Babylon 5 media franchise

Babylon 5 TV seasons and films
1993–2007

In order of series chronology:
2245–48 • In the Beginning (1st film)*
2256 • Babylon 5 station commissioned
2257 • The Gathering (Pilot)
2258 • Signs and Portents (Season 1)
2259 • The Coming of Shadows (Season 2)
2260 • Point of No Return (Season 3)
2261 • No Surrender, No Retreat (Season 4)**
2261 • Thirdspace (2nd film)***
2262 • The Wheel of Fire (Season 5)†
2263 • The River of Souls (3rd film)
2265 • The Legend of the Rangers (5th film)
2266 • A Call to Arms (4th film)
2267 • Crusade (spin-off series)
2271 • The Lost Tales: Voices in the Dark
2278 • In the Beginning (1st film)*
2281 • Babylon 5 station decommissioned

* The framing story is set in 2278.
** The final episode of the season includes scenes of future events up to 3262 and beyond.
*** The story is set between the two wars in season 4.
† The final episode of series is set in 2281.

Babylon 5 is an American space opera television series created by writer and producer J. Michael Straczynski, under the Babylonian Productions label in association with Straczynski’s Synthetic Worlds Ltd. and Warner Bros. Domestic Television. After the successful airing of a backdoor pilot movie, Warner Bros. commissioned the series as part of the second year schedule of programs provided by its Prime Time Entertainment Network (PTEN).[1] It premiered in the United States on January 26, 1994 and ran for the intended five seasons. Describing it as having "always been conceived as, fundamentally, a five year story, a novel for television", Straczynski wrote 92 of the 110 episodes and served as executive producer, along with Douglas Netter.[2]

Set between the years 2257 and 2262, it depicts a future where earth has sovereign states and a unifying Earthgov. Colonies within the solar system, and beyond, make up the Earth Alliance and contact has been made with numerous spacefaring races. The ensemble cast portray alien ambassadorial staff and humans assigned to the five mile long Babylon 5 space station, a centre for trade and diplomacy. Described as “one of the most complex programs on television” the various story arcs drew upon the prophesies, religious zealotry, racial tensions, social pressures and political rivalries which existed within each of their cultures, to create a contextual frame for the motivations and consequences of the protagonists actions.[3] With a strong emphasis on character development set against a backdrop of conflicting ideologies on multiple levels, Straczynski wanted "to take an adult approach to SF, and attempt to do for television SF what HILL STREET BLUES did for cop shows."[4]

Television movies

During and after production of Babylon 5, six television movies, set in the Babylon 5 universe, have been produced.

The Gathering is the pilot, depicting the arrival of several major characters upon the Babylon 5 station in the year 2257. In the Beginning depicts the events of the Earth-Minbari War, as revealed in the first few seasons, in chronological order, and in greater detail than the main series. Thirdspace and The River of Souls are largely stand-alone storylines.

A Call to Arms sets up the initial premise of the Crusade series, depicting the alien Drakh species releasing a nanovirus plague on Earth, which will destroy all life on the planet within five years, if it is not stopped. To that end, the Earth Alliance destroyer Excalibur is sent to look for a cure beyond Earth itself. To Live and Die in Starlight, also known as Babylon 5: The Legend of the Rangers, was intended as the pilot for the series of the same (Legend of the Rangers) name, but since the show was never picked up, it is now considered to be the sixth and last Babylon 5 telefilm.

Television spin-offs

Crusade

Main article: Crusade (TV series)

The spin-off series Crusade[6] ran on TNT for 13 episodes, having been set up by the TV film A Call to Arms. The production team received help from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory to ensure that the series depicted space science and futuristic technology accurately, according to current scientific theory.[7] However, creative differences between Straczynski and TNT caused problems; the network wanted more sex and violence,[8] and forced Straczynski to begin the first episode with a fistfight. The sex-and-violence request was later withdrawn, and TNT allocated more money to Crusade, giving the actors better uniforms and new sets mid-season. However, due to further creative differences, TNT eventually decided to cancel the series after 13 episodes had been produced, but before any of them were aired. At the time of the cancellation, only hints of major story arcs had yet come into play, though unproduced scripts published online by Straczynski.

Legend of the Rangers

A television film titled To Live and Die in Starlight was produced by the Sci-Fi Channel. It was the proposed pilot episode of a new series titled Babylon 5: The Legend of the Rangers. Rescheduled after the September 11 attacks, the film aired on January 19, 2002. However, it was scheduled against an NFL AFC Divisional Championship playoff game. The pilot's poor ratings contributed to the lessening of the network's interest in a series pick-up, as did the poor reception it received from fans and critics alike, particularly for its depiction of a virtual-reality weapon, but the final nail in its coffin was the dispute between Warner Bros. and Vivendi Universal (owners of the Sci-Fi Channel) over revenue-sharing for the potential weekly series.

