Babylon 5 Creator J. Michael Straczynski Developing Reboot for The CW
J. Michael Straczynski is returning to outer space, with a “from-the-ground-up reboot” of Babylon 5 for The CW.
The original Babylon 5 debuted in 1993 and presented a future-history story covering the years 2257-2262, with each year corresponding to one season. In doing so, Babylon 5 is regarded as the first TV series to introduce viewers to the concept of a five-year arc, with a defined beginning, middle and end. Straczynski won over a dozen awards for his work on the series, including two Hugo Awards, the Saturn Award and the Ray Bradbury Award.
Following the original series’ five-season run, which netted five Emmy nominations and two wins (for makeup and special visual effects), Straczynski continued to tell stories in the Babylon 5 universe — with the TNT series Crusade, feature-length films, and a series of novels, novelizations, short stories and comics from DC.
TVLine has learned that the reboot Straczynski is developing for The CW follows John Sheridan, an Earthforce officer with a mysterious background, who is assigned to Babylon 5, a five-mile-long space station in neutral space. Babylon 5 serves as a port of call for travelers, smugglers, corporate explorers and alien diplomats at a time of uneasy peace and the constant threat of war. Sheridan arrival triggers “a destiny beyond anything he could have imagined,” when an exploratory Earth company accidentally triggers a conflict with a civilization a million years ahead of us, putting him and the rest of the B5 crew in the line of fire as the last, best hope for the survival of the human race.
Straczynski — who most recently created, wrote and show-ran (with the Wachowskis) Netflix’s Sense8 — will write and executive-produce (through his Studio JMS) the new Babylon 5, which is a Warner Bros. Television project.
What is your knee-jerk reaction to a Babylon 5 reboot from the original series’ creator? Do you think a CW series would really put pretty young actors under prosthetics and unflattering wigs?
Why not just do a sequel series set in the same world about something else?
the old show was pretty complete so I dont think rebooting everything again has any purpose other than being for money.
I agree. With few exceptions (perhaps BSG) reboots are usually a disappointment.
There was an original outline for the series that was greatly deviated when Michael O’Hare left as Jeffrey Sinclair at the end of season 1. Plus, seasons 4 and 5 got compressed into one season before it was rescued by TNT.
So, there’s definitely room for a reboot the way that JMS originally envisioned the series. Given that he’s also had 30 more years of experience since that original outline, it’ll be a far more mature story.
The original outline from before B5 became a production was NOT good. And Sinclair was always meant to leave after one season.
That’s not true. Michael O’Hare left because of mental health issues.
No he didn’t. Where did you get that BS? Tv execs replaced him with Boxleitner. B5’s creator said himself after season 1 network execs tweaked what they felt needed work and in my opinion killed the show.
The O’Hare story was kept under wraps during his life but JMS has admitted the truth since O’Hare’s passing. It’s a sad part of the B5 history.
After O’Hare’s death, Straczynski revealed that O’Hare left to deal with a serious mental illness. This was per O’Hare’s wishes. He hoped that it would raise awareness of, and compassion for those dealing with mental illness. If you don’t believe us, just Google it.
Michael O’Hare did, indeed, depart due to mental health issues (schizophrenia). It was kept quiet during his lifetime to protect his career should he recover enough to be able to return to work, but he never did. O’Hare did not want it kept secret forever, though, thinking his story could help other people who were suffering from the same affliction to know they were not alone, and that it can happen to anyone. So after he died in 2012, as per his wishes, Straczynski told the true story.
.
In the 90s, TV productions didn’t fire or release the lead actor of a series except in extreme circumstances. It was thought that such a move was a death blow to a show, and mostly, that was true. So it wasn’t unheard of, but close to nearly unheard of. So, we all knew something had happened, and it turns out, we were right.
Go hit YouTube. JMS told the truth about O’Hare after his death in 2012. Plenty of video out there about it, with JMS speaking about what happened. It’s an immensely sad story and really puts a new perspective on season 1. All the kudos to Michael O’Hare for going through what he did.
There were a lot of changes due to unexpected cast departures. Executives pushed Lyta out, JMS sneaked her back in. Andrea Thompson pitching a hissy fit and leaving caused Talia’s arc to be cut short. The entire clusterf- that was the negotiations for season 5 led to Ivanova’s being cut short.
@Tawrens: Ted is right. O’Hare had major mental problems and could not continue on.
It’s not BS.
JMS goes into this in his autobiography, Becoming Superman – and has addressed the issue at various genre cons since O’Hare’s passing (he promised O’Hare he wouldn’t say anything while the actor was still alive).
Yes, mental health issues were the true reason he left the series. He suffered a lot and wanted out to get help.
Actually it was physical health issues, not mental. I forget what it was, but I believe it is what caused his death some years back.
Although reading here, I may be wrong…..
He had physical health issues which led to a severe mental illness as well. He got a heart attack, but that was a long term consequence of the former ones.
