His days with Babylon 5 are over and done, yet the series continues practically unabated. The actor, who's as forthright as he is friendly, wrapped production on writer-producer-creator J. Michael Straczynski's popular Sci-Fi series several months ago, but new episodes continue to air, as do several previously filmed TV movies. And, on top of all that, the very last flicker of Babylon 5's flame, the series' time-tripping finale Sleeping In Light, went before the camera more than a year ago: back when no one knew for certain that B5 would return for a fifth season; back before Claudia Christian, who played Commander Ivanova, departed the series under less than happy circumstances.
    
   "It's been so strange talking about B5 for the last year or so," explains Boxleitner, whose many pre-Babylon 5 credits include the films The Babe and Tron, the TV movies and mini series Danielle Steele's Zoya, Wyatt Earp: Return to Tombstone and Bare Essence, and of course the popular romantic-action series Scarecrow & Mrs. King with Kate Jackson. "We shot [the recently aired TV movie] Thirdspace in June 1997 and at that point everyone was nuts. We were all on pins and needles [about B5's chances for renewal], and it was a quandary that went on for some time. It worked out very pleasantly, but again, it was strange because we got word that Turner [TNT, a US cable TV network] would be picking us up while we were shooting In the Beginning, another of our movies. And, confusing things even more, Thirdspace aired after In the beginning, even though it was shot before it. Now, the show is over, but it's still running. There are movies [A Call to Arms with Boxleitner, and River of Souls without him] still to air, and Joe's gearing up for a Babylon 5 spin-off [to be called Crusade]. You need a scorecard just to keep up with it."


   The fifth season of Babylon 5 witnessed war hero Sheridan assuming the title President of the Interstellar Alliance, growing closer with his half-human/half-Minbari wife Delenn (Mira Furlan), and ceding most of the day-to-day command responsibilities of dealing with the likes of the Minbari, Narn, Centauri and Drazi inhabitants of the United Nations-like Babylon 5 space station to the stoic Captain Elizabeth Lochley (Tracy Scoggins of Dallas, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Lois & Clark fame), who, it was revealed, turned out to be Sheridan's ex-wife. "Season five was pretty good," the actor notes. "Sheridan is doing less this year, and that's OK. Being president meant that Sheridan had to be less of an action role than it had been in the past, even though Thirdspace was all action for Sheridan. Claudia's leaving is ancient history to me now, but there she was in Thirdspace and I assume that she'll still be there in Sleeping In Light.


    "When that change went down, it was not fun for anybody. Everybody had a different version of what happened. It was part of the craziness that went on between the fourth and fifth seasons. Tracy came on and did a very admirable job trying to fill that spot. She came on as a solid, no-nonsense commander. I don't know how well that little bit of past trivia, with her being my ex-wife, worked. After the idea was introduced we never really played with it any further. Joe just kind of dropped that in. I was most surprised. I said, 'Oh, really.' It's one of those things that makes an actor wonder, 'Oh, God, what could I have done? If I'd known that sooner I could have played things a little differently.' But I was just following orders. Anyway, I think this season has been good, different from seasons three and four, but good in its own right."


    Boxleitner doesn't foresee participating in crusade but he wouldn't rule out a Babylon 5 feature film were that frequently rumoured project to become a reality. "Crusade is going to have an almost all-new cast. I think maybe racy Scoggins and Jeff Conaway will make the transition to Crusade, and I'm not even sure about Jeff," says the actor, who's currently writing a novel and spending some time with his wife, actress Melissa Gilbert, and their kids. "I think the plan is finish Babylon 5, air Call to Arms, then start with Crusade. Hopefully Joe will score again with Crusade and I only wish him the best of luck with it. There's still talk about a Babylon 5 movie. We'll see what happens. I'd be interested, but for now it's onto other things. My tenure with Babylon 5 is over. It's in the past for me now.


    "I had a great run on Babylon 5. It was a lot of fun. Hey, look, I never expected anything  at all from it. I took a job in 1994, when nobody, myself included, expected Babylon 5 to last the rest of that season. It was in syndication and even people who wanted to find the show couldn't find it and, if they did, it was on at two or three o'clock in the morning. I'd heard Babylon 5 was dying and that they were giving it one last gasp. That's the situation that I walked into. And look what happened."