Babylon 5 News Page

Babylon 5 News

Latest News from ISN

24/09/04

It's a sad time for the Babylon 5 universe, as hot on the heels of the loss of Richard Biggs comes the news that Tim Choate who played both Zathras and his brother, Zathras, was killed in a motorcycle accident while on his way to a play rehersal. Tim was 49, and he leaves behind a wife, Madalyne, and a four year old son, Flynn.

23/05/04

Richard Biggs, who played Dr. Stephen Franklin on Babylon 5, has passed away aged 44 from what appears to be a massive stroke or aneurysm although details are still sketchy. In addition to his role on Babylon 5, Richard Biggs also appeared on "ER", "NYPD Blue", the CBS show "Guiding Light" and the soap "Days of Our Lives", for which he won a Soap Opera Digest award for best supporting actor. He leaves behind a wife and two sons.

19/05/04

Warner Brothers have confirmed that the complete set of Babylon 5 made for TV movies (Babylon 5: The Gathering, Babylon 5: In the Beginning, Babylon 5: Thirdspace, Babylon 5: The River of Souls and Babylon 5: A Call to Arms) will be released in a DVD box set later this year. The set is due for a simultaneous R1/R2 release on August 16th 2004.

30/04/04

Some more hints on "B5:TMoS" from JMS on Usenet indicate it could be a cinema rather than TV production (2.35:1 is a cinematic widescreen ratio) and it may involve Technomages. There are also indications of further B5 related projects being in the works, although no details are available.

26/02/04

JMS has announced that there is still life in the Babylon 5 universe, with the announcement of a new project currently known only by the acronym "B5:TMoS" which appears to be a TV/cinema production based on the list of things it's not!

03/11/03

The cover art for the fourth Babylon 5 DVD box set is now available, along with the provisional R1 release date of 6th January 2004, no news on an R2 date as yet.

03/04/03

Warner Home Video UK have finally agreed to replace the DVDs with the dodgy aspect ratio from the R2 release of Season 1. If you wish to obtain a replacement copy, then you will need to send your original DVD to the following address:
Steven Hill Warner Home Video Warner House 98 Theobald's Road London WC1X 8WB
And don't forget those contact details and return addressess!

Mongoose Publishing have announced the imminent release of a new RPG based on the D20 (Dungeons & Dragons) system. For more information you can read the official announcement and check out the web site of Mongoose Publishing.

15/01/03

The cover art for the second Babylon 5 DVD box set is now available, along with the provisional R2 release date of 19th May 2003.

08/10/02

The release date of the Babylon 5 Season 1 DVD in the UK has apparently been postponed until the 28th of October, so it looks like my Birthday present from Warner Bros. is going to be a little late. No Christmas card from *me* this year WB! :-P

15/07/02

The cover art for the new Babylon 5 Season 1 DVD set has appeared on the web and it is looking like getting a November 5th release on R1, a few weeks after the October 14th date for R2. Please note that this is image for the R1 release, so there are no guarantees that the R2 release will be the same.

10/06/02

We finally have some definitive news on the Babylon 5 DVD releases, JMS has confirmed that the releases will be boxed sets and will include some commentaries in the following post:
Yeah, it's real... I was holding off saying anything until WB or someone else could announce it, but since it's come up here via the captioning institute... yeah, as noted, it's real. Season One will be out in a boxed set this Fall, and they're going to be including at minimum two commentaries from me, probably on "Signs and Portents" and "Chrysalis" (it's a matter of how much time and energy I can give to it given that there's no fees involved and I'm in the midst of Jeremiah), and if possible, "Babylon Squared", maybe "And the Sky Full of Stars". They'd also like to film an on-camera intro by me (but I guess folks will buy it anyway, even with that particular horror included). They're pulling together a lot of stuff on this release so that there are plenty of extras this time around, now that the value of the DVDs has been shown by the first release.
Jms (jmsatb5@aol.com)
More information to follow, no doubt...

09/08/01

The new Babylon 5 movie continues to move forward; Christopher Franke will be doing the sound for the project and Mike Vejar will be directing.

