SF VORTEX (taped right after the 10/1/96 show, but broadcast 12/6/96 Transcribed by Alison Weinstock (seating order is still John Copeland, Host, Bruce Boxleitner, and Jerry Doyle) HOST Thanks everybody, we are in the War Room, and joining me today is Bruce Boxleitner. He of course stars as Babylon 5's Captain John Sheridan. Also John Copeland is here, he's the producer of Babylon 5. And Jerry Doyle, who plays Security Chief Michael Garibaldi. Guys, thank you so much [BB: Our pleasure.] for joining us, taking time out of your busy schedules. Let me get to my first question. Jerry Doyle - [JD: Yes?] favorite sci fi project of _all time_. JD "I Dream of Jeannie." H "I Dream of Jeannie?" [all laugh] Big Barbara Feldon fan? JD Ye - BIG! [H: no, no, not Barbara Feldon - ] Barbara Eden. (points to self) Jerry Doyle. Barbara Eden. Owww! H Bruce Boxleitner, favorite sci fi project of all time. BB Aside from a film I did called "Tron" (clears throat, adjusts jacket) [H: I saw it, it was terrific!] yeah - Star Wars. [H: Star Wars?] The Star Wars saga. H Why? BB Ahhhhmmm - [JD: Why not?] (smiles, glances at JD) Why not? That's true. [JD: John!] H Wait a minute - and the host of the show is - BB In short - in short, George Lucas created a universe that at once was very familiar to, especially to film buffs - I mean, you had sort of a western, you had knights in armor, magic and all kinds of things. Plus, spaceships. Ahhhhmmm - and he brought that all together in a great creative mix and created something that was very believable. And it (lower voice) _never_ _happened_. H John Copeland? Your favorite sci fi project of all time? JC "Alien." H Ahhhh! [BB: Ahhhh, that one...] Real quick, why? JC Because it had the uh - it had more than just science fiction. There was tension, there was drama, it was a horror - it was [BB: Kind of a horror film.] kind of a horror flick. It was also a very _used_ and _dripping_, you know, space ship. It was unlike we had seen, you know, space and spacecraft depicted before. Even though Lucas gave us the used look of space [BB: Yeah, used space, mmmm.] this was more like the _recycled_ space. BB I have to throw in one also - "Blade Runner." [H: Oh, yeah!] I think - I think that's influenced our show a great deal - "Alien," "Blade Runner." [JD: Definitely has.] Our show has got some darkness to it. You know what I'm saying? And - JC Oh yeah. Well, our universe is not a safe place to live in, like - [JD: Like L.A.? You ain't kiddin'!] Well, I would say like the Star Wars universe - not the Star Wars, but the Star Trek universe is a place that has a utopian society on earth, that you have the federation, you know - [BB: Mmm-hmmm] The future is kind of assured for mankind. We haven't gotten there yet in Babylon 5, and I think that's part of - BB No, we haven't. We can't even go home. [H laughs] JC - part of the attraction. BB We can't go home. (shrugs) We can't trust anybody else back home. JD (low, simultaneous to above) Let's face it. I've seen the future, and it's not what it used to be. H All right, how about this - Bruce - [BB: Yes?] worst sci fi project you ever saw! BB "Barbarella." [H: Ahhhh] There you go, how about that, right off the top of my - and I love Jane Fonda! (directed to JD.) [JC laughs. H: That didn't take any time at all!] No, no, I mean that was pretty silly. I saw it on Turner the other night, ahh, TNT or so - I laughed, I said this da - and we actually BOUGHT this stuff when it came out. JC Well, it was Roger Vadim. (pronounces Va-deem) BB Hmmmm? JC It was Roger Vadim. (pronounces Va-dim) BB That's true. [JC: Vadim. (pronounces Va-deem)] That's true, that's true. [JD: Well, that too.] Ahhh - you know -- that's what - you know people in the past always complained about that, that science fiction movies and television were kind of schlocky. You know? [JC: Yes.] I think the current crop - ah - Star Treks, you know, Next Generation, all of them. I think there's, um - we were talking earlier (points to JC) before we went on camera, you know, the technology has changed today, it's enabled us to, um, do much more creative things - more believable things - JC Well, I think storytelling has become more mature. [BB: Yeah.] Rather than just being just a swashbuckling story in space, um - we're dealing with real dramatic issues, and real dramatic situations that the characters are in, that resonate a lot closer to real life. [BB: Yeah.] Rather than, what, say John Carter on Mars, or something like that. H Jerry - oh, go ahead, Bruce. BB No, I was just going to say, like the Western genre, in the science fiction genre, you can comment on themes that affect us today, without slapping us on the head with an exact picture of _today_. You know what I'm saying. [H: mmmm-hmmmm] You can dress it up, and comment on it. And I think that's the enduring popularity of those things. H Jerry, you've been kind of quiet over there - JD No, I was just listening to - [BB: Stick with it.] to Siskel and Ebert here. [H: Welcome back to the show!] I was listening to Bruce, just dozing off... H What is your worst sci fi show? JD Worst sci fi? H Worst thing you ever saw. JD Naahhh - I can't even think of one [H laughs] BB "Mr. Ed." JD "Mr. Ed?" NO, that was - that was _true_! [BB: Hey, I love horses.] That wasn't make-believe! H Jerry, let me ask you - JD (to BB) Don't burst my bubble. Next you're gonna tell me there's no Santa Claus. BB Yeahhhhhhh, righhhhhht. H Before you started in Babylon 5, were you indeed a big fan of the whole sci fi genre? JD No. Never saw any of it. H Really. JD Nope. H What interested you in this project? JD (hand as if holding phone to ear) How much they offering? No, ahhhhh - BB The money. JD The money. (laughs) Oh, look at _you_, I'm a _purist_, I had NOTHING to do with it (?) Bruce says, (H joins in) "I'd do it for _free_." - "I'd do it for _free_. I just _love_ the _genre_." BB I'm independently wealthy, I don't need the work. JD No, I liked the character. I liked my character. I thought he was kind of gritty, on edge, he had a lot of things going wrong with him, recovering alcoholic, relationship problems, you know, so - outside of typecasting - um - BB They got the right guy! [JD: Ahhhhh] (whistles) H All right Bruce, I've got about 30 seconds left, were you a big sci fi fan when you started this whole thing? BB Mmmmm - no, not really. I'd been doing detective shows, westerns, things like that, which - but we have - but that's all in Babylon 5 also, you know? So - And I'd only seen the show a couple times prior to joining the cast. Ahh - I didn't have an _inkling_ that I would ever be doing it, you know? H There you are. BB (softly) Surprise, surprise! JD And here you are in the green room. BB And here I am in the green room. JD The War Room! BB The War Room! H In the War Room, where it all happens, Jerry! C'mon, get it straight! I want to thank Bruce Boxleitner, Jerry Doyle and John Copeland for joining us.