

In 1999, J. Michael Straczynski allowed his original notes on Babylon 5 to be released via his Last Word column in the Babylon 5 Magazine (Vol. 2, Issue 9). These notes were the first written record of Babylon 5, made moments after he had his inspiration for the series while taking a shower.

Though the magazine is long gone, on this, the 10th anniversary of this column's publication, he wanted to share the origins of Babylon 5 again. While many fans saw them when they were originally published, he realizes that many more have not.

In addition to the notes, there is a brief introduction that formed part of that column.



The Birth of the Babylon 5 Story

"It’s no secret that B5 began when two ideas I’d been working on for series — one being a very contained, small series set on a space station, the other a big, huge sprawling saga that would involve dozens of worlds — collided in my head and I realized suddenly that they were the very same show, where the major events of the story would be writ small upon the stage of the space station. In the shower at the moment of this revelation, I dashed out and hurriedly scribbled down what would become the main thrust of the series before I could lose the thread of it.