The Babylon 5 DVDs are also moving forward; the R1 DVD for the first two chronological movies ("In the Beginning" and "The Gathering") has appeared for pre-order on amazon.com

20/03/01

Well the Babylon 5 universe appears to be getting a new lease of life all of sudden! JMS and the SciFi Channel have confirmed that a new Babylon 5 movie is to be produced, which may segue into a full series. The spoiler free press release from The SciFi Channel is available here, and to quote the great JMS himself:

Well, that's at least ONE weight off my chest.... To those who've heard the news already, and those just now finding out...the SciFi Channel today announced that we have a new Babylon 5 TV movie going into production that will also serve as a pilot for a likely new series. The movie (and the series) is under the heading of BABYLON 5: THE LEGEND OF THE RANGERS. The specific title for the 2-hour movie's story is "To Live and Die in Starlight." There isn't much I can tell you about the story because we're kinda keeping the details under wraps as much as possible for the time being. What little I can say.... It's set in the B5 universe just under 3 years after the events of "Objects at Rest." At this point there's one major character from the B5 universe in the script (a fan favorite). Where B5 was a heavy drama with some adventure/action elements, this one is a little more skewed toward adventure with underlying drama (which is about what you'd expect from the Anla-Shok). We've been sitting on this information for a while now...such that we're already well into pre-production. We'll be shooting this movie around mid-May, well in advance of any potential actor's strike (the script is done and so far everybody likes it a LOT). We've already got designs coming in on a new ship, and a new *kind* of ship...and we're going to be getting more into Minbari aesthetics, technologies and philosophy. It's got some great characters, and it's a lot of fun. I have other news to announce on other fronts...have since the end of the year, in fact...but I'm still sitting on the details awaiting another press release from another studio. What I *can* say is that I have a firm GO order to executive produce a new series (nominally SF) that will go into production after the potential SAG strike. When that's finally over, if the strike indeed happens, we pull the trigger and go into principal photography and it's an order for a full season's worth of episodes. I can't give you any details right now on the subject, title, studio or network. That will have to await the studio's release...so don't even ask. As far as doing both projects at the same time is concerned...it's actually quite common, as testified to by folks like John Wells and Aaron Sorkin and David Kelly and others. So there won't be any conflict. More later.
jms
So, there you have it, some good Babylon 5 news at last that adds yet more weigt to Delenn's maxim "faith manages"! Since the timeline for this could conceivably overlap that of Babylon 5: Crusade and the Telepath War we should be in for an interesting ride!

08/03/01

I really must find some more time to devote to this... Anyway, in case you've been on Centauri Prime the last few weeks, Warner Bros. have confirmed that a Babylon 5 DVD release is pending. There are NO confirmed dates or format information as yet; the best I've seen for a UK R2 release is autumn 2001. Watch this space...

26/01/01

According to Rob Owen, TV Editor of the on-line edition of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, there may be another Babylon 5 movie in the works courtesy of the SciFi Channel. The full text of the article can be found here (scroll down a bit).

08/11/00

It wasn't just the US Presidential election yesterday - Jerry Doyle (Republican) was also running for a Congress against incumbent Brad Sherman (Democrat). The results were declared at 02:44 EST, with Jerry getting 63,040 votes (30%) against Sherman's 142,398 (67%), so there is no Congressional campaign to save Crusade just yet.

08/10/00

Just spotted an article on Usenet to the effect that Sierra/Havas is refusing to sell the work in progress on the Babylon 5 space simulation. It looks like the project is now officially beyond all hope of salvation. Full details are available from The First Ones.

20/09/00

Boy is it getting quiet! Apparently someone has produced some statistics concerning JMS' posts to various online services during the run of Babylon 5, from way back when it was just "TWCBN" ("That Which Cannot Be Named") through to today. Apparently, over 17,000 posts were made by JMS, which approximates to some seventeen full length novels - excluding his paid writing projects! For the record, the breakdown by service is as follows:
Usenet: 5084
Genie: 3525
Compuserve: 8029
AoL: 547

05/04/00

The big news for today is that The SciFi Channel has acquired exclusive rights to the entire Babylon 5 series from TNT and will begin airing them later this year. A brief press release is also available.

