Babylon 5 is being rebooted, and I have a complicated reaction to that.

I’m not sure how I feel about this.

[The CW] is teaming with original series creator J. Michael Straczynski for a reboot of Babylon 5.

Described as a “from-the-ground-up reboot” of the original, Straczynski will pen the script for a new potential version of the former syndicated drama from Warner Bros. TV. The new take revolves around John Sheridan (originally played by Bruce Boxleitner), an Earthforce officer with a mysterious background, who is assigned to Babylon 5, a five-mile-long space station in neutral space, a port of call for travelers, smugglers, corporate explorers and alien diplomats at a time of uneasy peace and the constant threat of war.

(H/T: @brett_lemons)Obvious plusses: it’s more Bab5*, and coming from Straczynski. Obvious negatives: it’s a reboot and there’s an obvious question to ask (“But why?”). And that leads me to my real concern: who do you find to replace the secondary characters? — who were, collectively, the real draw of the show for me. Who the hell wants to be known as Londo Mollari the Lesser?

…And yet, I will probably watch this. Because it is Babylon 5, and Straczynski’s doing the script. Bab5 was always a show that objectively shouldn’t have really worked; and yet, it did. Maybe they can pull it off again. Worth watching the pilot at least, hey?

Moe Lane

*That’s a good deal, that, if you don’t have the complete set already (I have the complete set already).