O’Hare did leave he was replaced by network execs
That was a cover story. O’Hare was suffering from severe mental illness with paranoid delusions and hallucinations, seeing secret messages in papers and scripts, and unfortunately sometimes attacking others when hearing voices telling him things about them. Mental illness was in those times badly ridiculed and stigmatized. So he wanted to keep it secret, to be able to get any role later, in the hope he would recover one day. But he never did and spent his last many years on heavy medication in a halfway home.
Sequel huh?About what?There was peace at the end and all the old races departed.
Where Babylon 5 stopped JMS continued with Crusade. An Ally of the Shadows called the Drak had infected Earth with a virus. Crusade was about the ship Excaliber searching for a cure for the virus. Unfortunately Crusade only lasted for 13 shows I believe it was.
A lot of the original cast isn’t around anymore. I think maybe having Bruce Boxleitner as Sheridans father would work. I just don’t know if you can really change the series that much.
It’s honestly scary how many of the original cast are dead, and at relatively early ages. It’s like the show is cursed, or something.
I think the only way the show lasts beyond a single season is if the creator appeals to the shows existing fanbase.
I would like to see this. Depends on the casting
Loved the series.
I’m a huge fan of the original show, and I think I’m not really interested in the barely legal drinking age version this is likely to be :/
You cannot improve perfection.
And all four seasons of B5 were perfection.
No, there was no 5th season, really ^^
Yep. Four amazing seasons…..and what happens when you are getting only four and they give you a surprise renewal.
Also at end of 4 you thought you were over so you made a 2 hr series finale that this new yr 5 minus one of your main stars has to lead up to.
On top of that you are distracted trying to get a spin off launched and ready to go the summer after yr 5 ends.
It was a fantastic show. But I do tinker with graphics and art, so I can appreciate the desire to redo the show with the current tech. I consider it like Sherlock Holmes. I’ve loved all the different versions, dramatic to comic. It might be great fun!
Let’s hope a CW budget will do the trick then.
I loved the original Babylon 5 and am looking forward to the reboot. Thanks THE CW!
It could work, if it hewed closer to the original 1980s outline. A lot got changed thanks to Michael O’Hare’s departure and then the compressing of the original s4-5 before TNT rescued it and gave it a proper fifth season.
A reboot is about the only way they could go at this point. Most of the original cast has passed beyond the Rim. They’ve tried sequels, they didn’t work. It has been nearly 30 years, and JMS is at the helm. I think it could work.
Faith manages.
I would love to see what they can do with a reboot. Loved the first series and have watched it several times. It was far ahead of its time. There are many storylines that could be expanded. It was science fiction for thinking, not action/fighting.
Another unnecessary reboot!!
anywhere but the CW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
everytime someone does this, i think of the scenes in sg-1 “200”
where they replaced the team with teens (guy from glee was in it) and made it all woke (yes it has existed a long time before becoming fashionable)
i just cant watch B5 done like Legends etc…
I think the 100 is probably a closer concept from the CW than Legends.
Sense8 in space? That’s what I’m expecting…
Unflattering wigs are always a big risk at CW.
I liked the original with the exception of Andrea Thompson being unceremoniously cut from the cast.
I think a reboot could work but CW will likely cast a very young lead who couldn’t possibly have the experience the post would require.
A 28 year old at CW could be either a high school student or President.
Well, she wanted a bigger part or out.
I don’t quite remember it that way.
She wanted to appear in more scenes, which didn’t fit JMS plans,si one of his trapdoors for her character was used. It’s well documented. JMS wrote in one tweet “… the actress blew town in search of deeper waters.” There is probably more directly from him.
On CW, the crew of Babylon 5 will likely be a bunch of teens finding and losing love on a space station.
Oh dear.
Archie Andrew’s finds himself reincarnated as James Sheridan…
It was John Sheridan and not James….
I love the idea of a Babylon 5 reboot headed by JMS. But anywhere but the CW. It’ll be all about relationship drama, and you’ll forget it’s even supposed to be set on a space station.
Straczynski’s work has generally entertained me. I’ll give him a shot, see if he still has it or not. Can always tap out if he doesn’t.
Oh dear. Just no. Please. This was a show about politics in space. A bunch of diplomats from alien cultures trying to work out their differences, while each was torn between their personal relationships with the other diplomats and their duty to their civilization. And all while they’re gnats buzzing around a larger conflict they barely understood. It was highly intelligent television, slow, thoughtful, methodical . . . and then when things happened, boy, did they really happen! There’s just zero chance that a CW reboot will meaningfully be about diplomacy. It will be about PEW PEW SHOOT LASERS AT OBVIOUSLY EVIL ALIENS and hooking up in space supply closets and everyone being age 22. And this is from someone who loves A LOT of CW shows! Just, god. No, please no.
I agree, if CW can leave him alone it could be an intresting show.
The only time he had that freedom was in the syndicated years of b5, he couldn’t even work with TNT’s weird demands on Crusade, which had him 6 episodes in doing a revamp of sorts, then getting canceled mid year 1, because of issues between TNT and him.
This was before they even aired it.
