ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, May 13, 1996 TAG: 9605130160
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 2 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: LOS ANGELES
SOURCE: LYNN ELBER ASSOCIATED PRESS
Let's say you pride yourself on your ``Babylon 5'' dedication. You've seen every episode this year and can hold your own in the sharpest Internet dissection of the sci-fi show.
Before you get too smug, consider this: You're watching it, but J. Michael Straczynski wrote it. Not some, not even the majority, but all 22 episodes of the syndicated drama's third season.
That may be some kind of a record. It's unquestionably daunting. And, we suspect, enough to make a person spacy.
``I get three or four hours of sleep a night,'' says Straczynski. ``If I was just writing all the shows it would be a 16-hour-a-day job. If I were just producing it would be an 18-hour-a-day job. So I've got a math problem.''
Straczynski, 41, creator and executive producer of the series set on the Babylon 5 space station in the 23rd century, talks fast and probably writes faster. He is a man on a mission.
A five-year mission, actually, and we don't mean the one that launched the first ``Star Trek'' crew. From the start, Straczynski envisioned ``Babylon 5'' as an epic that would unfold over five TV seasons.
Although it's probably easier to predict life in 2200 than television longevity, it appears he may reach his goal. ``Babylon 5'' has carved a niche in the TV universe despite the vagaries of syndication scheduling - and the initial skepticism of Trekkies.
Ratings have grown, particularly among the young male viewers advertisers expect to reach through action-adventure series. (The show airs Saturday at midnight on WJPR/WFXR Channel 21/27.)
And the series has been credited with returning creative energy to the space opera genre at a time when the ``Star Trek'' spinoffs seem light years from the original's spirit of adventure.
While ``Star Trek: Voyager'' is adrift in remote space and ``Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'' is stuck at a kind of galactic toll bridge, ``Babylon 5'' sits at the churning center of a tenuous peace between Earth and alien civilizations.
Bruce Boxleitner stars as the Babylon 5 commander Sheridan, a fighter pilot turned diplomat. Other cast members include ``Lost in Space'' alumni Bill Mumy, playing a gentle alien, and Claudia Christian as Sheridan's serious and comely colleague.
Afflicted with the same neuroses and addictions as their 20th-century forebears, the characters are darkly, deliciously imperfect; no flawless Captain Kirks here.
The premise makes for conflict and intrigue galore. As this season draws to a close, two regular characters will die and, in a two-part episode, the fate of Babylon 5's predecessor, station Babylon 4, will be revealed.
Such dramatic fireworks aside, Straczynski says he was looking for more depth than dazzle when he created the five-year story ``arc'' that is foundation for each ``Babylon 5'' episode.
A longtime science fiction devotee, he wanted to create a TV saga to match the vision of such eminent novelists as Harlan Ellison (a ``Babylon 5'' consultant) and Ray Bradbury.
He wanted, Straczynski said, to reignite interest in tomorrow.
``People, I think, have lost the future. ... You'll remember there was a time, when we were growing up, they had pavilions of the future, kitchens of the future, a world's fair of the future. We all wondered when it was going to get here.
``We need something that will point the culture back toward the horizon. That's part of science fiction in general and this show in particular.''
LENGTH: Medium: 71 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: Peter Jurasik (left), Stephen Furst and Andreas Katsulasby CNBplay alien Ambassadors on ``Babylon 5.''