More good news for the Babylon 5 computer game as well! It would appear that the programmers have not yet given up and are setting up a new company to finish the game. There are matters of funding and so on, but it's a good start.

Following on from the JMS teaser from March 23rd, the first two announcements have been made. Firstly JMS has been given his own imprint by TopCow, the comic book producer of the "Rising Stars" series, which will start in the autumn. Secondly JMS has both written and produced a new "Murder She Wrote" movie called "A Story to Die For" which includes Crusade's Daniel Dae Kim in the cast.

23/03/00

JMS has announced the intention to announce several new post-Babylon 5 projects in the next few weeks - stay tuned for more information!

04/02/00

Warner Brothers' UK PR division has confirmed that Babylon 5 is scheduled for a Region 2 release later this year, before any US release! Warner's dates have slipped before, but this looks to be very promising.

Also from Warner's PR comes the confirmation of the Crusade releases in the UK, the first two in March, then one a month after that, but it's a "collect the tokens" game for the last tape though.

18/12/99

Interesting one this; apparently Jerry Doyle, AKA Michael Garibaldi, is running for a Republican seat in the US Congress! He will face Jewish Defense League founder Irv Rubin in the Republican party's primary election on March 7. The winner of the primary will face incumbent Brad Sherman in the general election in November 2000. For those of you familiar with the area he is contending for the 24th district, state of California which is just north of the valley.

30/07/99

Not exactly Babylon 5, but sort of... A new Mexican restaurant has opened on Grand Central Station, New York, New York, and its name? "The Zocalo"! It's good to know that the dream lives on. ;-)

10/07/99

It would appear that the Babylon 5 game has slipped again; to the first quarter of the next millenium! Also several sources are citing the release of "A Call to Arms" on video a week later than planned, on 2nd August.

31/05/99

UK fans of Babylon 5 who also have a satellite dish will be able to see Crusade from Sunday, 4th July at 20:00 on Sky One. There is currently no news from Channel 4 as to any possible terrestrial broadcasts.

Babylonian's move from the studios has reached the point where mail for the cast and crew should go to the fan club address; P.O. Box 856, North Hollywood, CA 91603.

26/04/99

Babylon 5 has been nominated for another Hugo award, this time for the episode "Sleeping in Light", and also the SFWA has decided to award the Bradbury Award to J. Michael Straczynski, the show's creator, their press release is available here.

Kitt Peak Observatory in Tuscon, Arizona, has just formally named an asteroid discovered by them in 1992 "8379 STRACZYNSKI" in recognition of Babylon 5. This is the formal designation, as per the Astronomical Union. JMS' comment on the subject; "Finally, I'm a rock star...".

29/03/99

Babylon 5 has been nominated for three Saturn awards; "Best Series on Syndicated/Cable Television", "Best Actor in a TV Series" (Bruce Boxleitner) and "Best Actress in a TV Series" (Claudia Christian).

The possiblity of getting Babylon 5 on DVD appears to be moving closer to reality. The following is a excerpt of an interview between The Big Picture and several of Warner's execs.
The Big Picture: Any plans to release BABYLON 5 on DVD? Mike Finnegan (WB): Yes! The Big Picture: Widescreen? Mike Finnegan (WB): To be decided.

