The Babylon Project: Crusade

Overview

This spinoff series deals with the exploits of a Ranger ship, the Excalibur, and its search for the cure to a plague that threatens humanity. David Allen Brooks as Max Eilerson. Gary Cole as (Captain) Matthew Gideon. Jeff Conaway as Zack Allan (rumored). Carrie Dobro as Dureena Nafeel. Marjean Holden as Dr. Susan Chambers. Daniel Dae Kim as Lt. Matheson. Tracy Scoggins as Capt. Elizabeth Lochley. Peter Woodward as Galen.

Start date: June 9, 1999
DVD release date: December 7, 2004

Written by J. Michael Straczynski
           Fiona Avery
	   and others
Directed by many people

Episodes

Only 13 episodes (of a planned five years) were produced due to creative differences between TNT and JMS.

Chronological episode order (ignoring the uniform change in favor of maintaining as much storyline continuity as possible):

N o t es

@@@891976541 TNT officially announced the series on April 7, 1998. JMS confirmed that the series was a go on April 3, 1998 on Los Angeles' "Hour 25" radio program (which he once hosted.)
@@@891709627 Shooting began August 3, 1998.
@@@903390030 The production team enlisted the help of scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory to help ensure that the series' alien worlds are consistent with the latest planetary science. See Netter Digital Entertainment's press release on the subject.
@@@905812458 NASA's press release has more detail and includes an image of the Excalibur.
@@@906450790 Some behind-the-scenes machinations which will probably prove to be good Crusade trivia: On September 8, 1998, Ain't It Cool News ran a story describing a memo from TNT containing a list of proposed changes to Crusade, mostly focused on greatly increasing the amount of sex and violence. The next day, JMS posted on CompuServe and elsewhere that he couldn't officially confirm or deny the report.
The fan community's reaction ranged from hostility to skepticism to alarm. Many doubted the story was for real, and TNT would only say that no such memo had been sent to the Crusade producers (but not that it didn't exist). On September 19, however, JMS verified that it had in fact existed, but that it had been withdrawn. He also announced that TNT had decided to spend some extra money on Crusade's sets, and for that reason, filming ceased for a month.
Later, it became clear that the show TNT wanted -- a space shoot-em-up with lots of sex and violence -- wasn't the show JMS was producing, and that he wasn't willing to change the flavor of the series just to satisfy TNT. As the 13th episode was wrapping up filming, TNT informed Warner Bros. and Babylonian Productions that they weren't interested in funding any additional episodes, and production stopped.

