The Legend Of The Rangers LogBook

Click here for the LogBook entry on the pilot movie
To Live And Die In Starlight

Last fall Babylon 5 moved from the early morning time slots to which it had been exiled by TNT to the 7 PM weeknight slot on the Sci Fi Channel. The reruns, now shown in widescreen, quickly became one of the network's top-rated shows, even outdrawing some of its original programming. (Granted, in the case of stuff like Black Scorpion, that wasn't too hard.) That got Sci Fi and B5 creator J. Michael Straczysnki to talking about new projects set in the B5 universe; the first product of those discussions is Babylon 5: Legend of the Rangers.

Right now, the only go project is a two-hour made for TV movie planned for the fall, but the movie (itself titled To Live and Die in Starlight) is also a pilot for a Legend of the Rangers TV series. (Which means the full title of the movie is Babylon 5: Legend of the Rangers - To Live and Die in Starlight.) In a Usenet announcement of the deal, Straczynski said the pickup for series was likely, and he seems to be operating on the assumption that To Live and Die in Starlight is just the beginning. Of course, nothing is certain until the contracts are signed, and even then...but right now there is cause for optimism, especially since Straczynski says the Starlight script has an energy similar to B5's excellent third season.

Legend of the Rangers is set in 2265, about three years after the events of the last "contiguous" B5 episode, Objects At Rest, and follows the adventures of the Rangers (also called the Anla'shok) as they aid civilizations that were devastated by the Shadow War. Straczynski says the series will be an action/adventure series with underlying drama - as opposed to B5 which was a "heavy drama with some adventure/action elements" - and will explore Minbari culture in greater depth.

The cast of Rangers has extensive SF and fantasy experience. Dylan Neal plays David Martel, a Ranger who Straczynski says has "come through some especially rough times." Mackenzie Gray has appeared in Andromeda, First Wave, and The Outer Limits, as has Alex Zahara. Zahara also plays a recurring role on Dark Angel, and has done several episodes of Stargate SG-1. Dylan Neal, Myriam Sirois, Warren T. Takeuchi (Dark Angel, Stargate SG-1, The Sentinel, The 6th Day), Dean Marshall (First Wave, Poltergeist: The Legacy), Jennie Rebecca Hogan, David Storch (First Wave), Enid-Raye Adams (The Lone Gunmen, The Outer Limits) and Gus Lynch round out the cast.

Most of the characters are humans or Minbari, with the exception of Hogan and Lynch, who play new recruits from other races. Hogan plays the Narn Na'Feel, while Lynch is the Drazi Tirk. Other characters are Martel's Minbari second-in-command Dulann (Zahara), weapons specialist Sarah Cantrell (Sirois), healer Firell (Adams), communications/translation specialist Kitaro Sasaki (Takeuchi), intelligence operative Malcolm Bridges (Marshall), and political/first contact expert Tafeek (Storch).

B5 and Crusade partner Douglas Netter is back as executive producer with Straczynski. B5 vet Mike Vejar directed the pilot movie. Andreas Katsulas reprised his role as G'Kar in the film (but likely not the entire series). Canadian effects company Gajdecki Visual Effects handled the special effects. (Netter Digital, which handled effects in B5's fourth and fifth seasons and in Crusade's 13 episodes, has gone bankrupt.) B5 series composer Christopher Franke returned to handle the score.

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BABYLON 5, CRUSADE, LEGEND OF THE RANGERS and all related characters and placenames are the property of Warner Bros. Domestic Television and the PTEN Consortium. This document is not intended to infringe upon Warner Bros.' copyright in any way. The author(s) make no attempt - in using the names described herein - to supercede the copyrights of the copyright holders, nor are these files officially sanctioned, licensed, or endorsed by the shows' creators or producers.