Trivia for
"Babylon 5" (1994) More at IMDbPro »

• Claudia Christian auditioned for the role of Seven of Nine on "Star Trek: Voyager" (1995). In fact, several B5 actors also did Trek: Andreas Katsulas was Romulan Commander Tomalak; Bill Mumy was an engineer on Starfleet's AR-558 outpost; and more. Trek co-creator Majel Barrett made an appearance on B5 as the seer who foretells Londo's ascension to the throne. Majel Barrett's character, Lady Morella, was the widow of the recently deceased Emperor Turhan, no doubt an homage to Gene Roddenberry.
  
  
• When B5 entered production, there were claims that the creators of "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" (1993) had stolen the basic Babylon 5 premise. It was never proven, though both shows share striking similarities. This controversy led to friction between Babylon 5 and Star Trek fans over the course of both series.
  
  
• The Babylon 5 station is an "O'Neil class space station". Gerard K. O'Neill was a physicist and space visionary who suggested the use of large rotating cylindrical habitats for future space stations.
  
  
• The Medlab was deliberately designed to display few tools and instruments. The designers considered less to be more in guessing future medical technology.
  
  
• The Babylon 5 station is claimed to be operated by an artificial intelligence computer system provided by the Centauri.
  
  
• Babylon 5 filmmakers received informal technical advice on the series from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
  
  
• According to Usenet posts by series creator J. Michael Straczynski, the term "psi cop" (for the powerful, merciless enforcers of the Psi Corps) intentionally echoes the acronym "CSICOP" - the acronym for the "Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal", a group of scientists and professional magicians who investigate psychic phenomena and unmask frauds and hoaxes.
  
  
• The series was conceived to run for five seasons as a sort of giant video novel. This plan was nearly shelved when it appeared B5 was going to be canceled after the fourth season. J Michael Straczynski pushed forward much of the material he had planned for the fifth season into the fourth, and even filmed the planned series finale for that year. When word came that the fifth season had been granted after all, the series finale was held back and used in its proper place.
  
  
• Cameo: [J. Michael Straczynski] (series creator), as the technician who turns off the station's lights in the series finale.
  
  
• The teddy bear that Radu finds in "Space Cases: Who Goes Where (#1.2)" (????) is the very same one that Sheridan tosses out of an airlock into space in "Babylon 5: There All the Honor Lies (#2.14)" (1995), which was written by Space Cases creator Peter David. It's a running gag between David and Babylon 5 creator J. Michael Straczynski. David's wife gave the bear to JMS, who hates "cute" things, and thus had Sheridan dispose of it in a rather unkind manner. Peter David took revenge in defense of his wife's honor. When Radu brings in the bear, Rosie says, "What kind of dope would toss a perfectly good Earth bear into space?" Later, we find out that the bear was left by an evil race called the "Straczyn." JMS has reportedly sworn vengeance.
  
  
• During the run of the show, the show's creator, J. Michael Straczynski, was contacted by NASA officials who asked if they could borrow the design of the show's fighters - the StarFuries - for use on the International Space Station. NASA wanted to use the ships as a combination tug and forklift, adding, "Your design is the most practical we've seen." Straczynski replied that it was fine with him, but that NASA had to call them StarFuries. NASA agreed.
  
  
• Because of the epic five season video novel format, ad libs were forbidden on set. Any script changes had to be approved by series creator J. Michael Straczynski. (Occasionally, ad-libs slipped through. In "Babylon Squared", a flash-forward in time shows Garibaldi leading security forces in defense against an attack on the station. As he fires his weapon, he shouts at the enemy, in a manner reminiscent of Hudson from Aliens: "Come on! Take some! How about you? How about YOU?! Come on, take some, take some, TAKE SOME!" When asked on rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5 how it was that Garibaldi knew where to shoot when other scenes indicated that the attackers were invisible, JMS explained that Jerry Doyle ad-libbed the dialogue. There had been none written for that scene, and Doyle felt that an emotion charged battle like this would not have been fought in silence. JMS in fact agreed with Doyle, but circumstances prevented his being present at the filming. He said that had he been there, he would have written some lines for Garibaldi - and that they would have sounded less like Hudson.)
  
  
• Claudia Christian was originally scheduled to appear in season 5. According to series creator J. Michael Straczynski, she backed out of the final season due to a contract dispute. However, according to Christian, she was fired by the producers.
  
  
• Series creator J. Michael Straczynski once said that the Earth Alliance military used a "blending" of rank systems, although this was never spelled out in detail on the show. Thus, the exact EA rank structure remains unknown, although most fans assume the different branches (Navy, Marines, Security) each use the appropriate system of ranks for that branch. (Contrary to popular belief, Admirals have been mentioned twice on the show, in "And the Sky full of Stars" and "Signs and Portents") There are Generals who have been seen wearing the blue Navy uniform, although this could be evidence of yet another branch (Air Force?).
  
  
• Although Morden's first name is never mentioned in the entire series, his full name is Dr. Paul Morden.
  
  
• Series creator J. Michael Straczynski made television history by becoming the first person to write an entire 22-episode season of a television series (Babylon 5's 3rd season).
  
  
• The Omega-class destroyers used by the Earth Alliance military were based on the design of the Russian spaceship 'Leonov' from the film 2010 (1984).
  
