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January 6: B5 DVD's, other JMS tidbits
We're finally back online after the holidays. Hope you all had a great holiday season. There are a couple of B5 and Jeremiah related tidbits to report: First, the Babylon 5 season 4 DVD boxed set hits stores today. Like the other sets, this one looks to have lots of great extras including introductions and commentaries by JMS as well as commentaries by cast members Bruce Boxleitner, Jerry Doyle, Peter Jurasik, and Patricia Tallman. Additionally, the release date has been announced for the season 5 B5 set. It will be coming out April 13, 2004. So, very soon you'll be able to sit down in your living room and watch all 110 episodes of B5 in a row - okay, maybe you can't really watch them all in a row in one sitting - but it is tempting, isn't it :) For those of you craving a bit more JMS material, check out the exclusive short story over at Amazon.com which is part their "A-List Holiday gifts from the stars". Finally, JMS was asked some interesting questions on the B5 moderated group about what role his ideas and plans for the series might play in a possible third season of Jeremiah despite the fact that he will no longer be running the show. Basically, JMS said that he would have no input into the third season if MGM and Showtime decide to go forward with it. He said that as a general rule studios do not ask showrunners for any info about where they'll take the show in future seasons. He also said that he did not think that MGM would now be at all interested in knowing any of his ideas for the future of Jeremiah. He said, "MGM would take the show in a vastly different direction, such that any thoughts I would have had would no longer apply." To read the full discussion, go to the JMS post archive at JMSnews.com.
JMS has posted what appears to be some very good news on the B5 front on the B5 moderated group. His message is characteristically vague, so we'll his words speak for themselves rather than trying to interpret them:
On the B5 front, there has been something of rather substantial proportion that's finally gone from talk to money, such that I'm now working frantically to meet some deadlines, but there's nothing I can say about this until after January 15th, probably closer to the end of that month.
The only thing I can say is that phase one of the new project is a go, hence the furious writing schedule at this end of things, which is why I've been silent until deciding to kick up some dust on the political discusion. I've been writing my little brains out.
I know the immediate result of this will be speculation, but if we could keep that to a low roar on the nets to avoid precluding anything, that would be a wonderfulness. But trust me: I wouldn't go on about something in this way if it wasn't a significant development. Just trust me on this one for a bit and hold fire until further word.
(Longtime followers of the various news groups know that an eep means that something significant has happened, but that I can't talk about it...the eep is just a way of saying, on the QT, that something has, indeed, happened and it's real, not just speculation or maybe-gonna-happens. So on that basis, you may consider this an eep.)
Well we're not going to speculate on the meaning of all this, we'll just enjoy that happy hopeful feeling. It's a nice holiday present. As soon as any concrete details appear we'll post them here.
One more piece of good news we want to pass on from JMS's post:
...next year you can expect two new DVD sets that a) include all
of the TV movies in one package (with commentaries from me on "The Gathering" and "In the Beginning") and b) package all 13 of the Crusade episodes into one box.
We are pleased to hear that Crusade will be coming to DVD. Those 13 episodes certainly deserve the DVD set treatment. Of course, what we still really want is a continuation of Crusade, but perhaps if the DVD sales are good and if the mystery B5 project JMS mentioned puts some steam back into the franchise, even that might not out of the question. It is the season of hope after all, so we'll indulge in a bit of hoping and dreaming. :)
If you are interested in news on other JMS projects, such as comic books, check out his complete post over at jmsnews.com.
For those of you who are concerned because there was no episode of Jeremiah aired this past weekend on Showtime, we unfortunately have to report that there is good reason to be concerned. Although Showtime has not cancelled the series, it looks like there are going to be rough times ahead.
There were 15 episodes completed for the second season of Jeremiah. Showtime chose to show only 7 of those episodes before declaring the end of the second season. Additionally, they burned through those 7 episodes in just over a month showing two episodes back to back each of the last two weeks. When asked about this development by a poster on the B5 moderated group, JMS suggested a possible positive spin:
...there's a message floating around from Scott Rosenberg confirming it, that the 15 eps have been broken up in half, with 7 through November 7th, and the rest picking up early (I'm guessing January) 2004.
I haven't been told this by anyone directly (hardly surprising), but my *guess* would be that they're moving them out of the holiday season (Thanksgiving through Christmas). TV viewership goes way down during late November through January 1, and cable goes down even more. So if I had to hazard a guess at their reasoning, they're probably acting to protect their investment, rather than air the show at a time when nobody is watching, which would kill the ratings and the show.
The official Showtime Jeremiah website does say that additional episodes of the series will be coming in 2004, but it does not say exactly when those new episodes will begin. We'd like to be able to believe JMS's hopeful suggestion that Showtime is doing what's best for the series by moving the episodes out of the holiday season; however, we really cannot believe that putting Jeremiah on the air for only a single month after an absence of more than a year between season one and two is the way to attract viewers to the show. It was only on the air for the blink of the eye and then it was gone again. If Showtime really wanted to do what was right for Jeremiah, wouldn't it have made far more sense to start the second season early enough to get through all 15 episodes before the holiday season?
