Welcome to Show #108!

Interview: This week, George Johnsen, Babylon 5 co-producer (and apparently one of Jeffrey’s cohorts in mischief), at last joins us!

Jeffrey had been trying for a while to get George on the show, but George is a busy busy guy. He’s worked on a lot of the films and shows we love, and he loves the scifi!

We talk to George about the show, including some of the questions sent in by listeners, and the anecdotes and production details are both fascinating and fall-down funny.

Did you know George was also an original Cylon? Summer didn’t, and that just warms her heart.

This is an interview you have to hear again and again, and you won’t care that it runs the full hour.

Your feedback does matter, and is welcome! You can call us at 206-338-2259, or email us and tell us what you think… and likely hear it played or read on the show. Please try to keep the voicemail comments as brief as possible.

Second Life Info: FarPoint Media’s castle is at http://slurl.com/secondlife/beraudes/203/151/49.

Babylon 5 Information Gathering: If you know of a dead or abandoned B5 related website that may be in need of a new home, let Summer know! Maybe we can mirror it here or house it on a sister site.

Guess what? Thanks to “Babylon Podcast” listener Don McMillan, Summer is finally going to get copies of the remaining TNT B5 promos! Yes, once they’re ready, we’ll make them available for you to listen to and download.

Promo: Geeko Insurance (Technorama)

Welcome to Show #102!

Yes, we recorded a new Season 3 intro, to lessen the confusion about what we really meant by “it failed”, and since JMS made some exciting announcements at Wondercon 2008, the joke became moot.

(L to R) Jeffrey Willerth, Key Grip John Warner, Gaffer John Smith

Interview: John Warner, Best Boy and Key Grip on Babylon 5, joins us to talk about his time on set, and making sure everyone’s lit correctly and all the cameras move where they need to, and manipulation of the sets.

So head on down to your nearest production, and if it’s safe to get into the studio, go hug a key grip for all that they do.

Then we talk about what you can find in Second Life as far as FarPoint Media and Babylon Podcast goodies, and traverse a small tangent into Technorama level tech geeking. Fear not, it loops back to B5 related chat at the end.

Second Life Info: FarPoint Media’s castle is at http://slurl.com/secondlife/beraudes/203/151/49.

Babylon 5 Information Gathering: If you know of a dead or abandoned B5 related website that may be in need of a new home, let Summer know! Maybe we can mirror it here or house it on a sister site.

Summer is still looking for one more of the long versions of the B5 promos that ran on TNT prior to Season 5, the ones narrated by Keith David… anyone have any old VHS copies of S5 they taped from TNT? Specifically, the :30 spots, one featuring Ivanova and the other G’Kar… they were part of the series of ads TNT ran promoting the addition of B5 to their lineup. We have a copy of the G’Kar one, now we’re holding out that someone out there has the Ivanova one!

Your feedback does matter, and is welcome! You can call us at 206-338-2259, or email us and tell us what you think… and likely hear it played or read on the show. Please try to keep the voicemail comments as brief as possible.

Promo: Cup Car Update
Promo: The Zombie Channel

Welcome to Show #79!

Tim is back, and Jeffrey is Kentucky, and Summer is always here. Jeffrey’s wrangled up some “Lost Tales” fan related interviews for us! Also stay tuned for more video content as part of the Lost Tales-apalooza month long (or longer) fest.

Interview 1: Adam Francis, production assistant during Season 2, joins us to tell us about how long his fan interest in Babylon 5 extends back, some of the running around he did during his tenure on the show, seeing and talking with the cast and crew he worked with after so much time, and more.

Fan Cast: The Three-Edged Sword Episode 10: “The Storm” (TS: 24:01-28:30) What you’re hearing here on The Babylon Podcast is just a small part of the story… the full audio drama can be heard at Voices of Babylon, so what are you waiting for? Go over and check them out!

Interview 2: Acclaimed conceptual artist Tim Earls rejoins us to give us some of the work he did for “The Lost Tales”, mostly storyboarding for all the scenes and visual effects. He also talks about some of the updates that went into set and ship design, and how some of his changes were incorporated into the finished product. Will we ever see the CG-intensive Garibaldi-focused story that Tim laid out?

