Passing Thoughts

J. Michael Straczynski

When Babylon�5 finished its planned five-year run, a number of people asked me, "Are you sad that it's over?" That question triggers a number of responses, but foremost among them: it ain't over until it's over.

And no, I'm not talking about revivals, sequels, movies or any of that.

Imagine that you have spent five years working on a new probe that will be launched into space. You helped design and build it, and finally, one day, you press a button...and the rocket rises into the sky, disappearing behind the eye's event horizon.

Then someone asks you, "Are you sad it's over?"

It's not over. It's completed. There's a difference.

When the last bolt was cinched tight and the button pushed, your rocket was launched into space. It wasn't over, it was only just beginning its journey.

When Babylon�5 completed its run and the last episode was broadcast, it was launched into the future. It is even now barely beginning its journey.

And I could not be more pleased that it has found a home along the way at the SCI�FI Channel, for however long that hospitality obtains.

Like you, I am a fan of science fiction. (I make that assumption on your part because if you were not an SF fan, you would scarcely be here reading this in the first place.) I grew up on the original Star Trek, on The Outer Limits, The Twilight Zone, and others. I was fortunate enough to see many of those shows on the occasion of their first broadcasts. But it was only much later, with the passage of time and repetition, that I was able to catch them all, to truly appreciate what they had accomplished, and what they had to say about who we are, and where we are going. To this day, if I'm channel flipping and I come across "The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street" or "The City on the Edge of Forever" or "Controlled Experiment," I put the remote control down on the couch and I watch. Because they have become a part of me.

They were launched into the future by their creators, by writers whose pencil boxes I am not fit to carry: Richard Matheson, Rod Serling, Harlan Ellison, Joe Stefano, Charles Beaumont....

They have become a part of me as well.

It is strange to now be on the other side of that equation.

There is not a day that goes by wherein I don't receive multiple e-mails from viewers all across the globe who started watching Babylon�5 when they were in college, or high school, or when they were kids, and who are now graduates with jobs (except for the psych majors, but we expect that) and in many cases kids. They recorded the show in its first incarnation, and now watch it with their own kids.

It has become a part of them.

There was a time, before I wrote them down for the very first time, when no one had heard the names Minbari, Narn, Vorlon...when the names Londo Mollari and Delenn and G'Kar and Kosh had never been spoken. Now there isn't an SF convention on the planet where you won't find at least a handful (and usually a lot more) of people talking about them, or dressing like them.

I find that startling.

Recently, I was asked to speak at MIT, in the presence of many of the academics involved in the prestigious MIT Media Lab. The general consensus of the PhDs and others present was that there are three seminal American science fiction series: the original Star Trek, the original Twilight Zone...and Babylon�5.

I find that startling.

And I find both deeply satisfying, because making Babylon 5 required six years of pain, effort, craft, monastic dedication and the most gifted army of technicians, actors, crew and support personnel it has ever been my pleasure to serve alongside. They believed in this project, in this story, and strove together for years against the threat of cancellation and enormous PR odds to create something special, to launch Babylon�5 into the future.

And now it has come to rest at the SCI�FI Channel.

And I couldn't be happier.

Here the series will at last be able to frolic among other shows of its own kind, in an atmosphere and a genre compatible with its temperaments. I've even heard rumors that it may be broadcast in the widescreen format we used at a time when no one else was doing it. It will have the support of SCIFI.COM and the many subscribers here who will be able to discuss it and analyze it and yell at it. Down the road a piece, we may even do an audio commentary on an episode or two that will allow you to watch the program while listening to the commentary here on SCIFI.COM.

All of that is very exciting to me.

But for me, it's not the most exciting thing. It's this:

Someone, reading these words...or watching Babylon 5 during its run...will find something here that will become a part of him or her. As they grow up, the words of G'Kar, the plight of Londo, the destiny of Delenn and the sacrifice of Sheridan will take root, and the stories they told will filter through, and one day, that person will create their own show, tell their own story...will fight to preserve their passion against overwhelming odds and change the face of science fiction fandom forever.

Someone else will pick up the gauntlet.

Someone else will tell a story so good, that 10 or 15 years from now, the MIT Media Lab will announce that there are now four seminal American science fiction series: Trek, Zone, B5, and.... Fill in the blank.

And that, that my friends, is what excites me the most.

I told my story.

Now it's your turn.