27/01/99

In what is turning into a lousy week for Babylon 5 fans, JMS has confirmed that, to all intents and purposes, Crusade has been axed. Following on from a report on Ain't It Cool News JMS made the following post:
Bottom line: The reason we've been waiting so long for news is that the SciFi Channel has been crunching numbers for weeks, trying to make the deal work with WB, and doing their level best. The programming folks there loved the show (and special thanks has to go to Programming Head Tom Vitale at SFC who worked hardest to make this work). The problem is simply this: the money to fund a series is a BIG chunk of change. SFC had already allocated its budget for the year as of January 1st, and there simply wasn't enough left in this year's budget to pull it off. Also, the emphasis now is on spending money on shows where one owns a piece of it, and Crusade is owned entirely by WB. At the end of they day, they just couldn't make the dollars work, though they tried their damndest, and are only to be thanked. I'm told that if the ratings are good on the 13 which TNT will still air, all the eps made so far will be shown, there may be a second season, but we'll see. Meanwhile, I'm taking the day off. There have been seven offers for overall deals and multiple network pilot deals with both networks per se and studios on my desk for about a year now, ever since B5 ended, which I've been putting off to do Crusade. Now I'll pick one of those deals and make it. So the next thing from me you see will almost certainly be on one of the major networks. I'm going back into the deep water again.... Meanwhile, my thanks to all those who emailed and wrote and called and supported. It's a good show, as will be seen when the shows are aired, and I'd rather lose a show I believed in than keep one I didn't believe in.
jms
So with JMS working on other projects Crusade is unlikely to get picked up again unless something happens very soon. It is also doubtful whether any of the UK networks will pick up the thirteen episodes of Crusade produced knowing that there will be no more, meaning that many UK fans won't get to see the series at all.

24/02/99

Sierra Online has announced some fairly substantial restructuring plans, moving several of its subsdiaries into its corporate HQ and the disbanding of others, including Yosemite Entertainment who are responsible for the Babylon 5 space combat simulation. Comments on the various Internet forums indicate that while several members of Yosemite have been offered positions at Sierra Online's HQ, others had not, so disruption to the project would seem inevitable. Marc Hudgkins of Yosemite had this to say:

I'm not dead yet!, Nor is the game. there's going to be a period here where we are going to be uncertain about the future direction of the project, but we will continue to work on it and will be here.
I'll probably get in trouble for this. I am not of sound mind right now, I'm rather shocky and confused. If you want to do something to preserve the quality, inegrity and ship date of this game, send a polite e-mail to our CEO, Dave Grenewetzki (Dave.Grenewetzki@sierra.com) or david.grenewezki - not sure which, requesting that the impact to the development team and the development process be minimized as much as possible. The ideal way to do this is to allow us to complete the project before relocating the team to Bellevue, WA. Any other action seriously jeopardizes the status of the team and project.
While Randy Littlejohn, also of Yosemite, had this to say:

It's still too soon to be able to tell you anything for sure. But here are some things I do know: The team wants to finish the game. We all believe in it. All of the team leads have been asked to continue (including Christy and myself). Havas (our new French owners) apparently wants the game to be finished. They're aware of how popular the show is in Europe. If you want to know about HAVAS I'm sure you'll find them with a little net surfing. If you want to write to someone - write to them. Also you can write to Sierra Online Headquarters in Bellevue, WA. Thanks. The problem is keeping the team together. It's not like someone else could pick up the ball and run with it. So that's what we're still trying to work out... keeping the team together. We're not dead yet. But we've taken a good hit and our jump engines are iffy at this point. We've still got our forward guns and a few interceptor batteries working.
A petition has been organized to let Sierra Online know how many fans want the game, you can add your name to the list by sending a mail to gt8878b@prism.gatech.edu with B5 somewhere in the subject line.

31/01/99

Following a report on Ain't It Cool News that production of Crusade may have been cancelled by TNT, JMS has responded with the following post:

The plug has not been pulled by TNT, which cannot pull the plug because we don't work for TNT, we work for WB. TNT is a distributer. All I can say for now is that, like Oliver Stone's project for TNT, Witchblade, we have found that TNT (known primarily for westerns, historical dramas and wrestling) is not SF-friendly in terms of really getting what SF is about, and it may not entirely reconcile with what their core audience expects from them...and that a new, more SF friendly venue is being explored. So if folks wanted to drop an encouraging note to, let's say, the Sci-Fi Channel, for instance, that would certainly be okay by me. But in the interim...no, we're not canceled. We're taking off next week to allow WB to work its magic, but that's about it. jms
So it would appear that TNT's funding and backing of production is to be replaced by an unknown quantity. Apart from that TNT is only the show's State-side distributor, and this change should not have any effect on non-US airing of the show.