Tim’s currently the set designer for the new fall show, “Pushing Daisies”, and is working on a still-secret new Serenity project for Quantum Mechanix

Deep Geeking: Tim and Summer conclude the geeking for the first episode, “Over Here”. We talk about the possible implications of Lochley’s theory and solution to the problem of what to do with Simon Burke… what could humanity do without the threat of devils and demons to haunt their dreams, and without a need for the Church amongst the stars? Will ancient evil be left behind when the cradle of humanity vanishes into dust when Sol goes nova? Will new battles be waged for the souls of all races, not just humanity, out beyond our galaxy?

And how do we know that all of this couldn’t have been investigated by a telepath? Lochley used to have a good relationship with Bester… did what happened during the Telepath War change her willingness to use a telepath first, or did her upbringing cause her to lean towards something in her comfort zone?

Babylon 5 Information Gathering: Can we and should we mount a Babylon 5 propaganda campaign, in order to get sales of The Lost Tales to the point where Warner really really wants to greelight more volumes of TLT? Let us know…

Also, if you know of a dead or abandoned B5 related website that may be in need of a new home, let Summer know!

Summer still needs to find the long versions of the B5 promos that ran on TNT prior to Season 5, the ones narrated by Keith David… anyone have any old VHS copies of S5 they taped from TNT? Specifically, the :30 spots, one featuring Ivanova and the other G’Kar… they were part of the series of ads TNT ran promoting the addition of B5 to their lineup.

Jerseys Are Go! (really… we’re still moving forward with these!) Interested? Let us know if you’d place a pre-order!

Your feedback does matter, and is welcome! You can call us at 206-338-2259, or email us and tell us what you think… and likely hear it played or read on the show. Please try to keep the voicemail comments as brief as possible.

Shameless related begging: There’s a box of Babylon 5 novels sitting here, books that were rescued from unknown fates at used bookstores in his area by Brad from the PodCulture podcast. The B5 library collection grows… if you have a request, send it in.

Promo: George Hrab’s Geologic Podcast
Promo: PodCulture
Link: Voices of Babylon

Welcome to Show #60!

There’s a box of Babylon 5 novels sitting in the Draco Vista Studios, books that were rescued from unknown fates at used bookstores in his area by Brad from the PodCulture podcast. Once I get them unboxed and sorted, we’ll figure out a way to get them to new homes.

Tim Adamec gives us his thoughts and impressions on Babylon 5, since he’s a new convert to the series, and newly introduced by immersion to the show. We also throw out the idea of creating “Babylon 5 New Viewer’s Guide”, and how best to introduce a new fan to the show without running the potential risk of losing them by starting with Season 1.

Interview: Tim, Summer and Jeff talk with conceptual artist Tim Earls and his work on Babylon 5 for several seasons.

Tim tells us how he came to be part of Babylon 5, and some of the things he’s designed and redesigned for the show. His background in architecture led to being an art director for short-lived software company, but his love has always been for space ships, and scribbling in the margins.

Tim tells us all about his experiences and designs on the series, and compares it to the work he did on “Crusade” and more recently, storyboarding for “The Lost Tales”. He’s also done work on the pilot for “Firefly”, the movie Serenity, “Star Trek: Voyager”, and more. His work can also be seen in the upcoming 4th “Die Hard” movie later this summer.

Tim’s favorite ship design for B5 is the Warlock battle cruiser, which we may see some goodies about in the future, but for now, fans are going to have to settle for the lovely set of “Serenity” blueprints, soon to be available from Quantum Mechanix Replicas.

How I wish we’d had this photo before the interview, because there’s no way Browncoats would have treated him in such a fashion.

Listener Feedback: Tim reads an email from Pavel, who’s ecstatic about finally seeing Jeffrey Willerth’s name in the credits in “Hour of the Wolf”, and wants to know why his name hadn’t appeared before the 4th season; Trampas Whiteman from Dragonlance Canticle and SciFi Smackdown treats us to some B5-themed poetry.

Your feedback does matter, and is welcome! You can call us at 206-338-2259, or email us and tell us what you think… and likely hear it played or read on the show. Please try to keep the voicemail comments as brief as possible.

Shameless related begging: Summer’s working to convince any publisher to do an essay collection on Babylon 5. If you’d be interested in buying one if they did do a B5 collection, let Summer know, either here in comments, or over in the Babylon Podcast forums.

