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Babylon 5

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Zodiac
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« on: July 08, 2007, 08:59:28 pm »


It is the dawn of the third age of mankind, the middle of the twenty-third century. Man is far from alone in the universe.

A hundred years ago, humanity made contact with its first alien civilization -- or more to the point, they made contact with us. Before the arrival of the Centauri, we were confined to our own solar system, forced to use slow sleeper ships to explore the universe. The Centauri gave us the stars, offered us the use of their "jumpgates" -- portals into hyperspace -- and later, taught us to make our own. In exchange for this and other technologies, they asked only for trinkets, novelties to sell back home.

In the eighty years that followed, humanity flexed its muscles, expanding outward at a rapid pace. When a group of less powerful races was attacked by an invading army, Earth came to their aid, cementing its role as a major galactic power, if a young, brash one.

The wave of euphoria came crashing down when humanity made contact with a mysterious race called the Minbari. The Earth-Minbari War began with a misunderstanding, a human captain and a Minbari commander too quick on the trigger. Thanks to bad luck or something darker, our first meeting with the Minbari resulted in the death of their supreme religious and political leader. To the Minbari, what followed was a holy war, vengeance for the murder of their spiritual leader. Earth was no match for the technologically superior Minbari, and they easily beat us back to our home planet.

Then, without explanation, as their ships closed in on Earth and wiped out our last desperate defenses, the Minbari halted their advance and surrendered. Only an elite few knew why.

The Babylon Project was conceived in the aftermath of the war. Modeled after the United Nations, it would be a meeting place, neutral ground where the powers could meet and work out their differences peacefully.

The first three Babylon stations were sabotaged in mid-construction. The fourth was completed, but just as it was about to go online, it vanished without a trace. The Earth government would have stopped there, but some of the alien governments, seeing the value of a meeting ground, offered financial assistance for the construction of a fifth station. Naturally, there were strings attached.

Babylon 5 is the story of the last of the Babylon stations, the last hope for a galaxy without war. It begins in the year 2257 with the opening of the Babylon 5 station.

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Zodiac
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« Reply #1 on: July 08, 2007, 09:01:50 pm »

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« Reply #2 on: July 08, 2007, 09:03:01 pm »

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« Reply #3 on: July 08, 2007, 09:10:38 pm »

It was the dawn of the third age of mankind, ten years after the Earth/Minbari war. The Babylon Project was a dream given form. Its goal, to prevent another war by creating a place where humans and aliens could work out their differences peacefully. It's a port of call - home away from home for diplomats, hustlers, entrepreneurs, and wanderers. Humans and aliens wrapped in two million, five hundred thousand tons of spinning metal, all alone in the night. It can be a dangerous place, but it's our last best hope for peace. This is the story of the last of the Babylon stations. The year is 2258. The name of the place is Babylon 5. - Commander Sinclair
With the completion of the last of the Babylon stations in 2257, the galaxy is enjoying a fragile peace. Babylon 5 is functioning as planned, defusing disputes among the five major governments and acting as a hub for interstellar commerce and communication.



 The Earth Alliance, headquartered in Geneva, is in charge of the station and the surrounding space. It is led by President Luis Santiago, a forward-looking politician who values Earth's participation in Babylon 5 tremendously. Of special note is a branch of the Earth government called Psi-Corps, responsible for the tracking and training of human telepaths. Pictured here is Jeffrey Sinclair, commander of Babylon 5.



 Earth's former adversary, the Minbari Federation, was the major alien contributor to the construction of Babylon 5. An old, highly spiritual race, Minbari are humanoid with exterior bone crests on their heads. The Minbari are ruled by a body known as the Grey Council, three members from each of the three castes of Minbari society. The reason behind the sudden Minbari surrender at the climax of the Earth-Minbari War is a closely-guarded secret, but what isn't a secret is that the warrior caste was none too pleased about the order; even today, it is a source of tension within Minbari society.



