VOTE FOR THE NEW TNT TIMESLOT FOR B5:

On TNT's Babylon 5 web site as reported yesterday, starting Monday May 3, Babylon 5 will go on hiatus for a few weeks and they are going to give you a chance to vote for the new timeslot. You can now vote for the timeslot you would like Babylon 5 to be on! You have four choices....

1. Monday through Fridays 7 am ET/PT
2. Monday through Fridays 8 am ET/PT
3. Every Saturday morning
4. Every Sunday morning

Click here to go to TNT's Babylon 5 web site and vote!

DID YOU SEE JMS IN THE SKY?

Babylon 5 creator J. Michael Straczynski reports that the Kitt Peak Observatory in Tuscon, Ariz., has named an asteroid after him. The space rock was discovered by the observatory in 1992 and has officially been designated 8379 STRACZYNSKI.

TNT Crusade Promo

AICN also has reviews of Crusade episodes posted. (highly praising the show) You can view the report here.

TNT WILL POLL VIEWERS FOR NEW B5 SLOT:

Here is official word from TNT as to the B5 schedule:

BABYLON 5 EPISODE NOMINATED FOR A HUGO AWARD:

JMS EARNS BRADBURY AWARD:

Babylon 5 creator J. Michael Straczynski will receive the Ray Bradbury Award for Dramatic Screenwriting, which is given by the president of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. The award was founded by SFWA president Ben Bova in 1992 and has only been given once, to writer/director James Cameron for his work on Terminator 2.

"The membership of SFWA voted overwhelmingly this past fall to reinstate the Dramatic Nebula Award," SFWA president Paul Levinson said. "But eligibility for this award, chosen by the membership, begins with work made available to the public on Jan. 1, 1999.

"I thought it especially appropriate, in these circumstances, to give the Bradbury Award one more time," Levinson explained. "It signals to the world SFWA's deep interest in dramatic media."

Straczynski is being honored for his work on B5, which SFWA called "one of the most imaginative and influential science fiction television shows in years." The series recently concluded its five-year run and is currently being shown in repeats on TNT.

The Bradbury will be presented to Straczynski during the Nebula Awards Ceremony, which is being held on May 1 in Pittsburgh, Pa.

AUSTRALIA OVERREACTION

I've been keeping up to date with the Babylon 5 and Crusade news ever since it first hit the waves that Crusade may only last 13 episodes. A day ago I read a "latast news" item which said that Season 5 of Babylon 5 is no longer being shown on Channel 9.

The reason for this was simple. Throughout last year Babylon 5 was churning out some very impressive ratings figures. The Babylon 5 timeslot was at one point occupied by Star Trek Deep Space Nine, which didn't do nearly as well. In October Season 5 began and I gather, continued to gain good ratings. However, over the Christmas/New Year period, which is our (Australia's) non-rating period, Babylon 5 was not aired because ratings are so erratic during that period.

In order for the network to take full advantage of the show's ratings potential, the airing of the remaining episodes have been put off until now. Brooklyn South, the show which currently occupies the Babylon 5 timelsot aires it's season finale this week and so it is logical to assume that the final installment of Babylon 5 will begin airing as of Thursday week.

As for Crusade, it's most likely that Channel 9 won't pick it up unless it eventually gets guarenteed a second season. Part of this also stems from the size of the Australian market, which is significantly smaller than the US and most western countries. Networks over here won't take on a show that is already known to have been experiencing production problems which threaten the show over in the US. In dollar terms it doesn't make sense for the channel to take on a whole series which may only aire 13 episodes.

ISRAEL AIRDATE

AUSTRALIA PROBLEMS