THE Zathras scene
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 7 ก.ย. 2024
- Scene from the episode "Conflicts of Interest". Babylon 5, in addition to its well thought out and intelligent storytelling, also had its humorous moments (such as this one take wonder featured above) which were more often than not on par with above average sit-coms.
See Tim Choate's other role as the Lorkan, Polix, in Crusade here: • Crusade: The MOST holy!!!
Oh Tim Choate, you will be missed...
I love how he said there were slight differences in pronunciation, and yet it seemed like the actor tried really hard to nail it exactly the same each time he said “Zathras”.
idk, for me it's zatras, zatrash and zhatrash
I think that's part of the joke. Nobody but Zathras can tell the differences.
The difference is not in the sound, but in the hands position or gesture when he pronounces Zathras.
Zathras , Zathras, Zathras, .... you are seeing now LOL
In the card game they were:
Zathras
'Zathras
Z'athras
Za'thras
Zat'hras
Zath'ras
Zathr'as
Zathra's
Zathras'
If I recall correctly, there was a victory card that let you win if you had all 9 in play at once.
10 yrs ago we got a kitten. Named him Zathras. A month later we got his twin brother. Named him Zathras, and they became Zathras A and Zathras B, and we call them.... Zitty and Bitty. The universe told us to.
*just as it should have*
Perfectly balanced, as all things should be.
You have to get 8 more
@@Zaluskowsky Lololol, we do have 8 other cats, but they're all black and tortties. Zitty and Bitty are Siamese and true brothers. If there had been more in the litter, ( which was nearly 13yrd ago) I don't know if I could have resisted. Lol
@@kathrynblodgett1969 sweet!
"Can not run out of time, there is infinite time. You are finite, Zathras is finite. This ...is wrong tool."
tschktschk "never use this."
No, see, that wasn't a Zathras scene... it was a Zathras scene.
That is my favorite Zathras scene as well.
Zathras can never have anything nice.
Time
"Zathras trained in Crisis Management!" This whole scene is pure gold.
Well in my mind he brought it all together. pricesless character.
When he started talking about dirt, I honestly don't know how she kept a straight face. 🤣🤣🤣
Ivanova's physical reactions throughout this conversation are priceless. They make an already humorous scene even funnier.
Tim Choate (RIP) who played Zathras (And Zathras... well, all of them), did this in ONE take! Claudia was just trying to keep up! When he got quiet for a minute, then said "SO!" her jump was real! 🤣
Once they were ten, now they are none. Zathras, Zathras, Zathras, Zathras, Zathras, Zathras, Zathras, Zathras, Zathras, and Zathras have all traveled beyond the Rim, to the unknown between galaxies. Tim Choate, your names will live on in our hearts and minds.
Oh. Wow. I only just found this comment and it hits hard.
😢
"Nine, now."
The cool thing about this scene is that (according to JMS) it was shot in one take. No mess ups or reshoots.
That was Shiny.
Zathras not have time to waste on second take. Very busy is Zathras.
Well, they may have shot it a few times from different angles, but there were no cuts. It was one long shot instead of being broken up into smaller shots from different angles in editing.
jms from Lurker's Guide
BTW, there's another example of a long single take coming up soon, on Epsilon 3, which is all I'll specify. I kinda wanted the scene to play itself out, without cutting, and to show just how amazingly capable some of our actors can be. We're talking here almost 4 minutes of footage, not one cut in the whole thing, very fast dialogue, and not a single muffed line, with the performances working wonderfully. You'll know it when you see it.
Our cast invariably comes in knowing full scenes, and can hit them without breaking or blowing a line. So we have a tendency at times to just let the master play out, keeping the intensity, which can sometimes be broken by too much cross-editing. (Note that the Zathras/Ivanova scene a few episodes back is *entirely* one shot, four minutes.)
@@steveaustin2686 I used to live on the lurker site when Babylon 5 was on TV. Loved that site
@@themandownthehall It's still around, just hasn't been updated in forever. :(
Zathras on first, Zathras on second, Zathras on third, Zathras is outfielder, and Zathras is shortstop. Is very simple.
9 left, complete line up.
It fix the question Who's on first :D
Kathryn Blodgett Zathras is the home umpire
@@MapleDog Zathras
Only in the National League. No DH. @@kathrynblodgett1969
"Zathras talks to dirt. Sometimes talks to walls. Or talks to ceilings. But dirt is closer."