jms speaks

About the cancellation and events leading up to it

1999-01-30: Rumors abound that TNT has pulled the plug on Crusade production.
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 distributor.
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.
1999-01-31: How about releasing the series to video or a satellite service?
No, you can't do a series to video, it has to be aired. And DTV is considered a poor man's venue, for stuff that couldn't make it elsewhere.
1999-01-31: Can the show move to the WB Network?
WB Network is out of the question, due to the way WB is structured. It's a very long, corporate story, just take my word for it...SFC is the best option for us.
1999-02-10: What are you doing now? Writing? Working on your new comic? Sleeping?
All that...plus working on the show, doing post production on the episodes already in hand (CGI, music, sound, editing)...I'm actually about as busy as we are during shooting.
1999-02-26: Will the episodes already shot be aired?
All 13 eps produced so far will be shown; we'll be doing post production (CGI, music other stuff) through April 22nd.
1999-02-26: Why would TNT change its mind when they'd already had good success with B5?
One element to the whole discussion is that B5 was already an entity in its own right, and taking on the fifth year entailed basically buying what was already there, as opposed to becoming involved with the creative process of influencing a new series.
1999-02-26: The Sci-Fi Channel tried to arrange to pick Crusade up after TNT decided to only order 13 episodes.
Well, we took our best shot. Sometimes it works, sometimes it don't.
The SciFi Channel programming guys wanted the show; they wanted it a lot. They crunched numbers for almost two weeks trying to make it work. But at the end of the day, the problem was that they had already allocated or spent their budget for the year, and couldn't come up with the huge chunk of change necessary to get an entire season. Had this come up prior to January 1st, things would almost certainly have gone differently. But they have their budget, as we have ours, and it was already allocated.
So TNT will now air the full 13 produced, and that's the end of it for now. I say for now because WB has told us to fold and hold all the sets, rather than scrap them, because they believe strongly in the show, and feel that when the ratings come in we may well be able to pick up a second season. We'll see.
Meanwhile, I'm taking the day off, and deciding which of a number of offers from networks and studios, sitting on my desk since B5 finished, to pick up. I had declined to go that route so I could do Crusade and keep playing in this universe, but absent that, there's no reason not to go back to the networks and apply there some of what we've been able to do in B5 and Crusade.
My thanks to all those who wrote, and called, and emailed, and lent their support to the process. And I think that when you see the show, you'll be quite pleased by what we did. We're all very proud of it.
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.
"So, has the success of B5 brought more offers than before?"
Definitely. It showed that I could run a series and keep it on budget and make it an international success. Right now those elements are in heavy demand at the networks. Even though the pay is half in cable what you get at the network level, I was content to stay with Crusade if it meant keeping our team together, and playing in the B5 universe a bit longer. Absent that, then there's every reason to take up one or two of those offers.
1999-02-27: A fan asks if a letter-writing campaign would help.
What you have to understand at this point is that there's really no time left. It takes a large amount of money to hold a cast and crew together while other options are being sought, and even then options on varoius cast members and others begin to expire fast.
WB can't keep spending holding money while they're seeking another prospect. It's a business decision, but a sensible one, given the large amounts of money involved. Their approach now is to believe in the show enough to get it on the air, let the ratings speak for themselves, and see what happens.
My only regret is for the cast, who are all uniformly terrific, and who are caught out in all this.
1999-03-13: Is there still hope?
"There's always hope, because it's the one thing nobody's figured out how to kill yet." -- Galen.
1999-03-13: A fan suggests writing to Bonnie Hammer, senior VP of programming at the Sci-Fi Channel, or to Stephen Chao, president of television and marketing for SFC's parent company, USA Networks, in the hopes of convincing SFC to include the show in their next annual budget.
Yes, both those would be good choices.
And the best time for this would be after the episodes start airing in June. I think we have about 5 weeks before the actors' contracts expire in July. (They will be running all 13 straight through, or so they tell me.)

