Wikipedia:

Babylon 5

Babylon 5
Season 4 poster
Season 4 poster
Format Science fiction
Created by J. Michael Straczynski
Starring Michael O'Hare
Bruce Boxleitner
Claudia Christian
Jerry Doyle
Mira Furlan
Richard Biggs
Bill Mumy
Peter Jurasik
Andreas Katsulas
Stephen Furst
Jason Carter
Patricia Tallman
Jeff Conaway
Country of origin Flag of the United States United States
No. of episodes 110 episodes
Six films
Production
Running time 43 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel PTEN (1994-1997)
TNT (1998)
Original run February 22, 1993 – November 25, 1998
External links
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

Babylon 5 is an epic American science fiction television series created, produced, and largely written by J. Michael Straczynski. The show centers on the Babylon 5 space station, a focal point for politics, diplomacy, and wars in the late 2250s and early 2260s. The series is noted for its heavy reliance on pre-planned story arcs over its five-year run, sometimes being described as a "novel for television."[1][2]

The pilot movie, The Gathering, aired on February 22, 1993, and the regular series initially aired from January 26, 1994 through November 25, 1998,[3] first in syndication on the short-lived Prime Time Entertainment Network, then on cable network TNT. The show aired every week in the United Kingdom on Channel 4 without a break; as a result the last four or five episodes of the early seasons were shown in the UK before the U.S.[4]

The series won many awards, including two Hugos for Best Dramatic Presentation[5] and two Emmy awards - for makeup and visual effects.[6]

A straight-to-DVD movie about selected characters from the series was released on July 31, 2007.

Production

The Babylon 5 Universe:
Topic index - Episode list - People list
Articles by category
Characters - Crusade - Episodes - Films
Novels - Planets - Races - Ships - Wars
The Babylon 5 Station
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The Babylon 5 Station
Original B5 promo logo
Original B5 promo logo

Concept

In a 1991 post to to the GEnie service,[7] J. Michael Straczynski set five goals for the Babylon 5 series. He said that the show "would have to be good science fiction" as well as good television ("rarely are SF shows both good SF and good TV; there're (sic) generally one or the other"); it would have to do for science fiction television what Hill Street Blues had done for police dramas, by taking an adult approach to the subject; it would have to be reasonably budgeted, and "it would have to look unlike anything ever seen before on TV, presenting individual stories against a much broader canvas."

He further stressed that his approach was "to take SF seriously, to build characters for grown-ups (not a Wesley in the bunch), to incorporate real science but keep the characters at the center of the story."[7] Some of the staples of television SF were also out of the question (the show would have "no kids or cute robots"[8]). He started out with ideas for two different shows, one a vastly-ambitious epic covering massive battles and other universe-changing events, and the other set aboard a single space station, before realizing both could be done in a single series. The idea was not to present a utopian future, but one with greed and homelessness; one where characters grow, develop, live, and die; one where not everything was the same at the end of the day's events. Straczynski wanted the show to be a mirror to the real world and to covertly teach (an idea influenced by Mark Twain).[9]

Unlike most television shows at the time, the series was conceived as a "novel for television",[10] with a defined beginning, middle, and end. In addition, many of the tie-in novels, comic books, and short stories play a significant canonical part in the overall story.[11] The show uses an arc-driven storytelling style now prevalent in both televised science fiction and in mainstream drama.

In anticipation of future HDTV broadcasts and Laserdisc releases, rather than the usual 4:3 format, the series was shot in 16:9, with the image cut down to 4:3 for initial television transmissions.[12] At a time when using models and miniatures was still the norm, Babylon 5 was also one of the first television shows to use computer technology in creating visual effects, using Amiga-based Video Toasters at first, and later Pentium and DEC Alpha-based systems.[13] It also attempted to respect Newtonian physics in its effects sequences, with particular emphasis on the effects of inertia.[14][15]

Music and scoring

The original pilot movie had music composed by Stewart Copeland.[16] When the show was picked up as a weekly series, Copeland was unavailable, so Christopher Franke of Tangerine Dream was hired.[17] Franke was the composer for all five seasons of Babylon 5, three of the television movies, and the Lost Tales DVD.[18]

When Straczynski obtained funds to create a new writer's edition of the pilot movie, the original Copeland score was replaced with a new score by Franke.[19]