"not much for conversation, but... much protein".
"Zathros trained in crisis management!" ROFL!
That right there is the beauty of the writing. You've got this immense space epic with a human civil war and another war, basically against gods, clashes between great leaders, grand schemes, and life and death crises. But not to worry, Zathros is trained in crisis management!
No no no! It's not Zhatras - it's Zhatras.... But no worry - many people confuse Zathras and Zatrhas. Zathras is gotten used to it.
I think Zathras would get along well with Marklar.
And you have 10 of them!
Why worry?...
Well... 9 actually
""Zathros trained in crisis management!" ~ oddly , I'd rather trust Zathrus at crisis management than many people in 'control' these days lol
@druidofscosglen2868but zathras have good policies regarding education compared to zathras
The only being in the universe that could have survived patting Ivanova on the head, I don't doubt even her parents would have thought twice.
So well written and so well acted scenes like this made B5 the irreplaceable series that it is.
I think Zathras or Zathras could also have got away with it. Not Zathras though.
"Zathras does not want you being confoosed!" *pats on head*
+SirCraigius "...Let's try this again!"
"As you wish."
Not many people can pat her on the head like that and come away with that hand still attached. 😏
@@robertalexander5892 He's too adorable to hurt :D
@@robertalexander5892 Ivanova has found her true soul-mate.
Every once and a while I wish Zathras would say that to me..
he pats her on the head and she doesnt react, THATS the Zathras experience , not the Zathras experience but the Zathras experience
This comment wins all the things.
And they are all Zathras' things, to boot.
Zathras pats god on the head.
wait a minute! ... due you mean Zathras, Zathras, Zathras, Zathras, Zathras, Zathras, Zathras, Zathras, or Zathras !?
@@mountainstartemple6041 I want Zathras to meet Pumat Sol. That would be a rather entertaining evening.
I didn't know Tim Choate passed away too. Man this cast has been touched by death far far too much.
But then, they all got to contribute to something wonderful in their lives, create lasting impressions in many people's minds.
There's worse ways to earn a living.
Three-edged sword.
The curse of B-5. They died before their time. little time travel joke Zathrus died before he was born so he died before his time?
IIRC he was killed in a motorcycle accident.
When this aired I thought Zathras might be actor Dennis Hopper.
No Unfortunately that's entropy . All things experience the heat death eventually. Multivac wasn't built in this alternate.
That was one of the most unique characters in a series knows for them! Claudia Christian's reactions to Tim Choate's outrageous foibles were priceless.
Zathras is one of my most favorite & I feel, underrated B5 characters in the series! I ❤️ Zathras...#ItIsZathrasWill!
Tim Choate as Zathras stole every scene he was in. But this is the best one.
He stole every scene when he played Zathras as well!
I cosplayed him at a sci-fi con a few years ago.
I had the fur-skin outfit, the wild hair & the huge nose.
I did the husky broken language & the over-exaggerated walk.
AND NOBODY KNEW WHO THE FUCK I WAS PORTRAYING!
Most people asked me if I was the Hunchback of Notre Dame.
I was almost offended! LOL
The Zathras scenes always seem semi-improv'ed... like that pronunciation bit, the talking to dirt, and how they're all named Zathras. As many have noted, the guy who played Zathras (all of the Zathrases) was REALLY good!
OuroborosChoked Sadly the actor, Tim Choate has passed away.
OuroborosChoked Sadly the actor, Tim Choate has passed away.
They probably weren't. JMS always insisted that they stuck exactly to the script, down to the pauses.
@@arfived4 You are right, jms wrote all this out and he had to approve any changes to dialogue as there was so much foreshadowing.
jms from Lurker's guide War Without End Part 2 page.
Is this Zathras' exit from the series?
I'd love to see Zathras again somehow....
I'm often tempted to create Zathras' brother, Mathras, or somesuch, if only for the look of terror in their eyes when he says, of Zathras, "Ah, yes...Zathras...was the quiet one in the family...."
Who knows, it might be something I might do someday....
@@Zamolxes77 *Vader voice NOOOOOOooooooo
Zathras: _"Yes. Yes. Zathras is used to being beast of burden to other people's needs. Very sad life. Probably have... very sad death. But... at least there is symmetry. "_
"Does not want you being con-fus-ed *pats head*"
Cracks me up every time.
