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TNT's "Babylon 5" re-scheduling poll now on-line!!!

I don't care that I'm first by No-Op	Apr 29th, 1999 11:28:22 AM
Being first to post is a foolish aspiration. It is unworthy of my attention. I shall ignore the opportunity.
8am or 9am????? I HATE TNT! GGGRRRRRRRRRRRRRrrrrrrrr!!!!!!! by mckracken	Apr 29th, 1999 11:50:54 AM
HUH????? these times suck bad. Why is TNT so out to kill B5? They should just sell the damn show to Sci/fi where it'll be treated with a...little ......RESPECT!! And they are screaming that only ratings will save Crusade? how will THIS messed up strategy ever get ANYONE interested in Crusade??? BABYLON 5 is not a saturday Morning show. What do these lame stupid MORONS at TNT thing, that B5 is equal to Sid and Marty Kroft's Land of the Lost or Dr Shrinker???? GEEEESSSSSHH!!!!! -McK
TNT by Jack B	Apr 29th, 1999 12:02:53 PM
I Hate TNT Too!!!!!! How can they show "Due South" & "In The Heat Of The Night" instead of B5. How many websites do either of these shows have? I think that is a way of determining the amount of fans the show has. B5 has hundreds.
Wrong measure for reality by No-Op	Apr 29th, 1999 01:07:21 PM
The number of related websites only shows that the audience for B5 is aligned with the types that do web sites. "Due South" viewers might find high correlation with swap meets [just a random suggestion, no implied comment!] and feel as certain that, by polling their fellow shoppers, that their show is the clear favorite of the real world. Fact is, each of us chooses our world. While I too want to maximize the fit of my world to me, I don't want to lose the objectivity that will help explain why mine is not neccessarily the focus of all others. This objectivity is so often evidently missing in many of the local poster's lives. The arrogant, selfish blasts of virulent nastyness that mark so many talkbacks derive directly from the egotistic presumption that the writer is the center of reality, and all who do not agree only show their ignorance of the writer's true nature - the supreme being. The growing popularity of this personal centrism begets not only intolerant postings but racial and sexual violence, and the popularity of the recent trend of superman movies... where the plot involves a hero who gradually discovers his personal godhood... Matrix, Dark City, Truman Show, Phenomenon, B5, DS9, more. Don't get me wrong, I love these films too. I just hope I recognize them as fiction instead of allegorical future biographies for ME.
TNT, cont'd by Savant	Apr 29th, 1999 02:11:57 PM
"How can they show "Due South" & "In The Heat Of The Night" instead of B5?" Answer: Because those shows get higher ratings than B5. End of story.
Look at the bright side by Nevin	Apr 29th, 1999 03:37:36 PM
Seeing as I find it real tough to get up in the morning to go to work at 8, I think getting up to watch Babylon 5 at 6 AM would be a really great motivator to get me out of bed and off to work in time. And plus I'd have something interesting to chat about at work...my vote goes for 6 AM!
VCR Times by PsyCop	Apr 29th, 1999 04:33:53 PM
As far as I'm concerned, these are all VCR times. One is as good or bad as the other.---I'm not gonna bother voting.
TNT SUCKS by alphaomega325	Apr 29th, 1999 07:04:28 PM
Well this is just fine & dandy. Boy does TNT suck. They keep a moronic show like Lois & Clark on in a prime time slot for close to 2 years & this is what.... Babylon 5's third or fourth time change since it debut. They havent shown much support for this show since last July.
JMS by Lord_Darth	Apr 29th, 1999 07:58:10 PM
This is not completely TNT's fault. Ive looked around and i'm sure you have too. Crusade first started running into trouble when JMS wouldnt cooperate with TNT head guys. They wanted too much change i'll say that but JMS brought a lot of this on himself. And as for the stupid time slots B5 is getting, would you want to pay for something that might not be yours in a year or so? I wouldn't, after all JMS did auction crusade off to the highest bidder, and (no one was bidding) that burnt a lot of bridges for him.