Use of the Internet

Main article: Babylon 5's use of the Internet

The show employed internet marketing to create a buzz among online readers far in advance of the airing of the pilot episode,[20] with Straczynski participating in online communities on USENET (in the rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated newsgroup), and the GEnie and Compuserve systems before the Web came together as it exists today. Also during this time, Warner Bros. executive Jim Moloshok created and distributed electronic trading cards to help advertise the series.[21] In 1995, Warner Bros. started the Official Babylon 5 Website on the now defunct Pathfinder portal. In September 1995, they hired a fan, Troy Rutter, to take over the site and move it to its own domain name at http://www.babylon5.com, and oversee the Keyword B5 area on America Online. The fans continued to play an important role in the development of the series, and the online support campaign is credited with helping persuade former PTEN station owners to carry the fourth season of the show in 1996.[citation needed]

Regular and guest stars

Main article: List of people involved with Babylon 5

Regular cast

Recurring guests

In addition, several other actors have filled more than one minor role on the series. Kim Strauss played the Drazi Ambassador in 4 episodes, as well as 9 other minor characters in 10 more episodes.[22]

Plot summary

Babylon 5 TV seasons and movies
1993—2007

In order of series chronology:
2245-48 • In the Beginning (1st movie†)
2256 • Babylon 5 is 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 movie)
2262 • Wheel of Fire (Season 5)
2263 • The River of Souls (3rd movie)
2265 • The Legend of the Rangers (5th movie)
2266 • A Call to Arms (4th movie)
2267 • Crusade (Spin-off series)
2271 • The Lost Tales: Voices in the Dark
2278 • In the Beginning (1st movie†)
2281 • Babylon 5 is decommissioned

† The framing story is set in 2278.

Main arc

The five seasons of the series each correspond to one fictional sequential year in the period 2258-2262. As the series starts, the Babylon 5 station is welcoming ambassadors from various races in the galaxy. Earth has just barely survived an accidental war with the powerful Minbari, who, despite their superior technology, mysteriously surrendered at the brink of the destruction of the human race (the Battle of the Line).

Season one - 2258

During 2258, Commander Jeffrey Sinclair is in charge of the station. Much of the story revolves around his gradual discovery that it was his capture by the Minbari at the Battle of the Line which ended the war against Earth. Upon capturing Sinclair, the Minbari came to believe that Valen, a great Minbari leader and hero of the last Minbari-Shadow war, had been reincarnated as the Commander. Concluding that others of their species had been, and were being, reborn as humans, and in obedience to the edict that Minbari do not kill one another, they stopped the war just when Earth's final defenses were on the verge of collapse.

Ambassador Delenn is gradually revealed to be a member of the mysterious and powerful Grey Council, the planetary legislature of the Minbari. Towards the end of 2258, she begins the transformation into a Minbari-human hybrid, ostensibly to build a bridge between the humans and Minbari.

The year ends with the assassination of Earth Alliance President Santiago, and with the escalation of tensions between the Narn and Centauri, after a Narn outpost in Quadrant 37 is completely destroyed by an as-yet-unidentified third party.

Season two - 2259

At the beginning of 2259, Captain John Sheridan replaces Sinclair as the military governor of the station. He and the command staff learn that the death of President Santiago was actually an assassination masterminded by Vice President Clark (who then assumed the Presidency).

A conflict develops between the Babylon 5 command staff and the Psi Corps, an increasingly autocratic organization to which all human telepaths must belong. Commander Ivanova, the second-in-command of the station, is secretly a latent telepath who has illicitly avoided registering with the Psi Corps.

The Shadows, an ancient and extremely powerful race who have recently emerged from hibernation, are revealed to be the cause of a variety of mysterious and disturbing events, including the attack on Quadrant 37 at the end of 2258. Centauri Ambassador Londo Mollari enlists their aid in the ongoing territorial squabbles against the Narn. After full war breaks out, the Centauri eventually conquer Narn in a brutal attack involving mass drivers, outlawed weapons of mass destruction. A power struggle amongst the Centauri ensues after their emperor dies.

Towards the end of the year, the Clark administration begins to show increasingly-totalitarian characteristics, clamping down on dissent and restricting freedom of speech. The Vorlons are revealed to be the basis of legends about angels on various worlds, including Earth, and are ancient enemies of the Shadows.

Season three - 2260

A conspiracy develops between the Psi Corps and President Clark, whose government has discovered Shadow vessels buried in Earth's solar system and is beginning to harness their advanced technology. The Clark administration continues to become increasingly xenophobic and totalitarian, and uses a military incident as an excuse to declare martial law. This triggers a war of independence on Mars, which had long had a strained political relationship with Earth. Babylon 5 also declares independence from Earth, along with several other outlying Earth Alliance colonies.

In response, the Earth Alliance attempts to retake Babylon 5 by force, but with the aid of the Minbari, who have allied with the station against the growing Shadow threat, the attack is repelled.