About the series in general

WB has asked for a treatment on a sequel, and TNT is interested in doing two original B5 movies set during the B5 main story arc, with one of them a prequel. We'll see....
I've worked out the details for 1,000 years in either direction for the B5 storyline in general, and in specific for 100 years in either direction; there's no chance of anything getting watered down no matter what happens...there's enough story there for several novels. And WB is currently very interested in the side-story/sequel series that I've mentioned from the beginning is a possibility.
Actually, I've said pretty much from the very beginning of the first season, that there was a side-story that could go off, which I'd be interested in telling. And that may be a possibility.
And it's not Crusaders (which always makes me think of Crusader Rabbit); it's The Babylon Project: Crusade. (That's the working title, anyway.)
It would take place after the main B5 arc. As for specifics on cast, nothing can be said until things get closer to being nailed down; there's still a lot that can change on this, and it's a question of what works best for the show, and who wants to move on, and other aspects.
@@@878760330 Does the series touch on the Rangers' work on Earth as shown in "The Deconstruction of Falling Stars?"
No, that part isn't the crux of the Rangers series, because that takes place 'way down the road, but monks have always been around on the show, starting with Brother Theo, so I imagine we'll see them in future.
@@@854165337 Yeah, the sequel and the fifth year could conceivably happen at the same time...or not...or one or the other...it's utterly in flux. Totally fluxed up.
It would have an arc, yes, but not as rigorous as the one in B5; I've kind of done that now, and would like to try something different...I don't like to try and walk in the same stream twice, to borrow a metaphor from Greek philosophy.
But you've already worked on non-arc shows.
Well, basically, all there *is* are either arc shows or stand-alone shows (or maybe somewhat stand-alones with a slight thread running through them). My feeling for now is that I just don't want to do the same thing twice in a row...and maybe find some new approaches along the way to the next project.
You must understand how hideously difficult and exhausting telling a 5 year tightly constructed story like this is...basically, over the course of 4 years, I'll have written 3,000 pages all in one universe, primarily telling one story. That's the equivilent of 6 or 7 full-size novels in 4 years, telling one story. After something like that, you want to do something a little different for a bit.
Four years ago, when I started carrying this elephant, I barely had a grey hair on my head...now it's gone almost entirely grey, I look as if I've aged 10 years, and people who see me after a gap of a few years all say the same thing: "What the hell HAPPENED to you?" I tell them: Babylon 5.
I never SAID "Crusade" would not have a story arc. I have only said that it won't be as *intense* an arc as that on B5, because the tone is somewhat different, because I don't want to do the exact same thing twice. But it will have an arc to it.
My general sense for what comes next for me...assuming the B5 sequel goes...I've done a hard-linked and extremely intense drama with an adventure component...and now, having done that, and proved that it *could* be done, despite many who said it couldn't, my feeling now is, "Okay, we've done that, how can we tweak it so that the sequel has a different feel to it?" So I'm looking at something that's a little more in the adventurous mode, with a serious underpinning, with an arc to it that's not quite as intense in tone, but is still good drama. Characters that grow and change, a definite ending, several mysteries enclosed inside other mysteries, with a much larger canvas, and an even stronger sense of wonder. B5 I did to prove a point, to some extent; now I'd like to try something where, having achieved that, I can sit back and, knowing the format now, have some fun with it. Maybe turn it on its head in a few places.
As with everything else I do, I try to find what I'd enjoy as a viewer, and take it from there. That was how B5 came about, and that's how the new show would come about, should it happen.
@@@855739129 "Can you tell us if Crusade is going to be a definite length eg B5 is/was supposed to be 5 years (still hanging on for season 5 announcement and sadly for season 4 to start showing in UK)."
There's a definite ending in mind, yes, but there's some room to play within that framework. Again, there's an arc, but not quite as rigorous as with B5.
@@@864919901 "Crusade" would take place about 3 years after the events of season 5, in 2265.
@@@864919901 What years would the story span?
2265-2270.
In some ways, yeah, I think I will have some real opportunities that didn't exist with B5, in that for the first 3 years we had to fight to get ourselves taken seriously by everyone, including WB. Now we have some credibility, and that gives you a certain freedom.
Also, the arc was, for me, a relatively new tool which took me about a year or so to really figure out how to use...then I used it relentlessly for a very long time. Now it's just one more tool on my belt, and I can use it with a bit more precision. It's the difference between using a rapier and a broadsword.
