Crusade

[kg redhead]

WHO ARE YOU?
Gideon: Matthew Gideon, captain. Attached to the Earth Alliance starship Excalibur.
WHAT DO YOU WANT?
Gideon: To find a cure for the Drakh plague before it wipes out all life on Earth.
WHERE ARE YOU GOING?
Gideon: Anywhere I have to.
WHO DO YOU SERVE?
AND WHO DO YOU TRUST?
Galen: Who do you serve? And who do you trust?

[kg redhead]

Crusade is a spin-off TV show from J. Michael Straczynski's Babylon 5. It occurs in the year 2267 C.E., several years after the events in Babylon 5, just after the movie A Call to Arms. A race called the Drakh have released a nanovirus plague on Earth, which will destroy all life on Earth within five years if it is not stopped. To that end, the long-range explorer ship Excalibur has been sent out to look for anything that could help the search for a cure.

Like Babylon 5, Crusade was intended to have a five-year story arc. However conflicts arose between the producers and executives at TNT, and production was cancelled before the first episode was broadcast. TNT's research had indicated that the audience for Babylon 5 did not watch other TNT programming, and likewise TNT's main audience was not watching the show, making another related program unattractive to the network's management. Straczynski believes that the network's "interference" with the production was an attempt to get out of their contract by allowing them to argue that he failed to deliver the series they wanted. Thirteen episodes were made, and broadcast by TNT, with at least four more scripted. The Sci-Fi Channel attempted to pick up the show and continue production, but claimed they were unable to find room in its budget.