Becoming concerned over the Shadows' growing influence amongst his people, Centauri ambassador Londo Mollari attempts to sever ties with them. Mr Morden, the Shadows' human representative, tricks him into restoring the partnership by engineering the murder of Mollari's mistress.

Open warfare breaks out between the Shadows and an alliance led by Babylon 5 and the Minbari. Genetic manipulation by the Vorlons is discovered to be the source of human telepathy, as it is later discovered that Shadow ships are vulnerable to telepathic attack.

Displeased at the Vorlons' lack of direct action against the Shadows, Captain John Sheridan goads Vorlon ambassador Kosh Naranek into launching an attack against their mutual enemy. Kosh's deeds lead to his subsequent assassination by the Shadows.

Upon returning to the station, former commander Jeffrey Sinclair transforms into a Minbari and, using an alien artifact discovered on the nearby planet Epsilon III, travels back in time 1,000 years with the stolen Babylon 4, to use the station as a base of operations against the Shadows in the first Minbari-Shadow war. He is subsequently revealed to be the actual Valen of Minbari legend, rather than a reincarnation.

Spurred by the reappearance of his assumed-dead wife (who now works for the Shadows), Sheridan is provoked into visiting Z'ha'dum, the Shadow homeworld, in an attempt by them to recruit him, but he instead destroys their largest city in a kamikaze nuclear attack and is last seen jumping into a miles-deep pit to escape the explosion.

Season four - 2261

In 2261, the Vorlons join the Shadow War, but become a concern for the alliance when they begin destroying entire planets which they deem to have been "influenced" by the Shadows. Disturbed by this turn of events, Babylon 5 recruits several other powerful and ancient races (the First Ones) to their cause, against both the Shadows and the Vorlons. Captain John Sheridan returns to the station after escaping the destruction of Z'ha'dum, but at a price: barring illness or injury, he has only 20 years left to live.

Centauri Emperor Cartagia has forged a relationship with the Shadows. Londo Mollari engineers the assassination of Cartagia and repudiates his relationship with the Shadows, killing Morden and destroying the Shadow vessels based on the Centauri homeworld, thus saving his planet from destruction by the Vorlons.

Aided by the other ancient races, and several younger ones, Babylon 5 lures both the Vorlons and the Shadows into an immense battle, during which the Vorlons and Shadows reveal that they have been left as guardians of the younger races, but due to philosophical differences, ended up using them as pawns in their endless wars throughout the ages. The younger races reject their continued interference, and the Vorlons and Shadows, along with the remaining First Ones, agree to leave the galaxy forever.

Minbar is gripped by a brief civil war. Free of the overriding military threat from the Shadows, an alliance led by Babylon 5 frees Earth from totalitarian rule by President Clark in a civil war. This culminates in the suicide of the president and the restoration of peaceful government.

Mars is granted full independence and Captain John Sheridan agrees to step down as commander of Babylon 5, becoming president of the new Interstellar Alliance and continuing his command of the Rangers, who are to act as a galactic equivalent of United Nations peacekeepers.

The events of 100, 500, 1000, and one million years into the future are revealed, depicting Babylon 5's lasting influence throughout history. Amongst the events shown are the political aftermath of the 2261 civil war, a subsequent nuclear war on Earth involving a new totalitarian government, the fall of Earth into a pre-industrial society, and the final evolution of mankind into energy beings similar to the First Ones, after which Earth's sun goes nova.

Season five - 2262

In 2262, Earthforce Captain Elizabeth Lochley is appointed to command Babylon 5. The station grows in its role as a sanctuary for rogue telepaths running from the Psi Corps, resulting in a violent conflict. G'Kar, former Narn ambassador to Babylon 5, becomes a spiritual leader after publishing a book he wrote while incarcerated during the Narn-Centauri War.

The Drakh, former allies of the Shadows who remained in the galaxy, take control of Regent Virini on Centauri Prime using an invisible mind-control organism known as a "keeper". They use their control to incite a war between the Centauri and the Interstellar Alliance, in order to isolate the Centauri from the Alliance, and gain a malleable homeworld for themselves.

Centauri Prime is consequently decimated by Narn and Drazi warships, and Londo Mollari becomes emperor, accepting a Drakh keeper under threat of the complete nuclear destruction of the planet. Portions of the end of his reign are seen in various time-travel sequences throughout the series; one such sequence shows Mollari and former nemesis (and later friend) G'Kar dying at each other's throats in an act of mutual suicide. Vir Cotto, Mollari's loyal and more moral aide, succeeds him as emperor, free of Drakh influence.

Sheridan and Delenn marry and move to Minbar, along with the headquarters of the Interstellar Alliance. Twenty years later, on the verge of death, Sheridan takes one final trip to the now-obsolete Babylon 5 before its decommissioning. Sheridan dies, but is claimed by the First Ones, who invite him to join them on a journey beyond the rim of the galaxy.

