Babylon 5 (Series Reboot) CW

[Lee A Stewart]

Originally Posted by Chedwiggen

I guess if this is JMS's Next Generation it could be good but with CW's involvement I have serious doubts.

Putting it on Broadcast TV means they can spend big money on each episode - like $10 million. Ad revenue funds the budget.

[John1701D]

Originally Posted by Lee A Stewart

The cast, the directors, the budget per episode hasn't been made public. But it's going to suck anyways

Are you new here?

[goathunter]

JMS's comments about everything start here:

https://twitter.com/straczynski/stat...221043202?s=07

[KiLLPaTRiCK]

This could be good. I am so excited about this one. Please spend Discovery money per episode.

[Chedwiggen]

Originally Posted by goathunter

JMS's comments about everything start here:

https://twitter.com/straczynski/stat...221043202?s=07

So it's a remake.

[KiLLPaTRiCK]

Originally Posted by Chedwiggen

So it's a remake.

Battlestar Galactica turnout fine.

[Cruel Angel]

Just raises a lot of questions for me-

Has the CW promised to stay hands off, considering JMS's run in's with previous network interference?

Is JMS planning on another projected 5 years? Granted, the 'source' material is already written, but is he going to plot out the whole series as before (arcs, trap doors, etc) or on the fly year by year?

How hands on is he going to be? I doubt we are going to get another marathon run of him doing the screenplays for each episode.

The CW does have a rather low ratings threshold for shows they choose to renew, so that is a plus for potentially getting all the seasons it will need... but as many have already stated above- what sort of budget are they going to have to work with and justify?

I'll give it a shot if it does manage to get a series order, but I am not expecting much.

[Chedwiggen]

Originally Posted by KiLLPaTRiCK

Battlestar Galactica turnout fine.

Honestly, I have yet to see any Battlestar Galactica series, there's no attachment there for me like there is with Babylon 5.

[orodromeus]

Oh, there's already a whole thread about this, I posted in the main B5 thread!

I'm very conflicted about this. B5 is a landmark series and it's nowhere near well-known as it would deserve, in part because there's no full HD transfer available around. Sure there can be a few things done different in a reboot and it can be interesting to revisit the storylines today, although most themes of empire rise and fall, of fascism, resistance, nurturing vs stimulating, etc, are timeless. Visually the original has aged a lot, but the story still holds very well. B5's influence of long-form storytelling in scifi is strongly felt today in shows like The Expanse. This reboot reminds me of the Neon Genesis Evangelion remake of the series into films, which played a lot with following or not following the original, which resulted in an odd feeling of derivativeness.

But it's a remake. How interesting can it be to essentially repeat the old scripts with nuTrek visuals? Wouldn't it be more stimulating for the original creator to do...something else entirely, focus his energies on a new project instead of the past? And let somebody else to handle a reboot?

At least, I think this will be the perfect opportunity for an actual BD release of B5, finally.

[oddbox83]

I don't think it'll be just a case of repeating old scripts. That would be pointless.

From what little we know so far, seems some of the Sinclair/Sheridan stuff will be merged into just Sheridan since he's going to be the commander from the get-go, but we don't know if Sheridan is now Valen or that will be another character (a version of Sinclair or someone different). Or maybe that bit will be dropped altogether in favour of something new.

JMS will probably retool a lot. Stuff that didn't turn out so well will be jettisoned, and he might get the chance to do more of what he hoped for first time around but was prevented by interference and cast departures. I'd particularly like to see the relationship between Ivanova and Talia played out to the full rather than rushed to a quick conclusion.

[CouncilSpectre]

CW? Lol, f*#$ off already!

Edit: ok, Joe’s involved. I’ll give it the time of day at least.

[peschi]

As long it has Zathras....

and not replaced by some poser like Zathras.

[LexInHD]

Originally Posted by peschi

As long it has Zathras....

and not replaced by some poser like Zathras.

I once met a man claiming to be Zathras. At first, I thought he was Zathras, but he turned out to not be Zathras, as he was in fact, Zathras. Just not Zathras. I told this to Zathras and Zathras simply replied "It is something only Zathras understand.".

[LexInHD]

Just FYI, New B5 is not Old B5. Scripts and story will be different than the original, but original elements will be incorporated. So, you can expect many of the same things, but not in the same ways. Surviving cast members will be incorporated, as opportunity allows.

[harry o]

It would have been nice to have had Sinclair be the commander in this reboot as a tribute the late great Michael o' hare but I suppose it's not a big issue in this case ?

[LexInHD]

I'm not necro-posting on this thread, just updating with the latest news. The remake pilot script has been written and the show is being shopped around to various entities, but the never-ending Warner-Discovery drama has led to delay after delay in getting the ball rolling, so it went out last year, after sitting on ice for a very long time. Beyond that, there's nothing to report.

[CouncilSpectre]

Apple and Amazon were the two that I heard were "slightly" interested at some point but I think both have since cooled and there's no one taking a sniff around it at the moment.

[drb999]

I’m not sure that this will ever see the light of day.

[KcMsterpce]

Originally Posted by drb999

I’m not sure that this will ever see the light of day.

Good.

[starmike]

Double good