Babylon 5: The Scripts of J. Michael Straczynski

Volume 1 - 454 pages

Volume 2 - 467 pages

Volume 3 - 457 pages

by Michael J Straczynski

Synthetic Worlds Publishing, $39.95 each

There have been script books for a good number of TV shows released in the past few years. From Buffy, the various incarnations of Star Trek, and others, they’ve generally covered a few episodes and not been very comprehensive. A lot of screenwriters have sold individual scripts at conventions and through their web sites. There are also various vendors that sell scripts as well, online or at cons, mostly without any official arrangements with the screenwriter. With the Screenwriter’s Guild rules making it possible for a screenwriter to sell copies of their scripts, it is possible for them to arrange for publication without having to work with studio licensing departments and such. Babylon 5 creator J. Michael Straczynski has recently embarked on a project to print all of the scripts he has written for Babylon 5 (92 total) in a fifteen volume series being published through Café Press.

For the series, Straczynski is publishing the final draft of each episode that he wrote for the series. Scripts that he did not write are not included. For each volume, Straczynski is writing a multi page introduction about that time in the series as well as several pages talking about each episode included. In most volumes, there are also pictures from Straczynski's personal archives as well as memos from that time period showing some of the communications he had with the studio and the crew. With each book containing seven scripts and the additional material, each volume will be 450 plus pages long. They are being offered via the Babylon5Scripts.com web site via Café Press. Straczynski is also offering various other items (shirts, caps, mugs, and pillows) with Babylon 5 Quotes on them via Babylon5Quotes.com .

The first three volumes have been released and cover roughly the first season and a half of the series, including the original pilot movie. The first volume includes the earliest version of the pilot script, The Gathering, which was the one that was used to sell the series, but not what was actually filmed (the final script will be in a later volume). It is interesting to see how things changed from the original conception, including small things like character names to bigger things like the introduction of Kosh's life mate. In the introductions and episode commentary, Straczynski talks in detail about the process he went through to get the series going and what changes were made between the pilot and the series. The memos include information about episode premises that never came to be (like the sequel to Harlan Ellison's Outer Limits episode, Demon with the Glass Hand) or characters that never made it to screen (The Boss, downbelow's big crime boss).

In volume 2, which contains the second half of the season one scripts, Straczynski covers how he set up the arc within the first season, why Londo's hair came to be the way it was (and the problems that caused down the road), some of Straczynski's thought processes for Morden's "What do you want?" question and the other big questions asked throughout the series, and a lot of good behind the scenes information.

Volume 3 covers the first half of the second season, which saw the introduction of John Sheridan following the departure of Commander Sinclair. Straczynski discusses the changeover of the show's lead character in detail and what went into creating the character of Sheridan (originally called Strider) and the process they went through to find the right actor for the part. He also discusses the addition of Starfury pilot Warren Keffer to the cast as an appeasement to the network and what he really wanted to do with the character (in addition to killing him off at the first chance he had). This volume includes the script for The Coming of Shadows, the first of two Babylon 5 episodes to win the Hugo award, for which Straczynski was very appreciative.

Throughout the volumes, Straczynski includes many personal stories about himself, from life events that influenced him and some of the storylines that came up in the series to behind the scenes stories about the cast and crew including the Babylon 5 coincidences that kept cropping up. He also makes heavy use of footnotes, from giving additional information or background to little tidbits like his naming the toilets after the TV Guide critic, Jeff Jarvis, that panned the pilot. The photos add to the volumes, although they were left out of volume 3 due to the extra commentary dealing with the changes made for Season Two. The main bulk of each volume is still the scripts. Reading the scripts gives you additional enjoyment of the episodes and also gives you more insight into what was seen onscreen and what was indicated in the script.

The books themselves are standard print-on-demand quality and are only available in soft cover. Once the series is complete, they will remain available for a limited time, making them a limited edition publication. Each volume is available at a discount for a limited time upon its release. Once you sign up for their mailing list, you likely will receive some Café Press coupons that can get you additional discounts if you take advantage of them.

This is a must have collection for die hard Babylon 5 fans and something that casual fans or those interested in scriptwriting should look into. The insights into the production and creation of the series greatly add to the value of the collection beyond the printing of the scripts. - Lee Whiteside