Wednesday, September 29, 2021

Babylon 5 Is Getting a Reboot

Like many other people, I was both surprised and excited to hear the news Monday that Babylon 5, the classic SF TV show from the 1990s, will be getting a reboot. Even better, the original author and director of the show, J. Michael Straczynski, will be in charge of the project. 

I've made no secret of how much I like Babylon 5; I still think that it's the best science fiction TV show yet, although The Expanse is giving it a run for that title. The news that Straczynski will be at the helm of a new version is incredibly exciting. 

He spent quite a bit of time on Twitter Monday adding details that weren't ion the Variety article and reassuring fans. Gizmodo has a longer article with some of his comments. 

“Heraclitus wrote ‘You cannot step in the same river twice, for the river has changed, and you have changed.’ In the years since B5, I’ve done a ton of other TV shows and movies, adding an equal number of tools to my toolbox, all of which I can bring to bear on one singular question,” Stracynzski tweeted. “If I were creating Babylon 5 today, for the first time, knowing what I now know as a writer, what would it look like? How would it use all the storytelling tools and technological resources available in 2021 that were not on hand then?”

I will certainly be watching it when it airs, probably in a couple of years. Until then, if you want more news about it, you can follow Staczynski on Twitter, where he is a regular poster, or subscribe to his Patreon account. 

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