It's here. The entire behind-the-scenes story of Crusade as told by the actors and crew...while the show was actually filming. From the first frame of film until the last, these cast and crew interviews occurred "as-it-happened" so they are free of any revisionism. Nothing is forgotten. No detail spared. Even better, the interviews in this book contain 70% never-before-seen material...and the 30% that was seen was published in UK-based magazines back in 1999. Uncut. Uncensored. Nothing held back.

Note: same ISBN as volume 2 - 0979539382 (9780979539381) It's true. The creator of Babylon 5 answers 5,296 fan questions covering every aspect of the show in over 100 categories in this new Babylon 5 book series. J. Michael Straczynski answered these questions as they surfaced over a period of 18 years as part of an online experiment he started in 1991 and continues to this day. This makes Asked & Answered something that has never been done before with a television show: an oral history IN REAL TIME. No revisionism. Nothing forgotten. No detail spared. Because this dialogue with fans starts in 1991, it pre-dates the production of the Babylon 5 pilot, so you'll discover JMS' complete vision for the series, many aspects of which never made it to the screen. Even better, these questions and answers include interactions on AOL Bulletin Boards, GEnie Forums, the moderated usenet group, CIS Discussion threads and Chat Transcripts, some of which are not available in archives anywhere. In addition to Babylon 5, Asked & Answered includes JMS' responses to personal questions about his life, politics, love, religion, writing and more. These responses are grouped with a related B5 topic showing fans – for the first time – the provenance of the Babylon 5 philosophy and culture. All that plus JMS' real life stories behind the stories. To make this the ultimate source, it took 2½ years and a crew of four B5 experts – in addition to J. Michael Straczynski – to compile, categorize and edit. COMPLETE DETAILS ABOUT PART 3 Rants, religion, money, sex and Star Trek...just a few of the topics covered in the most volatile release of the entire Asked & Answered series. Part 3 (pages 779-1,183) includes more than 1,100 missives grouped into the following – often heated – topics: RANTS This is JMS unplugged. He shares his thoughts – unfiltered and often exasperated – on a breadth of topics including: the sound in space issue, comparisons of Babylon 5 to Shakespeare, Lord of the Rings, Dune and every other saga of any import, atheism, language and culture, the idea that a five-year arc prohibits the organic development of a story, the perils of being the topic of an online forum, religion in Babylon 5, predictability of stories, why he almost quit the online community forever, why the tone of his online posts changed over the years, and how he really feels about people expressing an opinion that conflicts with his. RELIGION This section covers a wide range of religion related questions including: What are the religions of each alien species? What are the spiritual convictions of the principal human characters? Why is religion in the 23rd century a valid premise? How did Earth's religions deal with the existence of aliens? Why do B5’s alien races have more than one religion? Why did JMS showcase religion when most TV shows avoid it? What happened when the topic of Babylon 5 was raised at a multi-faith meeting of interdenominational leaders? What are JMS’s thoughts on the pagan group that makes its new members watch B5 in its entirety? REMUNERATION AND MONEY How much was JMS paid for Babylon 5? How much does money matters to JMS? Could JMS have gotten a better deal for the show? What does JMS spend money on? Why has he never gotten a cent of residuals on the DVD sales? SEX What are the hookers are like on Babylon 5? Why does prostitution still exists in the 23rd century? Can different species breed with each other? PLUS JMS’s thoughts on bi, gay and lesbian characters. SPECIAL EFFECTS How does CGI impact the script? Why did JMS choose CGI over models? How did B5’s space shots differ from what came before? What happened when California wildfires threatened the visual effects facility? PLUS over 30 questions and answers detailing the show’s pioneering use of computer generated imagery. SHIPS How did JMS design the Vorlon ships? Which ships can enter B5's space? Who can use the station's facilities? How do Starfuries launch? PLUS details of the unused Northrodyne C31-03 Patriot, details of Starfury design down to their engine parts, and the facts about White Stars and other alien spacecraft. SOUND DESIGN What is "walla?" How was B5’s soundtrack different from those of other shows? What was JMS's fresh approach to the sound of weaponry? Which of the unique sounds on the show were original creations (and which where not)? What are "wild tracks?" PLUS the truth about Kosh's voice. SPECIES Everything you ever wanted to know but were afraid to ask in 256 questions about: Centauri, Drazi, Humans, Minbari, Narn, pak'ma'ra, Shadows, Vorlons and other First Ones. PLUS detailed explanations about their characteristics and their histories (don't miss JMS's note comparing and contrasting Narn and Centauri history or his detailed list of the which races were at war or allied at the time of the pilot) as well as the theories behind the design of each race. STAR TREK Did the Babylon 5 crew ever socialize with any of the Star Trek crews? How did Babylon 5's budget compare to that of the various Star Trek series? How did JMS fight allegations that this concept or that idea was originated by Star Trek? Is JMS "the next Gene Roddenberry?" Does it make JMS crazy when every article compares Babylon 5 to Star Trek? Did Paramount use JMS’s concept to create Star Trek: Deep Space Nine? How did Deep Space Nine most impact Babylon 5? TECHNOLOGY Four categories highlight the technology of the 23rd century: GENERAL (medicine, space suits, time travel and transporters), COMMUNICATIONS (links, BabCom, ISN and Universe Today), TRANSPORTATION (hyperspace, jumpgates, the core shuttle, and the transport tubes) and WEAPONRY (mass drivers, PPGs, projectiles and stealth tech). ALL THIS AS WELL AS SECTIONS COVERING: THE TITLE SEQUENCE (JMS offers insights and anecdotes about the show’s varied title sequences, including the concept, the visuals and the narration), THE UNIVERSE OF BABYLON 5 (Featuring detailed histories and background including the Earth/Minbari War, Earth’s first contact with alien life, and the funding of the Babylon Project despite four failures), THE SHOW’S VISUAL AESTHETIC (Including logos, graphics and cinematography), THE WARDROBE (Highlighting costumes, makeup and prosthetics) and last but not least—WRITING BABYLON 5 A comprehensive section with thorough discussions of the cast, the characters, the episode titles, the origins of the story, the planning of the series, the process of writing the scripts, story structure, themes, JMS’s personal dedication, the achievement and the reactions gathered along the way.

