1bigrich
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Post by 1bigrich on Oct 25, 2024 17:25:01 GMT
Straczynski said because of the nature of episodic television, he wrote and 'out' for every character. He got lucky when Andrea Thompson left the show and Patricia Tallman was able to return as Lyta Alexander and continue the Telepath story line. But when Michael O'Hare's mental illness surfaced after the first season, he said, "Jeffrey Sinclair has a destiny and will return."
Which has often made me wonder about the Babylon 5 that might have been had O'Hare not left the show. Everything that happens to Sheridan happens to Sinclair, the moment of perfect beauty, the separation from EarthGov, Catherine Sakai wakes the Shadows instead of Sheridan's wife, Sinclair goes to Z'Ha'Dum. After the separation with Catherine Sakai, Sinclair falls for DeLenn, and War Without End becomes the series finale, with Sinclair, DeLenn and Zathras taking Babylon 4 back to fight the Shadow War of the past...
My thoughts,
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lordroel
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Post by lordroel on Oct 25, 2024 17:29:24 GMT
"Jeffrey Sinclair has a destiny and will return." And he did, as Valen, a good ending for him. |
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stevep
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Post by stevep on Oct 25, 2024 20:16:00 GMT
Straczynski said because of the nature of episodic television, he wrote and 'out' for every character. He got lucky when Andrea Thompson left the show and Patricia Tallman was able to return as Lyta Alexander and continue the Telepath story line. But when Michael O'Hare's mental illness surfaced after the first season, he said, "Jeffrey Sinclair has a destiny and will return." Which has often made me wonder about the Babylon 5 that might have been had O'Hare not left the show. Everything that happens to Sheridan happens to Sinclair, the moment of perfect beauty, the separation from EarthGov, Catherine Sakai wakes the Shadows instead of Sheridan's wife, Sinclair goes to Z'Ha'Dum. After the separation with Catherine Sakai, Sinclair falls for DeLenn, and War Without End becomes the series finale, with Sinclair, DeLenn and Zathras taking Babylon 4 back to fight the Shadow War of the past... My thoughts,
Damn it I never realised why he left the series - preferred him to Sheridan as a more cerebral character that really fitted the role - but such a tragic case.  Didn't even know Mr O'Hare was dead. |
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lordroel
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Post by lordroel on Oct 25, 2024 20:18:39 GMT
( Didn't even know Mr O'Hare was dead. From Michael O'Hare Wikipdidia article: Babylon 5 creator J. Michael Straczynski revealed after O'Hare's death that the actor had had severe mental illness. During the filming of the first season of Babylon 5, O'Hare began having paranoid delusions, and halfway through, his hallucinations worsened. It became increasingly difficult for O'Hare to continue working, his behavior was becoming increasingly erratic, and he was often at odds with his colleagues. Straczynski offered to suspend production for several months to accommodate treatment; however, O'Hare feared that such a hiatus would put the series at risk, and he did not want to jeopardize others' jobs. Straczynski agreed to keep O'Hare's condition secret to protect his career, and O'Hare agreed to complete the first season, but would be written out of the second season so that he could seek treatment. His departure from the cast was announced without explanation, except that it was mutual and amicable.