TNT is only after the bucks by Todd Maxey	Apr 29th, 1999 08:54:52 PM
Lets face it TNT only cares about shows that bring in the bucks. After TNT cut the nuts off of Crusade for not having enough sex it no wonder the want to get rid of the B% series. If TNT wants more sex in their programming maybe the they should consider an "ED TV" type show but feature a Presidental Crotch Cam.
tnt b5 change by Peter1	Apr 29th, 1999 09:05:55 PM
god i just stopped laughing. well at least we know where things stand over there. can we vote to move wcw around. oh... look out the hordes are after me. how bout 3am along or actually before the farm reports. ah which one wcw or b5. at least the mn gov can watch it.
Maybe B5 doesn't deserve the 4PM slot? by DaveThomer	Apr 29th, 1999 09:38:02 PM
Call me an optimist, but I don't think that someone has been sitting in a big chair somewhere at TNT wondering how he or she could screw B5 and its fans. The simple truth is, B5's ratings have slipped, considerably, particularly when Season 1 started running again about a month ago. In fact, they slipped more than any other series that TNT runs in the 3-8 block. A TV network can't justify keeping a series in a slot where it's not earning good ratings. Now, there are those who say that TNT shouldn't be showing B5 in the afternoons, that it should be on in the evenings, in prime time or even after midnight. But that's not TNT's strategy -- they do movies, sports and wrestling in prime time, and most of the night owl hours, and that's it. And the kicker is, the folks who were selling B5 KNEW this at the time. They could have sold to Sci Fi, which is almost always showing stripped shows of some variety or other, but they wanted to go with TNT because they felt they could get more exposure and maybe get some fans outside the genre. (There's a JMS message archived somewhere that says this.) They got what they wanted, and now they are paying the price. It's probably nothing to get too worked up about anyway. When TNT's contract runs out, Sci Fi or someone else will be there it pick it up. Hell, I saw an episode of The Powers of Matthew Starr on TV Land today, so I am convinced that no show with any kind of following will ever die again. :) But most of the die-hard fans have watched (and taped) the episodes, and are moving on to other things, and there just aren't enough new people making the daily commitment to keep up with the show to take up the slack. Rather than get worked up about it, maybe we should just accept it.
I'M NOT EVEN AWAKE AT THOSE HOURS! by NJM	Apr 29th, 1999 09:51:43 PM
I don't have to get up until 9am on MWF, and the other days I don't HAVE to wake-up at all! Personally, I'm a nighttime person, and I'm very picky as to what I record on my VCR. So, I'm not going to video tape every episode because I don't have the time or money to do so. I'll sooner buy them from my local SUNCOAST VIDEO or BEST BUY store. TNT has been treating B5 horroribly for AT LEAST the past eight months! The SciFi Channel DEFINITELY needs to pick B5 & CRUSADE up for next season (or sooner)! The SciFi Channel has GREAT advertising on their channel, and B5 would sure to get PLENTY of advertisement exposure. That's all I have to say for now. -NJM
Yes, the choices stink, but.... by Boadicea	Apr 29th, 1999 10:49:42 PM
If people were watching in the necessary numbers, this discussion wouldn't be happening. And if, all along, that magic number of people had been watching B5 re-runs, "Crusade" probably wouldn't be homeless. What is the point of blaming or bad-mouthing TNT for what is, essentially, their response to poor viewer response? Face it: what TNT's regular audience wants and expects are movies, wrestling, and basketball. If we want to re-watch B5 into eternity, we should buy the videos (if we don't already have every episode taped, anyway).
poor viewer response was created by TNT!! by dfjkl	Apr 30th, 1999 12:39:28 AM
Look, Due South is no winner, that show blows. I was ever a loyal re-run watcher, as I'm sure most have been....but they have consistently been ratcheting it back times....plus, having it incessantly become the victim of WCW rescheduling, or basketball games, while no other show does, OF COURSE it's ratings will drop, no one ever knows what is going to happen w/ the damn show. I don't even watch it anymore because I CAN'T!! It is in such a poor timeslot now to prevent most people from watching it.
