[Closed] Babylon 5 is a big pile of....?

What happened to Babylon Zoo?

They floated away. [Always wanted to go...]

i'm a massive geek, i liked it. But I haven't seen it since it was on telly though, so it might actually be awful.

i remember enjoying storylines that only got explained a few series later.

Cougar to the forum

Cougar to the forum

IMHO yes it is worth watching assuming you like Sci fi

Sorts of fades a bit in the middle then picks up again

I largely enjoyed it at the time but I have no great desire to revisit it.

It did some things differently to the prevailing Star Trek series of the time which added some interest. The original plan was for 5 seasons but it looked like they wouldn't get funding for the fifth season so they crammed lots of epic stuff into the latter part of the third season and the fourth season. They then got the fifth season which suffered from their need to come up with storylines that weren't part of the original plan.

I have the feeling that the special effects have dated fairly badly.

Its most influential feature was its overarching story. Big story arcs in sci-fi shows have become far more common since Babylon 5 happened.

Was good at the time but wouldn't watch it again. I think I gave up on it in season 3 for a bit. I did see an episode on sky a few months ago and it looked pretty dated now.

I hated it when it came out. Re-watched it while procrastinating over my PhD a few years back and really enjoyed it. The first series is painful...then it gets better. The overall story is excellent.

procrastinating over my PhD

Perfect for me then 🙂

Yes.

Although I would use t'internet and skip as many of the 'monster of the week' episodes as possible.

I tend to watch it when feeling ill.

it looked pretty dated now.

First series is pretty average, then it picks up, then it gets dreadful, then it picks up again. It's pretty dated, the writing is massively variable and it gets chewy at times but it's ok.

The films are a bit odd, but they fill in a lot of the space when things jump a bit, this will be of use.

[img] [/img]

Somehow I also got my PhD 🙂

!

Cougar to the forum

Wasn't he in it?

They then got the fifth season which suffered from their need to come up with storylines that weren't part of the original plan

It held together surprisingly well despite the cancellation/uncancelation shenanigans. I enjoyed it, well worth the watch imo though it's pretty slow.

I think tradition dictates you choose either babylon 5 or deep space 9, then are a dick about it. But I reckon ds9 might be more watchable now. It had more outright filler though.

I'm not sure any of it would be watchable now - TV has got so much better in the last decade or so.

The main arc episodes are pretty good but I remember some of the filler being pretty painful. I suspect the special effects won't be that special anymore, I remember reading that they wanted to include more but the time they took to render was the limiting factor. And I'd agree with BBSB, it did seem to peter out after the order v chaos struggle resolved.

As I remember, the first series wasn't great, series 2-4 picked up and were brilliant in places, series five was OK.
I always remember "Who are you?" and "What do you want?" as the key questions.
One of the original arc-story series (other than Buffy) an idea which has unfortunately ruined Dr Who.

choose either babylon 5 or deep space 9

I watched both at the time, and have been considering watching DS9 now it's on Netflix. I greatly preferred B5 over DS9 though. I'm sure they both look pretty dated now though.

Still trying to decide on re-watching Farscape too.

Its worth a watch but its definitely not "gateway" sci-fi like something like BSG. If you've never seen it and you are a Sci-Fi fan though fill yer boots.

think tradition dictates you choose either babylon 5 or deep space 9, then are a dick about it. But I reckon ds9 might be more watchable now. It had more outright filler though.

I think there is a fair case for saying the DS9 ripped off the best bits from Babylon 5 but i'd agree it stands up a bit better today largely because they could afford fancy sets and half decent actors

TV has got so much better in the last decade or so.

We obviously get different channels ...mainstream tv is dire but the exceptionally good shows still exist but, IMHO, they are less common

I enjoyed both B5 and DS9 and i agree DS9 had more shows that added nothing to the arc...the use of th eholo sweet was clever though leading to excellent stories.

Farscape..god yes rewatching it now..pre bought the end for that

Goroundbreaking but Rigel is its C3P0 in that I just want to kill i tevery time I see it.

half decent actors

This is one of the real issues with babylon 5. It's really rare these days to see properly poor acting make it to the screen but B5 is stuffed full of it.

mainstream tv is dire

I never said anything about mainstream.. one of the best things to happen to TV is Netflix and similar - we can go through all the good stuff and demand more without being drip-fed by the TV chanenls.