RIP Tim Choate.
Can you imagine seeing all ten Zathras at the same time?! It'll be like the Borg collective, "WE ARE ZATHRAS! NO ONE LISTEN TO ZASTHRAS!".
Imagine Ivanova meeting all ten of them.
Imagine how peaceful the universe would be if it were filled with Zathras. (what's plural for Zathras?)
@@jdlech Zathras, of course.
@@jdlech Note a bunch of Zathras is called a cornucopia.
Reminds me of A Bard's Tale with the Brothers Bobd. There are six of them. All named Bobd.
It’s as though Mel Brooks inserted a few pages of dialogue into the script one day.
no cowboy yelling NEXT MAN TO MAKE A MOVE...no dumb Hitler on musical play...no rabbi attire, no tiny guillotine demonstration on a carrot...no dancing Merry Men ( not feigeles ) on tights...hmmm still some quick thinking...hehe. Just great
I remember reading that when JMS wrote the dialogue for Zathras, he based his speech and mannerisms on his Polish grandmother, who spoke very broken English, and had some unique mannerisms...
Love this scene.
More than 4 minutes filmed without any interruption.
Great performance.
+Ste 100 wonder just how much of this was improv done on the day of filming...
Like Jeff Conway in the elevator with possessed-Lyta.
R.I.P. Tim Choate
Tim Choate was very inchoate.
"Zathras can never have anything nice"
Sure he can. But then he passes it down to Zathras.
tranz2deep I was quoting him, I shoulda used the " thingies 8- (
Zahra have nice thing, zathras break it. Zathras cannot have nice things.
The absolute perfect timing between the pause and "let's try this again," "as you wish." made this scene for me.
What a great character in his own very endearing and weird way...
Every one of him.
I like how Ivonova jumps, when Zathras says, "SO! How can Zathras be helping you?"
Ivanova being frustrated to the point of wanting to kill everyone are some of my favorite scenes on B5!
"No boom today, boom tomorrow. There is always a boom tomorrow."
Gets me every time!
"No, no, we have all the time we need. Time is infinite! You, you are finite. Zathras is finite This....is wrong tool."
Mmmm....Mmmm....no no, not good. never. never use this......
who wants to bet that the real name of epsilon III is planet Zathras.
Either than or Marklar.
Calling the planet "Epsilon III" is like calling Earth "Sol III". It's technically correct, but the planet should have a name of its own.
@@wizardsuth You'd likely find that planets probably start out with such designations, then develop their own names.
Try Xathras.
@@wizardsuth preferrably one chosen by its indigenous inhabitants.
Zathras was one of my favorite characters. So was Zathras and Zathras as well.
i liked zath ras and zathra s better....
@@peterolsen9131 Not "Zathras" - "Zath raas"!
Zathras was the most underated role of the show. Just great acting. Smartest cat in the room. Claudia was just a babe. This and Stargate were my favorite shows of the 90s. Better times. Alot of good ScFi. The story lines were good. Now they are action flicks with CGI.
This might be the most impressive bit of acting in the entire run of the series. The entire conversation was one long, uninterrupted take.
"Not the one. Won't talk. Can't talk. Not the one. They told me, they did. Zathras listens, he does, yes. Zathras listens and does what he's told."
Wrong Zathras. This is Zathras. You're quote is from Zathras.
Gotta love Zathras, whoops, I mean Zathras.
No, I think you mean Z'athras?
NorthForkFisherman LOL
General Splatton Sorry, mispronounced it again. It's actually 'Zzathras.
Zathras doesn't mind you loving Zathras! Zathras loved Zathras. It's how Zathras rolled, how Zathras rolls, and how Zathras will roll... unless of course one of the old races that left is in fact a whole bunch of Zathras.
no you are all wrong it's Zathrus
"You not meet Zatras, you met Zathras."
"Who's on first?"
Hell no.
Well Zathas would be, obviously.
But it is Zathas who is on 3rd, very aggresive that Zathras.
I did not find the idea of multiples of them all named Zathras unbelievable. What I found unbelievable was that he survived patting Ivanova on the head!!