The fans have been quick to rise to Jeremiah's defense, sending letters and emails trying to insure that the remaining eight episodes of season 2 will actually be aired and encouraging Showtime to renew the series for a third season. If you'd like to add your voice to the effort, go to The Abyss.
Unfortunately, it looks like even if Jeremiah gets the go ahead for season 3, its troubles won't end there. Sean Austin, who joined the cast this season as "Mr. Smith", has recently expressed concerns about how MGM wants to change Jeremiah, and with JMS having already said he would not run the show for a third season because of difficulties working with MGM, it looks like this could lead to very bad things for the series. In a recent post to the B5 moderated group, JMS said:
There's no question, to my mind, that if a S3 is commissioned, they will put in someone more compliant with notes and their preferred direction for the show, as they did with Dead Like Me, which is
why the second half of the season looks very different from the first half. They took out one show runner, and put in another who would do things as directed.
We wish that there was better news to report about Jeremiah. We have really enjoyed the first seven episodes of season two. They have been consistently excellent - the characters seem to have settled into focus, Mr. Smith is a great addition and an asset, and the episodes have begun tackling the big questions and themes (something JMS excels at). We felt that the second season was truly a step above the first one and we were looking forward to each upcoming episode. Then, suddenly, it was all over. We could rant about the mistreatment of science fiction on television and about how the work of a science fiction fan is never over - trying to keep alive the few good shows that somehow manage to slip through the system. But you already know all that. So, perhaps all we'll say is that maybe without the high expectations and loud voices of the fans, those few good shows would never even make it onto the air at all. Keep on fighting!
Just when we thought the rumors were dead??
as I mentioned before, there is the possibility of something Babylon 5 related on the horizon, but again I don't want anyone getting excited until we know if either one of these two projects is going to actually come to fruition. We should know where this lands in the next few weeks. The only thing I will say is that they're not print projects, so if you were to assume it's for TV or film you wouldn't be too far off...but that neither of them are series. And that's all I'm going
to say about them for now.
In the same post, JMS also gave some updates on his other projects including the upcoming reprints of his novels, Jeremiah, Supreme Powers, and Spider Man. You can read the entire post at the JMS News site.
There have been some rumors and discussion floating around the web about a possible new Babylon 5 tv series. Unfortunately, it appears that nothing is actually going to happen on that front and Babylon 5 will remain in hibernation for the time being.
This latest round of rumors began with an interview with Jerry Doyle on the IGN website late in August in which he indicated that negotiations for such a project were in the works. We were hesitant to report it at the time because we've heard too many similar rumors before only to have them come to nothing. We don't like to get our hopes up or those of our readers when our gut instinct tells us very strongly that if we buy into this we're just setting ourselves up to go through the pain of disappointment again.
JMS was quick to contradict much of Jerry's statement and responded to the rumors a number of times on the B5 moderated group. (You can read his posts in the archive at JMSnews.com) On a slightly hopeful note, JMS did say, "there's one or two things percolating n the B5 universe that may be of interest, but neither of them are series deals." Our interpretation of this statement is that it likely refers to a direct to DVD movie which could be appealing to Warners at this time because of the success of the B5 DVD boxed sets. And our reading of JMS's choice of the word "percolating" is that whatever these projects are they are nowhere near any kind of solid or finalized deal.
What appears to be the final word on all of this was contained in some not so friendly follow up messages by both Jerry Doyle and JMS on the IGN site. We were disappointed to see that both JMS and Jerry were unable to keep the discussion civil. If you're interested in reading the gory details of all this, use the links in the text above, but really in a nutshell it all comes down to the simple fact that at the present time there is no concrete deal underway for any new B5 projects. We still have that little bit of hope that we will always hold onto that someday it will be the right time and the B5 universe will spring wonderfully back to life. But that remains just a tiny glimmer of hope that we keep properly tucked away until that distant future day.
In other JMS news, for those of you interested in JMS's latest comic project, Supreme Power: If you missed the first issue (which is likely since it sold out very quickly), you can view it online at http://www.wizarduniverse.com/magazines/wizard/WZ20030815-sp_1.cfm. Supreme Power #2 is in the stores now.
The Babylon 5 season 3 DVD was recently released. There are some more great extras in this set. They include commentary by JMS on the episodes "Severed Dreams" and "Z'Ha'Dum" and commentary by actors Bruce Boxleitner, Jerry Doyle, Richard Biggs, and Ed Wagner on "Interludes and Examinations". The set also contains an introduction by JMS and the documentaries "Behind the Mask: Creating the Aliens of Babylon 5", "Designing a Better Narn", and "Designing Tomorrow: The Look of Babylon 5".