 The Centauri were the first aliens encountered by humanity. Physically, they look nearly identical to humans, and in fact the Centauri initially claimed that Earth was a lost colony (a claim they later retracted after humans discovered that the similarities weren't so great after all.) Centauri women are bald; men wear their hair in peacock-style fans whose length indicates the wearer's social standing. The Centauri Republic is a fading empire, slowly losing control of its member worlds, a decline much like that of the British Empire.



 Among those formerly under Centauri domination are the Narn, a reptilian-looking race who fought off their oppressors in a century-long war of attrition. Now the Narn Regime is building its military up, trying to settle the score through an aggressive expansionist policy. Most Narn would like nothing better than to see the Centauri wiped from the face of the universe, and from all appearances, they'll shortly be in a position to get their wish.




 The final major government represented on Babylon 5 is the Vorlon Empire. The Vorlons are shrouded in mystery. Even though their ambassador is on the station, nobody knows what they look like; they dress in bulky encounter suits. Whether the suits are there to keep a noxious atmosphere in or prying eyes out is a matter of some debate. The Vorlons are an extremely powerful race; no expedition into their space has been heard from again. They seem to have had dealings with the Minbari in the past, though neither the Minbari nor the Vorlons care to discuss the matter.



 Each of the five races has an ambassador on the Babylon 5 Advisory Council, something like the UN Security Council. In addition, a number of smaller governments are members of the League of Non-Aligned Worlds, which is also represented on the Council. This group is generally sympathetic to Earth, largely because Earth stepped in to save many of them from invasion by a hostile race (now extinct.)


The peace is most often threatened by aggressive behavior on the part of the Narn, or by lingering tensions between Earth and the Minbari warrior caste, a sizable fraction of which wouldn't mind a rematch. And there are enduring mysteries to set everyone on edge: the reasons behind the Minbari surrender and the sudden disappearance of Babylon 4, the nature and motives of the Vorlons, the hint of dark forces moving behind the scenes in the Earth government.

http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/universe/setting-1.html
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« Reply #4 on: July 08, 2007, 09:19:20 pm »



Babylon 5

Babylon 5 is a Science Fiction Novel made for Television. Like a book, and unlike most material created for TV, Babylon 5 was conceived in its entirety by its creator J. Michael Straczynski before the pilot episode was even filmed.

The Babylon 5 story has a definite beginning, a middle, and an ending. This predetermined ending is particularly uncommon in TV where shows try to run as long as possible. But as with literature, Babylon 5 was planned out from the very beginning.

The epic story unfolds over five years (seasons), telling of a growing conflict between two ancient races, the Shadows and the Vorlons, and the younger races who are influenced by their diametrically opposed philosophies. Among these younger races are Humans, Minbari, Centauri, Narn, and many less prominent races.

Unlike classic stories of clear-cut good and evil, the movers and the pawns are not always so easily classified. Frequently the good can act cruel and selfishly, and the bad show streaks of understanding and compassion. Unlike most of the media these days, Babylon 5 strives to ask questions about morality, not answer them in a way that suits one group or person's idea of right and wrong.

For this reason, Babylon 5 frequently challenges the viewer's prejudices, demands re-evaluation of accepted truths, and demonstrates how feeble our assumptions of the world can be when we unthinkingly make the ideas and values of others our ``own.''


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

J. Michael Straczynski's Babylon 5 is a densely packed show where hardly a moment is ever wasted. Scenes in earlier seasons that might almost seem ``filler material'' at the time they are first seen, later (perhaps several years (seasons) later!) reveal a new purpose and foreshadow things to come.

This style of writing has been referred to as ``Holographic Story Telling'': As your perspective changes (with time), so the overall story reveals new shapes out of familiar ground.

For this reason it is best to watch Babylon 5 on a regular basis. Missing an episode is like missing a chapter out of a book. The journey is worth your time!