Babylon 5 and for that matter Deep Space 9 seemed to both suffer from the same problem for me, as soon as you set something on a space station it had a whiff of shit about it. Can't explain why but it seemed to have something to do with the limited scope and they never seemed to really go anywhere.

Let's give Krull a try, and we can discuss it later

Boba Fatt
as soon as you set something on a space station it had a whiff of shit about it.

I think that's because you can't just open a window after a "i had a curry last night" poo..... 😉

I remember being pretty excited by B5, at the time the SFX were ground-breaking; instead of shonky models being moved around against bluescreen backgrounds, with explosions that were just wrong in a supposedly zero-G, vacuum environment, the ships moved in a fashion that looked appropriate to being in space, having mass, and actually looking solid and huge.
You could always tell where the budget was tight, and where they thought they could really splurge; lots and lots and [i]lots[/i] of ships meant they had the cash to get the toys out, 'bottle' episodes, with just a couple of cast members in a single room with lots of yakking meant the accountants were in control.
Certainly true that the threat of being shut down meant cramming stuff and rushing the ending, the reprieve meaning they had to try, desperately, to find a way of filling an entire season.
Yes it was patchy, but I much prefered it to DS9, (I'd never really been a Trek fan), and by comparison to stuff like [i]Andromeda[/i], it was up there with [i]The Wire[/i] or [i]Breaking Bad[/i]! And [i]Andromeda[/i] just seemed to go on and on and on and on and on and on.....
Always wish I'd bought a Shadow Ship garage kit, extraordinary looking thing, and impossible to find, now.[img] [/img]
Still available, it seems; at a price: http://www.timeless-hobbies.com/babylon-5.html

Just found someone selling a Revell [i]Star Fury[/i] kit; how much? 😯
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Revell-Monogram-Babylon-5-Starfury-Mk-1-BNIB-VERY-SCARCE-/221696786847

Desperate to raise money to get out of Wellingborough, and I don't blame them!

Two possible wrongs here, a Sci fi youtube clip, with a U2 backing track.

I loved it, the complete story and end to end link was amazing. Was Sheridan's line not "get the hell out of our galaxy"?

Still got the videos of the episodes when the whole thing came together in a wwwwoooooaaahhhh way. Magic stuff.

Not seen any of the non series guff.

one of the best things to happen to TV is Netflix and similar - we can go through all the good stuff and demand more without being drip-fed by the TV chanenls.

I am also not sure that the internet can really be classed as television anymore than we can call it the cinema.

Basically you meant you like the way you can watch shows now.It would have been easier if you had said that and I dont disagree its a good delivery method for content.
Its not prolific in original content yet and it remains to be seen what the full impact is IMHO

You know, the effects have aged far better than I thought. I mean, it looks less good than Eve Online but it still works and the ships have a lot of solidity, most people get that wrong even now.

i liked the series tbh.

some interesting characters and storylines.

also liked the episode where the security chief was building a kawasaki ninja bike in his dorm 8)

always felt very drawn to commander ivanova 😳

[img] [/img]

I am also not sure that the internet can really be classed as television anymore than we can call it the cinema.

The TV shows on there have all been on TV.

The point about it is that it allows us to watch much more of the good stuff, and less of the dross. And we can watch it more quickly too. So I think they will be under pressure to produce much more good telly.

However I think that TV was improving before this. A big upturn in quality starting about.. six or seven years ago maybe.

Dont ask my why I know this but I am pretty sure she did a porn or Playboy type shoot

Just checked and yes

She posed nude for Playboy magazine in October 1999

However I think that TV was improving before this. A big upturn in quality starting about.. six or seven years ago maybe.

I'd say it started further back than that - HBO were producing The Sopranos and Oz in the late 90s and they definitely seemed a cut above what went before.

Yeah you are probably right. I didnt' watch the Sopranos but I think it probably kick started things.

The point about it is that it allows us to watch much more of the good stuff, and less of the dross. And we can watch it more quickly too. So I think they will be under pressure to produce much more good telly

All they do is buy good shows that have been on tv already and let us watch repeats. As the shows have been on tv I am not sure what you mean by more quickly.

