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More on "Babylon 5: The Memory of Shadows" and Rick Biggs

JMS posted the following message via Usenet:

[quote]My apologies for the prolonged absence, but the loss of Richard Biggs kind of took the wind out of our sails and it's taken a while for me to feel up to saying anything about B5. This has also had the effect of slowing up anything to do with B5:TMoS (which as some of you have guessed or inferred does indeed stand for The Memory of Shadows), because in the writing we/I never imagined he wouldn't be here to be a part of it. More on that another time.

The funeral itself was a very moving ceremony. It was a point of some pride
that, although Richard had worked on a variety of shows, and all of them were
present to varying degrees, the largest contingent was from Babylon 5. The B5
family gathered in full strength, because whatever internecine hassles may have
come up between anybody, there hasn't one person on that show who didn't think Richard was just a nifty, nifty guy.

There were many crew members present, from art department to camera and office staff...DP John Flinn, directors Tony Dow and Jesus Trevino, and literally all the major or minor cast members with the exception of Jeff Conaway (who was out of town and couldn't make it), Peter Jurasik (who was attending another funeral on the other side of the country) and Joshua Cox (ditto...it was a bad week for a lot of people).

So from the cast we had: Bruce, Jerry, Mira (and Goran), Andreas, Claudia,
Walter, Bill, Pat, Marjorie, Tracy, Stephen, Jason, Caitlin, and others I may have missed or forgotten. From the writing/producing side it was me, Kathryn, Larry DiTillio, Doug, John Copeland, Kevin Cremin, Skip Beaudine, others.

Out of respect for the privacy of the family, I won't go into details of the
ceremony itself. Suffice to say that he was dearly loved by all, and his family is held in that same affection by everyone who was there.

I was going to go into more stuff here in general, but I don't seem to have it
in me at the moment. More later, then.


jms[/quote]

Comments

  • BigglesBiggles <font color=#AAFFAA>The Man Without a Face</font>
    Well, at least we know what the title is now, and that it would have been set (at least partly) in the B5 timeframe.
  • MessiahMessiah Failed Experiment
    I feel sorry for Peter Jurasik and Joshua Cox who had two funerals to attend :(

    We know the name now. Drakh War anyone? May it prevail.
  • Entil'ZhaEntil'Zha I see famous people
    [QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Messiah [/i]
    [B]I feel sorry for Peter Jurasik and Joshua Cox who had two funerals to attend :(

    We know the name now. Drakh War anyone? May it prevail. [/B][/QUOTE]


    y'all are gonna HATE me for even suggesting this... but. i ALMOST feel that they should not bother making B5:Tmos... I mean, B5 with out Dr Franklin? Ugh. I know, Stuff happens, and the show must go on and all that, but if Sheridan and Delenn were the heart of B5, Dr Franklin was its Soul. i can't imagine a show set on B5 without him.
  • KeyanKeyan Ranger
    I don't think he would have wanted that. I don't think anyone would want the future of B5 to die because a cast member did. Richard and his character were certainly one of the key elements of B5, but the universe and the story is rich enough to survive a change of cast or a change of names. I'm not trying to marginalize him at all, but to say to stop everything i think would be more of a dishonor to his memory than picking up and going again.

    B5's real story is about as varied and emotional and unpredictable as the fictional one, but in the end, faith manages.
  • BigglesBiggles <font color=#AAFFAA>The Man Without a Face</font>
    I agree with Keyan.
  • Entil'ZhaEntil'Zha I see famous people
    [QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Biggles [/i]
    [B]I agree with Keyan. [/B][/QUOTE]

    The world may be rich enough, and the show of course can go on, but it just won't be the same.

    can you honestly say that you will be able to watch a new B5 show and not think about Franklin not being there?

    I think it'll take away from the show, I"M not saying they shouldn't make it, i'm just saying i almost feel as they shouldn't, if that makes any sense, lol
  • samuelksamuelk The Unstoppable Mr. 'K'
    [QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Entil'Zha [/i]
    [B]The world may be rich enough, and the show of course can go on, but it just won't be the same.

    can you honestly say that you will be able to watch a new B5 show and not think about Franklin not being there?
    [/B][/QUOTE]

    You can't bring the world to a screeching halt every time someone passes away. You have to move on.

    I'm sure a lot of people felt that they couldn't imagine B5 without Sinclair in the main role.
  • BigglesBiggles <font color=#AAFFAA>The Man Without a Face</font>
    There were episodes in B5 where Franklin never appeared.
  • SpiritOneSpiritOne Magneto ABQ NM
    I agree that it might be a distraction not having him there as his character was of profound importance to the B5 Universe, but at the same time, I think it could be done well.

    I think the only thing that drives me nuts is it takes something like this to happen for JMS to stop being more kryptic than a Vorlon and tell us the name of the movie.
  • Entil'ZhaEntil'Zha I see famous people
    [QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Biggles [/i]
    [B]There were episodes in B5 where Franklin never appeared. [/B][/QUOTE]

    Yes, but never one where you know his character would NEVER appear again.
  • croxiscroxis I am the walrus
    i don't think it will distract it at all. yes Mr. Biggs will never be seen again, but he did very well when he was around, and he will be missed, but the universe will go on and the stories can still be told. His, like all things in our lives, just came to an early end.
  • MessiahMessiah Failed Experiment
    I think Richard would have wanted them to carry on. I know I would.
  • Falcon1Falcon1 Elite Ranger
    Continuing with the film will be the best way to honor Richard Biggs. I'm sure we'll see a dedication to him somewhere in the film/credits. Seems fitting really.
  • ShadowDancerShadowDancer When I say, "Why aye, gadgie," in my heart I say, "Och aye, laddie." London, UK
    i cant think of any more fitting tribute than to continue with TMoS in honour of Richard Biggs
  • -Marty--Marty- Earthforce Officer
    and one more by jms:

    [QUOTE]
    Okay, let's try this again. Best to break the ice by just sort of doing a
    round-up of what's going on and what's coming and suchlike.