Inane hours? by Cilghal	Apr 30th, 1999 01:00:37 AM
I agree that airing B5 at 7 or 8 am in not exactly something I'd get on a campaign wagon and promote. However, when they moved it from 6 to 4 pm, it was the knell of death for any serious viewing. The fact is, once a show gets out of a prime time slot, if becomes extremely difficult to watch for anyone but school kids and housewives. There are reasons for calling it "prime time" afterall. Despite the fact that most of us would strongly prefer an evening time slot, morning hours would insure that some of us at least would be able to watch it before school or work. And those of us who can't, well, what's wrong with slipping in video tape to record while we're preparing for work or school? I don't know about you, but it's a lot easier for me to plunk in a video tape, hit record, and go do something else than it is to remember to set the machine up the night before with the correct start and end times for the afternoon showing. I voted for the 7AM M-F slot. At least we get to see the series at a decent rate. Once a week for a current prime time show is fine - but not for repeats, thank you very much. And I would advise trying to choose between the least of the four evils. If we don't, the bozos at TNT just might decide to put it in the 3:00 am Sunday slot....
They've got to be kidding! by JimPierce	Apr 30th, 1999 07:31:28 AM
Why not just give it to Sci Fi, where it might get SOME respect
It must be the coffee by Meridian	Apr 30th, 1999 07:41:39 AM
I looked at it and thought to myself, "God damn - I hope everyone votes for the ER time slot just for the sake of being difficult." Then I read Glen's comments and realized that it was AM. Must be because I'm on coffee cup number one of the morning. Thanks, TNT, for one last big "fuck you" to all the B5 fans out there. How does one of the worst shows EVER produced (Lois & Clark) actually get a better time slot than B5? Is it a western? Is it wrestling?
Taped it the first time... by DarthKoshi	Apr 30th, 1999 07:55:48 AM
Thank goodness I bought a pile of VHS tapes and taped the entire series the first time around on TNT. At least I get to watch it whenever I want. But I don't see how they think it'll attract any new viewers with those timeslot options... And who else suspects that CRUSADE may end up "rescheduled" to, say, the wonderful 4 a.m. slot, before June 9 arrives? Ugh. Bring on the DVDs!!!
7am by newworld	Apr 30th, 1999 08:15:23 AM
I also vote for the 7am slot because I have to be at work by 8am central so I can watch it at 6 before I go to work... But I do agree that these time slot choices are going to be the last nail in the coffin for B5 on TNT...
SF is best with lucid dreaming by Drahzi_1	Apr 30th, 1999 08:54:22 AM
There is nothing like getting up early in the morning to watch an awesome show in a waking stupor. This is the way I lived during high school watching "Star Blazers" on WGN in the late '70s. Give it a try. Perhaps this is just exactly the thing that would engratiate rabid 'trekkers' to the B5 universe. Get 'em while their reality shields are down and they just might begin to see the light of JMS.
Just for the record by PsyCop	Apr 30th, 1999 09:31:58 AM
I'm not exactly sure where B5 ranks in cable ratings. But I do know that the Cable Top Ten is dominated by Pro-Wrestling and NASCAR. That's the kind of "stuff" most cable viewers are into.
time change by undone	Apr 30th, 1999 01:08:34 PM
i'm glad someone is for having this show on right around the time i arrive at work. at least one more person will get to watch..... this whole thing is starting to sound like a busted love affair, with tnt taking the role of the lover who says, if you won't play my way, i'll make you and everyone you know miserable. this will finally kill off the show, but what did they expect anyway? most of the fan base was either at work or school or coming home from same at 4 pm est. and here i was just thinking the other night how much i miss b5. i haven't seen a decent show since. (yes, i know they are out there. but they are usually based on themes that have been done to death--cop shows, medical shows, lawyer shows, cop-lawyer shows, been there, turn off the tv, read a book).
the good ole days by sting	Apr 30th, 1999 01:41:28 PM
Watching TV shows in the morning is great, if you are in high school. I remember i did that for Beast Wars and Exo Squad. Did anyone see Exo, that was one of the best cartoons. It's level of sophistication was close to babylon, actually Gargoyles I think came the closest. NOw those 3 cartoons are the best for the 90's compared to the rest of the crap they pass off for cartoon nowadays. Whatever happened to th e good old days of thundercats, transformers, voltron, he-man, g.i. joe, now we got bullshit like Ren and Stimpy, Cow and chicken, does anyone else find these shows and names lacking creativity. Hell even sitcoms can't come up with good titles, but i guess what can you label something when it looks like shit. Back to the point, I am in college now and find that cartoons in the morning is an impossibility. I just don't want to wake up, maybe when I start working, until then B5 won't be seen unless a very good ep is on. Also, UNDONE if you are looking for a great show watch Stargate SG-1, its one of the best out there.
