ATTN JMS: Season 5 vs. Sequel

[B5JMS Poster]

Subject: ATTN JMS: Season 5 vs. Sequel
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 No. | DATE        |  FROM
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s  1: Jan 23, 1997: Bill Chadwick <chadwick at pmel.noaa.gov>
*  2: Jan 23, 1997: jmsatb5 at aol.com (Jms at B5)

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From: Bill Chadwick <chadwick at pmel.noaa.gov>
Lines: 9

jms -
   I'm confused.  I don't understand how WB can be
considering canceling season 5 at the same time that
they are considering starting up a B5 sequel.  Are
different parts of WB making these decisions separately?
Thanks.
-bomo



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From: jmsatb5 at aol.com (Jms at B5)
Lines: 37

I know it seems like a weird contradiction...it comes from a weird
situation.

PTEN, the network that airs B5, is no more.  Most of the stations have
joined UPN, and the corporate structure is no more.  Imagine, for
instance, the hassles in keeping a show on ABC if ABC suddenly no longer
existed.  But the rights were tied to ABC, the people who once owned it
want to cash in their chips and get out, and they can't take the show
anywhere else...partly for competitive reasons, partly because the rights
are held by a company that basically no longer exists.

You may keep at it for a while, because you believe in it, and it's
showing a profit, but there's always those guys in the corporation who
keep pressuring you to let it go and clean out the books.  Those guys are
in a tussle over B5 that has almost zilch to do with ratings, or letters,
and everything to do with corporations and the  financial organization
thereof.

So while all this is going on...they're also saying, "Well, we believe in
this, and if we can't move the show elsewhere, and the rights are tied up,
perhaps another show that's free of the corporate entanglements and rights
hassles would be a good idea, both on its own, as a fall back if the
corporate wrangling gets too much, and/or if the series does go to 5
seasons as a companion show for crossovers."

In other words...it's all in a state of total flux while the corporate
guys try to figure out what to do next.  And we're caught in the middle,
unable to do anything but watch and see what happens.

Does this explain some of the confusion and conflicting signals?


 jms




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