I’ve published my second in-depth Star Trek TOS review today, on the episode “Charlie X”:
→ Girls in Space Be Wary, Mission Critical Ops
I’ve started a Substack where I’m reviewing every Star Trek episode ever released. I’ve started today with TOS season 1, episode 1: “The Man Trap”. It’s very in-depth and nerdy. Check it out and give me a subscription, if you enjoy this kind of thing.
→ Tequila Sunrise over M-113, Mission Critical Ops
I’ve just published a special issue of my newsletter, because there has been a very important announcement yesterday.
For years, I tried to explain to Dave on Geek News Radio why me caring about the fictional integrity of a story wasn’t simply me being old, inflexible and resenting change. It is important for the suspension of disbelief. For you giving a shit about what you are watching.
The Critical Drinker explains this better than I ever could in the following video. He also explains why this is one of the major problems with Hollywood today.
Holy shit! After saying for decades it wasn’t going to happen, JMS is working on a remake of Babylon 5!
To answer all the questions, yes, it’s true, Babylon 5 is in active development as a series for the CW. We have some serious fans over at the network, and they’re eager to see this show happen. I’m hip deep into writing the pilot now, and will be running the series upon pickup.
It seems whoever had to die or otherwise move on has done so.
And JMS is keeping with the spirit of the original show while not being afraid to change it up.
The network understands the uniqueness of Babylon 5 and is giving me a great deal of latitude with the storytelling. As noted in the announcement, this is a reboot from the ground up rather than a continuation, for several reasons. In the years since B5, I’ve done a ton of other TV shows and movies, adding an equal number of tools to my toolbox, all of which I can bring to bear on one singular question: If I were creating Babylon 5 today, for the first time, knowing what I now know as a writer, what would it look like? How would it use all the storytelling tools and technological resources available in 2021 that were not on hand then?
How can it be used to reflect the world in which we live, and the questions we are asking and confronting every day? Fans regularly point out how prescient the show was and is of our current world; it would be fun to take a shot at looking further down the road. So we will not be retelling the same story in the same way. There would be no fun and no surprises. Better to go the way of Westworld or Battlestar Galactica where you take the original elements that are evergreens and put them in a blender with a ton of new, challenging ideas, to create something fresh yet familiar.
To those asking why not just do a continuation, for a network series like this, it can’t be done because over half our cast are still stubbornly on the other side of the Rim. How do you telling continuing story of our original Londo without the original Vir? Or G’Kar? How do you tell Sheridan’s story without Delenn? Or the story of B5 without Franklin? Garibaldi? Zack?
The original Babylon 5 was ridiculously innovative: the first to use CGI to create ships and characters, and among the very first to shoot widescreen with a vigorous 5.1 mix. Most of all, for the first time, Babylon 5 introduced viewers accustomed to episodic television to the concept of a five-year arc with a pre-planned beginning, middle and end… Creating a brand new paradigm for television storytelling that has subsequently become the norm. That tradition for innovation will continue in this new iteration, and I hope to create additional new forms of storytelling that will further push the television medium to the edge of what’s possible.
Let me conclude by just saying how supportive and enthusiastic everyone at the CW has been and is being with this project. They understand the unique position Babylon 5 occupies both in television and with its legions of fans, and are doing everything they can to ensure the maximum in creative freedom, a new story that will bring in new viewers while honoring all that has come before.
This is beyond exiting! The original Babylon 5 is in my top three of best TV shows of all time. And with JMS involved like he seems to be, this is going to be epic. I can’t wait to see this show!
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This is completely spot on. LOL. Well done!