Crusade (TV series)

Crusade
Crusade series launch poster
Created by	J. Michael Straczynski
Starring	Gary Cole Tracy Scoggins Daniel Dae Kim David Allen Brooks Peter Woodward Marjean Holden Carrie Dobro
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	13 (list of episodes)
Production
Running time	45 minutes per episode
Production company(s)	Babylonian Productions Warner Bros. Television (as Warner Bros. Domestic Pay TV)
Release
Original network	TNT
Original release	June 9 – September 1, 1999
Chronology
Preceded by	Babylon 5
Followed by	The Legend of the Rangers

Crusade is an American spin-off TV show from J. Michael Straczynski's Babylon 5. Its plot is set in AD 2267, five years after the events of Babylon 5, and just after the movie A Call to Arms. The Drakh have released a nanovirus plague on Earth, which will destroy all life on Earth within five years if it is not stopped. The Victory class destroyer 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, although as Straczynski notes in the DVD commentary for A Call To Arms, it was intended to resolve the Drakh plague after a season or two and move onto other storylines. Conflicts arose, however, 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 was unable to find room in its budget.

In 2267, six years after the end of the Shadow War, the Drakh, a former ally of the Shadows, attempt to destroy the Earth with a leftover Shadow Planet Killer. Interstellar Alliance president John Sheridan takes command of the Excalibur and Victory and leads the EarthForce and ISA fleets to victory. During the battle, the Drakh released a viral weapon into Earth's atmosphere, infecting every living thing on the planet. In five years the virus will become active and kill everything. The Victory was destroyed in the battle, but the Excalibur survived. Command is turned over to Captain Matthew Gideon who is given a mission: explore the galaxy to find either a cure or an ally capable of producing one ("War Zone").