The Babylon 5 Reboot

[Steve]

It is amazing that this Usenet group is still here!

I've heard that JMS is threatening to do a reboot.

Please tell me it isn't happening. :-).

[John W Kennedy]

The buyout and reorganization of the CW network has reduced the odds of
it happening, but, officially, the question is still open. JMS has said
that he would like to do it, to see if, with thirty years of additional
experience, he can tell the story better.

The “reboot", in this case, means that the story will begin again, with
Sheridan (not Sinclair, who may not even exist in this version) arriving
to take command of EAS Babylon 5. Pretty much everything else is up for
grabs.

--
John W. Kennedy
Algernon Burbage, Lord Roderick, Father Martin, Bishop Baldwin,
King Pellinore, Captain Bailey, Merlin -- A Kingdom for a Stage!

[Steve]

On Tuesday, January 24, 2023 at 9:09:13 PM UTC, John W Kennedy wrote:
> The buyout and reorganization of the CW network has reduced the odds of
> it happening,

Good news, as a fan of the way it was.

> but, officially, the question is still open. JMS has said
> that he would like to do it, to see if, with thirty years of additional
> experience, he can tell the story better.

You can't rebake a souflee.

If he wants a challenge, he should make something new. He has it in him. I really liked his series "Jeremiah".

Maybe dress up the original show with new/better CGI scenes. It was done very unobtrusively, tastefully, and respectfully with the remastering of
Star Trek TOS. It added to the enjoyment of watching it. For example, instead of a glowing orb for an alien space ship, they actually had a space ship.
Instead of spray painted desk globes for planets, they have models with relief and detail, etc.

> The “reboot", in this case, means that the story will begin again, with
> Sheridan (not Sinclair, who may not even exist in this version) arriving
> to take command of EAS Babylon 5.

Wow, pretty much cut out all of the stories of the first few seasons and get right down to business with the Shadow War.

Thanks for the interesting reply!

Steve

[John W Kennedy]

On 1/24/23 4:32 PM, Steve wrote:
> On Tuesday, January 24, 2023 at 9:09:13 PM UTC, John W Kennedy wrote:
>> The buyout and reorganization of the CW network has reduced the odds of
>> it happening,
>
> Good news, as a fan of the way it was.
>
>> but, officially, the question is still open. JMS has said
>> that he would like to do it, to see if, with thirty years of additional
>> experience, he can tell the story better.
>
> You can't rebake a souflee.

No, but you can rewrite a text, which is more to the point. Goethe
rewrote “Faust”; only specialists are even aware of the Urfaust. Boito
rewrote “Mefistofele”. Kálmán rewrote “Zsuzsi kisasszony” (not to
mention the New York version that Kálmán did not work on). Tennessee
Williams rewrote “Summer and Smoke”. It happens all the time; that’s
show biz!

>
> If he wants a challenge, he should make something new. He has it in him. I really liked his series "Jeremiah".

Joe typically has half a dozen balls in the air. He’s interested in this
one.

> Maybe dress up the original show with new/better CGI scenes. It was done very unobtrusively, tastefully, and respectfully with the remastering of
> Star Trek TOS. It added to the enjoyment of watching it. For example, instead of a glowing orb for an alien space ship, they actually had a space ship.
> Instead of spray painted desk globes for planets, they have models with relief and detail, etc.

That’s for Warner Brothers to do, and they’re not going to do it,
especially after just having redone the CGI for HBOMax.

>> The “reboot", in this case, means that the story will begin again, with
>> Sheridan (not Sinclair, who may not even exist in this version) arriving
>> to take command of EAS Babylon 5.
>
> Wow, pretty much cut out all of the stories of the first few seasons and get right down to business with the Shadow War.

That doesn’t follow at all. And, in fact, until contracts are signed
that mention how many episodes are to be produced per year, matters like
that aren’t even on the table.

> Thanks for the interesting reply!
>
> Steve