History Series / Crusade

* PilotMovie: Kinda - it only included two characters from the series and was more of a PoorlyDisguisedPilot in the form of a ''Series/BabylonFive'' TV movie.

* WrongGenreSavvy: The alien [[MenInBlack Man In Black]] in "Visitors From Down the Street" has watched a lot of 20th Century Earth television, and from it assumes that Earth Force has a PrimeDirective. To his misfortune, they do not.

* AliensStealCable: In the episode ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLI4OocZHVQ Visitors From Down the Street]]'' (an {{Homage}} to ''Series/TheXFiles''), the crew of the ''Excalibur'' picks up two agents from an alien world who are looking for proof of a government cover-up. They show pictures of Mount Rushmore and old Earth blimps. They also dress in Earth fashions from 200 years go (ie: from the time period at the time of the show's shoot.) One of them can ''[[AliensSpeakingEnglish speak English]]'' because of information stolen from the conspirators. TheReveal: Years before, the government had found itself in a time of social unrest similar to TheSixties. Upon discovering Earth broadcasts, they used them as part of a truly {{Magnificent|Bastard}} conspiracy; manufacture appropriate "evidence", then dispatch TheMenInBlack to suppress it. The resultant subculture of {{Conspiracy Theorist}}s absorbed the government's critics and kept them wasting their time [[AgentMulder chasing "aliens"]] rather than [[LaResistance engaging in civil disobedience]]. ''[[NoDelaysForTheWicked Every crime the government committed afterward was thus blamed on "Outsiders" who secretly manipulated their civilization, permitting them to do as they pleased.]]'' The main government agent upholding the conspiracy credits and thanks the humans for cigarettes as he smoked one in victory (don't ask where he gets the tobacco from). Captain Gideon ordered probes loaded with the Interstellar Encyclopedia and sent to the alien world to crack the cover-up.

* AliensStealCable: In the episode ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLI4OocZHVQ Visitors From Down the Street]]'' (an {{Homage}} to ''Series/TheXFiles''), the crew of the ''Excalibur'' picks up two agents from an alien world who are looking for proof of a government cover-up. They show pictures of Mount Rushmore and old Earth blimps. They also dress in Earth fashions from 200 years go (ie: from the time period at the time of the show's shoot.) One of them can ''[[AliensSpeakingEnglish speak English]]'' because of information stolen from the conspirators. TheReveal: Years before, the government had found itself in a time of social unrest similar to TheSixties. Upon discovering Earth broadcasts, they used them as part of a truly {{Magnificent|Bastard}} conspiracy; manufacture appropriate "evidence", then dispatch TheMenInBlack to suppress it. The resultant subculture of {{Conspiracy Theorist}}s absorbed the government's critics and kept them wasting their time [[AgentMulder chasing "aliens"]] rather than [[LaResistance engaging in civil disobedience]]. ''[[NoDelaysForTheWicked Every crime the government committed afterward was thus blamed on "Outsiders" who secretly manipulated their civilization, permitting them to do as they pleased.]]'' The main government agent upholding the conspiracy credits and thanks the Humans for cigarettes as he smoked one in victory ([[FridgeLogic don't ask where he gets the tobacco from]]). Captain Gideon ordered probes loaded with the Interstellar Encyclopedia and sent to the alien world to crack the cover-up.

* AlienNonInterferenceClause: "Visitors from Down the Street" explicitly draws attention to the fact that the ''B5''-[[TheVerse verse]] equivalent of Starfleet ''doesn't have one''. And would be rather hypocritical if it did, because Earth was given [[FasterThanLightTravel jumpgate technology]] by the Centauri in the first place (and in a failed attempt to turn humanity into a vassal, at that). The aliens had actually assumed they did, even ''trying to rub in'' that the crew couldn't interfere (presumably they've been watching too much ''Star Trek''). They made sure to include that part of the conversation in the recordings revealing the conspiracy when they distributed them across the planet.

A 1999 {{aftershow}} following on the heels of ''Series/BabylonFive'', which concluded in '98. Set on the [[SuperPrototype prototype]] starship ''Excalibur'', the last of her class following [[AllYourBaseAreBelongToUs the destruction of the Earth Alliance shipyards]], she embarks on [[FindTheCure the search for a counter-agent]] to the slow-acting bio-weapon which was deployed against Earth in the B5 telemovie ''[[{{Recap/BabylonFiveFilm04ACallToArms}} A Call to Arms]]''. ''Crusade'' brings back two characters who were introduced in that movie: Galen the Technomage and Dureena the alien thief.

* UnresolvedSexualTension: Gideon has a small RomanceArc with Babylon 5's CO, Captain Elizabeth Lochley, which is cut off by the cancellation. In the [[OutOfOrder chronologically latest]] episode of the arc, TheyDo, but then decide to not pursue an exclusive relationship because of the demands of their positions.