I fail to see how this means tv is better as their is more dross now and less quality IMHO. the former { due to channel numbers] is not really debatable though the later could be.

The Sopranos and Oz in the late 90s and they definitely seemed a cut above what went before.

Again name a good comedy show

All they do is buy good shows that have been on tv already and let us watch repeats. As the shows have been on tv I am not sure what you mean by more quickly.

That's a bit of an out of date view of things TBH and getting more so every day:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_original_programs_distributed_by_Amazon
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_original_programs_distributed_by_Netflix

Cheery picking look at all the dross we have endured

I can only imagine you watched different TV to me in the 90s if you thought it was significantly less dross filled.

Again name a good comedy show

Junkyard - lazarus
Cougar to the forum

Hiya!

Courtesy of JY, I'm currently wading my way through the DVD box sets having never watched it before beyond odd snippets.

The Amiga FX, ground-breaking at the time, does look dated compared to modern shows of course, but actually holds up surprisingly well. The first season is quite painful in places, fight choreography in particular make James T Kirk's fisticuffs look like The Matrix. However, I've just got to the end of the first disc in S3 and can confirm that it does get better.

But all this is by the by. A twenty year old show looks twenty years old? You don't say. The question is, is it any good? And I have to say that I am really enjoying it. The characters are interesting and the overall story arc is compelling (I can only assume it's where Volition's Freespace got it from, cos it's basically the same premise). The monster-of-the-week episodes are hit and miss, which is a given for pretty much every show of that era. It's interesting that it's getting compared to DS9; you can see it's DNA in the recent BSG too.

I started watching largely out of curiosity, and I'm glad I did.

Wasn't he in it?

I think that's Farscape you're thinking of.

[img] [/img]

The films are a bit odd, but they fill in a lot of the space when things jump a bit, this will be of use.

I worked all this out before I started, because (surprisingly) there's a lot of nerd discussion about it. I'll post a running order in the next post.

Season 1
1x00: The Gathering
1x01: Midnight on the Firing Line
1x02: Soul Hunter
1x03: Born to the Purple
1x04: Infection
1x05: The Parliament of Dreams
1x06: Mind War
1x07: The War Prayer
1x08: And the Sky Full of Stars
1x09: Deathwalker
1x10: Believers
1x11: Survivors
1x12: By Any Means Necessary
1x13: Signs and Portents
[i] 1x15: Grail
[/i]1x16: Eyes
[i] 1x18: A Voice in the Wilderness (1)
[/i]1x19: A Voice in the Wilderness (2)
1x20: Babylon Squared
1x21: The Quality of Mercy
[i] 1x14: TKO
1x17: Legacies
[/i]1x22: Chrysalis

Season 2
2x01: Points of Departure
2x02: Revelations
2x03: The Geometry of Shadows
2x04: A Distant Star
2x05: The Long Dark
2x06: Spider in the Web
[i] 2x08: A Race Through Dark Places
2x07: Soul Mates
[/i]2x09: The Coming of Shadows
2x10: GROPOS
2x11: All Alone in the Night
2x12: Acts of Sacrifice
2x13: Hunter, Prey
2x14: There All the Honor Lies
2x15: And Now for a Word
[i] 2x17: Knives
2x16: In the Shadow of Z’ha’dum
[/i]2x18: Confessions and Lamentations
2x19: Divided Loyalties
2x20: The Long Twilight Struggle
2x21: Comes the Inquisitor
2x22: The Fall of Night

Season 3
3x01: Matters of Honor
3x02: Convictions
3x03: A Day in the Strife
3x04: Passing Through Gethsemane
3x05: Voices of Authority
3x06: Dust to Dust
3x07: Exogenesis
3x08: Messages from Earth (1)
3x09: Point of No Return (2)
3x10: Severed Dreams (3)
3x11: Ceremonies of Light and Dark
[i] 3x13: A Late Delivery from Avalon
3x12: Sic Transit Vir
[/i]3x14: Ship of Tears
3x15: Interludes and Examinations
[i] 3x18: Walkabout
[/i]3x16: War Without End (1)
3x17: War Without End (2)
3x19: Grey 17 Is Missing
3x20: And the Rock Cried Out, No Hiding Place
3x21: Shadow Dancing
3x22: Z’ha’dum