Babylon 5 first aired in January 1993, began its 22-episode per season runs a year later, and after Prime Time Entertainment Network (PTEN) disolved, was picked up by TNT for 1998 for a tour-de-force re-run of the first 4 seasons, and the concurrent showing of the new 5th season, along with two full-length movies. This is going on right now (Spring 1998)!! -- You aren't missing it, are you?

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« Reply #5 on: July 08, 2007, 09:22:30 pm »

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« Reply #6 on: July 08, 2007, 09:26:37 pm »

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« Reply #7 on: July 08, 2007, 09:28:00 pm »

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« Reply #8 on: July 08, 2007, 09:29:41 pm »

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« Reply #9 on: July 08, 2007, 09:33:09 pm »

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« Reply #10 on: July 08, 2007, 09:35:22 pm »

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« Reply #11 on: July 15, 2007, 02:09:34 am »



About Claudia Christian's Departure

The following are comments from JMS and Claudia Christian about her departure. As new comments become available, they'll be added to the bottom of this page.

Note: Please don't send comments on her departure to the Lurker's Guide. We don't work for the show and have no influence whatsoever over the situation. See JMS' July 20 messages before you contemplate writing letters to try to reverse the decision.


Comments from JMS, July 19 1997
There have been some questions raised as to what has happened regarding Claudia Christian and Season 4. In simplest possible terms, which can be verified through every cast member, and in the press, what happened was this:
In early June, WB asked for, and received, one-month exensions on their contract options from all cast members except Claudia, for the purposes of allowing WB time to work out the co-financing deal with TNT for year 5 of B5. There was a great deal of red tape left over from the PTEN deal to finish unraveling, and other business aspects, to work out in going from syndication to cable, and it was taking longer than expected.

Claudia said, repeatedly, that she was on board for the fifth season, but that she didn't want to give the extension for business reasons of her own. We took her at her word and allowed her to not give the extension. Assurances were made to us, and to her fellow cast members.

While we were all together (cast, some crew, and I) in Blackpool for Wolf 359, word reached us of the articles in Variety and Reuters reporting that Claudia would not be returning to B5, and was looking for other work. This was the very first indication we had that she would not be in season 5. TNT was upset by this, WB was upset by this, and we were called on the carpet asking why we had trusted her about the fifth year. When spoken to in Blackpool, she was still, at that point, saying that she was going to be in season 5...but did nothing to address the situation with WB. She was told that WB had to know, for sure, if she was in or out by last Friday. All she had to do to be in season 5 was to pick up the phone, or have her agent do so, and call WB and say, "I'm in."

This did not happen. Friday came, and went. It was clear that she had no intention of being in season 5, and wanted instead to pursue movies. She is more well known now after B5, after all.

Cast members prevailed upon her to change her mind over the weekend. Bruce, Jeff Conaway, others took it upon themselves to try and talk her back onto the show, tried to get her to call on Monday in case she might be able to repair the bridges burned the prior week. On Monday, she left the convention early, and never called WB, never called Doug, never called anyone.

Bottom line is...she passed on season 5. She chose not to be there. I know that she has now told some people that WB doesn't want her...but if that is the case, why the articles planted in Variety and Reuters saying that the B5 producers were "bummed" that she wasn't available, that she had chosen not to return to the show? (Again, at the time the articles appeared, this intent had not even been conveyed to us or to WB; we had to learn about it by reading it in the trades, in articles no one had even discussed with us.) Why did she not give the extension, as was also reported? Why was it announced in the press (in articles reprinted right here on the nets) that she wasn't coming back and was looking for other work long before we even knew anything about it?

The offer was on the table. We extended it to the very limit. All the other actors signed on, and urged her to do the same. She chose not to. It was never a matter of anyone not wanting her. I personally urged her Thursday night to call her agent and talk this out and make her intentions clear if she wanted to come back to the show. She declined. Every cast member who was there in Blackpool saw what went down, and can verify this.

