J. Michael Straczynski, best known for his hit series Babylon 5, is finally ready to return to television -- this time, however, it's going to be on cable.

According to a release from Straczynski, MGM announced at the San Diego Comic Con that it will be launching a new JMS series called "Jeremiah" that will air on Showtime in January.

Straczynski previously stated that he had been writing a two-hour pilot for MGM, but did not indicate whether or not MGM had picked it up as a series. However, according to the recent release, MGM has made an order for 20 hours of the show (an opening two-hour movie and then 18 episodes to follow) that will run on the premium cable channel.

"We start formal prep next Wednesday, and start shooting Sept. 4," Straczynski said in the release. "After finishing the movie, we then go right into shooting the series. We've hired all our crew, we're in the very last stages of casting (with several name actors up for various roles), and we're just about ready to rock."

Because it appears on Showtime, Straczynski said that he will not have the same limitations he had with syndication, but like other premium cable channel shows, there is a chance "Jeremiah" will be picked up in syndication after two years.

"This is going to be a heavily dramatic series, character-oriented, with a measure of action and humor as well," he said. "Because this is pay cable, they've taken off the usual broadcast TV handcuffs, and told me to take it to the wall creatively, no restrictions. So I plan to do just that."

Straczynski said that popular director Joe Dante will not be involved in the beginning of the series because of other work commitments, but another "well-known" feature director will be involved, although he could not give specifics.

"I can say that there is a rather impressive pedigree of people both in front of and behind the camera," Straczynski said. "We have a heck of a lot more money to play with than on (Babylon 5) ... it's going to be a huge show."

Straczynski did give some details about the series, which will have a science fiction slant to it. The stories starts out in the present timeline where a virus wipes out everyone on the planet who have already entered puberty. Some 15 years later, the children who survived have grown up after living their entire lives on "scraps of the old world."

"Now they must either continue the downward slide, or begin to rebuild the world, taking responsibility for themselves and the world and each other," he said.

"It is, oddly enough, a post-apocalyptic series about beginnings rather than endings, about hope rather then despair. It is about the new world rising out of the ashes of the old world, what shape that world will take, and who will get to decide that shape."

Thanks to Aarvid00013 for the tip.