Note: same ISBN as volume 2 - 0979539382 (9780979539381) It's true. The creator of Babylon 5 answers 5,296 fan questions covering every aspect of the show in over 100 categories in this new Babylon 5 book series. J. Michael Straczynski answered these questions as they surfaced over a period of 18 years as part of an online experiment he started in 1991 and continues to this day. This makes Asked & Answered something that has never been done before with a television show: an oral history IN REAL TIME. No revisionism. Nothing forgotten. No detail spared. Because this dialogue with fans starts in 1991, it pre-dates the production of the Babylon 5 pilot, so you'll discover JMS' complete vision for the series, many aspects of which never made it to the screen. Even better, these questions and answers include interactions on AOL Bulletin Boards, GEnie Forums, the moderated usenet group, CIS Discussion threads and Chat Transcripts, some of which are not available in archives anywhere. In addition to Babylon 5, Asked & Answered includes JMS' responses to personal questions about his life, politics, love, religion, writing and more. These responses are grouped with a related B5 topic showing fans – for the first time – the provenance of the Babylon 5 philosophy and culture. All that plus JMS' real life stories behind the stories. To make this the ultimate source, it took 2½ years and a crew of four B5 experts – in addition to J. Michael Straczynski – to compile, categorize and edit. COMPLETE DETAILS ABOUT PART 4 Asked and Answered Part 4 is J. Michael Straczynski's real-time history of the beginnings of Babylon 5: from before the pilot (including the online announcement of the series) and through Season 1. Part 4 is loaded with details that never made it to the screen as well as the origins of what did eventually air. As you move through the following topics, you’ll relive what it was like to be part of Babylon 5’s launch: \* Announcing Babylon 5 \* Creating Babylon 5 \* Babylon 5 Backstory \* Pre-production \* Filming the Pilot \* Approaching Airdate \* Fan Reactions After Airing \* Behind the Scenes Immediately Before & After Airing \* Deleted Scenes from the Pilot \* Changes from Pilot to Series This section also includes JMS's first archived post about the show (and it’s so early in the process that he even hyphenate’s the show’s nickname as B-5). Here's just a small sampling of the details he discusses in this section: \* The designing of prosthetics to prevent actors from being typecast; \* The moment JMS changed “Jackarr” to “G'Kar” and why the switch was made; \* The reasoning behind the design of PPGs; \* The process of hiring a composer (including his interactions with pilot composer Stewart Copeland of The Police); \* The development of Babylon 5’s production design (including the design of the Garden, the video displays throughout the station, CGI for the Vorlon ship, early uniforms) along with concepts that were scrapped like the “Being Mover”; \* An early description of the chrysalis device Delenn would eventually construct across Season 1; \* The announcement of each cast member along with the insider scoop on the auditions; \* What happened when the cast read the script aloud for the first time; \* Clues JMS told viewers to watch for in the pilot that would pay off down the line; \* The unused opening narration for the pilot; \* The reasons for the long delay between the pilot and the series; \* Walter Koenig’s reaction to seeing the pilot; \* Negative feedback from industry insiders after a private screening; \* The link between the pilot’s airing and Oprah; \* The actor in the end credits of the original pilot edit who was not in the show and why; \* The scenes cut from the original edit of the pilot; \* A step-by-step account of how JMS re-configured the pilot for the TNT Special Edition; \* The whys behind the cast changes from pilot to series; \* Why JMS chose to shoot Season 1 in secret for a month before announcing that filming had begun. Following the pilot section, Asked and Answered Part 4 moves into fan questions about the particulars of Season 1 with entire sections dedicated to the following episodes: \* Midnight on the Firing Line \* Soul Hunter \* Born to the Purple \* Infection \* The Parliament of Dreams \* Mind War \* The War Prayer \* And the Sky, Full of Stars \* Deathwalker \* Believers \* Survivors \* By Any Means Necessary \* Signs and Portents \* TKO \* Grail \* Eyes \* Legacies \* A Voice in the Wilderness Part 1 \* A Voice in the Wilderness Part 2 \* Babylon Squared \* The Quality of Mercy \* Chrysalis And if all that wasn’t enough, Asked and Answered Part 4 begins with detailed insights about J. Michael Straczynski’s career as a writer – a compelling look behind the scenes at the life of Babylon 5's creator. This section's topics include: how to become a professional writer, tips on good writing, what life is like for the average TV scribe, why he doesn't put his name on freelance scripts he re-wrote, how much of himself goes into his characters (and which ones), what issues are worth writing about, the irony of copyright law as established by the Berne Convention, the essential ingredient for all drama, what he would do if he could no longer write scripts, his exercise in song writing for “Walkabout”, G’kar’s impact on a terminally ill patient, what a showrunner thinks when he's watching other people's shows and what compels him to write. Given the depth of content inventoried here, it's no surprise that Part 4 contains 1,073 missives packed into 414 pages – the biggest book so far of the Asked & Answered series.