TV Zone Issue 85, December 1996
Bruce Boxleitner Beyond Z'ha'dum
In Z'ha'dum, the final episode of Babylon 5's third season, Captain John Sheridan hurled himself into an abyss on the Shadow's homeworld as the White Star, laden with explosives, crashed onto the planet's surface above him. The Universe held its breath... As the fourth season begins, there is no word of Sheridan. Garibaldi is also missing. Delenn is in mourning, while Ivanova is lost in deep depression. But can Sheridan really be dead?
Living Proof
It's October 15th 1996, and episode five of the new season is being shot. Today the production crew are working on the White Star, which is commanded, as before, by Captain Sheridan.
Taking a break from filming, Bruce Boxleitner spares time to talk to TV Zone. There was talk that for Season Four Sheridan's image would become more Arthurian. The uniform would be replace by a more medieval costume, while his hair would be shoulder length, complemented by a beard. Yet Boxleitner still sports the smart B5 command uniform, and his hair is shorter than we've seen before.
"We threw that idea around at the time," he says of the planned image change. "Joe Straczynski, John Copeland, and Doug Netter and I, but decided to go for a more streamlined futuristic look. I said I didn't want to wear a beard. I personally feel it's difficult to wear inside a space helmet. When you see our astronauts up on the space shuttle, they don't have facial hair.
"They really based Babylon 5 on a Forties look originally - they wanted it really retro because of the parallels with World War II. The Arthurian thing is not going by any means, it's just not going to look like we're a bunch of medieval knights in Space. Even Jason Carter [who plays Marcus Cole] has a different look this year - he cut the long mane off during the summer, which works great."
Boxleitner also says that, as we've already seen the future John Sheridan in War Without End, there's no reason to re-think his appearance. "In the flash forward I don't have a beard," he insists. "You already have me nailed down in the way I'm looking."
A Time for Change
Year Four of Babylon 5 will nevertheless be a time for change. The show will no longer have a five-year story arc; Warners have insisted that the ongoing narrative strands must be tied up by the end of this season. Are the programme's days numbered?
"After the arc is over, there's no reason for this to be over," says Boxleitner positively. "So long as it has the fan involvement and it's making sufficient money for Warners. We were a non-union show here, but when we became union this show became more expensive to make. This was one of the last non-union shows shooting in Los Angeles; everything is in Canada or somewhere else. What happens is we become expensive, and they want to make that money back. But certainly what's been going on overseas is a positive sign."
There's talk around the set that Babylon 5 may continue to a fifth year as a season of unlinked episodic stories. Alternatively, Joe Straczynski's planned spin-off series focusing on the Rangers could enter production, featuring some of the principal cast members of Babylon 5. Nothing is certain, except that by the end of Season Four the show's continuing narrative will have reached a conclusion.
Tying Up
With just 17 more episodes of the season to shoot, does Babylon 5's leading man know how it will end?
"No I don't," he responds, "I do know where we are concerning the Shadow War, I know where that's going. Obviously all the fans who have followed it will know the agenda that's happening after this because we've been banished from Earth. Once we've taken care of the Shadows, their allies are going to have to be dealt with too. That's where we're going."
When asked if their will be more of Sheridan's future as seen in War Without End, the actor admits that he has no idea.
"That's part of the fun of doing this show - we speculate as to what's going to happen," he grins, "We do know what happens in the future flash-forward, but what goes on in between? Obviously Delenn and Sheridan are going to be a man and wife; that hasn't happened yet, but it's bound to happen. We are told we have a son, David, and apart from that I don't know."
It's obvious that Boxleitner is very happy with his lot on Babylon 5. He talks passionately about the storylines and characters, enjoys the company of his co-stars on and off the set, and shows no trace of ego or attitude.
"I enjoy this show, I could do this for a long time," he affirms. "Most of the cast have been in the show longer than I have - I came in with the second season. I've been used to doing television series and I know how it can become around the fourth season. People get tired."
Yet, he insists, there is no sense of complacency on Babylon 5.
"It's developed, I think were as excited to find out what's going to happening in the next weeks as the fans are. Sometimes in talking with [journalists] it's hard to hold a secret. I am terrible; if I was really the Captain, this place would have been destroyed. I can't keep a secret to save my life - loose lips sink stations! But I get enthusiastic about it! There's so much interest on the Internet that I'm glad I don't use it, because I would have told everybody everything."
Movies
Something Boxleitner will reveal is that there are tentative plans for a number of Babylon 5 tv movies. The idea has been considered for some time - initially it was thought that a 90-minute special could be made during the 1996 hiatus to be released straight on video, but nothing came of this. Then Warner Brothers approached Joe Straczynski with a proposal for making a major Babylon 5 feature film, to be released theatrically around the world.
"But they didn't want any of the cast - they wanted movie stars!" explains Boxleitner. "They wanted to do a mainstream movie, but in most of [the USA] they don't know who the hell we are yet. We're not gonna sell tickets. so they would have feature film stars - for example, Marcus Cole would be played by Hugh Grant! Joe said absolutely not; this show is what it is, and we're the people who made it. I think they've kind of nixed that."
Cable-Bound
Instead, the current strategy is for a few isolated Babylon 5 specials made specifically for the cable channel TNT.
"TNT wants a generic Babylon 5 film to launch the 1998 season for them, which we would probably do sometime in May or June," he clarifies. "We would wrap this season, have a few weeks off and then come back and do a two-hour film for television.
