselves. Michael and Tim Adamec join Tim Callender and Jeffrey Willerth, and we’re still not sure what they’re up to.

The release date for “The Lost Tales, Volume 1″ has been announced: July 31, 2007, and is currently available for pre-order! Go order your copy now!! And, Warner Bros may be showing the podcast a little love… we’ll let you know when we know.

Bonus: Tim Callender has a bit of fan fiction appearing in a recent episode of Geek Fu Action Grip. It’s about “Hell”, but also references B5… how can you go wrong?

Interview: Tim and Summer chat with SF author Jeanne Cavelos about her contributions to the Babylon 5 universe: the novels “The Shadow Within”, and the Passing of the Technomages trilogy.

She tells us about her approach to writing about the mages when her first impression of them wasn’t the most favorable, and about playing in a universe so lovingly detailed by JMS. She also gives us her insight into Galen’s character, and the changes he went through, leading into “Crusade”.

And it seems like everyone has a crush on the Vorlon…

Listener Feedback: Edmund comments on the Jarsto guest spot, Vorlon bondage sketches, and volunteers to sit in for Tim if ever necessary; Edmund again, commenting on “And Now For A Word…” and the historical references behind the character names.

Your feedback does matter, and is welcome! You can call us at 206-338-2259, or email us and tell us what you think… and likely hear it played or read on the show. Please try to keep the voicemail comments as brief as possible.

Shameless related begging: Summer’s working to convince any publisher to do an essay collection on Babylon 5. If you’d be interested in buying one if they did do a B5 collection, let Summer know, either here in comments, or over in the Babylon Podcast forums.

There’s a box of Babylon 5 novels sitting here, books that were rescued from unknown fates at used bookstores in his area by Brad from the PodCulture podcast. The B5 library collection grows… if you have a request, send it in.

Promo: Podcasting: Now and Beyond: The Podcasting Track at Dragon*Con
Promo: Typical Mac User Podcast

 

 Babylon Podcast: Show #63 [1:00:58m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (4773)

Welcome to Show #60!

There’s a box of Babylon 5 novels sitting in the Draco Vista Studios, books that were rescued from unknown fates at used bookstores in his area by Brad from the PodCulture podcast. Once I get them unboxed and sorted, we’ll figure out a way to get them to new homes.

Tim Adamec gives us his thoughts and impressions on Babylon 5, since he’s a new convert to the series, and newly introduced by immersion to the show. We also throw out the idea of creating “Babylon 5 New Viewer’s Guide”, and how best to introduce a new fan to the show without running the potential risk of losing them by starting with Season 1.

Interview: Tim, Summer and Jeff talk with conceptual artist Tim Earls and his work on Babylon 5 for several seasons.

Tim tells us how he came to be part of Babylon 5, and some of the things he’s designed and redesigned for the show. His background in architecture led to being an art director for short-lived software company, but his love has always been for space ships, and scribbling in the margins.

Tim tells us all about his experiences and designs on the series, and compares it to the work he did on “Crusade” and more recently, storyboarding for “The Lost Tales”. He’s also done work on the pilot for “Firefly”, the movie Serenity, “Star Trek: Voyager”, and more. His work can also be seen in the upcoming 4th “Die Hard” movie later this summer.

Tim’s favorite ship design for B5 is the Warlock battle cruiser, which we may see some goodies about in the future, but for now, fans are going to have to settle for the lovely set of “Serenity” blueprints, soon to be available from Quantum Mechanix Replicas.

How I wish we’d had this photo before the interview, because there’s no way Browncoats would have treated him in such a fashion.

Listener Feedback: Tim reads an email from Pavel, who’s ecstatic about finally seeing Jeffrey Willerth’s name in the credits in “Hour of the Wolf”, and wants to know why his name hadn’t appeared before the 4th season; Trampas Whiteman from Dragonlance Canticle and SciFi Smackdown treats us to some B5-themed poetry.

Your feedback does matter, and is welcome! You can call us at 206-338-2259, or email us and tell us what you think… and likely hear it played or read on the show. Please try to keep the voicemail comments as brief as possible.

Shameless related begging: Summer’s working to convince any publisher to do an essay collection on Babylon 5. If you’d be interested in buying one if they did do a B5 collection, let Summer know, either here in comments, or over in the Babylon Podcast forums.

Link: Quantum Mechanix Replicas
Promo: Adult Space Child Free Podcast

 

 Babylon Podcast: Show #60 [1:02:10m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (6480)

Welcome to Show #54!

Jeffrey’s back from Houston, where he met with listeners John and Satyajit, who have their own show called AstroCast, a podcast dedicated to the Houston Astros. They treated Jeff to a round of Buttery Nipples. He also throws out the welcome mat to other fans of the show who would like to treat him to a drink when he’s traveling around.

Interview: Maggie Egan (”Jane”, ISN Anchor)

Tim, Summer and Jeffrey engage in a delightful chat with Maggie Egan, who was the familiar and comforting face of ISN before and after the Clark Administration ran riot over Earth Gov.