It'll probably start out looking fairly conventional, as did B5 our first year, just until the suits get comfortable and start ignoring us (they're all OVER you in your first year), and then, again as with B5, we'll start getting really subversive...ah loves being subversive....
And there'll be the folks who'll say, "Oh, it's just X," just like they did with B5 in the beginning, saying "Oh, it's just like DS9," which is *perfect* because it lets me sneak up behind them and just WHACK 'em upside the head when they're not looking, as with B5.
Basically, without saying too much, it'll be a MUCH larger canvas, and the kinds of stories I can tell will be CONSIDERABLY more varied and have more opportunities to explore all kinds of interesting stuff, so I can go a bit more nuts on production values, alien stuff, and other areas.
@@@884031252 What I want to do with Crusade is take the tools we learned to use in B5 and apply them in a different (and in some ways, more ambitious) manner. It'll have an arc, now that we've shown that it works, but not as rigorous an arc...less overtly political but more thematic. Also, after 5 years of angst-driven storytelling, I'd like to see if I can use the same tools to do something a little more fun. I've lived in the dark side of the B5 universe for a long time, and while there's plenty of darkness still out there, I kinda want to go and do something a bit more adventurous...and which explores all the places in the B5 universe that we've heard about, but never seen.
Nothing has yet been finalized (or even near to it) on the cast.
@@@890000755 Recent reports say you've decided which characters from the first series will be in Crusade.
This is not quite correct, but that's all I can say for now. There are one or two actors who might slide to Crusade, depending on circumstances, and we have spoken to them on the QT about it...which is probably why this was said, because I asked the actors in question not to say anything until we got closer to seeing how things were going to work out; the inquiries were mainly of an "if we had this role, would you be interested in doing it?" nature, checking avails and possibilities so we could plan accordingly.
@@@895442605 Though nothing has been set yet about Crusade, I would expect at least guest appearances by some or many of our previous B5 cast here and there.
@@@865288769 Have you given thought to the male/female ratio of the cast?
I never ever give thought to ratios, or making a political statement, or anything other than the story. If that meant using 100% female cast in the movie, or 100% male cast, or some variation thereof, then that's what it'll be. I think the *instant* you start putting agendas ahead of the creative process, of saying "What is the story *about*?" then I think you're dead.
@@@898572188 What's the optimum cast size for a show like Crusade?
There's really no best regular size. B5 generally had about 9- 11 regulars and recurring (i.e., in the main credits) actors in any given season, which was necessary because you had 4 different, competing forces, each of whom required some representation (Earth/B5, Minbar, Narn, Centauri Prime). With an ambassador plus aide, that's 8 minimum, plus at least one or two others for station operations.
In Crusade, we're really dealing with one force encountering others on a per-episode basis (mostly), so we've got 6 regulars/recurs, with a subset of reappearing characters (a la Morden, Bester or Corwin in B5). That feels about right to me.
@@@891976625 Any changes to the production crew?
We're not doing a lot of changing. One thing that does tend to get changed for a new series is the *look* of the show, you want Crusade to have a different and distinct appearance, to be its own show. So for instance we're bringing in new graphic designers to do screen stuff and signage and other related stuff.
Other times it's an individual choice. Anne Bruice-Aling recently had a baby, and she wants to dedicate the next year or so toward raising her kid, so while she'll remain available for occasional stuff or consulting, we'll have someone else heading up the wardrobe department.
Mainly, you want to hold onto as many of your original people as you can, because we've trained our folks to work in a certain, particular way. Nobody else really does things the way we do them on B5, and it's wiser to hold onto your crew, and give incentives, to keep them around. (We tend to promote from within the ranks and reward loyalty rather than bring in new folks, that sort of thing.)
What's in the series "bible?"
I put in it basically whatever I think will be useful to anyone, as much as I can think up. Characters' names, backgrounds, descriptions, the kinds of stories we are looking for, the kinds of stories we *don't* want to see, what is good SF and what ain't, sample storylines we plan to develop, that sort of thing.
I'm now in the process of converting over the "sell treatment," done for the network, to a working series bible, which will go out to those writers with whom I've either worked before, or whose work I know and have wanted to work with for a while (as was the case with Neil Gaiman).