The Babylon 5 station is completely destroyed in a planned demolition.

Story elements

The series consists of a five-year story arc taking place over five seasons of 22 episodes each. John Iacovelli said "Babylon 5 is a window on the future" in the DVD feature Creating the Future, linking to the idea of a space opera. The hub of the story is set in the 23rd century (2258-2262 AD) on a large space station named Babylon 5; the five mile (8 km) long, 2.5 million ton rotating colony is built to be a gathering place for fostering peace through diplomacy, trade, and cooperation.

The Babylon station

Main article: Babylon 5 (space station)

In the show, Babylon 5 is a center of political intrigue and conflict, eventually becoming the linchpin of a massive interstellar conflict. This is reflected in the opening monologue of each episode, which includes the words "last, best hope for peace" in season one, but changes to "last, best hope for victory" by season three.

Babylon 5 is the fifth Babylon space station, a modified version of an O'Neill Cylinder. Three predecessors, the original Babylon station, Babylon 2 and Babylon 3 were all sabotaged and destroyed before their completion. The fourth station, Babylon 4, vanished twenty-four hours after it became fully operational ("Babylon Squared" and "War Without End"). Babylon 5 is substantially smaller than the previous stations, due to budget constraints after the failure of its predecessors. The station is set in the Epsilon Eridani star system, orbiting the third planet, Epsilon Eridani III (frequently referred to as "Epsilon III" in the series).

Bruce Boxleitner, who played station commander Captain John Sheridan, described the Babylon 5 station as "... A free port for diplomats, travelers and businessmen. A combination of building the United Nations and Times Square on an intergalactic scale...", in the introduction of The Guide to Babylon 5.

Civilizations

Main article: Civilizations in Babylon 5
G'Kar (left) of the Narn Regime and Londo Mollari of the Centauri Republic.
Enlarge
G'Kar (left) of the Narn Regime and Londo Mollari of the Centauri Republic.

At the beginning of the series, five dominant civilizations are represented. The dominant species are the Humans, Minbari, Narn, Centauri, and the Vorlons. "The Shadows" and their various allies are malevolent species who appear later in the series. The less powerful races eventually form the League of Non-Aligned Worlds.

"Trap doors"

Though conceived as a whole, and with Straczynski writing most of the episodes (including all of the episodes of the third and fourth seasons; according to Straczynski, a feat never before accomplished in American television[23]), it was necessary to adjust the plotline to accommodate external influences. Each of the characters in the series was written with a "trap door" into their background so that, in the event of an actor's departure from the series, the character could be written out with minimal impact to the story.[24] In the words of Straczynski, "As a writer, doing a long-term story, it'd be dangerous and short-sighted for me to construct the story without trap doors for every single character. [...] That was one of the big risks going into a long-term storyline which I considered long in advance."[25]

The character of Talia Winters was to have undergone a transformation into a Psi-Corps agent, having been revealed as a "sleeper," whose true personality was buried subconsciously, and who acted as a spy, observing the events on the station and the actions of her command staff. When Thompson left the series, this revelation was used to drop the character from the series. Had Thompson remained, her "good" persona would have been restored by the use of a data crystal that Kosh had commissioned through the services of a VCR (pronounced "Vicar", a telepath with an implant allowing him to record the psychic data he detected): According to Straczynski, Kosh would have detected the Psi-Corps plot and taken steps to salvage what he considered a valuable resource. This plotline was never used.[citation needed]

Two characters were written out using a pair of intertwining "Trap Doors." When Jason Carter left the series at the end of season four, the "Trap Door" calling for Marcus Cole to die in battle was altered to give his life force to Susan Ivanova as she lay dying from wounds suffered in battle. In a twist that left the possibility for Cole's return, his body was left in suspended animation on the station in hope of a new discovery that might resuscitate him. Subsequently, when Claudia Christian left the series at end of season four, her character was written out of the series by having Ivanova accept a command of her own as captain of a new Warlock class destroyer, her self-realization of her grief over the loss of Marcus being the defining factor in her decision to leave.[26]

Languages

There are three primary languages used on the Babylon 5 station: English, Centauri and Interlac,[27] though English is mentioned explicitly as the "human language of commerce"[28] and is the baseline language of the station (written signs appearing in all three languages).[29] Other human and alien languages do exist in the Babylon 5 universe, though hearing them spoken is uncommon; when aliens of the same species are speaking to one another, the words heard are English, though it is presumed they are speaking their native tongue. Only when in the presence of humans can the alien language be heard, to stress that the humans cannot understand what is being said.[30] With the exception of the Minbari tongue, few other alien languages are actually heard aloud on a regular basis.

