J. Michael Straczynski (Babylon 5) attends the premiere of Matrix Revolutions copyright Sue Schneider
© 2003 Sue Schneider
J. Michael Straczynski Kills Me
By: Stephen LackeyDate: Sunday, August 12, 2007
I say he kills me because when he’s on, he writes some of the best entertainment out there, but when he’s off, he can really disappoint. I credit him for bringing me back to comics. I was as hardcore a comics fan out there when I was growing up, but in the 90’s, I became disenchanted with them. I think a lot of my lost interest was due to the change in the market, the “collector” and “speculator” mentality and how the publishers were feeding into those fair-weather fans. One day in a comics shop while filming our first documentary, the owner of the store asked me had I checked out the new story arc for Spider-Man. I had previously told him that Spider-Man was one of the main comics I read growing up. I told him no that I had sort of given up on comics. He said “well you like Babylon 5 don’t you?” and of course I said “yes”. He followed with “well the guy behind B5 is doing Amazing Spider-Man.” So, I checked it out all those years ago and now my hold box is as large as it has ever been. The thing I learned about Straczynski though is he’s a great starter, one of the best in the writing business, but often his work can fizzle in the climax. This happened with The Shadow Wars story arc in B5 and in several of his best Spider-Man story arcs. With that said, the journey to that disappointing climax was almost always phenomenal.
The big problem with Straczynski though is worse than a slightly anti-climactic ending. The real problem is when you see him attached to a project that’s just tailor made for him and he blows it all together. Knowing just how good he can be can make those disappointing projects near tragic. Want examples? Look at the B5 spin-off projects. Believe me, I know this isn’t the comic book column, I’m getting to the point now. So, this weekend I picked up the first of an all new series of direct-to-DVD Babylon 5 movies. I couldn’t get more excited about these movies. In fact I think one of my very first TV Wasteland articles was discussing the production of these films. So I finally got a chance to check out Babylon 5 The Lost Tales: Voices in the Dark. Popping in the DVD was bitter sweet though because I knew that one of my favorite characters G’ Kar wouldn’t be making an appearance because the actor that played him, Andreas Katsulas had passed away. Right at the beginning of the episode, Straczynski utilized an old monologue, one of G’Kar’s best from the original series to get the stories started. It was a tribute to the character and actor, but it was also meant to jerk some tears. It is successful at drawing some emotion for the missing characters. This new series of films seemed like one of those perfect fit situations for Straczynski. Enough time has passed for fans to miss the characters and forget the mistakes of the horrid spin-offs and enough time has passed for Straczynski to have come up with some fresh stories. I hoped.
The disc is broken into two fairly short stories presented separately as “Over Here” and “Over There” or as one film running about 72 minutes called “Voices in the Dark”. “Over Here” tells a pretty standard filler story that seems mostly meant to introduce Tracy Scoggins back to the B5, now running the station and Sheridan being the president of the new multi-planet alliance established during the series. This episode is one of Straczynski’s wordier affairs but it’s also one of his examinations of religion in science fiction, which were always interesting. It’s brief but good filler. Should a direct to DVD film start off with a filler story? The second story “Over There” follows Sheridan as he makes his way back to B5 for a ceremony. The episode is stylistically one of Straczynski’s signature nostalgic episodes with Sheridan remembering the toughest and best years of his life as leader of the station. This story is where things go horribly awry for me. It sets up a new story arc sure to run through the remaining DVD’s but the focus is all set up by the end of the story nothing had really happened. It really felt like it just stopped. This might have worked with the series because fans knew it was coming back next week to really start telling the story but here we have to wait a long time for the next DVD so watching a story with no middle or end just doesn’t cut it. This is what I meant by tragic. Also, where the heck is everyone? It seems very few cast members have returned for this movie. There’s hints of some returning in the future but for these two stories, we didn’t even get any of the lesser characters back and judging by what I see on IMDB, many of them could use the work. Once all of the DVD’s are out, maybe I can sit down and marathon them and this one won’t feel so much like a let down because I’ll have what I hope is a good story but until them, I’m hugely disappointed. I really want to see Jerry Doyle in the next one!
