TNT and Season 5 |
The following was Netter Digital Entertainment's February 1997 press release to announce TNT's acquisition of rights for reshowing B5, and for 2 new TV movies. You might also like to see the press release confirming the follow-on series, "Crusade", and the second pair of TV movies.
NORTH HOLLYWOOD, Feb. 26 /PRNewswire/ -- Netter Digital Entertainment,
Inc. (Nasdaq: NETT) today announced that, pursuant to a news release issued by
Turner Network Television (TNT) and Bradley J. Siegel, president of TNT and
Turner Classic Movies, TNT has ordered the production of two all-new original
Babylon 5 made-for-television movies.
It was announced by TNT that the entire 88 one-hour episodes of the multi-
year story of the award winning science fiction series Babylon 5 kicks off in
January 1998 with a two-hour, original film "prequel." "Babylon 5: In The
Beginning," featuring the cast of Babylon 5 will film early this summer for
premiere at the January 1998 launch of Babylon 5, with a second two-hour
original film scheduled for production later this summer. TNT acquired the
exclusive cable rights to the series from Warner Bros. Domestic Pay-TV, Cable
& Network Features. The Babylon 5 films are being produced for TNT by series
creator, J. Michael Straczynski, in conjunction with Netter Digital's Douglas
Netter and John Copeland.
In the release by TNT, Mr. Siegel said "TNT's acquisition of Babylon 5
offers its millions of fans a unique opportunity to see the show's original
dramatic arc through to its conclusion. Babylon 5 represents the type of
contemporary high quality programming we are now producing and acquiring at
TNT." He went on to say, "The series' young, loyal viewers will now have a
national home where they can watch their favorite series as a community,
rather than the fragmented viewing that syndication provides. We think this
helps make TNT very valuable to an important audience for us." TNT is the
number one-rated cable network in primetime and currently seen in more than 70
million homes.
A statement was included in TNT's release from Eric Frankel, Executive
Vice-President, Marketing, Warner Bros. Domestic Pay-TV, Cable & Network
Features, as follows: "Babylon 5 is a unique series with an incredible
following. Its current popularity and critical acclaim, along with these
world-premiere movies, will provide TNT with a great opportunity to launch the
series on its network."
Douglas Netter, Chairman, President and CEO of Netter Digital, said, "We
are very pleased with Babylon 5's new home at TNT and look forward to our on-
going relationship with TNT. This order for two Babylon 5 television movies
validates the Company's strategy to build programming franchises with its
production properties." He went on to say, "The response from Babylon 5 fans
around the world is expected to be very favorable."
Babylon 5, the two-time Emmy award winner earned its place in science-
fiction history last year when it beat out Apollo 13, Toy Story, 12 Monkeys
and Deep Space Nine for the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, the
most prestigious honor in the science fiction field. Babylon 5's victory
marked the first time in the 43-year history of the Hugo Award that a
television series other than Star Trek and Twilight Zone was honored.
Netter Digital Entertainment, Inc. is a digital entertainment and
production company which utilizes high technology in creating television
series, movies, documentaries and multimedia productions. The Company
specializes in creating science fiction programming which combines live action
with computer graphics and is presently expanding its capabilities from being
primarily a production company into a broader-based, technology-driven
entertainment company. The Company currently produces the Hugo Award-winning
science fiction television series "Babylon 5" with creator and executive
producer, J. Michael Straczynski.
SOURCE Netter Digital Entertainment, Inc.
The press release seems to imply that there will only be 88 episodes, ie ending after season 4. However, the following message & reply from JMS on rastb5m suggest that this was not intended:
Subject: ATTN JMS: Can you elaborate on Netter Digital Press Release? -----+-------------+-------------------------------------------------- No. | DATE | FROM -----+-------------+-------------------------------------------------- s 1: Feb 27, 1997: jpfrain@hopper.unh.edu (Jonathan P Frain) * 2: Feb 27, 1997: jmsatb5@aol.com (Jms at B5) =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= From: jpfrain@hopper.unh.edu (Jonathan P Frain) Lines: 19 Hi Joe, I was at the lurkers guide today and I read todays press release by Netter Digital. I am very unhappy with what it says. It states that TNT will air 88 episodes of B5 starting in January of 1998. It says NOTHING about the possibility of a season 5 or how it would change when the repeats air. We first had WB officials calling the stations saying season 4 is it. And now this letter comes out from your company which seems to imply there won't be a fifth season. Can you please explain why this letter doesn't mention anything about the possibility of TNT airing 110 episodes if season 5 is given the go ahead? Jon Frain =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= From: jmsatb5@aol.com (Jms at B5) Lines: 32 Happy to explain. "And now this letter comes out from your company which seems to imply there won't be a fifth season." NDEI is not my company. I don't own it, don't work for it, it's entirely Doug's separate company. With a stockholder's meeting coming up, he told his financial PR person to pump out a release to get a little heat going...and there was the TNT deal to pick up the B5 episodes that clicked over at 88 episodes. That is the point at which they can get the show clean, and there's the two movies for TNT to announce as go projects. The financial PR person put this out, rather than the B5 publicists, or WB, and it never went in front of me or John Copeland. It just went out. That TNT gets access to 88 doesn't preclude a possible season 5, which could air concurrently, a la the way Lazarus Man did. When I came in and found email on this, and saw the release, I raised hell with Doug about it. He said "the entire 88 episodes" just refers to what's solid right now, it doesn't mean it's going to be all there is...to which I said it could be read that way, and many people *were* reading it that way, and his person could've saved everyone a lot of hassle if it'd been run past me first. One thing's for sure: This Will Never Ever Happen Again. jms
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