@@@892111238 I imagine we'll keep about 95% of the production crew on the move to Crusade.
@@@896374481 How does the new look get decided?
It's hard to define...it's a long process of give and take. John Copeland and I both knew we wanted something different, a new kind of look, and we went back and forth discussing it between us until we were ready to talk to the production design folk. We told them in general terms what we were looking for...then they went away, and came back with several preliminary designs. We sat and talked about them, made revisions and suggestions, threw one thing out, kept the other thing, got another version done, and on and on until there was something that we felt worked. Ditto for the CGI version (for which there is a very early version on the B5 fan club site). The final look of the CGI is much sleeker and more refined.
And the costume/makeup design?
Same process. I discuss with Optic Nerve and the costume folks what I have in mind. They go away and come up with drawings. They submit those drawings; John and I go over them, pick the ones we like, suggest modifications, toss out what we don't like, and the process of refinement continues.
@@@921834231 How will the shuttle bay work? A force field a la Star Trek?
No, there is a definite (and very large) airlock door that closes after ships enter the flight deck, so it can then be pressurized.
@@@906450790 Who's doing the music?
We haven't yet set a composer for Crusade; we're giving a shot to Evan Chen, a chinese-born classical composer with a strong jazz background, on A Call to Arms. How that turns out will determine much that follows.
@@@906450790 Evan's an amazing composer...he came out of Shanghai, studied music in Russia and Germany, was fast becoming a leading, classically trained composer, and discovered jazz in his twenties, dropped everything to come to Chicago and study under some of the best jazz men around (even if it meant washing dishes to get by). His stuff is the most amazing blend of asian influence, classical instrumentation, jazz and rock backbeats I've ever heard, even using asian scales (somewhat different from western musical scales) in unexpected places to make western music sound totally different.
For a show as different as this, I wanted a completely different, totally unique sound, something I've never heard before, and Evan Chen has it.
@@@906745365 Is Evan playing with any groups right now?
Not that I'm aware of. I think we got in and found him before anybody else could get their hands on him.
@@@929221874 "Will a CD of Chen's music be put out? I can't wait..."
Yep, in fact, I have it right here, having gotten the first pressing of the thing for approval. Chris's company will be putting it out.
@@@906450790 About the TNT memo, September 9, 1998
At this time, officially, I cannot confirm or deny the report.
@@@906450790 September 19, 1998
The TNT memo was apparently real; however, the egregious points have now been withdrawn, and on top of that, TNT has allocated a big chunk of change to let us build some new sets and expand stuff.
@@@906450790 I think that to dwell on the thing would be to just open wounds that are better left healed.
@@@906450790 Things are going well overall; we've filmed 5 episodes, and have just extended a planned 1 week production hiatus (we take two such hiatuses -- hiati? -- every year, one in the fall, one in the spring) and added three paid weeks in order to allow time for construction on a number of new sets.
@@@906450790 What we've done is to try and expedite this so we can have the new stuff in hand for the maximum number of episodes as quickly as possible. We always take a one-week hiatus in every block of episodes we shoot, all the way through B5's history and now. One week around the start of October (depending on the start of filming), then the Christmas break, then another one-week hiatus midway through the last 10 episodes.
So what we did here was to add on three weeks to the hiatus, starting Tuesday. Well, three paid weeks off for most of the crew directly involved with the actual filming, anyway. Construction, art department, props, wardrobe and other departments will still be working away to build and dress the sets and stuff so we can get right back into shooting on with the new stuff in place.
We're talking here improvements to the corridors, to the quarters to enlarge them, adding a wardroom/mess hall, an exercise area...other stuff. We generally add sets each season, and wanted to do these down the road, but now we have the chance to do them now.
@@@906591943 In addition to the Christmas break, we have always taken a one-week hiatus in the middle of shooting to avoid burning out cast and crew. This was true of B5 throughout its history. One week in the fall, one in the spring.
TNT has allocated additional money to build some major (large) new sets that we had thought we'd have to wait until season 2 to implement, and to improve some of the sets. (We were always fighting to spiff up sets throughout B5, and we always had to bring in our new sets gradually, like Earharts and the War Room and others.)
Since they're going to give us the money for that now, we figued we'd extend the hiatus by a few weeks (a paid break for most of the actual shooting crew), though we still have the art department, costume, construction, props and several other departments still working away to build the sets and stuff.
