TNT STILL GOING TO SHOW CRUSADE?:

CineScape has contacted TNT about Crusade, who say that it will still air in June:

All the buzz about TNT abandoning Crusade may be a bit premature. Looking for the network's side of the story, the Insider contacted TNT publicity for comment. I was told that the network has no comment on the Internet rumors that they've passed on Crusade, other than to say that they still plan on launching the series in June.

VERY IMPORTANT NEWS FROM JMS:

         JMS has stated TNT don't want Crusade anymore and that Warner Bros are now looking for a new distributer for the series. He also suggests that some people drop an encouraging note to the Sci-Fi Channel. There is also a report on this at the AICN site, you can go to it here.

        The plug has not been pulled by TNT, which cannot pull the plug because we don't work for TNT, we work for WB. TNT is a distributer.

        All I can say for now is that, like Oliver Stone's project for TNT, Witchblade, we have found that TNT (known primarily for westerns, historical dramas and wrestling) is not SF-friendly in terms of really getting what SF is about, and it may not entirely reconcile with what their core audience expects from them...and that a new, more SF friendly venue is being explored.

        So if folks wanted to drop an encouraging note to, let's say, the Sci-Fi Channel, for instance, that would certainly be okay by me.

        But in the interim...no, we're not canceled. We're taking off next week to allow WB to work its magic, but that's about it.

jms

NEWS FROM THE AICN SITE:

        There are some more news at the AICN site which states that "Big changes could be in the wind" and if everything works out right, these could be VERY GOOD CHANGES.
        The report also says that Crusade has not been cancelled (which it reported earlier) but "Production suspended for one to two weeks to accommodate changes. At that time, production should resume - and all will become apparent to the masses".

You can read the full story here.

CRUSADE THEME MUSIC:

JMS has made some more comments about his choice of composer for Crusade, he also says that the main title music for the first Season of Crusade will be uploaded to thestation.com soon.

If I thought Evan Chen was an error, whether I chose to admit it or not, I would not have him on as composer on the series.

But it was not an error, as testified by the many folks who've come out of the woodwork (many of them musicians) to say that they loved the music on ACTA. Your opinion is your opinion, and that's fine...but there are other opinions just as valid. So don't use your opinion as proof that an error of fact has taken place, and thus that I'm not admitting it somehow being indicative that I've changed.

And Evan *is* doing the music on the series. We've scored three so far, and he continues to improve with every episode, as Chris Franke improved with every episode. WB thinks he's a genuine find.

We will soon be putting up the main title for CRUSADE on thestation.com, and you can see some more of what he's doing musically, and I have to say it's great.

I have no intention of making a change in composers for CRUSADE.
jms

BESTER IN CRUSADE?

        There is a rumour that at an convention in St. Louis, Walter Koenig said that Bester will appear in an episode of Crusade and that he will film it in February.

Can anyone confirm this?

EPISODE REVIEWS AT THE AICN SITE:

        Two Crusade episodes, "Racing the Night", and "Each Night I Dream of Home" have been reviewed on the Ain't it Cool news site. It is important to note that both of the reviews are from "ROUGH CUTS" of the episodes. Also be aware that the reviews do contain some spoilers.

You can go straight to the reviews here.

NEWS FROM THE AICN SITE:

        As we already know with the creation of new set's on the Excalibur due to more funding from TNT, the first five episodes (which were made with the old design), will be moved later into the season. New episode's have been made, including "WARZONE" to air before it.
        To account for this sudden change, an episode entitled "APPEARANCES AND OTHER DECEITS" will be aired before "RACING THE NIGHT" to explain the change's in the next five episode's. Apparently (reported at the AICN site) it will be a propaganda thing, with two specialists coming onboard the Excalibur to change the ships image in an attempt to help the folks back on Earth feel more like they are their saviours. After the (original) five episodes, they will revert back to the newer design and uniforms.

You can find the whole acticle at the AICN site here.

CANADIAN AIR DATES:

Canada's CITY-TV will be showing "The River of Souls" on January 12th and "A Call to Arms" on January 19th, both at 9PM.

Crusade will be shown on the Space: The Imagination Station sometime this year (maybe in June).

JMS RESPONDS TO "A CALL TO ARMS" MUSIC:

JMS has responded to fans who said that they did not like the music and that jms should get rid of Evan Chen (the composer):

I posted this on Compuserve...just passing this along here as well on the topic of the music for A CALL TO ARMS.

        I suppose we could've stayed with the safe choice, with Chris, or done a nice, safe, droning Voyager style score that you don't even notice, but we're looking to take chances, and that means some people will like what you do, some won't. Some won't like it because it's different. Neil Gaiman told me that a number of fans of any form, including his own, say they want something new and challenging that takes chances...but it they don't like the form of that chance, they blame you for somehow doing it wrong...and they want the next new thing to be just like the last thing you did.

        I can't tell you the number of people who said "why can't you just do the John Williams style music instead of this?" Because it's been done, and it's cliche, and by god we're going to push what's "expected" to try some new things. Otherwise what the hell's the point?

        "Of course, you've been through this before. I seem to recall a lot of people complaining when Christopher Franke replaced the composer for the pilot. I don't doubt that a lot of the people screaming loudest now are the very ones who complained about Franke when he started."

        I don't know about the latter, but I can sure confirm the former. And that's why I sometimes wish the viewer responses were logged as much as my own have been. When we brought in Chris to replace Stewart Copeland, you can't *believe* how much email I got from people saying to trash him, fire him, it's that "euro-trash techno-crap" most called it. "He uses sounds and banging instead of music," people complained (which he did mainly in the first two seasons), "it's distracting and it's not appropriate, get rid of him."

        But we didn't. I told people to give him time to settle into the show, and on the other hand to let them get used to a different kind of sound than what they expected. ("I guess you couldn't afford to hire a real composer like TNG uses," was another popular line.)

        Evan ain't Chris, nor should he be, nor should he *have* to be. He is a brilliantly talented composer. This is his first shot at a dramatic series, and as he settles in (as Chris settled in), I think people are going to be as loyal to what he's doing in Crusade as they were to Chris in B5. He's a classically trained composer, who threw it all away to come study jazz under some of the best jazz men in Chicago...washing dishes to support himself when he had been at the top of his field in China...because he loves music, and loves to experiment, and he took a chance.

        In the course of Crusade, we're going to see some places we've never seen before...and thanks to Evan, we're going to hear some things we've never heard before. He's a find, and a genuine, fresh talent, and I stand behind him 100%.

        And the people who say they are fans of Chris Franke's should think twice before doing to him what so many people did so rudely to Chris when he first came aboard.

jms