The Lost Tales

A new project set in Babylon 5 universe was announced by Straczynski at San Diego Comic Con 2006.[9] Babylon 5: The Lost Tales is a set of mini-stories featuring established characters from the series, released direct-to-DVD. Production of the first anthology of two stories, named collectively Voices in the Dark, commenced in November, 2006 with Straczynski writing, producing, and directing. It was released July 31, 2007. In a Usenet post on September 5, 2007, Straczynski stated that Warner Bros. "are most pleased as sales have been several orders of magnitude beyond what they anticipated."[10]

On July 13, 2008, Straczynski revealed that he had no plans to continue The Lost Tales. He said that although the studio was interested in another disc, they wanted to budget the next installment similarly to the first. Citing his disappointment with the first release due to the low budget, Straczynski said he did not want to dilute Babylon 5's legacy with further sub-par stories. He stated that he would only return to the Babylon 5 universe if Warner Bros. wanted to do a large-budgeted cinema release.[11]

The Memory of Shadows (unproduced)

In 2004 and early 2005, rumors widely circulated about a planned Babylon 5 film for theatrical release. However, on February 25, 2005, a post from Straczynski announced that the project had fallen through, and was, for all practical purposes, dead.[12] The proposed film, titled The Memory of Shadows (TMoS), was written by Straczynski. Filming was to have begun in April, 2005 in the UK, with Steven Beck as the director.[13]

During the "Spotlight on J. Michael Straczynski" panel at the 2010 New York Comic Con, Straczynski revealed, "I said to Warner Bros. a while back, 'When you’re ready to do something real with Babylon 5, either a big-budget film or a TV show, if you want to do one of those two things, call me; otherwise, don't bother me.' About a month ago the phone rang. I don't know where this is gonna go yet, but when they call you, there's something going on. I can't tell you what it is yet, and it may not go anywhere, but there is movement in the tall grass.”[14]

Untitled Feature Film Reboot

During the San Diego Comic Con event of 2014, Straczynski announced that he would soon be sitting down to write a Babylon 5 feature film, which is envisioned as a reboot of the iconic sci-fi series. JMS said that he plans to get the script locked down by the end of 2015 and the film would then enter production the following year in 2016.[15]

Novels

Unique to the Babylon 5 universe among virtually all other shared universes is the sanctioned canonicity of many of its offshoot novels and comic book stories; nearly all of the Babylon 5 novels and novelizations to date having been based on outlines written directly by J. Michael Straczynski. The later Del Rey books are considered to be more canonical than some of the earlier Dell ones,[16] although – per Straczynski's own remarks[17] – canonical elements exist in every single book published to date; Straczynski's deeper involvement in the novel-publishing program from 1996 onward having ensured a greater level of canonicity within such works.

The seventh Dell novel has been described as 90% canonical, and the ninth novel is considered fully canonical by J. Michael Straczynski, with canon elements interspersed throughout the other books.[18]

  1. Babylon 5: Voices by John Vornholt (1995, ISBN 0-440-22057-2)
  2. Babylon 5: Accusations by Lois Tilton (1995, ISBN 0-440-22058-0)
  3. Babylon 5: Blood Oath by John Vornholt (1995, ISBN 0-440-22059-9)
  4. Babylon 5: Clark's Law by Jim Mortimore (1996, ISBN 0-440-22229-X)
  5. Babylon 5: The Touch of Your Shadow, the Whisper of Your Name by Neal Barrett, Jr. (1996, ISBN 0-440-22230-3)
  6. Babylon 5: Betrayals by S.M. Stirling (1996, ISBN 0-440-22234-6)
  7. Babylon 5: The Shadow Within by Jeanne Cavelos (1997, ISBN 0-440-22348-2; 2001 edition: ISBN 0-345-45218-6)
  8. Babylon 5: Personal Agendas by Al Sarrantonio (1997, ISBN 0-440-22351-2)
  9. Babylon 5: To Dream in the City of Sorrows by Kathryn M. Drennan (1997, ISBN 0-440-22354-7; 2003 edition: ISBN 0-345-45219-4)

The Psi Corps Trilogy

All are considered canon:[19] written by J. Gregory Keyes.

