# ...Babylon 5 to return with JMS at the helm **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted\ **Created:** [September 28, 2021, 9:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/babylon-5-to-return-with-jms-at-the-helm/951497 "2021-09-28T09:13:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2021, 9:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/babylon-5-to-return-with-jms-at-the-helm/951497/1 "2021-09-28T09:13:51Z")
…not a joke. (I did check the forum, had assumed someone would have done this thread by now, but if I missed one, my apologies.) > **[The beloved Babylon 5 is getting rebooted, and series creator JMS is running...](https://www.theverge.com/2021/9/27/22696836/babylon-5-reboot-j-michael-straczynski-warner-bros-the-cw)** > > For fans, this may feel like hell froze over. JMS speaks at length about why he has chosen to do things the way he has here: > Claudia Christian talks about how her and many of the other surviving cast members have been in the loop for a while, and that JMS wants them all to play a part, but she has no idea what kind of part that will be. > Great Maker! ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2021, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/babylon-5-to-return-with-jms-at-the-helm/951497/2 "2021-09-28T09:30:22Z")
> [@](#): > > In a from-the-ground-up reboot of the original series, John Sheridan, an Earthforce officer with a mysterious background, is assigned to Babylon 5, a five-mile-long space station in neutral space, a port of call for travelers, smugglers, corporate explorers and alien diplomats at a time of uneasy peace and the constant threat of war. His arrival triggers a destiny beyond anything he could have imagined, as an exploratory Earth company accidentally triggers a conflict with a civilization a million years ahead of us, putting Sheridan and the rest of the B5 crew in the line of fire as the last, best hope for the survival of the human race. The avalanche has already started. It is too late for the pebbles to vote. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2021, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/babylon-5-to-return-with-jms-at-the-helm/951497/3 "2021-09-28T09:55:54Z")
My question to Claudia Christian is “Have you got an agent that will negotiate you a better contract this time?” ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2021, 10:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/babylon-5-to-return-with-jms-at-the-helm/951497/4 "2021-09-28T10:10:53Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > “Have you got an agent that will negotiate you a better contract this time?” You have always been here. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2021, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/babylon-5-to-return-with-jms-at-the-helm/951497/5 "2021-09-28T11:17:21Z")
The timing is interesting. Straczynski had previously thrown in his hat to possibly be the next Doctor Who showrunner. But since Russell T. Davies is returning instead after Chibnall leaves, he must be free to do Babylon 5. So sci-fi fans get RTD back on Doctor Who and JMS back for Babylon 5—though I wonder how fans feel about the latter being a “from-the-ground-up reboot,” even knowing Claudia Christian (and hopefully others from the original cast) will still be on the show. ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2021, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/babylon-5-to-return-with-jms-at-the-helm/951497/6 "2021-09-28T11:46:07Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Straczynski had previously thrown in his hat to possibly be the next Doctor Who showrunner. But since Russell T. Davies is returning instead after Chibnall leaves, he must be free to do Babylon 5. …yeah, its not that. JMS said he has he’s been working on this for a while, and the cast were kept in the loop as well. It didn’t happen in the last few days. He only threw his hat into the Doctor Who ring because…why not? The opportunity doesn’t come up very often, so he thought he’d give it a go. But it wasn’t 'one of the other." ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2021, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/babylon-5-to-return-with-jms-at-the-helm/951497/7 "2021-09-28T12:28:56Z")