I can’t imagine CW, a network that knows its audience will be hands off and JMS, will not let his creation be steered off course.
But after crusade didn’t take off, nor the cheap straight to DVD episodes, he may be more willing to compromise to get it rolling.
CW did do ‘the 100’, which was kind of the same show for a while
Oof. I’m torn. I loved the original series, and I think JMS is a fantastic storyteller, so I have trust in him. I also really like almost all of the CW shows I’ve seen, and I think they’re more likely than most of the other networks to give a show a chance to find its legs. But I’m not sure if the aesthetic of the CW is the right place, like others have said. There are roles where they could have younger folks in place and have their youth and inexperience be a part of the story (the attachés like Vir and Lennier, for example) but you need older more experienced characters to add gravitas. Also, how do you have B5 without Londo and G’Kar?
“Babylon 5 Creator J. Michael Straczynski Developing Reboot”
Interesting. It probably won’t be as good as the original, but at least the original creator’s involved.
“for The CW”
…………….. Wut?
I am a huge fan of the original Babylon 5 series. I am excited for this reboot. JMS is involved and it’s on the CW!!! Recipe for success.
Babylon 5 is my favorite TV show of all time. I have watched it numerous times and am four episodes away from finishing yet another rewatch. Warts and all (and it definitely has warts), it is absolutely wonderful.
It does not need a reboot. Period. End of Discussion. I don’t care who is involved in it.
Sheldon Cooper will be very disappointed to hear of this.
I love the show and the fact JMS is there is a good start but…
I don’t like the reboot side, would much prefer a sequal series. I can’t imagine anyone else playing Delenn or Ivanova and I can’t imagine Sheridan without Delenn.
It’s also the CW. Which I guess means it’ll get a chance because ratings are so low there anyway, but I’m fully expecting every character to suddenly be a 20 year old supermodel.
This. I fell I love with the characters and their stories. It is such a good show. My only gripe was when Marcus Cole was killed off. Wanted him and Ivanova to be a couple.
I feel like all the storylines have been explored so I don’t see why they want a reboot.
As JMS stated, had he know that Claudia Christian wouldn’t return for season five, he wouldn’t have killed him off.
Probably a bad idea, but it could be interesting. The original B5 was a mess of course corrections, aborted plots and half developed ideas. It did have some strong material in there, but it wasn’t exactly smoothly executed. So if done well, this could be good. However, JMS spent years desperately trying to gain publicity for the show by accusing other writers of plagiarism because they were attached to a better known franchise that had some extremely broad similarities to his show, so I’ve never had a great deal of respect for the man. I’m not sure that this reboot is necessary, but I might give it a try.
Now, a Sliders reboot or Quantum Leap continuation, I’d be down for in a heartbeat.
Sure, I’m for it. I mean, the reboot of Battlestar Galactica was a huge improvement (especially to hear the whiners whine about Starbuck should be a man!), and the reboot of Charmed spawned a bunch more whiners (aka fans of the original series) who rejected it outright as deficient, so bring on the B5 reboot.
.
Only concern is although CW has a record of sticking with low rated series, it does not stick long with low-rated Sci-Fi (Tomorrow People, Star Crossed, Pandora) especially if they’re costly to produce. Hoping there’s going to be ownership incentives for CW and lucrative streaming rights baked in based on JMS credentials to secure a future for the new B5.
PS To everyone predicting the B5 remake will be “a bunch of teens running around”, have you actually been looking at the CW programming lately? Like the last few years? Dynasty; Walker; In the Dark; Kung Fu; Roswell, New Mexico; Charmed; Legends of Tomorrow; The Flash – all decidedly NOT oriented around teens. CW is not the “old” CW… (See Saturday night programming for proof – they evolve with their audience)
DYNASTY: LOL no one watches this, so who knows?
WALKER: Focuses A LOT on the teens, actually.
IN THE DARK: Pretty twenty-somethings up to . . . whatever pretty twenty-somethings do, I guess. Solving murders? Whatever.
KUNG FU: Pretty twenty-somethings up to kung fu, I guess.
ROSWELL: Are they even 20, this time? Let me guess, pretty twenty-somethings acting like teenagers. Three people total watch this show.
CHARMED: Pretty twenty-somethings but they’re witches this time. Two people total watch this show.
LEGENDS: Yeah okay all the young people are either off the show or have grown into older people now. You win this one.
FLASH: Grant Gustin was like 22 when the show started. It was definitely a “pretty twenty-somethings” show. No points for this one.
You clearly have not watched these shows.. In the Dark is a decidedly dark show that is not about “pretty twentysomethings” at all… Roswell they are all adults and definitely not acting like teenagers.
Matt’s really leaning in on judging books by their covers. People in their 20’s is a step-up from another prom episode
The 100 lasted for a good long while.
Sorry but the CW is the wrong network for this show. The original show was not a teen/YA show unless Straczynski is going to change it to be.
What? I would have preferred a series in the same universe. But why God The CW?
Oh, is Jensen Ackles busy? At my last rewatch I thought he would be a good fit for Sheridan.