This week is all about Masters of Science Fiction, Eureka, and Flash Gordon. We are also getting closer to the final train wreck that is On the Lot so you know I’ll be watching that too. I really can’t wait until the fall schedule starts back up.
Monday
KYLE XY (ABCFAMILY, 8PM EST) House of Cards
The key to opening a box Kyle found in the ruins of Zzyzx depends on him gaining gaining entry to Madacorp and getting his hands on Ballantine’s ring..
BIZARRE FOODS WITH ANDREW ZIMMERN (TRAV, 9PM EST) Vietnam
I’m sure the intrepid host of this series will find some bizarre foods on his trip through Vietnam.
Tuesday
ON THE LOT (FOX, 8PM PST)
This is part 1 of the two part season finale, and you thought last week was full of filler.
EUREKA (SCIFI, 9PM PST) Noche de Suenos
The townspeople find themselves literally sharing their dreams leading to some embarrassing situations.
ROOM 401 (MTV, 10PM PST)
A prank show where people get scarred. This week’s pranks include “Need a Mint?” and “High Definition”.
Wednesday
RESCUE ME (FX, 10PM PST) Animal
The Gavin clan stages an intervention after several disturbing family calls: the mysterious woman from the restaurant leaves Tommy wanting more: Janet must take matters into her own hands to get her baby back: and a depressed Mike calls Tommy in a moment of despair.
TERMINATOR 3: RISE OF THE MACHINES (AMC, 8PM PST)
This film was highly unappreciated, there’s good scifi action and a surprisingly dark ending. Arnie is back and still fighting to stop SkyNet from taking over the Earth in the future.
Thursday
WHO WANTS TO BE A SUPER HERO? (SCIFI, 9PM PST)
This week everyone participates in a mission putting them in disguises, plus they all get comic book covers!
BURN NOTICE (USA, 10PM PST) Wanted Man
Fionna hunts down an alleged jewel thief she believes is innocent while Michael investigates to find the real culprit. Michael also plots against the man who got him fired.
Friday
DOCTOR WHO (SCIFI, 8PM PST) 42
Martha and the doctor race against time as the spaceship they are trapped on hurtles toward a sun, giving them 42 minutes to expose the ship’s saboteurs.
FLASH GORDON (SCIFI, 9PM PST) Pride
Ming dispatches Tyrus, a barbaric Turin, to fetch Baylin, his best bounty hunter, who was left stranded on Earth by Aura.
Saturday
MASTERS OF SCIENCE FICTION (ABC, 7:00PM PST) Jerry Was a Man
A rich woman living in 2077 leases a soon to be destroyed anthropoid from the genetic engineer who designed it. This episode is a play on the classic what does it mean to be human question. Will this compete with the best example of this question, Blade Runner?
SOLAR ATTACK (SCIFI, 9PM PST)
Scientists fight to stop an impending devastating solar event. Hmm, we’ve only seen this a few other times in films haven’t we?
Sunday
THE 4400 (USA, 9PM PST) One of Us
Tom and Diana are searching for Richard but Tom is distracted by his dreams about the future. Meanwhile Collier is is threatened by Shawn’s test that could determine who would die from a promicin shot.
THE DEAD ZONE (USA, 10PM PST) Drift
More From Mania
Straczynski Talks SILVER SURFER
Straczynski at Work on SURFER Spinoff
(Wednesday, June 13, 2007)
Straczynski On JEREMIAH
(Friday, December 21, 2001)
J. Michael Straczynski's CRUSADE may finally see its end
(Thursday, August 16, 2001)
J. Michael Straczynski comic RISING over MGM
(Thursday, August 16, 2001)
J. Michael Straczynski To Helm New SF Series
(Tuesday, August 29, 2000)
RISING STARS: J. Michael Straczynski
(Wednesday, July 19, 2000)
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I'd also like to see Straczynski team with Joss Whedon to do something---either a tv series or a movie...and since they both work for Marvel why not??? I don't understand why Marvel hasn't selected these two to bring some of their characters to the big screen already!!!