    I'll try to address some of the questions that have come up about what's coming
    up.

    On the movies DVDs, and what's inside: the main thing is that we've got
    commentaries on literally every one of them. Mike Vejar and I did a commentary
    on In the Beginning, I did one with John Iacovelli on The Gathering, and
    another with Janet Greek and Tracy Scoggins on River of Souls. I can't
    remember now if I solo'd on A Call to Arms or if Mike was there as well (it all
    blurs after a while...I've done something like fifteen of these things by now).

    There's a separate cast commentary on Thirdspace with, I think, Pat, Jeff,
    Jesus Trevino, and one or two others.

    On the Crusade DVDs, there's one commentary I did on the original pilot (once
    WB and I came to a meeting of minds, to wit, "I'm gonna say what happened to
    the show, what *really* happened...you got a problem with that?"). There's a
    second commentary track with Fiona, Janet, Peter Woodward and Carrie Dobro.

    (We interrupt this message with a coded message for our friends in England and
    Australia: keep your eyes on the horizon.)

    One oddity...constant readers will remember a while back when I was asked what
    TMoS was, and I provided a list of things it *wasn't*. The aforementioned
    oddity is...one of those things has come up as an adjunct to TMoS.

    Also, expect word fairly soon-ish about a new series of B5 novels.

    Elsewhere on the prose front...Straczynski Unplugged is out now, and
    Tribulations will be coming out in December.

    I've turned in all three final Rising Stars scripts, and the first issue of the
    last arc comes out in October, I hear.

    Next week a new arc and a new artist starts on Amazing Spider-Man, and it's a
    stinking cool issue. You can read a preview of the whole issue for free at:

    [url]http://www.milehighcomics.com/firstlook/marvel/spidey509/[/url]

    On other projects...I'm making sudden progress with the medieval play I've been
    twiddling with for the last few years, and may have it done in the next couple
    of months. Once that happens, my plan is to do a limited, small production for
    two weeks or so here in LA, just to see how the text works with an audience,
    then take it away for another few months, twiddle with it some more, then go
    for a larger venue. I may do something similar in London, since I may be
    spending a bit amount of time there fairly soon.

    And for those who've asked, I won't be in attendence at San Diego Comic Con
    this year due to a variety of commitments.

    Oh...and I've been offered an EP position on a network series, and while I
    don't usually do that on shows I don't create or develop, when I heard what
    this project was, I had to get on board. We still have to negotiate a deal,
    and work out how that will interface with the stuff that'll be going on later
    in the year, but fortunately the start date for the series should work out, at
    least at this point.


    jms

    (jmsatb5@aol.com)
    (all message content (c) 2004 by synthetic worlds, ltd.,
    permission to reprint specifically denied to SFX Magazine
    and don't send me story ideas)

    [/QUOTE]
  • E.TE.T Quote-o-matic
    [QUOTE][i]Originally posted by ShadowDancer [/i]
    [B]i cant think of any more fitting tribute than to continue with TMoS in honour of Richard Biggs [/B][/QUOTE]
    I agree.
    It seems that most of actors kept whole crew of Babylon 5 as big family and different from other jobs they had done, so I can't think better way for honouring him than continuing what he kept "special".
  • SanfamSanfam I like clocks.
    There's always flashbacks... :D

    Spoiler: And hell, I think they could almost get away with his character being put into stasis after, say, an unexpected complication of the plague. It would allow continuity to survive, at least.
  • shadow boxershadow boxer The Finger Painter & Master Ranter
    yeah it will be interesting to see how they write around his death. If Tmos is set whilst Franklin is supposed to be alive in the series I imagine we'll see lots of the back of a black guys head... some scratchy comm channel voice... maybe a few seconds of CGI with him plugged in as a digital actor, if of course his family let JMS use his likeness...

    We'll see I guess.
  • David of MacDavid of Mac Elite Ranger Ca
    Actually, if this involves the telepath war, there could already be a way out. In the last of the Psi-Corps books, it was mentioned that the war started when Lyta's group bombed the medical center where Bester's girlfriend and the rest of the teepsicles were being studied. If you put Dr. Franklin there making a checkup or something there when the bomb goes off, and he's seriously wounded, perhaps in a coma, we have a way to let him sleep through the movie.
  • ShadowDancerShadowDancer When I say, "Why aye, gadgie," in my heart I say, "Och aye, laddie." London, UK
    didnt all that happen before SiL tho? cant quite remember as its been a while since i read the psi-corps trilogy
  • BigglesBiggles <font color=#AAFFAA>The Man Without a Face</font>
    All the novels happen before SiL.
  • MartianDustMartianDust Elite Ranger
    I was thinking awhile back how its going to be different to watch B5s with Richard Biggs in. But I agree, life moves on and he would be honoured.

    I think there will be alot of characters that we love that won't appear in the show. And I'll miss them too just in a different way, naturally. But I do wonder how can they have all the actors back?! Some I'm sure won't want to do it and well if its set in the middle of B5 arc then they're all going to look older now. So not sure how they'd get round that one apart from applying loads of make-up and hair dye!

    I think there will be alot of new characters. So Biggs not being there won't be so weird perhaps. But no doubt we will all be thinking of him during the movie. But I will also be proud and so will he am sure. :)
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