  
• Walter Koenig plays Psi Cop Alfred Bester. Alfred Bester (1913 - 1987) was a leading science fiction writer, one of whose best works, The Demolished Man, deals with murder in a world where the police are telepathic, as is the Bester character in Babylon 5.
  
  
• During the first season, Commander Sinclair said, "This station creates [artificial] gravity by rotation, so the room never stops spinning." Reportedly, the animating team had the station spinning at a near-Earth gravity simulation. This was determined by a physicist who was also a fan of the show, who determined the approximate size of the station by comparing it to the image of a human being on the edge of the station and extrapolating.
  
  
• Delenn was originally going to be a male character. The "transformation" at the start of season 2 would have been from a male character to a female character - both incarnations were to have been played by Mira Furlan. This is why, in the pilot, Delenn's appearance is much more severe and masculine than in the first series. The plan was to electronically modulate Furlan's voice into a lower register, so her voice would sound male. JMS wasn't happy with the results, so the male-to-female idea was dropped; Furlan's unaltered voice was used for the pilot, and her makeup was made more feminine for the series.
  
  
• Ranked #13 in TV Guide's list of the "25 Top Cult Shows Ever!" (30 May 2004 issue).
  
  
• Captain John Sheridan was ranked #9 in TV Guide's list of the "25 Greatest Sci-Fi Legends" (1 August 2004 issue).
  
  
• The Centauri Celebration of Life, in the episode "Parliament of Dreams", was shot all in one take.
  
  
• Won two Hugo awards in two consecutive years.
  
  
• Robert Foxworth, who played General Hague during Season 2, was supposed to return for "Babylon 5: Severed Dreams (#3.10)" (1996). However he got booked on an episode of "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" (1993) that same week. So they re-wrote the script, killed off his character and brought in Bruce McGill as his aide, Major Ryan. Oddly enough, Foxworth's Deep Space Nine character attempted a coup on Earth, whereas his Babylon 5 character was a loyalist fighting against a coup on Earth. Also, in a "Stargate SG-1" (1997) episode, Foxworth's character was nearly the victim of a coup on his home world, and in an "Enterprise" (2001) episode, he attempted yet another coup on the planet Vulcan.
  
  
• The Vorlon encounter suit actually didn't fit through the doorways on the set, so the alien was never shown entering or leaving a room.
  
  
• Although Producer J. Michael Straczynski had said several times in public that the series outline was on his computer under a triple-encrypted code lock, the series plans were also in a couple of three-ring binders directly above his desk in his studio office.
  
  
• The actors were never told in advance what was in store for their characters. Each new episode was just as much a surprise for them as it was for the viewers.
  
  
• Two blooper cassettes were made of various gaffes and mistakes (and traded hands as bootlegs for many years), but they were never commercially released. A short "gag reel" features on most of the season box sets, however.
  
  
• The inspiration for the design of the Vorlon ships was a clove of garlic.
  
  
• Many of the plot elements and the storyline itself were inspired by the poem, "Ulysses", by Alfred Lord Tennyson. The poem is mentioned four times throughout the series.
  
  
• Spoo, an oft-mentioned Babylon 5 food, had its first mention years earlier in the "She-Ra: Princess of Power" (1985) television series for which JMS was a writer. Spoo was mentioned as an Etherian delicacy in the episode "Gateway to Trouble"
  
  
• During the fifth season, Producer J. Michael Straczynski wanted to have actors David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson do a cameo appearance playing Psi Cops, but the plan fell through.
  
  
• "Minbar" is a word in Arabic; it is the seat that serves as a pulpit in a mosque.
  
  
• The StarFuries were the first cinematic spacecraft to fly according to Newtonian principles in a vacuum rather than maneuvering like aircraft in an atmosphere.
  
  
• For Centauri males, longer hair is associated with higher status. However, at least three Centauri emperors (Emperor Tuscano, Emperor Turhan, and Emperor Cartagia) had hair shorter than that of Ambassador Londo Mollari.
  
  
• In addition to Bruce Boxleitner, other actors who were considered for the role of John Sheridan included Roger Rees, James Earl Jones, John Rhys-Davies, Barry Bostwick, Michael York, Michael Moriarty, and A Martinez.
  
  
• One of the visible differences between humans and Centauri is that Centauri canines are slightly longer. Stephen Furst found that the canine extensions gave him a noticeable lisp, and stopped using them.
  
  
• The set dressers and stage hands were only hired if they had previous experience in theater work. In theater, sets are constantly reused and minimally altered to resemble new locations, something that was done repeatedly on Babylon 5 to save money.
  
  
• Babylon 5's defense fighters consisted of four squadrons: Alpha, Beta, Delta and Zeta, but Beta Squadron was never actually seen.
  
  
• The studio where Babylon 5 was shot had originally been a factory where hot tubs were manufactured.
  
  

• SPOILER: Originally the character of Jeffrey Sinclair was supposed to continue throughout the series and fight the shadows as well as eventually returning in time to become Valen. At the end of season one it was decided to write Sinclair out because, among other reasons, this amounted to too many plot lines for one character. The back-story involving Sinclair's fight with the Shadows was transferred to the new character of John Sheridan. Originally the role that Sheridan's wife played in uncovering the Shadows would have been filled by Sinclair's on-again/off-again lover (later wife) Catherine Sakai (Julia Nickson-Soul.
  
  

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