The Gaim, pak'ma'ra and Vorlons do not speak directly in English; in the case of the pak'ma'ra, either because they refuse to learn any language other than their own,[31] or because they are incapable of making human sounds.[32] The Gaim, pak'ma'ra and the Vorlons instead make use of real-time translation devices.[33]

The principal human characters speak with an American English accent, with the exception of Marcus Cole, who speaks with a distinct British accent. Susan Ivanova, born in Russia, speaks with an American accent, but has some posters with writing in the Cyrillic alphabet in her room. Her father speaks with a distinct Russian accent, as does her brother. Various other minor human characters speak English with recognizable regional accents.

Ambassador Delenn and Londo Mollari, both alien characters, speak with distinct accents similar to Slavic. Londo's accent was developed independently by actor Peter Jurasik[34] and was imitated by William Forward, who played Lord Refa. Straczynski has described Londo's accent as being that of the "old school" of the Centauri Imperial Court.[35]

Themes

Through its ongoing story arc, Babylon 5 found ways to portray themes relevant to modern social issues.

Order vs freedom; Authoritarianism vs anarchy; light vs dark

The central theme in Babylon 5 is the conflict between order and chaos, and the people caught in between.

The Vorlons represent an authoritarian philosophy: you will do what we tell you to, because we tell you to do it. The Vorlon Question, "Who are you?" focuses on identity as the motivator over personal goals.[36] The Shadows represent chaos. Their belief is that by encouraging conflict, a stronger generation is born — "Evolution through conflict".[37] The question they pose is, "What do you want?" They place desire and ambition before everything else, encouraging conflict between other groups, who choose to serve their own glory or profit.[38] Selfishness is often the turning point of a character from light to darkness, and selflessness denotes a change in the reverse.

The stated philosophies of both the Vorlons and the Shadows seem directly in conflict with the effects their presence seems to produce. During the time that the Vorlons are tacitly "in charge" of the known universe, wars and skirmishes seem commonplace. However, as soon as the Shadows increase their presence, an alliance of races begins to form to fight them. ("Z'ha'dum").

A third question, asked by Lorien (the oldest living being in the B5 galaxy) is "Why are you here?". This third question suggests that there is more to life than the duality of order and chaos.

J. Michael Straczynski has stated on the DVDs that there were four questions about life. Lorien asks the final question to a dying Sheridan in the last episode: "Where are you going?"

War and peace

The Babylon 5 universe includes numerous major armed conflicts. The conflicts serve to illustrate specific themes: every conflict has a forgotten "third side," people crushed beneath the feet of the powerful; a single individual willing to sacrifice himself can be more powerful than the greatest army; whereas an individual willing to sacrifice everyone else to serve his own objectives can reduce entire worlds to ashes, and yet still be defeated.

Ultimately, every violent conflict is born out of self-interest, perpetuated by prejudice and ideology, and resolved by the realization that each side needs the other to survive. The most clear example of this is the history of the Hyach race: The Hyach evolved alongside the Hyach-Doh, with whom they interbred. Over the course of centuries the Hyach leadership began a process of persecution beginning with religious laws and ending in genocide. It was not until after the last Hyach-Doh had been killed that the Hyach birth-rate began to fall: the Hyach genetic structure needed the Hyach-Doh for them to survive, and by wiping them out they had doomed their own race.

By the end of the series, we find members of opposing sides working together to forge a new future.

Love

Unrequited love is a source of pain in Babylon 5. The losses of loved ones to characters such as Ivanova and Sheridan are central to the story arc of the first three seasons, while Marcus and Lennier are ultimately destroyed by their love for Ivanova and Delenn, respectively. Ivanova comes to realize that she loves Talia Winters, one of the first times a same-sex relationship is denotatively referred to in a television science fiction series.[39] Garibaldi loses a would-be lover to war in Gropos. Zack Allen's affection for Lyta Alexander is also unreturned. Not all love in the show is unrequited, however. Sheridan, for example, returns from the dead after discovering that his love for Delenn is "worth living for" in "Whatever Happened to Mr. Garibaldi?", and Garibaldi finds a happy ending with the woman he loves.[1]

Religion

Many of Babylon 5's characters have profound spiritual or religious beliefs ("The Parliament of Dreams"). Straczynski, an atheist, was determined that the characters and the show would treat all these beliefs with the utmost respect, saying, "religion [...] has always been present. And it will be present 200 years from now. That may not thrill me, but when one is a writer, one must deal with realities, and that's one of them. To totally ignore that part of the human equation would be as false and wrong-headed as ignoring the fact that people get mad, or passionate, or strive for better lives. [...] In the Babylon 5 universe, all the things that make us human -- our obsessions, our interests, our language, our culture, our flaws and our wonderfulnesses -- are all still intact."[40]

Many religions are mentioned in the Babylon 5 storyline. Often, a religious or moral question is presented with no clear answer. A perfect example is "Soul Hunter" in which three different interpretations are presented for the Soul Hunters' actions. The moral conflict presented in "Believers" is another example. More important for the overall arc of the program is the large plot thread hinging upon Minbari religious beliefs and the spiritual evolution of G'Kar.