Link: Quantum Mechanix Replicas
Promo: Adult Space Child Free Podcast

Welcome to Show #45!

Interview: Kim Holly, Costume Supervisor

After relaying some updated “Lost Tales” news, Tim, Summer and Jeffrey welcome Kim Holly, costume supervisor for the entire series save “The Gathering”. Kim’s work was pivotal in making the look of the uniforms and costumes match up with the creative visions of JMS and Anne Bruice, as well as making them fit all the cast comfortably and colorfully.

Kim tells us about the creative process behind designing and piecing together the various costumes for the different races seen on the show, about the complaints about the original Earthforce uniforms, of the special designs for Michael York and Wayne Alexander, of the amusement from poking Jeff Conaway with a needle on camera, and more.

Listener Feedback: We revel in another B5 Haiku from Hilary; Trampas from The Signal chimes in with the suggestion that Jedi are telepathic enough, and that the Shadows wouldn’t get along with Darth Vader, which leads to a tangent on Huttese; Jarsto expounds on the quality and quantity of his voicemails, and one reason why the Shadow vessels didn’t bother destroying Keffer’s Starfury; Jarsto again, with a new B5 Haiku. In email, Gabriel disagrees with Tim on the myth vs tech argument; Miles adds to the comments on the inclusion of technomages in the B5 universe.

We so need a B5 holiday season collection of quotes and song variations.

Vote for us! Let’s get this show’s rank into The Pickle’s Top 100!

Shameless plug: Summer contributed an essay to the essay collection, So Say We All: An Unauthorized Collection of Thoughts and Opinions on Battlestar Galactica, now available at your local bookstore and at Amazon.com.

Shameless related begging: Summer’s also really hoping to convince the publisher to eventually do a collection on Babylon 5. If you’d be interested in buying one if they did do a B5 collection, let Summer know, either here in comments, or over in the Babylon Podcast forums.

We are still considering doing a separate B5 Fan Tales segment in the future, so send us those favorite anecdotes of yours.

Your feedback does matter, and is welcome! You can call us at 206-338-2259, or email us and tell us what you think… and likely hear it played or read on the show. Please try to keep the voicemail comments as brief as possible.

Promo: Chuck Chat Technorama
Link: Smart Pop Books
Link: JMS’s “Lost Tales” photographs

Welcome to Show #33!

Interview: John Copeland, producer for Babylon 5

Continuing with our talk with John Copeland, we get his impressions on production costs then and now, we find out about his fascination and appreciation of The Flying Tigers and aviator history, and much more. And how many producers do you know that have their own trading cards and action figures?

Vote for us!
Let’s get this show’s rank into The Pickle’s Top 100!

If you want to listen to us live as we record episodes, that feature will be be available starting September 6th, 9pm EDT/6pm PDT. You can find all of the necessary info here, including instructions on how to join the IRC chatroom for live interactive feedback from the Draco Vista Studios.

Listener Feedback: Tim sometimes doesn’t pay attention. This is what happens when he doodles too much. We have voicemails about why Talia had to do the mind scan in “The Quality of Mercy”, bringing up the question of nature vs nurture; a message about statute of limitations for punishment; Steve in Denver comments on Tim’s viewpoint on the Vorlons; Joe from Michigan comments on the alleged time paradox in “Babylon Squared”; Jonathan in California comments again on whether the Vorlons adhered to Valen’s prophecies or not. We also go through a handful of emails… and we’re still not caught up on your feedback!

Your feedback does matter, and is welcome! You can call us at 206-338-2259, or email us and tell us what you think… and likely hear it played or read on the show. Please try to keep the voicemail comments as brief as possible.

Promo: Dragon Page “With Class”

Welcome to Show #32!

Interview: John Copeland, producer for Babylon 5

After a little bit of Dragon*Con recap discussion, Tim, Summer and Jeffrey have an engaging and entertaining talk with B5 producer John Copeland.

We find out how B5 grew, in terms of the show finding its feet and finding its fans, how those fans were able to give instant feedback on the show back to the creators, and how those fans found each other and grew into a unified force that’s still alive and vibrant today.

