Ah, yes. The long-rumored, little-discussed Babylon 5: The Lost Tales are finally in production. Projected to be a series of straight-to-video DVD releases, the "Lost Tales" will recount stories set during or after the Babylon 5 television series storyline.

John Sheridan, Captain Lochley, and Galen the Technomage were announced in the press release as the first major characters included, though there has been much talk of fan-favorite Londo Mollari turning up, as well.

In all honesty, there are only two ways to look at Lost Tales.

Either they were "lost" for a reason . . . or else they were never lost, except by Warner, which has never known what to do with Babylon 5 in general (other than try to cancel it).

Were the Tales "lost" for a reason?

The central idea behind Babylon 5 was the concept of a "five-year saga" with a beginning, middle, and end. Individual episodes were mere chapters in the larger whole. Lots of fun things happened in each chapter, sure -- but the real payoff, the real enjoyment, came from absorbing the complete saga as it played out.

Creating new episodes, as these short features essentially are, accomplishes roughly the same thing as adding new chapters to the middle of a novel, or tacking on more epilogues after the story's done. And didn't we get enough of that with Return of the King?

Straczynski already attempted such a thing, with the unwatchable Legend of the Rangers. One thing that atrocity proved beyond a shadow of a doubt, you'll pardon the expression, was that no B5 villains will ever top the Shadows.

Attempting to create new villains that provide an even greater menace simply cheapens what came before. To extend the Rings metaphor, it's like rolling out a new Tolkien movie where Sam faces a villain "way more powerful than Sauron!"

Um, no. With the big chaotic bug guys gone beyond the rim, the story is done, baby, done.

So, were the Tales only "lost" by Warner?

Straczynski has been trying to get new B5 material before an audience for a while now. First came Crusade, summarily aborted before it had even aired an episode. Then came Legend of the Rangers, which, in the parlance of Texas law enforcement, "needed killin'."

Finally came JMS's efforts at a B5 feature film, which made it just far enough along in preproduction to catch the attention of the powers-that-be at Warner. Their reaction essentially was, "Who will go see a movie staring has-been TV actors? Can we get some new, young stars, please?" This caused JMS to pull the plug himself.

Blame Warner for its eternal short-sightedness (go ahead, I won't stop you). Or blame JMS for his eternal stubbornness. Either way, the creator and the studio have never much been on the same page with regard to this property, and the fans ever have been the ones to suffer for it.

So now we're getting more Babylon 5. Is this cause for alarm at any further damage that might be done to the property -- it's only now that folks have begun to forget Legend of the Rangers, after all -- or is it reason for celebration? We will know soon enough.

But if you couldn't get enough of the excitement of latter-day President Sheridan signing legislation, stick-up-her-butt Lochley barking orders at subordinates while doing sit-ups, and Galen endlessly pulling back his hood and muttering enigmatic phrases in his best Nicol Williamson accent, you should be in business, big time.

One final concern: Joe Straczynski himself is directing the new features. Arguably the worst-directed episode in the original run, despite its many redeeming qualities, was the series finale, "Sleeping in Light." Guess who directed that one?

So we will soon have Babylon 5: The Lost Tales, featuring tales that were never lost, though perhaps they should have been -- and produced by a studio that has often wished it had never found the property to begin with. Is it wrong to hope for the best when you fear the absolute worst?