His treatments were only partially successful. He reappeared in a cameo appearance early in season two ("The Coming of Shadows") and returned in season three for a two-part episode ("War Without End") which closed his character's story arc. At that time, Straczynski promised O'Hare to keep his condition secret "to my grave". O'Hare told him to instead "keep the secret to my grave", arguing that fans deserved to eventually learn the real reason for his departure, and that his experience could raise awareness and understanding for people with mental illness. He made no further appearances on Babylon 5, but continued to support the show and appeared at conventions and signing events until his retirement from public appearances in 2000. |
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1bigrich
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Post by 1bigrich on Oct 28, 2024 15:07:31 GMT
And he did, as Valen, a good ending for him. THat's why I recommended the novel up-thread. Fills in a lot of Sinclair's gaps... Regards, |
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lordroel
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Post by lordroel on Oct 28, 2024 15:08:59 GMT
And he did, as Valen, a good ending for him. THat's why I recommended the novel up-thread. Fills in a lot of Sinclair's gaps... Regards, Would be nice to read Babylon 5 novels, you can find Star Trek ore Star Trek novels everywhere but not many Babylon 5 novels. |
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1bigrich
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Post by 1bigrich on Oct 28, 2024 15:14:40 GMT
Damn it I never realised why he left the series - preferred him to Sheridan as a more cerebral character that really fitted the role - but such a tragic case. Didn't even know Mr O'Hare was dead. Agree, Steve, I thought he was a great as the station commander. Nothing against Boxleitner, I just thought Sinclair was a better character. You can see the groundwork for him being laid in that first season, the way he dealt with the dockworkers' strike on Babylon 5, the dinner with the alien ambassadors. Like I said, it makes me wonder about the Babylon 5 that might have been had he not had to leave the series. Regards, |
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1bigrich
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Post by 1bigrich on Oct 28, 2024 15:17:49 GMT
( Didn't even know Mr O'Hare was dead. From Michael O'Hare Wikipdidia article: Babylon 5 creator J. Michael Straczynski revealed after O'Hare's death that the actor had had severe mental illness. During the filming of the first season of Babylon 5, O'Hare began having paranoid delusions, and halfway through, his hallucinations worsened. It became increasingly difficult for O'Hare to continue working, his behavior was becoming increasingly erratic, and he was often at odds with his colleagues. Straczynski offered to suspend production for several months to accommodate treatment; however, O'Hare feared that such a hiatus would put the series at risk, and he did not want to jeopardize others' jobs. Straczynski agreed to keep O'Hare's condition secret to protect his career, and O'Hare agreed to complete the first season, but would be written out of the second season so that he could seek treatment. His departure from the cast was announced without explanation, except that it was mutual and amicable.
His treatments were only partially successful. He reappeared in a cameo appearance early in season two ("The Coming of Shadows") and returned in season three for a two-part episode ("War Without End") which closed his character's story arc. At that time, Straczynski promised O'Hare to keep his condition secret "to my grave". O'Hare told him to instead "keep the secret to my grave", arguing that fans deserved to eventually learn the real reason for his departure, and that his experience could raise awareness and understanding for people with mental illness. He made no further appearances on Babylon 5, but continued to support the show and appeared at conventions and signing events until his retirement from public appearances in 2000.I recall seeing an article on Breitbart about Straczynski revealing the cause of O'Hare's departure after his death. I probably bookmarked it at the time, but with it being so long ago, it's probably lost to the wastes of cyberspace. Regards, |
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lordroel
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Post by lordroel on Oct 28, 2024 15:18:45 GMT
Damn it I never realised why he left the series - preferred him to Sheridan as a more cerebral character that really fitted the role - but such a tragic case. Didn't even know Mr O'Hare was dead. Agree, Steve, I thought he was a great as the station commander. Nothing against Boxleitner, I just thought Sinclair was a better character. You can see the groundwork for him being laid in that first season, the way he dealt with the dockworkers' strike on Babylon 5, the dinner with the alien ambassadors. Like I said, it makes me wonder about the Babylon 5 that might have been had he not had to leave the series. Regards, You can see him, in what i think is a sorta reboot in the animated film Babylon 5: The Road Home, even if it is not his voice actor. |
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1bigrich
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Post by 1bigrich on Oct 28, 2024 15:22:07 GMT
Would be nice to read Babylon 5 novels, you can find Star Trek ore Star Trek novels everywhere but not many Babylon 5 novels. They're out there and can be found on the web, but agreed, they're to as prolific or as advertised as Trek. Let me recommend b5books.com/I subscribe to the emails this site sends. They have a lot of material on B5, and a lot of 'behind the scenes' stuff. Regards, |
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lordroel
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Post by lordroel on Oct 28, 2024 15:22:49 GMT
Would be nice to read Babylon 5 novels, you can find Star Trek ore Star Trek novels everywhere but not many Babylon 5 novels. They're out there and can be found on the web, but agreed, they're to as prolific or as advertised as Trek. Let me recommend b5books.com/I subscribe to the emails this site sends. They have a lot of material on B5, and a lot of 'behind the scenes' stuff. Regards, Thanks for the link, will check it out. |
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Didn't even know Mr O'Hare was dead.