  1. Babylon 5: Dark Genesis - The Birth of the Psi Corps (1998, ISBN 0-345-42715-7)
  2. Babylon 5: Deadly Relations - Bester Ascendant (1999, ISBN 0-345-42716-5)
  3. Babylon 5: Final Reckoning - The Fate of Bester (1999, ISBN 0-345-42717-3)

Hardcover omnibus, The Psi Corps Trilogy. Published January 1, 1999 by The Science Fiction Book Club. (ISBN 9780739406564)

The Centauri Trilogy

All are considered canon:[19] written by Peter David.

  1. Babylon 5: Legions of Fire - The Long Night of Centauri Prime (1999, ISBN 0-345-42718-1)
  2. Babylon 5: Legions of Fire - Armies of Light and Dark (2000, ISBN 0-345-42719-X)
  3. Babylon 5: Legions of Fire - Out of the Darkness (2000, ISBN 0-345-42720-3)

All three books are collected in Legions of Fire. Published 2000 by The Science Fiction Book Club. (ISBN 9780739414859)

The Technomage Trilogy

All are considered canon:[19] written by Jeanne Cavelos.

  1. Babylon 5: The Passing of the Techno-Mages - Casting Shadows (2001, ISBN 0-345-42721-1)
  2. Babylon 5: The Passing of the Techno-Mages – Summoning Light (2001, ISBN 0-345-42722-X)
  3. Babylon 5: The Passing of the Techno-Mages - Invoking Darkness (2001, ISBN 0-345-43833-7)

In addition, the standalone novel Babylon 5: The Shadow Within serves as a prologue to the trilogy.

Hardcover omnibus The Passing of the Techno-Mages collects the trilogy. Published 2002 by The Science Fiction Book Club. (ISBN 0-7394-2395-9)

Novelizations

Short stories

Straczynski penned a number of short stories expanding on several key story-points from the television series, along with a number of other established authors.

Comic books

The comic books published by DC are also fully endorsed,[20][21] with Straczynski having directly written or contributed to all of the issues written by other authors in one form or another, though issues 9 and 10 contradict other strictly-canonical sources in certain respects.[22][23]

Mongoose Publishing, publisher of the Babylon 5 role-playing game (RPG) material, announced plans to release a line of Babylon 5 novels and graphic novels, beginning in the summer of 2006. J. Michael Straczynski made it clear that he was not involved with this project, and considered the works to be "fan-fiction."[24]

In 2007, Straczynski was writing the manuscript for a Babylon 5 graphic novel, which was to be published by Wildstorm Productions. The premise, characters, and plot have not been officially confirmed, but it has been reported that Straczynski originally planned to write a story that takes place before the Season Three two-parter "War Without End," featuring Sinclair and Sheridan, and involving Mars, Minbar, Babylon 5, and a conspiracy. It has also been reported that he subsequently decided to tie in elements from the spin-offs Crusade and Legend of the Rangers into the book.[25] The graphic novel was to be 100 pages long.

When asked by a fan during the "Spotlight on J. Michael Straczynski" panel at the 2010 New York Comic Con, Straczynski said no new Babylon 5 comics were in the works.[14]

Monthly DC Comics series (1994–95)

Comics 1–4 were published in the trade paperback Babylon 5 (October 1995, Titan Books, ISBN 1-85286-646-2).
Comics 5–8 were published in the trade paperback Shadows Past and Present (September 1996, Titan Books, ISBN 1-85286-735-3).
Comics 1–4 and 11 were published in the trade paperback The Price of Peace (November 1998, DC Comics, ISBN 1-56389-467-X).

Babylon 5: In Valen's Name

  1. "In Valen's Name, Part 1," written by J. Michael Straczynski (February 1998, DC Comics)
  2. "In Valen's Name, Part 2," written by Peter David, story by J. Michael Straczynski (March 1998, DC Comics)
  3. "In Valen's Name, Part 3," written by Peter David, story by J. Michael Straczynski (April 1998, DC Comics)

All three comics were published in the trade paperback In Valen's Name (December 1998, Titan Books, ISBN 1-85286-981-X).

Babylon 5 Mini-Comic

A special ashcan-sized comic book was included exclusively with Best Buy-sold DVD copies of Babylon 5: The Lost Tales, written by series creator J. Michael Straczynski.

Cookbook

In 1998, the series briefly published a cookbook set during season 3, ostensibly written by the owner of the Fresh Air Restaurant, titled Dining on Babylon 5. It was a limited run published only in the United Kingdom, but made an appearance in one episode. In A View from the Gallery, a character is shown reading it; since the book was not yet finished, a mock-up was used with a different cover from what was later published. The book is, however, considered canon.