> [@Banquet\_Bear](#): > > …yeah, its not that. JMS said he has he’s been working on this for a while, and the cast were kept in the loop as well. It didn’t happen in the last few days. He only threw his hat into the Doctor Who ring because…why not? The opportunity doesn’t come up very often, so he thought he’d give it a go. But it wasn’t 'one of the other." I’m not arguing that he didn’t plan on doing Babylon 5. I’m saying that perhaps he delayed his announcement a bit to let Doctor Who make their announcement first. It would avoid stepping on their announcement, and avoid speculation he was going to try and do both shows. I personally don’t think he could have done both shows simultaneously. I think the quality of both shows would suffer. And I think he would know that, and would not try to do both at once. I suspect that, since he threw his hat in the ring, he was willing to delay Babylon 5 to be able to run Doctor Who. Or, well, it’s possible that he didn’t actually plan on running Doctor Who now, but wanted to throw his hat in the ring to create buzz for both shows and get his name into the running for later. I dunno. ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2021, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/babylon-5-to-return-with-jms-at-the-helm/951497/8 "2021-09-28T12:38:59Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > It would avoid stepping on their announcement, and avoid speculation he was going to try and do both shows. …nobody, even JMS, seriously thought he had a chance. But he thought: why not give it a go? > [@BigT](#): > > Or, well, it’s possible that he didn’t actually plan on running Doctor Who now, but wanted to throw his hat in the ring to create buzz for both shows and get his name into the running for later. I dunno. You are just overthinking this. JMS is pretty open about things on twitter and his own patreon. And he wouldn’t try and create buzz for a programme he isn’t actually a part of through a convoluted process of pretending to want to write for that show. He talked through what he did. He asked his agents to investigate the Doctor Who opportunity, the BBC reached out, they had a courteous discussion that went nowhere. It was just a typical Hollywood interaction. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2021, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/babylon-5-to-return-with-jms-at-the-helm/951497/9 "2021-09-28T13:23:00Z")
So I’m just watching B5 for the first time (on HBO Max), and I can see why he’d want to do a reboot. The show is in a 4:3 format with very cheesy looking CGI. That’s not exactly something that would entice many people to give it a watch. A ground up reboot may bring in a lot of people who normally would have been turned off by how the old show looked. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2021, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/babylon-5-to-return-with-jms-at-the-helm/951497/10 "2021-09-28T14:01:21Z")
The scope and depth of B5 is quite amazing. I can’t imagine any writer trying to recreate the show with new characters and stories. The new show will always be critically compared to the original. By reboot I guess that means entirely new aliens? A new mystery villain lurking in the Shadows? I’d suggest shorter seasons. B5 sometimes seemed too slowly paced in the early seasons. Although we did learn there were important clues in the slower episodes. I’d be happy with 14 episodes a season. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2021, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/babylon-5-to-return-with-jms-at-the-helm/951497/11 "2021-09-28T14:05:52Z")
Just in time to do the SFX: > **[The Commodore Amiga Gets A Mini Version](https://kotaku.com/the-commodore-amiga-gets-a-mini-version-1847455485)** > > The small-sized tribute of the legendary computer is packed with 25 games ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2021, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/babylon-5-to-return-with-jms-at-the-helm/951497/12 "2021-09-28T14:23:29Z")
> [@Banquet\_Bear](#): > > He talked through what he did. He asked his agents to investigate the Doctor Who opportunity, the BBC reached out, they had a courteous discussion that went nowhere. It was just a typical Hollywood interaction. “Understanding is a three edged sword: your side, their side, and the truth.” ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2021, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/babylon-5-to-return-with-jms-at-the-helm/951497/13 "2021-09-28T17:28:08Z")
“No boom today. Boom tomorrow. There’s always a boom tomorrow. What? Look, somebody’s got to have some damn perspective around here! Boom. Sooner or later. BOOM!” Still trying to figure out how this will all work. I can’t imaging anyone else playing G’Kar – will it be a different alien species that will take the place of the Narn? Brian ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2021, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/babylon-5-to-return-with-jms-at-the-helm/951497/14 "2021-09-28T17:39:28Z")
> [@N9IWP](#): > > Still trying to figure out how this will all work. I can’t imaging anyone else playing G’Kar – will it be a different alien species that will take the place of the Narn? A number of the main actors from the original show have passed away (including Jerry Doyle, Mira Furlan, Richard Biggs, Jeff Conaway, Stephen Furst, and Michael O’Hare, as well as Andreas Katsulas), while the others are now, of course, significantly older than their original characters were 25+ years ago. I would imagine that, if it’s a reboot of the original story, the main roles will be largely, if not entirely, recast, and any returning actors might well be playing different roles. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2021, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/babylon-5-to-return-with-jms-at-the-helm/951497/15 "2021-09-28T19:22:06Z")