26/01/99

JMS has confirmed that Evan Chen, composer of the music for "A Call to Arms", will also be doing the music for the series "Babylon 5: Crusade".

JMS has also announced the the novelization of "River of Souls" has been cancelled in advance of publication as "it wasn't where we wanted it to be, and the quality we needed it to be".

14/01/99

As exclusively announced to readers of the Zocalo newsletter, Babylon 5's Patricia Tallman (Lyta Alexander) and Jeffrey Willerth (Kosh) have announced their engagement. No wedding date has been set as of yet. It looks as if the Vorlon's influence has worked on more than one level...

JMS has confirmed that Jeanne Cavelos will be writing the next book trilogy to go into print, based around the Technomages. Peter David will be producing the Centauri trilogy.

02/01/99

Yosemite Entertainment's Public Relations department has confirmed that they will be producing a sequel to their upcoming Babylon 5 space combat simulation, which is now due 2nd quarter 1999. The new game is to be a first person shoot 'em up that will be based around the "Unreal" engine.

25/11/98

CNN has posted an article regarding the end of Babylon 5's five year run. Read the complete article here.

Due to the recent changes to the production of Babylon 5: Crusade the US premiere of the new series has now been postponed until 2nd June, 1999.

08/11/98

Channel 4 has confirmed their airing plans, not only for the final five episodes of season 5, but also for a rerun of the entire Babylon 5 series. To repeat a posted by C4Ed to their web site:

OK, I've only kept you waiting as I wanted clarification from our scheduling department. We are repeating the whole of Babylon 5 (all series) starting on Sunday 15th November at 12.50. Scheduling have confirmed that this will not delay the final five episodes of the last series, and... I've been given special dispensation from scheduling to let you know that the final five episodes should be scheduled for some time around Christmas. I hope this answers some of your questions.

24/09/98

According to Cinescape Online Maggie Egan who played an ISN news anchor in Babylon 5 on several occasions has been signed for Babylon 5: Crusade, but not reprising her former role.

JMS has clarified the hiatus in Crusade's production, the normal one week break given to the production crew at this time of year has been extended to allow the improvement of existing sets and the addition of new ones, with most of the affected crews getting a paid break. The art, costume, construction (obviously!), props and several other departments will be working as normal.

20/09/98

If you have been on Usenet or some of the Babylon 5 news sites recently you may have heard any number of rumours based around an article posted by Ain't It Cool News citing an internal TNT memo that basically said that TNT attempting to dictate that Babylon 5: Crusade was to be produced according to their, rather crude, demands. JMS has finally spoken out on this situation as follows:
The TNT memo was apparently real, from within the network to others in the network. But the egregious points have gone away. Not only that, but they've allocated a huge chunk of change for us to upgrade sets and add a bunch of new sets to the series, stuff we'd been planning to do later, but can do now instead.
jms
So it would appear that things have all worked out very well in the end and we can look forward to Babylon 5 continuing to excel.

Another rumour on Usenet suggests that Channel 4 will resume airing season 5 of Babylon 5 on Sunday, November 15th. While not unreasonable to assume that if Channel 4 will resume airing the rest of Babylon 5 this year, as they have stated, and also for them to want to avoid a break for Christmas, please remember that Channel 4, like all terrestrial UK channels, will not confirm airdates until two weeks in advance. The only things known for sure are that it will not start again until after October 28th (next new episode in the US) and if it is to complete before Christmans must resume before 26th November.

If you have any additions of corrections to any of these items please let me know by sending some e-mail to and I will include them on the next update.

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What's New

	Warner Home Video UK have finally agreed to replace the DVDs with the dodgy aspect ratio from the R2 release of Season 1. If you wish to obtain a replacement copy, then you will need to send your original DVD to the following address: `Steven Hill Warner Home Video Warner House 98 Theobald's Road London WC1X 8WB` And don't forget those contact details and return addressess!
	Mongoose Publishing have announced the imminent release of a new RPG based on the D20 (Dungeons & Dragons) system. For more information you can read the official announcement and check out the web site of Mongoose Publishing.