Within season one we learn that Commander Sinclair was brought up by Jesuits, Susan Ivanova is Jewish and, in the episode "The Parliament of Dreams", many of Earth's contemporary (20th Century) religions are still in existence.

Additionally, season three sees a community of Benedictine monks take up residence on Babylon 5 in order to learn what the other races throughout the universe call God[41] and to come to a better understanding of the different religions through study at close quarters.[42]

Dreams and visions

The subliminal and subconscious play a very significant role in the Babylon 5 franchise. Every single major character experiences, on at least one occasion, some altered state of consciousness in which he or she receives some sort of important mental message. This could either be one that further fleshes out the character for the benefit of the viewer, or one of transcendental and transpersonal nature that anticipates important further developments in the storyline. Some of these signs and portents resemble lucid dreams but many are quite bizarre and "dreamlike", frequently in a spiritual context.

Addiction

Substance abuse and its impact on human personalities also plays a significant role in the Babylon 5 storyline. The station's security chief, Michael Garibaldi is a textbook relapsing-remitting alcoholic of the binge drinking type who physically and socially recovers only at the end of season five; Dr. Stephen Franklin develops an (initially unrecognized) addiction to injectable stimulant drugs while trying to cope with the chronic stress and work overload in medlab, and wanders off to the homeless and deprived in Brown Sector where he suffers through a severe withdrawal syndrome; Station Commander Susan Ivanova mentions that her father became an alcoholic after her mother had committed suicide after having been drugged by the authorities over a number of years. Among the aliens, Londo Mollari is at least a heavy abuser of alcohol, mostly in the form of the Centauri national drink, Brevari.

Numerous other references to substance abuse and drug dealing are scattered throughout the storyline, including "Dust," a white powder with a black-market presence comparable to cocaine. "Dust" turns out to be a "designer drug" developed by "Psi-Corp" and placed into the black-market as an experiment to see if psychic abilities could be brought out in "mundanes."

Original series

Main article: List of Babylon 5 episodes

Episodes

Each season shared its name with an episode that was central to that season's plot.

Production costs: according to director J. Michael Straczynski "I produced B5's 110 episodes at [a cost of] about 90 million dollars." [43]

All 92 television scripts (plus two television movie scripts) written by J. Michael Straczynski for the series are being published as a 15-volume series.[44]

Made-for-TV films

The Gathering was the pilot, depicting the arrival of the major characters to the Babylon 5 station in 2257. The made-for-TV movie 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. The made-for-TV movies Thirdspace and The River of Souls are largely stand-alone episodes.

Babylon 5: A Call to Arms was the set-up for the Crusade series, which is set in 2267. The premise of Crusade is that the Drakh, in an act of revenge, have released 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 destroyer Excalibur has been sent out to look for a cure. The series features a technomage, most of whom were seen in the second season episode The Geometry of Shadows leaving the galaxy before the Shadow War began.

Spin-offs

Crusade

Main article: Crusade (TV series)

The spin-off series Crusade[45] ran on TNT for thirteen episodes, having been set up by the TV-movie A Call to Arms. The production team received help from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory to make sure that the series depicted science and technology accurately.[46] However, creative differences between Straczynski and TNT caused problems; the network wanted more sex and violence[47] and forced Straczynski to begin the first episode with a fistfight. The sex-and-violence request was later withdrawn, and TNT in fact allocated more money to Crusade, giving the actors better uniforms and new sets mid-season. However, due to the creative differences, TNT eventually decided to cancel the series after thirteen 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 — in addition to comments made by him online, at conventions, and on the Crusade DVD commentaries — reveal that they would have become prominent features of the series, had it continued.[citation needed]

It has subsequently been stated by J. Michael Straczynski that TNT got cold feet about the show when they discovered that their B5 viewers tuned into the channel solely to watch that show, and then tuned out at the end whilst their regular audience did the opposite, so it was not achieving their goal of growing their overall audience-share. At this point, they decided that they did not want to proceed with Crusade, but could not renege on the contract with Warner Brothers without severe financial penalties. They therefore set out to make life as uncomfortable for the production team as possible in the hope that they would pull the plug themselves, or simply refuse to play ball, allowing TNT to pull out, claiming breach of contract.[citation needed]

