Any Fans of Babylon 5?

[Timothy Hunter]

I was never a science fiction guy, but I really enjoyed Babylon 5.

Like Deep Space Nine, it takes a long time to get good, but when you get to season three, the series is excellent from then onwards.

[Powerboy]

I was never a science fiction guy, but I really enjoyed Babylon 5.

Like Deep Space Nine, it takes a long time to get good, but when you get to season three, the series is excellent from then onwards.

You'll get no argument from me. I keep wanting to watch it again but there's so much new stuff to watch and so little free time.

[j9ac9k]

You'll get no argument from me. I keep wanting to watch it again but there's so much new stuff to watch and so little free time.

Same. I loved it during its original run, though.(Zima in space!) I remember going on the ... wait for it ... AOL message boards discussing it back in the day...

[Nate Grey]

That reminds me, I still haven't seen that final season. I think the last time this came up, I made it a point to at least watch the first ep of season 5.

But yeah, I loved Seasons 1-4, Season 5 to be determined. One of my favorite eps was when a security team fought Kosh's replacement.

[Zero Hunter]

If nothing else watch the last 5 or 6 episodes of season 5. They did a good job of wrapping up everyones storylines in those last episodes

[babyblob]

I want to get into this. But I am confused. All the movies and stuff they have of it. Where do I start? I remember watching some of season 1 years ago and did enjoy it.

[Nate Grey]

...I forgot there were movies, too. Darnit. :/

I did see ALL of Crusade. Man I wish that show had continued, but, I get why it ended after one season (TNT wanted to sex it up so to speak and JMS wasn't having it).

Interestingly, if anything can be rebooted, this can. Babylon 5 itself, the majority of the cast has sadly passed away, but looks like all of the Crusade cast is still around.

[Donald]

Still one of my favorite show. The ongoing story line wasn't the norm back then and the plot for the whole thing was amazing. G'kar's redemption is still the best I've seen and I'm surprised the Vorlon reveal didn't cause an uproar with the mothers against everything.

The reboot is still in development for 2024, it didn't make the cut for next year but it is still being worked on at the moment. I'm not sure how I feel about the reboot; the effects are dated but the story isn't. Redoing the same thing again seems pointless but I can't see where changes can be made. The surprises and reveals were a giant part of the show, redoing them takes away the drama, but what new ones can be added?

[j9ac9k]

Still one of my favorite show. The ongoing story line wasn't the norm back then and the plot for the whole thing was amazing. G'kar's redemption is still the best I've seen and I'm surprised the Vorlon reveal didn't cause an uproar with the mothers against everything.

The reboot is still in development for 2024, it didn't make the cut for next year but it is still being worked on at the moment. I'm not sure how I feel about the reboot; the effects are dated but the story isn't. Redoing the same thing again seems pointless but I can't see where changes can be made. The surprises and reveals were a giant part of the show, redoing them takes away the drama, but what new ones can be added?

I imagine it has to be a completely different story, and it should be.(even if they keep the same planets and races and a lot of the same characters) I'm sure a lot of the same themes, complexity of character development and morality will return, which is what gave us the drama.

[Powerboy]

Same. I loved it during its original run, though.(Zima in space!) I remember going on the ... wait for it ... AOL message boards discussing it back in the day...

Ah, yes, the good old days of the newsgroups too, when message boards were a knockdown, drag-out insult fest rivaling the old (long defunct and utterly unmoderated) DC message boards.

[WebLurker]

Saw a bit of it. Didn't exactly hook me despite liking sci-fi in general. I am a Trekkie from way back, so being constantly reminded of Deep Space Nine didn't help (esp. since the mental comparisons were along the lines of "Wow, DS9 did this so much better"). That said, I should make a point of watching the whole thing from beginning to end, given I've heard how good it is overall and that it was an early pioneer of serialized TV that's become

The reboot is still in development for 2024, it didn't make the cut for next year but it is still being worked on at the moment. I'm not sure how I feel about the reboot; the effects are dated but the story isn't. Redoing the same thing again seems pointless but I can't see where changes can be made. The surprises and reveals were a giant part of the show, redoing them takes away the drama, but what new ones can be added?

Didn't the guy who created B5 and is spearheading the reboot go on record that he wanted to do new things with the premise and let people be surprised at where it goes? Frankly, there's a lot of flexibility with the starting premise; crew of a mundane space station in the middle of nowhere gets caught up in the sweep of history.

[Sutekh]

We didn't have cable when this show came out, and I went and splurged for cable *just for this show.* (Since it was only available on some cable channel.)

I have no regrets. It was amazing, for the time period, even if the effects weren't quite Star Trek level. (A few steps below DS9, IMO, but still a few steps above stuff like Doctor Who. Good TV can be good TV even without whiz-bang effects.)

The writing and the characters and the richness of the alien cultures was a deciding factor. Just as Deep Space 9 got to really dive deep on Bajorans, Cardassians, Klingons and Ferengi on a level that previous (and later) Trek shows have not had the time for with their episode-of-the-week focus and necessity of being light-years away from last week's world and species by next week, so too did B5 give us really deep looks at Minbari and Centauri politics and culture, and a decent look at other races like the Narn and Drazi.

The writing was snappy. JMS writes memorable and catchy dialogue and character moments that stick in the memory, like Vir giving his little wave to Morden at the end, or G'Kar promising a failed assassin chirpily, that he 'will know pain, then he will know fear, and then, he will die. Have a nice trip!' or Delenn or Ivanova giving one of their little speeches that had me going 'oh yeah!' or Londo referring to his assistant Vir, waking him up from a hangover, as 'you moon-faced assassin of joy!'

Sadly, they weren't sure they were getting a fifth season, so JMS managed to jam all of his really amazing storyline into the fourth season, and it was AMAZING. And then, renewed, and they didn't have a ton left in the tank, IMO, having already shot their wad. So the fifth season was a bit anticlimactic, I felt.

[C_Miller]

I want to get into this. But I am confused. All the movies and stuff they have of it. Where do I start? I remember watching some of season 1 years ago and did enjoy it.

If I recall correctly, none of the TV movies are essential beyond the pilot which sometimes counts as a standalone movie, sometimes counts as a pilot. It premiered a little less than a year before Season 1 and has a somewhat different cast than the show (though even the show's cast changes relatively frequently). I believe it is included with Season 1 on HBO Max right now, but it was not included on Netflix when I first saw the show. I had to find it elsewhere.

The other movies are standalone stories that are designed to fill time during the mid-season break in Season 5. In the Beginning is fun, but still not as necessary. So yeah, just start with the first episode of the show that HBO Max has (The Gathering) and keep going.

[mace11]

I was never a science fiction guy, but I really enjoyed Babylon 5.

Like Deep Space Nine, it takes a long time to get good, but when you get to season three, the series is excellent from then onwards.

I am fan of Babylon 5 and deep space nine.
Deep space nine is my top favorite star trek however and it's the height of star trek.
Both good(really good in my view) from the beginning but got better and better down the road like all past star trek.
Deep space nine to me is better then Babylon 5 too.
I use to be in the star trek talk forums in the past.
Maybe i go back later and see what it is going on.

[hyped78]

My all-time favorite tv show. I’d wish there was a remake, as the FX is clearly outdated.