	The new Babylon 5 movie continues to move forward; Christopher Franke will be doing the sound for the project and Mike Vejar will be directing.
	The Babylon 5 DVDs are also moving forward; the R1 DVD for the first two chronological movies ("In the Beginning" and "The Gathering") has appeared for pre-order on amazon.com

	The big news for today is that The SciFi Channel has acquired exclusive rights to the entire Babylon 5 series from TNT and will begin airing them later this year. A brief press release is also available.
	More good news for the Babylon 5 computer game as well! It would appear that the programmers have not yet given up and are setting up a new company to finish the game. There are matters of funding and so on, but it's a good start.
	Following on from the JMS teaser from March 23rd, the first two announcements have been made. Firstly JMS has been given his own imprint by TopCow, the comic book producer of the "Rising Stars" series, which will start in the autumn. Secondly JMS has both written and produced a new "Murder She Wrote" movie called "A Story to Die For" which includes Crusade's Daniel Dae Kim in the cast.

	Warner Brothers' UK PR division has confirmed that Babylon 5 is scheduled for a Region 2 release later this year, before any US release! Warner's dates have slipped before, but this looks to be very promising.
	Also from Warner's PR comes the confirmation of the Crusade releases in the UK, the first two in March, then one a month after that, but it's a "collect the tokens" game for the last tape though.

	UK fans of Babylon 5 who also have a satellite dish will be able to see Crusade from Sunday, 4th July at 20:00 on Sky One. There is currently no news from Channel 4 as to any possible terrestrial broadcasts.
	Babylonian's move from the studios has reached the point where mail for the cast and crew should go to the fan club address; P.O. Box 856, North Hollywood, CA 91603.

	Babylon 5 has been nominated for another Hugo award, this time for the episode "Sleeping in Light", and also the SFWA has decided to award the Bradbury Award to J. Michael Straczynski, the show's creator, their press release is available here.
	Kitt Peak Observatory in Tuscon, Arizona, has just formally named an asteroid discovered by them in 1992 "8379 STRACZYNSKI" in recognition of Babylon 5. This is the formal designation, as per the Astronomical Union. JMS' comment on the subject; "Finally, I'm a rock star...".

	Babylon 5 has been nominated for three Saturn awards; "Best Series on Syndicated/Cable Television", "Best Actor in a TV Series" (Bruce Boxleitner) and "Best Actress in a TV Series" (Claudia Christian).
	The possiblity of getting Babylon 5 on DVD appears to be moving closer to reality. The following is a excerpt of an interview between The Big Picture and several of Warner's execs. `The Big Picture: Any plans to release BABYLON 5 on DVD? Mike Finnegan (WB): Yes! The Big Picture: Widescreen? Mike Finnegan (WB): To be decided.`

	JMS has confirmed that Evan Chen, composer of the music for "A Call to Arms", will also be doing the music for the series "Babylon 5: Crusade".
	JMS has also announced the the novelization of "River of Souls" has been cancelled in advance of publication as "it wasn't where we wanted it to be, and the quality we needed it to be".

	As exclusively announced to readers of the Zocalo newsletter, Babylon 5's Patricia Tallman (Lyta Alexander) and Jeffrey Willerth (Kosh) have announced their engagement. No wedding date has been set as of yet. It looks as if the Vorlon's influence has worked on more than one level...
	JMS has confirmed that Jeanne Cavelos will be writing the next book trilogy to go into print, based around the Technomages. Peter David will be producing the Centauri trilogy.

	CNN has posted an article regarding the end of Babylon 5's five year run. Read the complete article here.
	Due to the recent changes to the production of Babylon 5: Crusade the US premiere of the new series has now been postponed until 2nd June, 1999.

	According to Cinescape Online Maggie Egan who played an ISN news anchor in Babylon 5 on several occasions has been signed for Babylon 5: Crusade, but not reprising her former role.
	JMS has clarified the hiatus in Crusade's production, the normal one week break given to the production crew at this time of year has been extended to allow the improvement of existing sets and the addition of new ones, with most of the affected crews getting a paid break. The art, costume, construction (obviously!), props and several other departments will be working as normal.