Just hours after he tried to rile up Star Trek fans to help get his series idea launched (story), "Babylon 5" creator J. Michael Straczynski is now pulling back, asking fans not to waste their time.

Straczynski was trying to get some support for a Star Trek series idea he had pitched to Paramount last year with Bryce Zabel. But while he was serious about getting fan support behind his idea, a lot has changed over the past day for the writer.

"In the 24 hours between the time I composed the prior note, and sent it, and it made its way through the moderation software, two things happened," Straczynski said on his newsgroups about his note that called Trek fans to action. "I heard from a trusted source that Paramount is giving the Trek TV world a rest for maybe one to two years, depending on circumstances, no matter who would come along to run it. So it's not right to have folks putting in time doing something that ultimately would be pointless, I don't think that's a proper use of anybody's time."

Straczynski's other reason also was good news to fan's of the writer and producer's work.

"An offer came in to run a new TV series for the fall of (2006), and since there's no way anything Trek can happen in the interim, I've said yes."

Straczynski didn't give any more details on the series, except that he is now in negotiations to work out the details of his involvement.

Just a day before, Straczynski cited fan interest -- as well as a poll at Sci-Fi Wire -- that showed a tremendous interest in the idea of Straczynski and Zabel taking over the Star Trek franchise in a five-year arc. No other details were ever released on the pitch that the pair made last year.

But Straczynski said that he won't give up on someday taking on a Star Trek series of his own.

"We can convene a year or two down the road to see where this take us," he said. "But in the interim, my apologies for waking everybody up in the middle of the night."

Thanks to Jan Schroeder for the tip!