And that, as they say, is the long and the short of it. While I will not recast the role, on the theory that she may come around someday and decide she wants to be in one of the TNT features or one of the movies, we will be bringing in a new character to fill that position in the B5 command structure. Fortunately, 421, already filmed, is structured to allow us to adjust for this without missing a beat, and the story will continue as planned with only a minor variation in the first two episodes to introduce the new character.


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« Reply #12 on: July 15, 2007, 02:12:18 am »

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« Reply #13 on: July 15, 2007, 02:13:34 am »

Response from Claudia Christian, July 20 1997

Dear Folks,
Here's my side of the story and I should know because I was there.

On June 20th, I was called into the B-5 office to find out the fate of the 5th season. With three other cast members present we were told that we could make the fifth season (yeah!). We were then asked to give up the residuals for that season (those are the things that pay the rent since syndication isn't exactly lucrative). Well, nonetheless I said okay-I even volunteered to talk the rest of the cast into it. I had expressed my hesitation in extending my contract renewal because I wanted to get their assurance that in the 5th season I could get at least 4 episodes off to do a film. That was the only thing I was asking for. No raise--accepting a paycut-- simply less episodes, period. Ask yourself this: why would I have done the TNT promos for the 5th season if I did not want to be involved?

While I was in Europe (I was there for almost a month), I heard about the gossip column in Variety. It is a gossip column, nothing more. I have no idea who planted the gossip and frankly, I didn't think much of it since Hollywood is based on gossip. Because the producers and Joe were in Europe, I assumed negotiations for the 5th season would continue when we all returned. I was told quite curtly that my request for time off had been denied and that Ken Parks from Warner Bros. had told my agent to tell me to "Find another job, we'll replace her." After four years of working for a substantial paycut because I loved the show and the people involved, and felt that I was portraying a character that people really cared about, this hurt me immensely. At that point, I was in shock but I still went to Blackpool thinking that they would come around and give me the time I needed off. I knew Ivanova was in the first episodes. I figured we could sit down with my agent and come to a deal. In Blackpool, I was told by JMS that he would give me the episodes off but I could not get anything in writing. I trust him, however I know that he was not writing all of the episodes for the fifth season so I really felt that I had to have something in writing. I turns out my fears were justified because when my agent spoke to John Copeland (producer) and mentioned Joe's offer to write me out of a few episodes, Mr. Copeland responded by saying "That's not possible. If TNT wants her in every episode then she has to do all 22. That's the deal, take it or leave it."

At this point, I was told that I had until Monday to call Warner Bros. to tell them I was on board. Well Folks, an actor does not call a studio. Our union has rules. The producers of B-5 never called my manager or agent to tell them of this deadline. Instead, I was told by Jeff Conaway. I called my agent and left word. We missed each other. On Monday, I found out that on the previous Friday my agent had received a fax stating that the offer for me to be in B-5 was withdrawn. In essence, I was fired. This fax was received on Friday, so what kind of game was being played by giving me false hopes throughout the weekend in England? And by the way, on Tuesday of that week, I was in London promoting the show and doing magazine interviews and TV talk shows for them on my own time. Why would I do that if I did not believe something could be worked out.

If they really wanted me back, they would have accepted my plea through my agent to sit down and have a meeting. He was told by John Copeland that he was "a dollar short and a day late." They simply did not even want to sit down with me!

Once again, I would do season 5...if I had less episodes. I am hurt and disappointed that I have not even received the opportunity to discuss my needs. I was dismissed coldly and simply. I want you to know that I have given my heart to the show and I love Ivanova as much as any of you. I did not "leave" the show. I did not ask for more money. I did not create this mess. Perhaps this is a great lack of communication. I would like to think that. Thank you all for your love and support. I would never abandon you.