Season 4
4x01: The Hour of the Wolf
4x02: What Ever Happened to Mr. Garibaldi?
4x03: The Summoning
4x04: Falling Towards Apotheosis
4x05: The Long Night
4x06: Into the Fire
4x07: Epiphanies
4x08: The Illusion of Truth
[i] Movie: Thirdspace
[/i]4x09: Atonement
[i] Movie: In the Beginning (** chronologically here, but watch after the end of S4 **)
[/i]4x10: Racing Mars
4x11: Lines of Communication
4x12: Conflicts of Interest
4x13: Rumors, Bargains and Lies
4x14: Moments of Transition
4x15: No Surrender, No Retreat
4x16: Exercise of Vital Powers
4x17: The Face of the Enemy
4x18: Intersections in Real Time
4x19: Between the Darkness and the Light
4x20: Endgame
4x21: Rising Star
4x22: The Deconstruction of Falling Stars

Season 5
5x01: No Compromises
5x02: The Very Long Night of Londo Mollari
5x03: The Paragon of Animals
5x04: A View from the Gallery
5x05: Learning Curve
5x06: Strange Relations
5x07: Secrets of the Soul
[i] 5x09: In the Kingdom of the Blind
[/i]5x10: A Tragedy of Telepaths
5x11: Phoenix Rising
5x12: The Ragged Edge
[i] 5x08: Day of the Dead
[/i]5x13: The Corps Is Mother, the Corps Is Father
5x14: Meditations on the Abyss
5x15: Darkness Ascending
5x16: And All My Dreams Torn Asunder
5x17: Movements of Fire and Shadow (1)
5x18: The Fall of Centauri Prime (2)
5x19: The Wheel of Fire
5x20: Objects in Motion
5x21: Objects at Rest

[i] Movie: River of Souls
Movie: The Legend of the Rangers
[/i]
Movie: A Call to Arms

[b]Crusade
[/b]Crusade 1x09: Racing the Night
Crusade 1x11: The Needs of Earth
Crusade 1x10: The Memory of War
Crusade 1x02: The Long Road
Crusade 1x12: Visitors from Down the Street
Crusade 1x03: The Well of Forever
Crusade 1x13: Each Night I Dream of Home
Crusade 1x05: Patterns of the Soul
Crusade 1x04: The Path of Sorrows
Crusade 1x06: Ruling from the Tomb
Crusade 1x07: The Rules of the Game
Crusade 1x01: War Zone
Crusade 1x08: Appearances and Other Deceits

[i]6x01: The Lost Tales: Voices in the Dark

5x22: Sleeping in Light[/i]

(I've italicised the bits where it goes out of order.)

I can only imagine you watched different TV to me in the 90s if you thought it was significantly less dross filled.

That's a bit of an out of date view of things TBH and getting more so every day:

I have netflix FWIW but dont use it all that much

Are you serious about that running order for Crusade, Cougar?

😆 it smells of geek in here 😆

Its not nice to point and laugh at minorities

Are you serious about that running order for Crusade, Cougar?

It's what I put together at the time, there was probably a reason for it. I'd have to go back over it to be "sure" though.

As the shows have been on tv I am not sure what you mean by more quickly

I mean that you can watch four episodes a night and view an entire back catalogue of a show in a matter of weeks. Then you can do the same with another show. So you get through it faster. And you can choose the good stuff. The bad stuff is less likely to be watched just because it's on when you have nothing else to do.

It's what I put together at the time, there was probably a reason for it. I'd have to go back over it to be "sure" though.

I saw it when it was first broadcast, presumably in numerical order (but maybe not!). I didn't think it was great but it wasn't as all over the place as it would have been if yours was the correct sequence.

It wouldn't be unheard of, Firefly was broadcast in a strange order too.

The poster boy for that is American Gothic. The DVD's all over the bloody place. At least Firefly's order was corrected for the disc.

Babylon 5 always reminds me of video toaster and Amigas 🙁