A 1999 {{aftershow}} following on the heels ''Series/BabylonFive'', which concluded in '98. Set on the [[SuperPrototype prototype]] starship ''Excalibur'', the last of her class following [[AllYourBaseAreBelongToUs the destruction of the Earth Alliance shipyards]], she embarks on [[FindTheCure the search for a counter-agent]] to the slow-acting bio-weapon which was deployed against Earth in the B5 telemovie ''[[{{Recap/BabylonFiveFilm04ACallToArms}} A Call to Arms]]''. ''Crusade'' brings back two characters who were introduced in that movie: Galen the Technomage and Dureena the alien thief.

* ThirtySecondBlackout

* WrongGenreSavvy: The alien [[MenInBlack Man In Black]] in "Visitors From Down the Street" has watched a lot of 20th Century Earth television, and from it assumes that EarthForce has a PrimeDirective. To his misfortune, they do not.

** There are multiple similarities to ''Series/BlakesSeven'', which JMS is known to be a fan of: The similar design of ''Excalibur'' and ''Liberator''; the manner in which Max is not merely similarly written to Avon, but cast with an actor who looks quite similar to Paul Darrow; Dureena's nature as a hybrid of Cally's personality and backstory with Vila's talents; the Apocalypse Box as a near-CaptainErsatz for Orac. If the series had continued, the main story arc would have been the ''Excalibur'' on the run from [=EarthForce=].

* AlienNonInterferenceClause: "Visitors from Down the Street" explicitly draws attention to the fact that the ''B5''-[[TheVerse verse]] equivalent of Starfleet ''doesn't have one''. And would be rather hypocritical if it did, because Earth was given [[FasterThanLightTravel jumpgate technology]] by the Centauri in the first place. The aliens had actually assumed they did, even ''trying to rub in'' that the crew couldn't interfere (presumably they've been watching too much ''Star Trek''). They made sure to include that part of the conversation in the recordings revealing the conspiracy when they distributed them across the planet.

-->'''Matheson:''' There are probably Franchise/{{s|tarTrek}}ome who'll say that by doing this, we are [[AlienNonInterferenceClause interfering with their culture]].
-->'''Gideon:''' Probably. Screw them.

[[quoteright:214:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/crusade.jpg]]

* BadBadActing: Galen, talking through his Homunculus. Presumably because he just didn't care[[note]]To expand this point, Galen is using a projection of himself to scout an apparently deserted planet. Speaking through the projection the character provides a comically flat, deadpan stream of consciousness, right up to the point that his homunculus is destroyed by an automated security system.[[/note]]

Only 13 episodes were completed out of a planned 22-episode season, and it was canceled before the first episode even aired. Relations between showrunner Creator/JMichaelStraczynski and the network broke down in mid-production: it was commissioned by Creator/{{TNT}}, whose understanding of the series pretty much stopped at ''We'll be rolling in money if this is as popular as ''B5'' was!''--and who then discovered that this [[NetworkRedHeadedStepchild wasn't the case anyway]]. Due to the mid-season {{retool}}, which included an attempt to write-in a second pilot with a whole new set of uniforms, [[UnreliableCanon there is no canonical order of episodes]] to watch this show in.

Funnily, the disintegration of the show is referenced in its screenplays: The crew find themselves in situations that resonated with the showrunner's inability to get the show made, and some of the dialogue is acidic, to say the least. Then again, if the head writer is [[ScrewedByTheNetwork faced with cancellation no matter what he does]], why not [[BitingTheHandHumor have some fun while at it]]?

A 1999 {{aftershow}} following on the heels ''Series/BabylonFive'', which concluded in '98. Set on the [[SuperPrototype prototype]] starship ''Excalibur'', the last of her class following [[AllYourBaseAreBelongToUs the destruction of the Earth Alliance shipyards]], she embarks on the search for a counter-agent to the [[RaceAgainstTheClock slow-acting]] bio-weapon which was deployed against Earth in the B5 telemovie ''[[{{Recap/BabylonFiveFilm04ACallToArms}} A Call to Arms]]''. ''Crusade'' brings back two characters who were introduced in that movie: Galen the Technomage and Dureena the alien thief.

Only 13 episodes were completed out of a planned 22-episode season, and it was canceled before the first episode even aired. Relations between showrunner Creator/JMichaelStraczynski and the network broke down in mid-production: it was commissioned by Creator/{{TNT}}, whose understanding of the series pretty much stopped at ''We'll be rolling in money if this is as popular as ''B5'' was!''--and who then discovered that this [[BlackSheepHit wasn't the case anyway]]. Due to the mid-season {{retool}}, which included an attempt to write-in a second pilot with a whole new set of uniforms, [[UnreliableCanon there is no canonical order of episodes]] to watch this show in.