Modification / Correction at the AICN Site

The Ain't it Cool News site has made a correction to it's previous post on Crusade, (found here)
Basically what it says is that its allegations that TNT interfered with Crusade and removed the bits with Babylon5 cast members (as guest stars) are untrue. The reason why they aren't appearing in Crusade as guest stars any more is because:

"Seems that when the time came to film "The Path of Sorrows", Ms. Tallman was busy working on a film project and was unavailable. Her part was indeed written, but her "role" in the show had to be re-configured due to unavailability. I have also been informed that Mr. Doyle's planned appearance in "Ruling from the Tomb" was eventually canceled due to economic consideations. ."

TNT "A CALL TO ARMS" AIR DATES:

TNT has announced the following air dates for the TV movie "A Call to Arms":

Premiering Sunday, January 3, at 8 p.m. (ET/PT),
Additional showings on January 3 at 10 pm ET/PT & 12 Midnight ET/PT.
There will also be a showing on Monday, January 11 at Midnight ET/PT (Tuesday Morning).

NEWS FROM THE AICN SITE:

Ain't it Cool News has put up a preview of the TV movie "A Call to Arms". It also includes information about some changes to Crusade.

It does contain some spoilers: http://www.aint-it-cool-news.com/display.cgi?id=2732

Here is an extract from the preview (the Crusade news):

"And this may be the last time we see a few of our Babylon 5 heroes.

I've heard some indication that (as previously indicated on this page) B5 characters like Garibaldi, Lyta, and Sheridan are being taken out of the loop as far as involvement in Crusade goes. Seems there was an intent to visit them once or twice during the new series, but these plans may now be scuttled entirely.

I am told Garibaldi's office on Mars had already been designed for an episode called "Ruling from the Tomb". However, said designs were tossed out - and there's no longer any sign of Garibaldi (Jerry Doyle) in Peter David's current script. Also, an already filmed flashback to Lyta Alexander (Patricia Tallman) during the Telepath War has been excised from an episode called "The Path of Sorrows". Interestingly enough, an extremely similar sequence...featuring a different character and actress...subsequently replaced Tallman's cut appearance. Both of these factors do seem to support Coaxial's recent assertions that TNT is...ummmm....requesting Crusade keep a distance from B5 myth-arc.

As such...and quite sadly...ACTA may be the last time we see some of our "old friends". So, enjoy watching Garibaldi and Sheridan doing their thing one last time in A Call to Arms, 'cause TNT's tag line indicating this film is "The Final Babylon 5 Adventure" may be more correct than some of us would care to acknowledge."

CRUSADE EPISODE REVIEW AT THE AICN:

Ain't it Cool News has put up a review of a Crusade episode. It does contain a lot of spoilers: http://www.aint-it-cool-news.com/display.cgi?id=2676

Here is a small extract from the top of the review (it does not contain any spoilers):

"I should say I’ve talked to several people who have either seen the episode in question, or know someone who has. And all of them have indicated two factors consistently: 1) the show is very, very good; and 2) the visual FX by Netter Digital are astounding, and quite un-like the FX seen in Babylon 5. This isn’t to negate the quality of B5’s FX, but sources indicate the FX in Crusade are so far beyond anything seen in the previous series that comparison is difficult at best."

The new series is sounding very promising now.

UK BABYLON5 NEWS:

The final 5 episodes of season5 will be aired, one per day, at 11.30am, Monday 28th December - Friday 1st January. As these episodes are being shown in the morning, they may be cut, so Channel 4 are also going to show the episodes weekly, starting on Saturday 3rd January 1999, sometime around midnight. This second showing of the episodes will be uncut.

There is still no official news as to whether channel 4 are going to show Crusade.

"A CALL TO ARMS" NEWS:

JMS has said that the TV Movie "A Call to Arms" will still air in the US on January 3rd, 1999.

Gary Cole, star of the Babylon 5 sequel series Crusade, finds the whole situation with the series "weird," according to columnists Marilyn Beck and Stacy Jenel Smith. Cole revealed that the TNT cable network won't schedule the series, because they're "waiting for the NBA [lock-out] to be resolved." He adds, "We'll keep shooting -- we've got an order for 22 episodes -- but we don't know when we'll go on air and at what point the network will decide if they want more and when we will do them."

From the Cinescape web site.