The character Zathras was only seen a few episodes but was one of my favorites. He was very quirky but could also be very wise on occasion. I only learned recently that the actor who played Zathras died back in 2004(learned that from watching the Babylon 5 - 20th Anniversary Convention Memorial). So many familiar faces are gone but live on threw Babylon 5. RIP Tim Choate
Zathras never listen to Zathras!
I'm gonna settle this battle once and for all. Zathras and Zathras were great and so was Zathras, but Zathras was clearly the best.
Now hold on just one moment, I feel you greatly underestimate the contributions of Zathas on this show. Don't be fooled by the grandstanding of Zathas or showboating of Zathras.
and please, there is no need to mention zathras. he's a asshole.
@@maxacorn But... you forgot Zathras...😕😕
I'm gonna put out a bit of a hot take. While I love Zathras, Zathras, and Zathras, Zathras is criminally underrated.
From this little interaction between Susan and Zathras, it's a stretch to remember that she is one of the two most dangerous women in the galaxy...
Delenn, of course being just as frightening. "I am death incarnate" meets "Why not?"
Ah the scenes just came to my mind.
Ivonna and destroying the new Earth Force destroyers and then Deleen saving the day.
Oooh tough choice, who is more dangerous?
On the one hand we have Susan, who, even on a good day, wants to kill us all, and on a bad day wants to torture us before killing us. Preferably with pliers.
On the other hand we have Delenn, who just wants everyone to get along but is too polite to point out when you're crossing her limits. Until you do cross her limit and then she nukes your homeplanet and all your colonies.
And just for clarity: These are the good guys in this story. The bad guys are worse.
Love her exasperated comment at the end ...."9 of them.....OY!" LOL
Zathras......most under-rated character ever. Steals every scene he's in. What a great actor.
Everyone thinks Zathras is crazy. Fortunately, Zathras doesn't mind. Actually, Zathras kind of likes it.
People don't think Zathras be like it is, but Zathrus do.
on my list of favourite TV characters.
god, Babylon 5 was so special...
It's of the Charts Good.
Beyond awesome
This was one of my favorite exchanges from the series. Zathras told Zathras not to go but Zathras never listen.
My favorite part was, "Zathras... Zathras... Zathras."
one of the best comedic scenes in Babylon 5.. one of my favorites! 2:45 "SO! What can Zathras be doing for you?" Her startled jump was great!
"Zathras does not want you being confoosed." *Pat, pat* "Bye."
Hah, Zathras is far more patronizing than Zathras.
Hilarious!
I am on episode 19 of season 3 and I could not be happier known Zathras comes back!
That is the GENIUS of JMS’ script writing.
Why are the Zathras sooo lovable? - just love them - thanks :}
Everyone loves the friend of dirt.....
And they got this whole scene on the first take.
I disagree...THE BEST ZATHRAS scene...
" Zathras , oldest living caretaker of Great Machine..110 years old.... Zathras STUDY Great Machine..knows things..even Drall does not know yet....and I know you...and I know YOU...........and I KNOW YOU.
+iczerman Everyone has their own favourite Zathras scene.
I really wish we had a scene where Ivanova got to mee all of the Zathras brothers.
"Zathras just pawn in game of life."
I can imagine the bloopers which came out of this scene alone. Zathras, a great character portrayed by a great actor.
It was apparently done in one shot, with multiple angles. No blooper reel, tragically.
we all have had a drinking buddy that was a Zathras......
At some point, Ivanova would have to say, "who's on first?"
Zathras is on first.
And Zathras is on second. Before Zathras left, Zathras was the Designated Hitter, but now they have to play by National League rules. Zathras is not happy about this because while Zathras has a great fastball, and a decent slider Zathras can not hit. Zathras thinks Zathras should just bunt instead of always hitting into double plays.
Thor's Hammer ah yes Zathras good at baseball because there are 9 Zathras. Zathras prefer to Pitch but Zathras must bat, Zathras wanted to be pinch hit for but no one listened to poor Zathras. Zathras will now strike out swinging on three straight pitches with bases loaded. Zathras thinks Zathras should hit the cages but Zathras never listens to Zathras.
Next up, Zathrus interviews a Marklar.
Don't you dare...
Zathras interviews a Pakled.
Claudia's expressions and body language in this whole scene....BWHAHAHAAAA!!
