Press Release

SCI FI Channel Hitting Its Stride

Now in 70 Million Homes -- Adding Original Miniseries & Movie Events 
to Development Slate

NEW YORK--(ENTERTAINMENT WIRE)--March 20, 2001--SCI FI Channel 
continues to pump up its original programming slate while 
aggressively adding homes to its distribution count. This month, the 
Channel reaches nearly full distribution by hitting the 70 million 
home mark -- up 47% in distribution since the company was acquired in 
February '98. Already the largest provider of original primetime 
scripted series on cable -- basic or premium, SCI FI has broadened 
its focus to include a brand-new slate of original movie and 
miniseries projects.

Upcoming projects include:

BABYLON 5: The Legend of the Rangers -- The original creative team 
behind the popular science-fiction Babylon 5 television series and 
movies are on board to produce the all-new full-length action 
adventure Babylon 5: The Legend of the Rangers, to premiere 
exclusively on SCI FI later in the year. The two-hour telefilm will 
be executive produced by Douglas Netter and executive 
producer/creator J. Michael Straczynski, and is scheduled to begin 
production shortly. Babylon 5: The Legend of the Rangers takes up the 
story of the legendary Ranger fleet as they attempt to restore order 
to hundreds of civilizations devastated by the Shadow War. This new 
chapter in creator Straczynski's fascinating universe finds the elite 
and mysterious Ranger force -- a combination of male and female 
humans and alien Minbari trained in space warfare, the unique alien 
philosophy of the rangers, and every conceivable form of martial 
arts -- faced with deadly challenges in their attempt to create peace 
out of the war's destruction. Babylon 5 series cast members may also 
appear, with the movie serving as the pilot for a potential SCI FI 
Channel series.

JMS on the new project:

Well, that's at least ONE weight off my chest....

To those who've heard the news already, and those just now finding 
out...the SciFi Channel today announced that we have a new Babylon 5 
TV movie going into production that will also serve as a pilot for a 
likely new series.

The movie (and the series) is under the heading of BABYLON 5: THE 
LEGEND OF THE RANGERS. The specific title for the 2-hour movie's 
story is "To Live and Die in Starlight."

There isn't much I can tell you about the story because we're kinda 
keeping the details under wraps as much as possible for the time 
being. What little I can say....

It's set in the B5 universe just under 3 years after the events 
of "Objects at Rest." At this point there's one major character from 
the B5 universe in the script (a fan favorite). Where B5 was a heavy 
drama with some adventure/action elements, this one is a little more 
skewed toward adventure with underlying drama (which is about what 
you'd expect from the Anla-Shok).

We've been sitting on this information for a while now...such that 
we're already well into pre-production. We'll be shooting this movie 
around mid-May, well in advance of any potential actor's strike (the 
script is done and so far everybody likes it a LOT).

We've already got designs coming in on a new ship, and a new *kind* 
of ship...and we're going to be getting more into Minbari aesthetics, 
technologies and philosophy.

It's got some great characters, and it's a lot of fun.

I have other news to announce on other fronts...have since the end of 
the year, in fact...but I'm still sitting on the details awaiting 
another press release from another studio. What I *can* say is that I 
have a firm GO order to executive produce a new series (nominally SF) 
that will go into production after the potential SAG strike. When 
that's finally over, if the strike indeed happens, we pull the 
trigger and go into principal photography and it's an order for a 
full season's worth of episodes.

I can't give you any details right now on the subject, title, studio 
or network. That will have to await the studio's release...so don't 
even ask.

As far as doing both projects at the same time is concerned...it's 
actually quite common, as testified to by folks like John Wells and 
Aaron Sorkin and David Kelly and others. So there won't be any 
conflict. 

More later.

CRUSADE BROADCAST ORDER

JMS on Crusade's broadcast order:

So the SciFi Channel asked me what order I'd like to air the series 
in, since the folks at TNT kafuffled the airdates and schedule based 
on what I'd originally had in mind.  The theory is, you start out 
with general episodes to introduce the situation, characters and 
story, then you focus on individual characters.  The first five we 
shot, intended to produce this effect, got shoved to the back of the 
line and we then had to air the individual-themed ones 
*first*...essentially inverting the order.

So SFC asked me what the preferred author's order would be...and 
that's how they've structured it, costume change be damned.  Yes, 
there will be some dialogue glitches now, because we looped a few 
things to try and do least violence to the chronology of previously 
shot shows...but from an overall story perspective, this is the 
preferred order (as best I could remember it when they called and 
asked).

So here is the order in which the Crusade eps will be broadcast:

Mon, April 9  8:00 PM  CRUSADE  RACING THE NIGHT
Tue, April 10  8:00 PM  CRUSADE  THE NEEDS OF EARTH
Wed, April 11  8:00 PM  CRUSADE  THE MEMORY OF WAR
Thu, April 12  8:00 PM  CRUSADE  THE LONG ROAD
Mon, April 16  8:00 PM  CRUSADE  VISITORS FROM DOWN THE STREET
Tue, April 17  8:00 PM  CRUSADE  THE WELL OF FOREVER
Wed, April 18  8:00 PM  CRUSADE  EACH NIGHT I DREAM OF HOME
Thu, April 19  8:00 PM  CRUSADE  PATTERNS OF THE SOUL
Mon, April 23  8:00 PM  CRUSADE  THE PATH OF SORROWS
Tue, April 24  8:00 PM  CRUSADE  RULING FROM THE TOMB
Wed, April 25  8:00 PM  CRUSADE  THE RULES OF THE GAME
Thu, April 26  8:00 PM  CRUSADE  WAR ZONE
Mon, April 30  8:00 PM  CRUSADE  APPEARANCES AND OTHER DECEITS