Claudia Christian


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« Reply #14 on: July 15, 2007, 02:14:51 am »

Response from JMS, July 20 1997
You must understand that Claudia is one of 10 or so actors on the show. The other actors understood and understand that we cannot renegotiate contracts in mid-stream, and they are *supportive of the show*, and gave us extensions on their contracts so that WB could have time to make the TNT deal work. They are all, to a man and woman, on board otherwise.
Claudia opted to not give the extension, where the other cast did, and now wants (or says she wants to) renegotiate, now that all the other cast members are locked down. To do so in her case, when she did not give us the extension, and deliberately embarrassed WB by having an article appear in the trades saying she was out and looking for other work, would be an insult to all the other cast members who have worked with us to date.

Further, yes, she's right, in that the contract could not be changed so that she could go out and do movies at a moment's notice. By contract, we must have first call on an actor's services. That is a requirement of ANY TV contract with an actor who is a series regular. That cannot be changed for ANY actor, ANYwhere.

That said...I already *told* Claudia that, even though we couldn't put it in the contract, I would be happy to work with her *informally* on this, and that if she said she needed to be gone from X-date to Y-date, I would write her out of those episodes so that she could do the movies. SHE ALREADY GOT FROM ME THAT PROMISE. I've already done similar things for her and other cast members on the show, which is how many of them have appeared in other projects. So this is, for me, a non-issue.

No, from my standpoint, she wanted off the show, and I have no idea why she is running up the fans like this unless she wants to avoid responsibility for this.

Again, this isn't a case of my word against hers. EVERY SINGLE CAST MEMBER was there when this went down, and MANY of them tried to talk her out of walking off the show. If you don't want to take my word for it, ask any one of them who was there, especially Bruce or Jeff.

I would suggest the fans *not* get into this, because a) you're not getting solid or reliable information from Claudia, and b) it is simply too late. She opted to pass on season 5, whether she wants to admit this or not, whether she's running from responsibility from that, I don't know...but it was her choice. I sat with her on Thursday night at Midnight and told her, flat out, that I would accommodate her request on a personal basis, and that she *had* to either contact WB herself or have her agent do so the next day, or she was off the show, because we HAD to get the show going. The train was leaving, and she could be on it or not as she chose. She chose not to get on board.

What you also don't understand is that we start shooting season 5 in less than one month. We're in the process of writing scripts *right now*, and have been since we got the production order right about the time we went to Blackpool. You can't whipsaw the writing back and forth -- is she in, isn't she in, maybe she is, maybe she isn't -- and hope to have anything in shape to shoot. That was why we had to know at that date. Normally we have a longer lead time; this time we didn't, and this has already put the scripts back a bit. The script with the new character is written and in; if I take it out now I have to replace it, and there isn't *time*.

Claudia knew this. WB knew this. We were up against it. She had to choose to be in, or out. She chose out. It's no longer our responsibility, and it's flatly too late to bring her back. The door is closed on season 5.


More from JMS, July 20 1997 (in response to discussions on CompuServe)
1) This confirms what I said in my note to Brian, that I personally assured Claudia of the chance for time off (so Kevin, bugger off).
2) Neither I nor anyone else in B5 told her that she had until Monday. I sat with her Midnight Thursday and said she had to talk to her agent and get this to WB *the very next day*, Friday, or that was it. Jeff took it upon himself to try and talk Claudia into trying to work it out on Monday, out of his concern and a hope that this could be saved.

3) Her agent was notified several days prior to the deadline that it was in place by WB business affairs.

4) As noted in my other message, there wasn't time to sit down leisurely after Blackpool and discuss this. The first script had to be in on July 6th. The second on July 12th. The third one on July 18th. Those are the hard and fast deadlines in order to meet production requirements for season 5. It is not July 20th. By the time anyone could "sit down" we'd be deep into episode 5 or 6, and then what do we do? Rewrite all 5 or 6 at the last minute?

It's an unfortunate situation. Nobody's denying that. But what happened, happened.


From JMS, July 22 1997
"I do have a question though. Why did you opt for a new character, instead of simply promoting Corwin? Was this simply to save changing Corwin's role in S5 or is there another reason?"
It involves some things that happen later this season that require a certain grade officer in place in S5, and would require Corwin to jump several ranks. He's too young and inexperienced for that job.


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