There were so many great bit characters on B5 like Zathras (and the technomages, the emperor's wife, even Londo's wives to name a few).
What ever it is mr Garibaldi... it cannot be that Bad...
Timov was the best!
1:13 Patting Susan on the head! And he survived! Man, that could have made 8 of them left instead of 9 xD
Every show and every movie needs Zathras.
I loved this series. Please God bring it back even as reruns!
It's available freely on go90 (dot) com. Every episode.
Thank you for that information!
Anyone else faintly reminded of that character from Newhart -- "hi, I'm Larry, this is my brother Darryl and this is my other brother Darryl"...?
Two excellently written characters in a single clip.
Zathras is everyman. the "movers and shakers" just claim all the credit for our labors.
*_"You take, Zathras die. You leave, Zathras die. Either way, it is bad for Zathras."_*
Not even Zathras listen to Zathras.
If I had a dinner party and could invite 4 people (living or dead), I would invite Zathras!
I love the way zathras made Ivanova jump when he said so
Several of the guest stars were show stealers, of the old-school 'massive trousers' kind
I roll over in stitches when Zathras speaks. Great character!
With all respect to Tim Choates, this scene speaks volumes about Claudia's acting chops, if not herculean self-control. Imagine having Choates 3 inches from your face and getting into gear, and not collapsing on the floor in a pool of hysterical goo.
Others below have said this was shot in one take - honestly hard to believe...
And the whole dialogue is one shot, no cuts. I imagine that was a hard day… still great for us. I miss B5
...but dirt is closer
Even better when you notice that this entire scene is ONE TAKE with no cuts! Kudos to the actors for pulling it off!
OMG! He had such great comedic timing!
Every scene with Zathras is to be treasured!
We all love Zathras, and for good reason. But I particularly love watching Claudia Christian as Ivanova reacting to him in this scene!
You could see at various points she had to fight the urge to laugh.
ZATHRAS!!! My FAVORITE character....well besides Vir, Lennier, Marcus, Ivanova & Delenn....well and the rest of the main cast lol...but Zathras is #1
+Sarah Mandahl I like Zathras better than I like Zathras.
+CaptainNerd totally agree with you my friend
+Sarah Mandahl
Zathras is way better than zathras
Zathras is best zathras.
you're zathras is trash.
One of my favorite scenes
"Goood, just covering all possibilities... I would not want you to be confoosed"
Gentle head tap...
Can you imagine what the first table read was for this scene??
So there is Zathras,Zathras,Zathras,Zathras,Zathras,Zathras,Zathras,Zathras,Zathras and Zathras but now he is gone :(
Got the complete boxset years ago.
Series now being shown on Pick TV in the UK again.
Fantastic series, even now all these years later
Zathras is THE most 'under the radar' characters in the series.
Love this scene.
The humour is priceless.
Tim Choate played the part brilliantly
Sadly, the cgi has not aged well.
3 people talked to dirt, walls and ceilings :)
And they accomplished this masterpiece in one continuous take! Wow, just wow!
I swear Claudia Christian almost loses it and breaks up at least once--but she doesn't ruin the take!
"Dirt is used to everyone walking on it. Just like Zathras."
I always loved this... as it has this whole Who's on first vibe to it.
Tim Choate brilliant portrayal of Zathras... subtle blend of comedy and drama
Zathras was the best secondary character in this series. Tim Choate was always entertaining as him, no matter which brother he played.
Hard to believe there could ever be more than one Zathras.
Always loved these one to ones in B5. Best 5yrs of Sci-fi ever.
That actor had a lot of fun playing the roll of Zathras. We all just loved to see Zathras, I wonder just how much of his lines in the show were really adlibbing. He is one of the most famous characters of scifi ever.
From what I understand, no one ad-libbed in the show.
They could say the lines however they wanted, but couldn't change the words.
This is my third favorite! 1st is Delenn saving B5 , 2nd is Molari’s 3 wives
- "Everyone always coming to Zathras with problems... Great responsibilities. But Zathras, They're not mine. Zathras trained in crisis management!"
- "That's great! Let's...."
- "But only Zathras has no one to talk to. No one manages Zathras" 😥😥
As of Babylon 5: the road home there are lot more Zathras. In matter of fact so many that that they now call themselves "Zathrii."
She has the patience of a saint.