We start shooting again October 19th.
@@@907952425 It's been kinda hectic here, between the new sets under construction, meetings, and other stuff, some of which has been hinted around by others. At this point, we're still on target for filming to start up on October 19th.
One of the issues brought up by TNT had to do with a decision we all made early on that the first episode up, Racing the Night, would just jump right into the story, without doing the usual pilot-episode thing of showing the team coming together, which was our other option.
On reflection, TNT figured that the best thing might be to do that "coming together" episode after all, to set the stage for all that follows. It's a lateral change, really, you could have it or not, either way, it's dealer's choice. But if we're going to do that, we may as well get the sets and other stuff ready to go for that first episode and the ones that will immediately follow. We're also making some adjustments to the wardrobe (and I've come up with a pretty funny way to make the transition in the story). All of the prior produced episodes are still in, and still going to be broadcast, nothing's changed that as far as I know.
Anyway, things continue to progress, the script for the alternate first ep is in, and all should be cool from this point on. Which is not to say there haven't been some knife-fights...but we seem to have reached some understandings....
@@@908224277 We're still set to go back into filming on October 19th. As I mentioned in a prior post, TNT felt the need for an actual introductory episode, one that sets the story by bringing together our characters together for the first time, more of a conventional pilot in that respect. "Racing the Night" was written to take place about 5 months after the Drakh attack, so that we got right into things. The "bringing people into the story" story will, therefore, take place shortly after the Drakh attack, two-three days later, to be precise.
Since we're doing a first introductory episode, TNT kinda wanted to have the new sets in place for the first few eps (though they can't appear in the first one for story reasons), and since we're making some wardrobe adjustments, they figured they may as well have those in place as well.
Nothing in the story has been changed. The five episodes already made will be aired, and you will see that the characters, the story, the feel of the show is *exactly* the same between those first 5 filmed, and those that follow. What it comes down to are some cosmetic changes, some new sets, and an episode that sets things in place.
As we come back, the first two episodes up to be shot will be scripts we already had in hand, then the new introductory episode, "War Zone," another one we already have, one new one, then another one from on-hand, which will take us through into the Christmas break.
No scripts are being thrown out, no episodes are being scrapped...none of that has taken place, or is taking place. The show is the show is the show.
(And on the costumes themselves...no, they're not going to be "skin tight" things; we're actually kinda going in the opposite direction. They're more typically military jumpsuits, black, neatly tailored, similar to some Air Force or Marine uniforms. And the only people who will be wearing these are the basic technical crew, Captain Gideon (Gary Cole) and Lieutenant John Matheson (Daniel Dae Kim); the others are civilians, and thus are not affected.
Regarding air dates...we have thus far not been told if they want to push for a January airdate or not. Part of the complication to all this is that if we make #8 in shooting order the first aired, we have to do a hideous amount of post-production on CGI to get it ready in time. Rather than make us rush it, they have said they might consider waiting until the February sweeps. Another option is to go in March, if they don't want to go up against the Network sweeps period (which is traditionally death for basic cable)...but the problem *there* is that you can only air 4 episodes and then TNT would go into the NBA playoffs, which means it would be another 6 weeks or so until any new eps could be shown.
So on that score, nobody's decided anything yet, we don't know and haven't been told because they haven't decided where will best serve us, so we hit the ground with the least network opposition.
Anyway, that's where things are. Hope this puts to rest some of the rumors out there.
@@@914520472 The intro movie, "A Call to Arms," is still slated for January 3rd; the series initially was going to go in January, then they moved it to June 2nd to make room for the NBA playoffs, and now that it looks like the playoffs may not happen, I'm hearing March/April.
@@@908224277 How much of the CGI for the new initial episode could be done ahead of time, before filming starts?
Zip. Because until it's edited, you don't know how long to make the shots, or how they'll intercut with the live action...and there's all the stuff from other eps to deal with as well.
@@@908606256 Do you provide storyboards with ships and beams or do the CGI people create something from the script or do you check it prior to rendering in wireframe form or similar?