Games

In November 1997, Chameleon Eclectic Entertainment published the original The Babylon Project: The Roleplaying Game Based on Babylon 5.[26] In 2003, Mongoose Publishing printed the Babylon 5 Roleplaying Game & Factbook.[27]

The Babylon 5 Component Game system was also released in 1997 by 'Component Game Systems'. It was a complex political and military based game, using a number of individually purchased expansions or components, which could take up to 5 hours to play. Component Game Systems came out with a number of component game systems that used the same semi-collectible approach, and was derived from the unpublished Galactic Empires board game, based on the CCG of the same name—Companion Games (Galactic Empires' publisher) became Component Game Systems in the process. The basic idea is that each player need only buy his part of the game, representing in this case a specific political entity from the Babylon 5 universe. Players sit down at the same table and combine their components to have a game. 'Component Game Systems' folded in 1999 after having released only the first two 'years' (2258 and 2259) worth of Babylon related components for the game, and even their domain name (www.c-g-s.com) has been recycled by some unrelated group. A group of fans are working to release their own version of this game adding in elements from other games and material from the show not originally considered. The group manages its work within a group section of facebook.[28]

The Babylon 5 Wars wargame was first published by Agents of Gaming in 1998. The game was developed in close contact with the creators of the show, and most of the published material is considered canon.[29] Agents of Gaming later published Babylon: 5 Fleet Action, which focused on battles of a larger scale. In 2004, Babylon 5: A Call to Arms was released by Mongoose Publishing after Glass took a job with that company. The game is similar in many ways to Babylon 5 Wars but some consider it to have more streamlined rules set and games may take a less time to complete.

Precedence Entertainment produced the Babylon 5 Collectible Card Game between 1997 and 2000. In its original form, the game allowed for 2–4 players with each one playing one of the ambassadors to the B5 council: Sinclair, Delenn, G'Kar or Londo. Later expansions increased the maximum number of players that could play at once and expanded the players' options. Players could represent the League of Non-Aligned Worlds or could play alternative ambassadors such as Bester for the Psi Corps or Lord Refa for the Centauri. The game was discontinued after Precedence lost the license from Warner Bros. in 2000.

There are no officially licensed Babylon 5 video games on the market, though in 1998 a video game based on Babylon 5, named Into the Fire, was being developed by Yosemite Entertainment, an internal division of Sierra Entertainment. Work on this game ended on September 21, 1999, when, as part of a corporate reorganization, Sierra cancelled it and laid off its development staff when the game was only a few months away from release.[30] This game was to have cast the player as the pilot of a Starfury fighter craft, giving the player an opportunity to "move up through the ranks," and eventually take command of capital ships and even fleets. Christopher Franke composed and recorded new music for the game, and live action footage was filmed with the primary actors from the series.

A number of unauthorized Babylon 5 modifications have been created for other computer games such as Homeworld and Homeworld 2, as well as at least one (unlicensed) independent project to develop a standalone game. The only finished work as yet though is the free and standalone game "The Babylon Project" based on the FreeSpace 2 Source Code Project.[31] Another unauthorized modification is being developed for X3:Terran Conflict by a group of fans working over the internet called X3: Babylon 5. The game is expected to feature many canon ship and station designs, work from the licensed materials, as well as numerous new art. The developers, including Amras Arfeniel, are still drafting 3D meshes for the game but hope to begin game trials by Summer 2016. The team is not yet looking for testers but is recruiting 3D artists. [32]

In 2012 an independent group of fans of the Agents of Gaming game started work on a browser based game. The intention was to get as close as possible to the Tabletop Strategic game with the added advantage of playing on a worldwide scale. The game called 'Fiery Void'[33] is now in closed Beta testing and is intended to be used without any commercial goals.

Another unofficial game is Babylon 5: I've Found Her, a freeware space combat simulator developed by Space Dream Factory, which—like Into the Fire—allows players to fly Starfuries.