Legend of the Rangers

Main article: Babylon 5: The Legend of the Rangers

A made-for-TV movie 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, 2001 attacks, the movie aired on January 19, 2002. However, it was scheduled against an NFL AFC Divisional Championship playoff game featuring the New England Patriots and the Oakland Raiders. The pilot's poor ratings contributed to the lessening of the network's interest in a series pick-up, 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 Memory of Shadows

Main article: The Memory of Shadows

In 2004 and early 2005, rumors widely circulated about a planned Babylon 5 movie 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.[48] The proposed movie, 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.

Several sources have claimed that factions within Warner Bros. wanted to recast established Babylon 5 roles with younger and more well-known actors, causing a major controversy among fans. Straczynski has acknowledged the subject and has stated that the negotiations were problematic, but has said that he is unable to directly comment on the issue. It has been said, however, that Warner's stated principle at the time was only to do "blockbuster" movies featuring "star" names, and that the issue of re-casting the characters only arose as a result of those attempting to finance TMoS approaching WB, having been unable to raise the finance elsewhere.

Recently J. Michael Straczynski stated that WB had offered him the opportunity to make a B5 feature film, but he declined this in favour of the Babylon 5: The Lost Tales direct-to-DVD project.

The Lost Tales

Main article: Babylon 5: The Lost Tales

A new project set in Babylon 5 universe was announced by Straczynski at San Diego Comic Con 2006.[49] Babylon 5: The Lost Tales will be a set of mini-stories featuring established characters from the series. The project is intended to be a straight-to-video DVD release; however, there is possible interest from one of the major US TV networks, as well. The 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.

Novels, novelizations, short stories, and comic books

Main article: Babylon 5 Novels, novelizations, short stories, and comic books

Unique to the Babylon 5 universe among virtually all other shared media 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, and at least two major plotline revelations were made in the DC Comics series that were directly referenced in the TV series. In all, per Straczynski's own remarks, canonical elements exist in every single book or comic published to date, and his deeper involvement in the novel-publishing program from 1996 onward has ensured a greater level of canonicity within such works.

Additionally, Straczynski himself penned a number of short stories, published in Amazing Stories magazine, expanding on several key story-points from the television series, along with a number of other established authors, with all such tales considered as "real" as the TV show itself.

As of 2007, J. Michael Straczynski is still writing the manuscript for a Babylon 5 graphic novel, to be published on an as-yet-unknown date 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 has subsequently decided to tie in elements from the spinoffs Crusade and Legend of the Rangers into the book.[50] The graphic novel will be 100 pages long. The artist has not yet been announced.

Mongoose Publishing, the publisher of recent Babylon 5 role-playing game (RPG) material, announced plans to release a line of Babylon 5 novels and graphic novels, beginning in summer 2006. J. Michael Straczynski made it clear that he was not involved with this project, and considered the works to be "fan-fiction."[51] In spring of 2007, Mongoose announced that the project was cancelled.

DVD releases

Season releases

The first season DVD set
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The first season DVD set

All five seasons have been released individually in the US and the UK. A complete 5-season set is also available in each of the two DVD regions, titled Babylon 5: The Complete Television Series for the U.S. and Canada, and Babylon 5: The Complete Universe for the UK. The UK version also includes all the films and the short-lived spin-off Crusade. As of 2007, all 5 television seasons and their individual episodes are also for sale at the iTunes Store.

According to director J. Michael Straczynski as of mid-2006 "The DVD sales have raised over 500 million in revenue." The financial success of the DVD box sets has led to a renewed interest in further Babylon 5 work [1].

DVD Name Region 1 Region 2
Babylon 5: The Complete First Season November 5 2002 October 28 2002
Babylon 5: The Complete Second Season April 29 2003 May 26 2003
Babylon 5: The Complete Third Season August 12 2003 November 10 2003
Babylon 5: The Complete Fourth Season January 6 2004 April 19 2004
Babylon 5: The Complete Fifth Season April 13 2004 January 17 2005
Babylon 5: The Complete Television Series August 17 2004 N/A
Babylon 5: The Complete Universe N/A October 24 2005

Babylon 5 movie releases

The Movie Collection DVD set
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The Movie Collection DVD set

The Babylon 5 TV movies were distributed differently in the U.S. and UK. Initially a DVD containing the two movies The Gathering and In the Beginning were released on both region 1 (North America) and region 2 (UK) DVD. Then, in the U.S., the first five movies which aired while Babylon 5 was still on the air were released in one boxset, with the TV movie Legend of the Rangers getting its own separate release on both region 1 and region 2 DVD. In the UK, a film boxset was released, but instead of containing the five movies like the U.S. version, it contained the three movies which hadn't been released yet (Thirdspace, River of Souls, and A Call to Arms). The Gathering was released as a low-priced promotional R1 DVD in 2004, intended as a 'trial' of the series proper; Warner Bros. issued several such DVDs but discontinued the line shortly thereafter due to lack of interest.