I hope their is a similar character as Kosh. The show needs a mysterious, powerful character that may or may not be there to help. His environmental suit was so cheesy. They may do the new character CGI. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2021, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/babylon-5-to-return-with-jms-at-the-helm/951497/16 "2021-09-28T21:21:45Z")
I’m having a hard time seeing what a reboot brings to the table, here. We already have Babylon 5, and aside from a few dated CGI sequences and an older aspect ratio, there’s not much wrong with it. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2021, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/babylon-5-to-return-with-jms-at-the-helm/951497/17 "2021-09-28T21:33:57Z")
Some thoughts in no particular order: - It’s the CW. So JMS will have to insert some horny teenager/20-something melodramatic relationship issues. How many horny, moody teenagers/20-somethings can you fit on a single space station? - B5 to a large extent reflected the geopolitical situation of the 90s, i.e. Clinton-era Democrats, nation building, pre-9/11, pre-Trump. At the very least, it would be interesting to see how a reboot would reflect our new reality - A huge project to provide nominally neutral ground where peaceful negotiations and mutual understanding between rival nations can be fostered seems rather quaint these days. - Is this really necessary? I suppose they ‘reimagined’ Kung-Fu. So, Time Trax next? > [@kenobi\_65](#): > > A number of the main actors from the original show have passed away (including Jerry Doyle, Mira Furlan, Richard Biggs, Jeff Conaway, Stephen Furst, and Michael O’Hare, as well as Andreas Katsulas), No kidding (also, given how many drugs were involved, Claudia Christian has the liver of a Greek God). As a percentage, it was better to be a cast member of the original Star Trek, many of whom are still kicking well into their 80s and 90s. Walter Koenig looks to have avoided whatever B5 curse there is. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2021, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/babylon-5-to-return-with-jms-at-the-helm/951497/18 "2021-09-28T22:03:18Z")
> [@Great\_Antibob](#): > > As a percentage, it was better to be a cast member of the original Star Trek, many of whom are still kicking well into their 80s and 90s. In fact, [Shatner is planning to go into space](https://www.space.com/william-shatner-album-possible-blue-origin-flight). 😃 Of the nine actors who had significant roles in the original series (including Majel Barrett and Grace Lee Whitney, as well as the main seven), we didn’t lose one until 1999, over 30 years after the show ended, when DeForest Kelly passed away. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2021, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/babylon-5-to-return-with-jms-at-the-helm/951497/19 "2021-09-28T22:11:08Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > Of the nine actors who had significant roles in the original series (including Majel Barrett and Grace Lee Whitney, as well as the main seven), we didn’t lose one until 1999, over 30 years after the show ended, when DeForest Kelly passed away. Heck, they still have nearly the entire bridge crew. Just missing the first/science officer. ---
**Author:** ![Jihi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jihi/32/17768_2.png) [@Jihi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jihi)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2021, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/babylon-5-to-return-with-jms-at-the-helm/951497/20 "2021-09-28T22:20:28Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > I would imagine that, if it’s a reboot of the original story, the main roles will be largely, if not entirely, recast, and any returning actors might well be playing different roles. I think this is exactly what it’s going to be. When i first heard about this I wondered if it would be a continuation 20 years later sort of thing. But the synopsis from the article (quoted by smapti upthread) is definitely signaling this is a retelling of the original story. Maybe the best comparison would be to BSG? Same basic premise with updated effects and more current storytelling sensibilities? Is this strictly necessary? I don’t know, the original show is still very watchable to my eyes but if this introduces a new generation to B5, even more people discovering the original show, I don’t think that’s all bad. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/babylon-5-to-return-with-jms-at-the-helm/951497.md?page=2)