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DISCLAIMER: The following will probably make some of you a) envious, b) jealous, or c) pissed. As we already told one person, there's no way to tell you about it without sounding like we're bragging, so, what the hell, we're going go for it and brag a lot! ;-)
So, Tuesday night, March 17th, 1998 at 6:30, we were standing in front of the buildings that are the set for "Babylon Five". There were eight of us from Disney (plus Lynne). Silvia, one of those Disney Eight (and was also an extra in one of the episodes), is friends with Jeffrey Willerth, who is JMS's assistant. He also played "Kosh" (not the voice, tho, just the linebacker-like Encounter suit), and has done some stand-in and stunt work (in tonight's episode, look for a scene near the beginning where a Centauri is thrown against a wall. That's Jeffrey). The Disney Eight, our little B5 fan group, has been getting together weekly for dinner, and Jeffrey has joined us a couple of times. Last week, he asked if we would like to go on the set.
"Is this a trick question....?".
So he met us there and took us into the set, which is actually two buildings in an industrial area of Sun Valley, north of Burbank. Both buildings were formerly businesses that had gone out-of-business. The main building where the sets are was a hot tub warehouse, and the second, which used to be a beverage distributor, is used for set construction. Except for the B5 poster visible in the lobby of the main building, you can't tell that it's a TV set or sound stage. They kept the signs from the previous companies on the buildings, and nowhere does it say "Babylonian Productions".
We went into the second building first and saw some of the sets and stuff they were working on, and through to the back and outside again where they store all of the old but reusable sets and props. They had two cockpits from the Star Furies: one detailed for close-ups, and the other for wider shots. We saw some of the backgrounds and walls from the palace on Centauri Prime.
Continuing outside, we went to the back of the first building, passing more set walls and props stored in the back. At the end of the first building, there was the make-up and star trailers, and a covered area that was where the crew ate. Jeffrey filled us in on some cool details of the production while we were walking.
We then went inside the main building which is partitioned into three main sound stages. For the first three seasons, they did construction inside the same building, and would have to call for the table saws to stop while they filmed a scene. They annexed the other building for the fourth and fifth seasons for the construction work. We started actually wandering through sets, such as G'Kar's quarters, Delenn's quarters, a *lot* of corridors. BTW, the doors are not as big as they look, and we were suprised that people could walk through them without bumping into them all the time. We also went through a "White Star", which is a relatively big set compared to the quarters sets. More corridors, the Zocalo, then into MedLab. We also were in Sheridan's quarters. There we saw the two glass doors that separate Sheridan's bedroom from the living room. Jeffrey asked if Kevin remembered those doors, to which he said yes (from the episode where the Ministry of Peace sends a Political Officer who was this blond woman who "seduces" Sheridan in his quarters by stripping in front of him). He said that every guy might not know all the sets and rooms, but, by Gawd!, they remember those doors and she was nekkid right *there*!!! :-0
There were actually filming in the second section, so we entered (*very* *quietly*) into the area which was the Port-of-Entrance to B5 (Immigration) and docking bays, and then ahead of us was C-n-C. On my right was a camera monitor, and on the monitor was a live-action view of Lochley in the scene they were about to film. We made our way to where they were shooting, and stood off to the side. The were filming in C-n-C from the view of outside the window looking in. We saw Tracy Scoggins as she was adjusting her hair, etc, and all of a sudden we were about ten feet away from Bruce Boxleitner who had come down to greet us. He was dressed in his President outfit. It was weird, but Kevin said his brain didn't or wouldn't make the connection that it was a real person as opposed to the image on my TV. That short-circuit lasted about ten seconds, and then Bruce was talking to us and asking how we were enjoying the tour. Then he and Jeffrey said that ours was probably the *very* *last* tour that would go through the set while the series was being made. In fact, they had already started tearing down some of the sets, such as Delenn's and G'Kar's quarters (btw, G'Kar's couch looks like it's made of stone as if it came straight off the "Flintstones" set!).
Then they got ready to film a scene between Sheridan and Lockley. No spoilers here, but this scene was probably the last scene these two characters have with each other for the entire series. Wow! It lasted a couple minutes, which is long for one take. Then they called for the building lights, and the shooting for the day was over.
We then went through the third section of the building, which contains the offices for the company. We were led into a conference room. This is where we had to "pay" for the tour. As a condition of getting the tour, Jeffrey had asked us to slap mailing labels on postcards for the fan club, which was trivial compared to what they had shown us. And they brought in pizza and sodas, and we watched tonight's episode a day early. Then Jeffrey went and got the Season 3, 4, & 5 blooper reels! Way too funny!!! Kevin's request for dupe tapes was, incidentally, denied. :-(
We were done by 8:30, and then it was time to go. So out we went.
The last day of filming for the series is this Friday, so we were very lucky. Timing is everything. It's probably why they let us on the set at all, especially since we all worked for a competitor. They probably figured it was close enough to the end that it didn't matter. We also asked if they're going to have a fire sale for all the stuff, and Jeffrey didn't know, but said he would let us know. He's also going to keep in touch and keep us up on any cool things we might like to be in on ("like, er.. *everything*?").
BTW, Kevin already had a minor claim-to-fame on that set. Two years ago, he wrote a couple of parodies, "If Dr. Seuss Had Written For 'Babylon Five'", and "T'Was the Night Before Babylon Five". Silvia (who Kevin didn't know yet, nor knew worked for Disney) gave them to Jeffrey, who posted them on one of the hallway walls on the set. So he knew Kevin before he knew Kevin. But he remembered the writings, and was suprised when Kevin said he had written them. Way cool.