Pretty much all of the above, depending on the complexity of the sequence.
@@@909090496 To the gazillion or so folks who've asked in email...yes, we began shooting again on Monday the 19th, as scheduled, making the show we desired to make, and we're cranking along just fine. Actors are happy, crew are happy, everybody happy but Zathras...but Zathras never happy...Zathras happy once, had friend once, but wheels fell off, very sad....
@@@856652269 "You have pretty consistently said that you would *end* B5, and that there would *never* be a sequel. Instead, you would do something in the B5 universe, but not realated to the B5 storyline. The description sure sounds like a sequel to me."
What I have said about this from the beginning, and the ONLY thing I have ever said about this, was that there was a side-story in the B5 universe that could go off from the main story. That has been quoted in many different places, and on line, and definitely includes any plans for "Crusade."
BTW, that new characters were mentioned does not exclude any current cast members...doesn't include them, either, but bottom line, that ain't a complete list of characters. There's room and flexibility in there, depending on what happens.
@@@859536035 Actually, there'd be no rush at all in terms of getting a sequel into prep and out the door. The discussions now are in the area of fall 97 to shoot and January 98 to air (with or without a simultaneous S5 of B5). We have a lot of the stuff we'd need for the sequel (costumes, uniforms, some sets, prosthetics, that sort of thing), so the lead time would be very short.
@@@877274170 With luck, we hope to have this puppy finally negotiated and a Real Deal within the next few weeks.
@@@883868609 The contract has been sent to me for signing several times, and each time it has had some problem or another that needed fixing. (See, this is how the process works: your agent and the studio negotiate over the phone. Come to terms. Deal memos go out, which often don't reflect the conversations, but they hope you won't notice. You catch the "errors" and send back the memos. Next come the actual contracts, and sonuvagun, more "errors" have slipped through, and now THEY need to be corrected, if you can find them in the 90 pages of 8 point type. So that's been the only real holdup. It's standard.)
@@@891976541 As has come out in the press today, CRUSADE: The Babylon Project, is officially a go project as a series. We start shooting July 27th to go on the air January 6th. More info will follow over time.
@@@911667926 Because 108 is now the slated fist episode, so that we can use it to introduce the new characters rather than jump in in-progress, it means it will take longer to complete the CGI and stuff than 103, since it was shot later. TNT needs the eps a month or two prior to airdate for critics...and there's the concern about showing only 4 episodes in March (which is when it would all be ready) and then being cut off for 8 weeks by the NBA playoffs.
So they figured going June 2nd would avoid all of the problems, and put the show out when the network shows were in reruns...meaning it has a better chance of scoring large numbers, a strategy that worked well with other shows like 90210.
@@@882987634 If "Crusade" is made, what will your involvement be?
I'll exec produce, same as with B5, develop the overall arc, as with B5 (though it's not as rigorous an arc), do all the same stuff in editing, post, all the same stuff. About the only real difference I foresee would be my intent to only write about half the episodes this time around; I'm looking forward to seeing what other writers can do in the B5 universe.
@@@883993339 Our first two seasons were roughly 40-50% freelance, which is a substantially higher average than most shows. Years 3 and 4 were mine, mainly because of the difficulty in farming out stories in that situation.
Crusade will almost certainly to back to the 40-50% freelance mode, which is frankly my preference, and it's been that way on all the previous shows I've done.
@@@891709736 There are many other good writers out there who I have every confidence can do a good job on Crusade. And bear in mind that any script that comes in generally gets revised by me, so I'll be in there. The plan for now is that I'll do about 11 scripts out of 22, and have freelancers doing the other half.
@@@921834231 Has Goran Gajic been approached about directing a Crusade episode?
Yes, Goran has been slated for a Crusade episode.
@@@898572630 Will it start off with a movie?
No, the first episode will be of normal length. A Call to Arms is primarily a B5 movie, which sets the incidents in place that lead to Crusade, which then hits the ground running with its first episode, regular length, same as the other 21 TNT has signed for.
@@@905790074 Is the Biblical reference in Captain Gideon's name intentional?
There are certain reasons for that name choice, yes, which is all I'll say for now.
@@@906591943 Peter is superb as Galen, utterly brilliant. I think we lucked into a character and an actor that is going to be extremely popular with fans. I couldn't be happier with his work to date; I'd put his work up there with Peter Jurasik and Andreas Katsulas, easily.
@@@916729235 Is Matheson's name a reference to horror writer Richard Matheson?
Yup. I fell in love with Matheson's work as a kid, and since we had Bester in B5, I figured it might be good luck to have Matheson in Crusade.
@@@929221492 "But you are saying that dispite the numerical sequence being disordered, Crusade remains a contining story rather than standalone episodes?"
They're somewhat stand alone that was introducing characters and setting up the details that would kick the arc into gear with #14.