She gives us an update on her latest projects: a creative ad spot for CBS’s “Without A Trace”, and a guest spot on FOX’s “Standoff”. The episode she’s in is slated to air in March, so if you watch it and you like the show, let FOX know that you’d like to see more of her! We learn about the differences between auditioning for commercials and auditioning for TV and film, the differences in stresses and relationships and expectations. And the money…

She then regales us with tales of auditioning for B5, and the fun of returning to the set time and again, with being surprised to come back to the series after she thought she’d been blown up, and her surprise at discovering at a convention that her character actually had a name! Tim and Summer both relate how much her performance resonated with how anchors should make people feel, and in making the series feel a little more real.

Maggie also tells us about the disapperance of her domain, and how she’s been lacking a website for several years now, which leads to all sorts of calls for tech help and offers for assistance. In the end, Summer ended up registering MaggieEgan.net for her, and will be putting together a new site for Maggie (right in the middle of doing websites for a whole slew of new FarPoint Media shows).

Listener Feedback: Gary from Jacksonville muses on whether Timov was modeled after Angela Lansbury in “Murder, She Wrote”; Gary again, commenting on how maybe we should have picked up Talia’s secret much earlier; Jenn from Dreamwatch mentions the JMS mailing list, which is an email digest of the posts available at JMS News, and Summer really does want to add more B5 related links to the site here; Jarsto comments on “Soul Mates” and the relationship progression between Susan and Talia; Gary from Jacksonville thinks that “The Long Dark” was merely a Dr Franklin romantic filler episode; Gary wants details on the podcast’s Season 2 pickup; Edmund geeks over hearing his own voicemail. Tim reads emails from Roz, who’s disappointed in a lack of B5 content in a show (but we don’t know which one) and the appearance of too many insider remarks; Craig loves the show and caught up on missed episodes in a flash.

Your feedback does matter, and is welcome! You can call us at 206-338-2259, or email us and tell us what you think… and likely hear it played or read on the show. Please try to keep the voicemail comments as brief as possible.

Vote for us! Let’s get this show’s rank into The Pickle’s Top 100!

Shameless related begging: Summer’s also really hoping to convince the publisher to eventually do a collection on Babylon 5. If you’d be interested in buying one if they did do a B5 collection, let Summer know, either here in comments, or over in the Babylon Podcast forums.

Link: Smart Pop Books
Link: Maggie Egan: The New Website!
Promo: Support TD-0013 in the MS Walk

 

 Babylon Podcast: Show #54 [1:07:12m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (4819)

Welcome to Show #45!

Interview: Kim Holly, Costume Supervisor

After relaying some updated “Lost Tales” news, Tim, Summer and Jeffrey welcome Kim Holly, costume supervisor for the entire series save “The Gathering”. Kim’s work was pivotal in making the look of the uniforms and costumes match up with the creative visions of JMS and Anne Bruice, as well as making them fit all the cast comfortably and colorfully.

Kim tells us about the creative process behind designing and piecing together the various costumes for the different races seen on the show, about the complaints about the original Earthforce uniforms, of the special designs for Michael York and Wayne Alexander, of the amusement from poking Jeff Conaway with a needle on camera, and more.

Listener Feedback: We revel in another B5 Haiku from Hilary; Trampas from The Signal chimes in with the suggestion that Jedi are telepathic enough, and that the Shadows wouldn’t get along with Darth Vader, which leads to a tangent on Huttese; Jarsto expounds on the quality and quantity of his voicemails, and one reason why the Shadow vessels didn’t bother destroying Keffer’s Starfury; Jarsto again, with a new B5 Haiku. In email, Gabriel disagrees with Tim on the myth vs tech argument; Miles adds to the comments on the inclusion of technomages in the B5 universe.

We so need a B5 holiday season collection of quotes and song variations.

Vote for us! Let’s get this show’s rank into The Pickle’s Top 100!

Shameless plug: Summer contributed an essay to the essay collection, So Say We All: An Unauthorized Collection of Thoughts and Opinions on Battlestar Galactica, now available at your local bookstore and at Amazon.com.

Shameless related begging: Summer’s also really hoping to convince the publisher to eventually do a collection on Babylon 5. If you’d be interested in buying one if they did do a B5 collection, let Summer know, either here in comments, or over in the Babylon Podcast forums.

We are still considering doing a separate B5 Fan Tales segment in the future, so send us those favorite anecdotes of yours.

Your feedback does matter, and is welcome! You can call us at 206-338-2259, or email us and tell us what you think… and likely hear it played or read on the show. Please try to keep the voicemail comments as brief as possible.

Promo: Chuck Chat Technorama
Link: Smart Pop Books
Link: JMS’s “Lost Tales” photographs

 

 Babylon Podcast: Show #45 [1:01:46m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (4227)