DVD name Region 1 Region 2
Babylon 5: The Gathering/In the Beginning December 4 2001 N/A
Babylon 5: The Gathering N/A April 8 2002
Babylon 5: In the Beginning N/A April 8 2002
Babylon 5: The Movie Collection August 17 2004 N/A
Babylon 5: Movie Box Set N/A February 21 2005
Babylon 5: The Legend of the Rangers March 14 2006 October 24 2005
Babylon 5: The Lost Tales July 31 2007 September 3 2007

Mastering problems

The transfer of Babylon 5 to DVD created significant problems with regard to special-effects/CGI footage. Several factors complicated the process.

  • Although originally broadcast in the standard television aspect ratio of 4:3, all live-action footage was filmed on Super 35 mm film (with a ratio of 1.65:1). The idea was that, once widescreen televisions (with an aspect ratio of 16:9 or 1.78:1) became more popular, the episodes could be easily converted into a wide screen format.
  • CGI shots were rendered in the 4:3 ratio, but designed so that the top and bottom of each shot could be removed to create a widescreen image without ruining the image composition.
  • All of the purely live-action shots were stored as high-definition digital images.
  • However, CGI shots, and shots combining live-action with CGI, were stored in the much lower-definition NTSC digital format. (Again, the expectation was that it would be relatively cheap in the future to recreate the CGI as widescreen.)
  • Over the years, the original computer-generated models, etc. have been lost, making it necessary to use the old 4:3 CGI shots.

This has resulted in several consistent flaws throughout the Babylon 5 DVD release. In particular, quality drops significantly whenever a scene cuts from purely live-action to a shot combining live-action and CGI. This is particularly noticeable on the PAL DVDs, since CGI shots had to be converted from NTSC as well as being blown up to fit a wide screen television. In addition, while the live action film was originally wide screen, shots were composed for 4:3, resulting in a conspicuous tendency for actors to clump up in the middle of the screen.

Soundtrack releases

A total of 31 soundtrack albums have been released for Babylon 5. They are all composed by the series composer Christopher Franke and released under his own record label Sonic Images. There are 3 compilation albums: Babylon 5: Vol 1, Babylon 5: Vol 2, and Best of Babylon 5. In addition, there are 25 episodic soundtracks and 3 movie soundtracks.

Compilation soundtracks

These include music that appeared throughout the series, but have been extensively reorchestrated, rewritten, and remixed by Franke into lengthy movements. In some cases new themes are introduced, such as the season 5 intro theme, which is heard on the last track of Babylon 5: Vol 2 even though the soundtrack itself was released long before season 5.

Episodic and feature film soundtracks

The 28 episodic and feature film soundtracks include the exact unedited music from each corresponding episode or feature film, with no alterations, omissions, or additions.

Other releases

Seasons 1-2 and parts of season 3 of Babylon 5 have been released as advertisement-supported downloads through the In2TV download service. Additionally, every episode from seasons 1-5, as well as the pilot movie Babylon 5: The Gathering, are available for purchase on the Xbox Live Marketplace in the United States.

Games

In November 1997, Chameleon Eclectic Entertainment published the original The Babylon Project: The Roleplaying Game Based on Babylon 5.[52] In 2003, Mongoose Publishing printed the Babylon 5 Roleplaying Game & Factbook.[53]

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. [54] 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. The game is similar in many ways to Babylon 5 Wars but has a more streamlined rules set and games take a lot 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 Brothers 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.[55] 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.

The website FirstOnes.com continues to track Babylon 5 modifications for other games. FirstOnes.com hosts the site of the Space Dream Factory, an independent project to develop several standalone games. A collection of modifications for the Homeworld platform can be found at The Great Wars Mods website. These modifications try to capture the best battles from the series. Another independently-developed, freely-available modification is The Babylon Project, a total conversion of the computer game FreeSpace 2. The modification features several campaigns set during the Earth-Minbari War and the Raider Wars. Other games with Babylon 5 modifications include Independence War, Star Trek: Armada, Star Trek: Armada II, Weird Worlds: Return to Infinite Space, Vega Strike and Nexus: The Jupiter Incident.

Trivia

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  • One of the show's