References

  1. ↑ Cynthia Lieberman (1993-05-27). "Prime Time Entertainment Network announces expansion plans and programming slate for January 1994". PR Newswire. Retrieved 2011-12-16.
  2. ↑ J. Michael Straczynski (1993-01-21). "Archived reply held on JMSNews.com". GEnie. Retrieved 2011-12-16.
  3. ↑ Ian Spelling (1996-11-21). "`Babylon 5' Plans Explosive 4th Season". Chicago Tribune (reprinted from The New York Times). Retrieved 2011-01-14.
  4. ↑ J. Michael Straczynski (1991-11-20). "Archived reply held on JMSNews.com". GEnie. Retrieved 2011-12-24.
  5. ↑ Straczynski, J. Michael (Writer), Vejar, Mike (Director) (2006-03-14). Babylon 5: The Legend of the Rangers (To Live and Die in Starlight) (DVD). Warner Home Video. Event occurs at disc 1, mark 3 minutes 51.4 seconds. ASIN B000CEXFYW. ISBN 1-4198-2483-X. OCLC 62588874. Retrieved 2009-12-21. The few. The proud. (The mostly human.)
  6. ↑ "The Babylon Project: Crusade – Overview". The Lurker's Guide To Babylon 5. midwinter.com. Archived from the original on 23 August 2006. Retrieved 2006-08-18.
  7. ↑ "Producers of 'Babylon 5' tap JPL's brain power for new series" (Press release). NASA JPL. Archived from the original on 21 August 2006. Retrieved 2006-08-18.
  8. ↑ "Changes to Crusade". Ain't It Cool News. Archived from the original on 20 August 2006. Retrieved 2006-08-18.
  9. ↑ Schroeder, Jan (2006-08-08). "JMSNews news page". JMSNews, The J. Michael Straczynski Message Archive. Retrieved 2006-08-27.
  10. ↑ Straczynski, J. Michael (2007-09-05). "Re: JMS: A Rant". rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated. Retrieved 2007-10-25.
  11. ↑ J. Michael Straczynski (2008-07-13). "from jms: update". Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated. Retrieved 2012-06-10.
  12. ↑ jms. "From jms re: tmos". Retrieved 2006-08-18.
  13. ↑ James Wray (2004-12-08). "Steven Beck to Direct Babylon 5 Movie The Memory of Shadows". Archived from the original on 2012-10-01. Retrieved 2009-07-28.
  14. 1 2 Karl Keily – Comic Book Resources (2010-10-15). "NYCC: Spotlight on J. Michael Straczynski". Archived from the original on 16 October 2010. Retrieved 2010-10-17.
  15. ↑ Patrick Munn (2015-06-12). "J. Michael Straczynski Announces 'Babylon 5′ Feature Film Reboot, Eyes 2016 Production Start". Retrieved 2015-08-01.
  16. ↑ Straczynski, J. Michael (1997-02-15). "Re: ATTN JMS: Question about B5 novels". rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated (Archived at JMSNews.com). Retrieved 2012-10-31.
  17. ↑ Straczynski, J. Michael (1996-04-25). "Re: ATTN: JMS Books and TV Plot". rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated (Archived at JMSNews.com). Retrieved 2012-10-31.
  18. ↑ "JMS Newsgroup Post June, 09 1997". Archived from the original on September 14, 2009. Retrieved 2009-07-22.
  19. 1 2 3 "JMS Newsgroup Post May, 05 2000". Archived from the original on September 13, 2009. Retrieved 2009-07-22.
  20. ↑ Straczynski, J. Michael (1994-10-19). "JMS: Don't do it!!!!!". rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated (Archived at JMSNews.com). Retrieved 2012-10-31.
  21. ↑ Straczynski, J. Michael (1994-10-19). "Sinclair, Garibaldi, Ivanova:". rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated (Archived at JMSNews.com). Retrieved 2012-10-31.
  22. ↑ "Lurker's Guide to Babylon 5". Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-17.
  23. ↑ Lane, Andy (1997). The Babylon File. Virgin.
  24. ↑ "A Call to Arms !". Mongoose. Archived from the original on 15 August 2006. Retrieved 2006-08-18.
  25. ↑ "Straczynski Project Watch". Archived from the original on 7 August 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-11.
  26. ↑ Cochran, Joseph (November 1997). The Babylon Project: The Roleplaying Game Based on Babylon 5. Chameleon Eclectic Entertainment, Inc.
  27. ↑ Hahn, August; Sprange, Matthew (2003). Babylon 5 Roleplaying Game & Factbook. Mongoose Publishing.
  28. ↑ Babylon 5 CGS group Kenn Ferguson, Leo Dunin, Paul Woodroffe, William Minsinger, Wolfgang Lackner-Warton, Alexander Schneider, James Davis-Mann
  29. ↑ Graw, B. and Glass, R.: "Babylon 5 Wars Second Edition Rules Compendium.", page 1. Agents of Gaming, 2000
  30. ↑ "More Disappointment for Babylon 5". Archived from the original on 2006-01-14. Retrieved 2006-09-02.
  31. ↑ "The Babylon Project". Archived from the original on 15 January 2009. Retrieved 2008-12-15.
  32. ↑ X3: Babylon 5; Amras Arfeniel, Xell, Azodiac, Maverick, Anton Rosenthal, Hunter, SAVOTW, Momijisu, Paul Woodroffe
  33. ↑ Fiery Void..(2012 – ?) Coded by Aatu Riuttamaki and Jasper van Rosmalen
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