Don't Bother by Satanel	Apr 30th, 1999 03:33:25 PM
My suggestion is to treat the "hiatus" as the cancellation of B5. Those who want Crusade to be extended should watch every new episode when it airs, to help SciFi justify buying season 2. But, I see no reason to patronize TNT any more beyond that. Clearly, they want this thing gone, and my feeling is the sooner they release it, the sooner we can find a good home for it. As far as "who's to blame", I don't know, I don't care. What I do have personal knowledge of regarding this, TNT has behaved reprehensibly and I'll be damned if I'm watching anything on TNT, TBS, CNN, or anything associated with the hateful name "Turner". I guess we shouldn't be surprised. This is the same company that has been perpetuating "colourization". I should've known they don't care about quality, unless it's in spandex.
Those TNT Big-Wig Bastards! by Marcus Cole	Apr 30th, 1999 08:20:02 PM
First they cancel Crusade, now they want to rescedule B5?! So much for drumming up new viewers for support of bringing Crusade back! I hope they can explain why they decided on those four bullshit timeslots! It was bad enough when they moved it back by two hours, now they want to hide it so nobody can find it!? What a joke.
Sting's got it right on the money w/cartoons by Talon	Apr 30th, 1999 11:36:29 PM
IMHO, Gargoyles was by far the best cartoon I'd ever seen. Its story was almost as good as B5 and unfolded in a way reminiscent of Forever Knight, another cool show. Does anyone have any idea what the hell happened to Gargoyles? Which executive-moron decided to axe it?? I agree with Sting; the cartoon genre pretty much sucks these days. I yearn for the days when I'd wake up at 7:00 a.m. on a weekday, despite school, just to see Gargoyles...
Some Points to Consider by VideoMaster	May 1st, 1999 06:05:15 AM
First, and foremost, ratings are only a partial consideration of whether or not a show survives. It's how much of and advertising rate a network can charge, and the demographics watching it. "St. Elswhere" survived low ratings for years because the demographic watching it was considered good. Next, when a network sours on a show, for whatever reason they'll use any rational to kill it. B5's ratings have fallen drastically is the claim. If you moved "ER" from 6 to 4 EST, you don't think the numbers would fall? That's 3 PM in the Central time zone! The overwhelming majority of B5 fans are at work to pay for their VCR's so we can tape it. Plus, it may well be that B5's fate is already sealed. This whole thing may well be smokescreen to keep the negative reaction down. We may not be many in number, but we do tend to be a vocal lot. Will anybody really be surprised if TNT announces that the fans "decreed" B5 should be shown once a week on Sunday morning? Also, don't count on Sci-Fi to be our salvation, either. MST3K was once a heavily promoted show, but now is being politely asked to leave. There's a new sheriff in town, and his name is Barry Diller.
Children, time for a reality check by fordat1	May 1st, 1999 09:27:22 PM
Ok folks, time for a reality check. If B5 was getting the ratings that TNT needed in it's current time slot, it wouldn't be in their best interests to move it. It makes no BUSINESS SENSE. What is happening is that the audience is dropping because there is a loss of interest in the show after it's fourth run. TNT isn't some evil company wanting to destroy B5, it's a TV network that wants shows that delivers good ratings and hits there target demos, and B5 was a gamble on their part to reach a younger and broader audience, based on the available information it failed to do so . DUE SOUTH AND IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT and other shows tend to get higher ratings and have a broader demo appeal with women (A demo that B5 has NEVER appealed to in any great degree). Something all of you should near in mind, THEY DON'T CALL IT SHOW BUSINESS FOR NOTHING!
what happened to Gargoyles by Gwynn	May 3rd, 1999 01:20:00 AM
is something which is starting to become a habit in the world of entertainment. Gargoyles was a succesfull intelligent series which had attracted a rather strong following. Disney wanted more, mostly more control of it. So when it was time to negociate new contracts the creator and producer Greg Weisman could not reconciliate himself with the "Disney philosophy" of their new format for Gargoyles. The Goliath Chronicles, Disney's saturday morning series was so bad it disappeared quickly. And so dies a show... Sounds familair yet guys?