"The movie is going to deal [with a period] some time before Babylon 5. It can't be part of the arc as written, but Joe has a couple of scenarios he's thinking of. There's a possible one where I'm still on the Starship Agamemnon. He wants to do the Earth Minbari war, where we all were. Ivanova just joins the service after her brother was killed. I'll just shave off the top of my hair and have an Earthforce look and dye the grey hair."
TNT has already purchased 88 episodes of Babylon 5, intending to air them in the correct sequence, one episode a night, five nights a week. Hopes are high that this might finally buy the series a substantial following in the States, where poor timeslots in syndication and the mix of repeats and new episodes has resulted in disappointing viewing figures.
British Following
Ironically, the situation in America is a complete contrast with Britain, where Babylon 5 has a loyal fan following.
"I had a wonderful time over there in June," says Boxleitner of his trip to England. "It was almost going over there to be part of something that was so loved, and coming back to near indifference. It's kind of depressing coming home.
"I think the reason is it's much more of a British television series sensibility. It deals with themes which are very much...maybe we're being a little pretentious sometimes. There are themes that are dealt with that are classical which I think the British are more attuned to. It's a very theatrical type show. It's not Melrose Place or something - which has its place too. We're not talking about who is having an affair with who, we're dealing in big themes - good and evil. I think [the English are] more interested in that kind of side, and I think there's more of an interest in Science Fiction there period. We're also on one time for all of the UK to catch so that makes it less confusing."
The show has also employed an unusually large number of British cast members - Jason Carter, Roy Dotrice, Christopher Neame and James Warwick, to name but a few - and the production has a repertory feel, with guest actors continually returning to the show to play different roles.
"It's very much like that," Boxleitner nods. "If we get cancelled we'd love to go and shoot it [in England]. We had such a warm reception, and that hasn't gone unnoticed here. It was in the Los Angeles Times on Saturday, someone was talking about TimeWarner and Ted Turner merging, and mentioning the overseas sales of some of their series that don't fare in the ratings as well here as they do overseas. Certainly this marketing person was talking about Babylon 5 specifically, what an overwhelming success it has been in Great Britain and Germany, whereas it does mediocre numbers here. Thank God for you all over there."
Collector
The actor reveals that one of the high points of a trip to London was the opportunity to visit specialist Science Fiction shops, where he purchased bags full of Babylon 5 merchandise and related magazines. In fact, he's become something of a collector - a hobby that has allowed him to empathize with the fans.
"I have managed to save everything I could possibly get connected to the show - "I'll keep it too," he offers. "I wasn't collecting so much when I did Tron back in 1981, but now fans send me things that I didn't realize was out there. I've got some great posters, I have some lobby cards, the paperback book I got in Blackpool, in mint condition. My wife is looking to find me a Tron pinball machine, as they came out and I never saw one. I used to give away all my stuff that I would get on the shows, then I realized that one day it is me - my legacy, my memories, and the children may want them when I'm gone. I've kept every issue of Starburst, TV Zone, and Cult Times since I came on this show."
When asked to describe himself, the actor insists that he is "nowhere near as brave as Sheridan".
"I like reading, riding the horses, I play a lot of tennis," he declares. "I've got wonderful children - three boys - a wonderful wife who is a tv star in her own right, who made a little appearance on this show. I collect vintage film posters, I've got them all framed and the whole house is like a gigantic film poster museum."
Boxleitner also professes to be something of a book addict, and always has one to hand. It is, he believes, a pastime that has helped him, while playing the role of Sheridan.
"When Joe initially talked to me he wanted to know my hobbies and what I read. I don't read a lot of Science Fiction. I'm not thinking of this as doing Science Fiction; I'm doing a war story. I like military history, and that's what appealed to me about this part.
"Ironically when I was a kid I read a lot of Westerns. I think Sheridan is very much a part of that: Sheridan actually comes from the Civil War general, Phil Sheridan. I was talking to Larry DiTillio, who was story editor on my first season, and he said, 'What are your interests?' And I said I read Civil War history - in America there's probably been more books written on the war between the states than anything. So Phil Sheridan is where we got the name."
Heroes
Asked to name his name his own personal heroes, the actor pauses before saying, "I admire people in real life who have seen above and beyond..." he muses, "extraordinary people.
"I'm sort of on a astronaut kick right now. I've been very fortunate to sit and talk to people who've done great things, but have almost been forgotten. The same thing probably happened to Columbus or any of the great explorers. Eventually when their feat was not so much of a feat anymore they get forgotten.
"Jerry Doyle [who plays Garibaldi] and I have been invited by NASA to attend one of the shuttle launches. It's going to be so exciting: we'll get a tour of the NASA Space centre. We've actually had some of those people here as guests. They watch the show at mission control. John Copeland has pictures of everybody at mission control waving, and they're watching Babylon 5 on this huge screen!"
There's a gleam in Boxleitner's eye as he discusses the NASA trip; the kind of excitement any fan would feel when they finally get to meet their idols.
"When I was a teenager I followed the Space race very closely," he continues. "I remember very distinctly the night I ran outside and looked up at the moon, just as Neil Armstrong stepped out. I couldn't fathom that we'd actually done it - there were humans beings up there.
"It was so exciting in the Sixties, the idea that we fly into Space. Everyone's forgotten that it's dangerous, and these people are very brave. The NASA people told me, 'We watch this stuff because it re-inspires us to do what we're doing'.
"It keeps that thing of an optimistic future - we make it through."
David Richardson
Thanks, Karen!
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