Original commander of Babylon 5

[stormbard]

Who was the guy before Sheridan, in the first series, who commanded Babylon 5. I can't remember his name, though he's one of the reasons why I followed this show?

Cheers

 

[Winters_Sorrow]

Jeffrey Sinclair aka "The One" aka "Valen"

 

[stormbard]

good old Jeff, a true legend. Thanks for the info. It actually took me a while to adjust, if I ever did, to the change.

 

[Brian G Turner]

I've never actually seen the first series, but am planning to soon. I hear that it is somewhat slower than later series, but obviously sets up some important ground work to develop later on. I'm also looking forward to seeing the tie-in regarding Babylon 4.

 

[Winters_Sorrow]

Actually, series 1 is one of my favourites.
Sinclair was a much more thought-provoking & tortured soul than Sheridan and it showed in some of the episodes, which are much darker than the first series of a sci-fi space opera has any right to be

 

[ThulsaDoom]

I think Sinclair was fantastic, but Sheridan was really great as well. As for why Michael O'Hare left the series, despite the reports at the time that it was Warner Bros complaining he wasn't charismatic enough, it was actually for health and personal reasons. (From what I gathered, anyway. That's what he said on stage, and he certainly looked quite worn out and tired.)

I think it worked out great for the series. After all, when was the last time in a series, that you got the main character yanked out after the first season? I think it all added to B5s uniqueness.

 

[stormbard]

Interesting info mate , and a good point about uniqueness. This show was definitely one of a kind, one of a very few I videotaped a lot of episodes of, I'll have to pull them out again soon for a watch.
Sheridan helped get me through many quiet evenings, and the plot lines were pretty dynamic and original. That's the main thing in any show for me, as well as the space ships of course!

 

[zorcarepublic]

I didn't really like Sinclair. I don't know why, but he seemed to be a bit 'preachy' to me. Of course, that might be because the writers were testing the water, but he didn't seem the sort of person who would have been able to lead the Army of Light.

Bruce Boxleitner, IMNSHO, was perfect for the role...

 

[stormbard]

Sheridan helped get me through many quiet evenings, and the plot lines were pretty dynamic and original. That's the main thing in any show for me, as well as the space ships of course!

I meant Sinclair of course, but either and both will do! Only Farscape came close to this show's originality and depth, and then only for the first two or three seasons I think, when Zaan-sp?( the blue-skinned lady) left.

 

[Whitestar]

I think Sinclair was fantastic, but Sheridan was really great as well. As for why Michael O'Hare left the series, despite the reports at the time that it was Warner Bros complaining he wasn't charismatic enough, it was actually for health and personal reasons. (From what I gathered, anyway. That's what he said on stage, and he certainly looked quite worn out and tired.)

I think it worked out great for the series. After all, when was the last time in a series, that you got the main character yanked out after the first season? I think it all added to B5s uniqueness.

Yes, Michael O'Hare as Jeffrey Sinclair was great in the role. As to why he was canned from the show, well, there are various reasons, some of them purely speculative. The first reason was the same you stated above, the people at Warners Bros weren't happy with his performance. The second reason was because he wanted to go back to doing theater, according to Straczynski in his commentary on the season 1 DVD set. The third reason was because he had a mad crush on actress Andrea Thompson (Talia Winters) and tried to put the moves on her. The big problem was that Ms. Thompson was married to actor Jerry Doyle (Michael Garibaldi) at the time. Understandably, Doyle wanted to kill him and apparently threated to quit the show unless O'Hare left. The fourth reason was because he was hooked on drugs and most probably caused problems on the set. I know the third and fourth reasons to be true because I knew someone who worked at those B5 conventions and gave me the inside scoop. When O'Hare was fired, he went sober.


Years later my friend Elio and I met him at a B5 convention. We were expecting to him as he looked on television, however, once he appeared on stage, we were shocked to see him as a fat man. Initially, we didn't recognized him until he spoke to the audience. He talked about his experiences as an actor and spoke very highly of all his B5 cast members, Mira Furlan (Delenn) in particular. However, he never once mentioned Jerry Doyle's name. Later it was time for O'Hare to answer questions from the audience. I stood up and asked him what was his experience like at Julliard. He told me that he learned how to be vunerable. Before long, he was signing autographs and it was my turn. I told him that I was very disappointed that he left the show and wished he stayed on for all five seasons. He was pleased to hear that and said he would personalized his autograph. Next, it was my friend Elio's turned. When he asked him what his name was, he responded, "Elio". To this, I added, "Sometimes I call him Alien!" Seconds later, O'Hare laughed out loud so hard, he nearly fell out of his chair! We both thanked him and shooked his hand. It was a wonderful experience.


Later I found out that when O'Hare returned to the show as Ambassador Sinclair, Doyle said that he would not be in the same room with him. So Strazynski arranged for O'Hare to be video-taped that will later serve as a vid message for Doyle's character so they wouldn't have to meet face-to-face. It seems such a shame that these two guys never patched things up because they seemed to get along great onscreen.


And by the way, Babylon wasn't the only sci-fi show in which the main character was booted out after the first season ended. Gene Roddenbery's Earth: Final Conflict did the same when William Boone was apparently killed off, only to return in the fifth and final season for two more appearances.


Whitestar

 

[Brian G Turner]

Many thanks for the background information, Whitestar.

I just started watching Season 1 last night, and plan to do an episode-by-episode review of Babylon 5 - at least, as much as I can stomach (still uncertain whether I'd touch Season 5!).

 

[Whitestar]

Many thanks for the background information, Whitestar.

I just started watching Season 1 last night, and plan to do an episode-by-episode review of Babylon 5 - at least, as much as I can stomach (still uncertain whether I'd touch Season 5!).

My pleasure! Just to let you know in advance, season one is perhaps the slowest of them all and a lot of the episodes are stand-alones. However, towards mid-season things start to click and move fast, and the season finale is one of the best ever for a series. In regards to season five, well, it's definitely not the best, but there are several episodes that are quite good, "Day of the Dead", "The Fall of Centauri Prime", and "A View From The Gallery" being one of my personal favorites. Plus, the introduction music theme of season five is the best of all the previous four seasons, hands down. It represents challenges, hardship, tragedy, courage, perserverance, and ultimately, victory. I have several CD soundtracks from season five and Christopher Franke has certainly outdone himself here. I highly recommend the B5 soundtracks.


Whitestar

 

[Brian G Turner]

I'm about 5 episodes into B5, and I'm having no problems at all with them - all it's really missing so far is the overt undercurrent of tensions that the Shadow War brought, but the characters and dialogue are already sharp. The first episode was particularly sharp.

 

[koshcakes]

[ In regards to season five, well, it's definitely not the best, but there are several episodes that are quite good, "Day of the Dead", "The Fall of Centauri Prime", and "A View From The Gallery" being one of my personal favorites. Plus, the introduction music theme of season five is the best of all the previous four seasons, hands down. It represents challenges, hardship, tragedy, courage, perserverance, and ultimately, victory. I have several CD soundtracks from season five and Christopher Franke has certainly outdone himself here. I highly recommend the B5 soundtracks.


Whitestar[/QUOTE]

I agree not the best series but the one to watch for the complete B5 experience. The storylines come full circle a sad ending as some think , i dont think so just the passing of time and as you state ultimately victory.