We also talk about how B5 was treated much like an orphaned project by the suits, the work involved in producing and directing such a richly conceived show, the impact of winning Hugos, and much, much more.

Don’t miss Part 2 of this interview next week!

Vote for us! Let’s get this show’s rank into The Pickle’s Top 100!

Your feedback does matter, and is welcome! You can call us at 206-338-2259, or email us and tell us what you think… and likely hear it played or read on the show. Please try to keep the voicemail comments as brief as possible.

Promo: “Heaven” by Mur Lafferty

Welcome to Show #26!

Guest: Steve Thorpe, Snackman.

First, Tim and Summer ponder the ironies of taking a week off during one of the biggest weeks of new B5 news in recent years. Thanks to the many fans who all let us know what we missed: JMS creating new direct-to-DVD stories in the B5 universe, leaving complete story control in the hands of The Great Maker.

We will keep on top of any future news regarding this project.

Next, Tim, Summer and Jeff explore the wheels behind the wheels, the true secret success that really kept Babylon 5 running: the food.

Steve “Snackman” Thorpe drops by to tell us all about the food that kept production going. Definitely take care if you’re drinking beverages while listening to this episode.

When you’re hungry, you’re hungry.

Listener Feedback: Tim, Summer and Jeff address listener emails: Mark is disappointed by the lack of ZIMA discussion in the brief chat about “TKO”; Brent has his own theories about the destruction of Babylon Stations 1-3; Mark P comments on Delenn’s actions in “Legacies”, and we discover another B5 fan at a NASA installation; Jack is curious about Vorlon motivations to get involved with humans.

Your feedback does matter, and is welcome! You can call us at 206-338-2259, or email us and tell us what you think… and likely hear it played or read on the show. Please try to keep the voicemail messages under 2 minutes, if possible.

Promo: Kick-Ass Mystic Ninjas

Welcome to Show #23!

Guest: John Vulich, owner of Optic Nerve Studios

Tim, Summer and Jeffrey chat with John Vulich, owner of the special effects house that created all of the B5 aliens we’ve all come to love.

John tells us about getting involved with the show, with creating the show’s new aliens and refining the ones established in the pilot, about working with the prosthetics to make them less invasive for actors, on designing and creating robotic creatures, and much more. John also tells us a what little he can about NBC’s new Fall series, “Heroes”.

Listener Feedback: Tim, Summer and Jeffrey dive into emails and comments from the blog: Sun comments on technical tidbits in “Survivors”; Matt comments on “By Any Means Necessary” and labor negotiations; Michael lets us know that JMS mentioned the podcast in recent comments published in Volume 8 of the script books.

This week’s voicemail is a message from Ivanova in Wisconsin about the importance of the B5 station in the Shadow War, and how the Shadows may have been more interested in all of the Babylon stations much earlier than demonstrated in the series, and Tim muses on whether they were really responsible for the demise of the first three stations.

Your feedback does matter, and is welcome! You can call us at 206-338-2259, or email us and tell us what you think… and likely hear it played or read on the show. Please try to keep the voicemail comments as brief as possible.

Welcome to Show #19!

Interview: David J. Eagle (Director)

Tim, Summer and Jeff chat with David J. Eagle, director of 13 episodes from Seasons 2-5, including the Hugo Award winning “Severed Dreams”.

David talks about how he came to Babylon 5, the tendency of his episodes to be the high-impact ones, the joy of getting a complete script to work with from JMS weeks before shooting started, a little bit about his friendship with Isaac Asimov, and touches on some of his current projects.

Next, Tim and Summer discuss “Survivors”, one of the first set-up episodes that has major repercussions throughout the rest of the series. We have varying opinions on the strengths and weaknesses of the episode.

Listener Feedback: Tim, Summer and Jeffrey dive into emails from Brian asking whether B5 will show up on TV again; Michael corrects himself on talking about longer “trailers” instead of the “gag reels”; Jason Rennie of The SciPhi Show on alternate audio tracks in files available for download; and David comments on the realism of the Ranger’s pike.

Your feedback does matter, and is welcome! You can call us at 206-338-2259, or email us and tell us what you think… and likely hear it played or read on the show.

Promo: : Podcasting: Now and Beyond and The Parsec Awards
Link: Hugo Award Winners (listed by Year)