As always, we encourage you to show your support for the B5 universe by going out and picking up a copy of this DVD set. Also, we have to say that we are finding DVD sets to be a great way to enjoy our favorite shows again. It's wonderful to be able to watch all the episodes in order with beautiful picture and sound quality and absolutely no commercials. On the best of these DVD sets, the extras offer new insights into the creation of the show and thus add even more to our enjoyment of the episodes. With the lack of interesting shows in this fall's lineup, we're beginning to think we may have to supplement the broadcast offerings with items from our collection: "Babylon 5" on Monday, "Buffy" on Tuesday, "The Prisoner" on Wednesday?? We hope the fall shows will surprise us and it won't come to that, but it's good to know that we have our favorites on DVD to watch whenever we want, today and for many years to come. And it's great to realize that despite its many shortcomings and errors, the tv industry has managed to put out a few gems that are worth watching over and over again.
There was some bad news about Jeremiah in JMS's recent posts to the B5 moderated group. JMS said:
I have zero desire to return to a third season of Jeremiah. Showtime was great, no mistake, but MGM has overall been the most heinous, difficult and intrusive studio I've ever worked for. I've worked for, and had great relations with, Viacom, Universal, Warner Bros., and a bunch more. But I will never, ever, work for the present administration at MGM.
I didn't know why so many other writers had a problem there and never wanted to go back. Now I do.
jms
When JMS was asked if a third season of Jeremiah could proceed without him, JMS responded:
Sure, they could definitely do so. At the end of their day, it's their show, and if there should be a season three, they would have no choice but to bring someone else in.
As an aside...none of this should be taken as a diss of the coming season. I honestly think that the second season is miles better than our first season. It's more consistent, takes more chances, it's really a very strong season.
Thing of it is, you look at the quality of the work, and the amount of blood on the floor in getting to that point, and have to decide if the one is worth the other. The process is hard enough without others making it even harder than it has to be.
And there we are.
jms
We had been hoping that Jeremiah would find its stride in its second season after a disappointingly uneven first one. Now it looks like if that happens, instead of making us happy, it will just give us cause to be sad about the impossibility of a 3rd season with JMS's input.
We are frustrated but not at all surprised to see the MGM folks join the ranks of network suits who seem incapable of just letting the creative folks do what they do so well without stupid and destructive forms of interference. It will always mystify us why the executives hire people like JMS and Joss Whedon, who have been successful by creating unique and original shows that are different from what the conventional wisdom says should work on tv. And then the suits try to force them to make their shows conventional (ie. dumbed-down and over-sexed). And then those same executives can't understand why the series that they have damaged and warped by their interference aren't successful.
Even though Jeremiah was never up there with the truly promising shows whose destruction by network interference made us so terribly sad (such as Crusade and Firefly), it still angers us to see more of this kind of behavior by the suits. Perhaps the next great science fiction shows will only come when the networks have been removed from the process. As far as we're concerned, that can't happen soon enough.
In a recent post to the B5 moderated group, JMS gave a nice summary of the projects that he is currently working on or shopping around. Here's the info:
Polaris is still making the rounds, so we'll see what happens on that front. "World on Fire" is not do-able anymore because the events of the world caught up with the story. (Essentially, it was about the events leading up and following America getting into its next war, starting with an attack on New York. Very eerily, nearly everything that was in the script and the planned series has now happened, so the show is now a moot issue.)
I've put my play "Among the Ruins" on a back burner for now, because it got too clever for its own good, too slick, almost self-consciously so...it needs time to season and develop the right kind of maturity.
Comics: the first issue of Supreme Power comes out August 6th, and it's going to be a terrific book. And Spidey continues apace, I'm just about to start writing issue 500, a 38 page monster that culminates a three-issue arc that encompasses much of Spidey's history and some things that should be real surprises for people.
TV: I'm making the network rounds with the people at Marvel Productions, pitching a new series, but that's all I can say about it for the moment.
Audio: I've finished the 20 short scripts for "The Adventures of Apocalypse Al" for a company that will be distributing them either late fall or early Spring 2004. It's a very, very funny series.
Other than that, working on a novel, making the pitch rounds for Midnight Nation as a feature, and taking some down time after finishing season two of Jeremiah last month.
jms
We would like to see a new JMS project on tv or in the movies in the near future. It's frustrating how many of the promising-sound projects that we hear about each year disappear before ever going into production. But it sounds like JMS has a lot going on, so hopefully one of his new projects will make it all the way. In the meantime, it's not too long till Jeremiah's second season appears on the airwaves, so we'll cross our fingers and hope that it's a good one.
Babylon 5/Crusade/JMS News Archive September 2002 - June 2003
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