Bwahahahahahahaha! by Rorschach	May 3rd, 1999 06:00:48 AM
Well well well, where do I begin? B5: One of the greatest shows of TV history, simply because it didn't talk down to people. It provided enough for the casual viewer to watch occasionally and the the rabid fan-boys to totally get into. CRUSADE: A greater vision of an expanded B5 universe within a more intimate. Can't wait to see and tape, no matter when or where it comes on...and I will be getting as many people as possible to watch since we must all bow to the corporate TV god called Neilson. JMS: Damned if you do Damned if you don't pretty much sums up this man. a) Fans LOVE the show because it is the vision of one man preserved for the masses in spite of television execs attempts to muck it up...but JMS' hard-headedness to stick to his vision has put him at odds with, essentially, his "bosses". b) B5 was in the position two years ago to go with SCI-FI channel (not seen in all markets, including the one I just moved to, with a relatively small viewership) or TNT (widespread across country and most of Western world, large viewership). They took the path which would garner them more viewers and increase their marketability...the sacrifice was they went with a network which prides itself on trying to be the tough guy of television (westerns, wrestling, etc). With SCI-FI, exposure would have been small, but the suits there would have been more understanding...the result: quite possibly the same, only this time due to poor ratings because they couldn't REACH the viewers. NEW TIME SLOT: I feel as though I'm back in the good ol' days of syndication when we played "Find the Show!". Only now, TNT gives us about two week's warning rather than "oops...we forgot to tell you we moved the show last week" (and at least in most cable and satellite schedules, it shows up as B5 and not as "To Be Announced"). CARTOONS: a) Gargoyles rocks...too bad I could never remember to set up the tape (and Media General Cable has this pesky thing about cable boxes which essentially stops you from taping one channel and watching another...grrr). b) Also, I would recommend WARPLANETS (in the DC area, WB50 on Sunday mornings). I would guess a hard to find show, but worth it as it has the same sweeping plot which takes you from week to week. Good character development and plots, also good CGI and use of "camera angles" and facial expressions. If only the friggin' station would re-run them in proper order so one could keep the plot straight!!! MUSIC: Evan Chen is a person I'm willing to give another shot to as far as music is concerned for Crusade. His music was good in the movie A CALL TO ARMS, but I found the incidental music during certain scenes very distracting (so did my wife and my friends...all musicians also). Given this was Chen's first real exposure to TV scoring, and scoring for a movie is completely different than for a one-hour drama, we'll see how this develops. STAR TREK: Any SCI-FI is good SCI-FI (a la "Any press is good press") since it, at the very least, exposes the masses to the possibility that science can be entertaining. STAR TREK is owed a great deal of gratitude for opening the America, and the world, to SCI-FI on television and in the movies. However, this does not excuse BAD SCI_FI entirely. There was crap in the TWILIGHT ZONE, crap in the original STAR TREK, crap in Next Gen, crap in DS9, crap in VOYAGER (well...ok...LOTS of crap in VOYAGER...but any franchise would turn to crap if run into the ground like STAR TREK has in the last ten years...just imagine if Lucas began a STAR WARS ongoing series on TV in an effort to stretch the almighty profit margin...we might be dreading the upcoming prequel trilogy rather than waiting and drooling over it's release)...and, heaven forbid, crap in B5. There's crap everywhere, so let's stop hounding STAR TREK as "the enemy" and start supporting SCI-FI television for what it is...a rare and precious resource. That's it for me...I'll crawl back into my hole now.
Someone left on the laughing gas. by Wolfpack	Jul 22nd, 2006 10:42:03 PM

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TNT's "Babylon 5" re-scheduling poll now on-line!!!

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