Babylon 5 vs Farscape

[OdoWanKenobi]

There truly is no comparison between the two. You really couldn't find two shows within the genre that are more dissimilar. Both are among my favorite television shows ever. If pressed, I may have to give the slight edge to Farscape. It had an element of fun that could sometimes be lacking from the deathly serious Babylon 5. The cast was also more consistent in quality (though Katsulas and Jurasik are both brilliant actors.)

Farscape's biggest strength could also be it's biggest weakness at times. It could sometimes go so completely off the wall, that it could make the viewer tune out. When Farscape was bad, it was very very bad. When it was good, though, it was some of the finest television ever made.

[Neroon]

Temis the Vorta wrote:

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B5 is the superego and Farscape is the id.

LOL! Superb analogy!

[ElimParra]

Like others have said it's like comparing apples and oranges. Both shows are great, but it's Farscape that got me hooked first off - and back in the day when when B5 was on, I wasn't really that interested. But sometime last year, watched the whole series of B5 (seen a few times now), but still prefer Farscape (as is my second favourite scifi series after DS9).

[Starbreaker]

1. best characters -FS
2. best storyline/plot -B5
3. best setting -FS
4. best themes -B5
5. best acting -FS
6. best music -B5
7. best special effects -FS
8. best ending/finale -B5
9. best overall (see poll) TIE

[tomalak301]

I guess I should answer the questions, even though I've already voted and posted here:

1. best characters: Farscape
2. best storyline/plot: Babylon 5
3. best setting: Farscape (It was an entirely different universe)
4. best themes: Babylon 5
5. best acting: Farscape
6. best music: Babylon 5
7. best special effects: Farscape
8. best ending/finale: Farscape
9. best overall (see poll): Farscape

I wanted to address number 8. I absolutely loved Sleeping in Light. It was a great way to end the series, but Farscape wins out because I actually found it more emotional. I didn't choke up during Sleeping in Light, even though there were emotional moments, but Farscape had

the death of D'argo, and the birth of D'argo Jr. The actual birth scene is something I see on youtube quite a bit, and the end with the family was just a perfect way to end it

.

[Pauln6]

I prefer B5 overall, although it suffered because of the battle JMS had to make the suits realise that he was doing something ground-breaking and because of the adjustments he had to make with the actresses (losing Takinawa, then Talia, then Ivanova ahead of schedule, and the problems Julie Caitlin Brown (and other actresses had with the prosthetics). B5 also failed to capitalise on several interesting female characters (Sakai and Timov spring to mind). Season 5 definitely suffered because the Earth War finale had to be crammed into Season 4.

While it was often a tad too manic (thank goodness for Aeryn Sun to keep things a bit muted), Farscape took more chances with its characters, including the inspired idea of splitting them onto two different ships at one point. I also loved that Farscape was so visually striking, had a lot of really good roles for women, and put more effort into making aliens more alien (although I absolutely love the Vorlons and Shadows).

[Sean_McCormick]

Candlelight wrote:

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Babylon 5 by a country mile.

Farscape is just Muppets in Space.

Yeah, I went there!

I never understood that particular complaint. Use of puppets in Sci-Fi is not new or specific to Farscape. Yoda is brought to life with exactly the same technique in the original trilogy, yet i have never heard someone dismiss Star Wars as just "Muppets in Space".

[Jono]

Farscape is my favourite of the two, though if this poll came up 6 months ago I would have voted for B5, despite only finding it merely "okay". Watching Farscape from start to finish in a short period of time completely changed my opinion of it from what I watched it when it was on TV. Now it is one of my favourite shows.

[Frodo Lives]

Sean_McCormick wrote:

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i have never heard someone dismiss Star Wars as just "Muppets in Space".

"All Jedi had was a bunch of Muppets."

[label]

Count me as one of the many who believe the two shows are so completely opposite to the other as to be incomparable to each other. I didn't vote as I would never give up either. I suppose if someone held a gun to my head, I'd say Bab 5 has an extremely slight edge from the perspective that story is king in my book and Bab 5's overall arc is slightly more epic and planned out.

1. best characters: Londo and Gkar put Bab5 slightly ahead of John and Aeryn.
2. best storyline/plot: Babylon 5
3. best setting: Farscape
4. best themes: Babylon 5
5. best acting: Farscape
6. best music: Babylon 5
7. best special effects: Farscape
8. best ending/finale: Farscape
9. best overall (see poll): Babylon 5

[Listener4]

I definitely prefer Babylon 5 over Farscape, but the shows are so different they are hard to compare.

[Mistral]

Neroon wrote:

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LOL! Superb analogy!

Agreed. Both have points of interest-but those points barely intersect at all.
Still 2 of the 4 best scifi series I've seen in my life.

[tomalak301]

Mistral wrote:

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Agreed. Both have points of interest-but those points barely intersect at all.
Still 2 of the 4 best scifi series I've seen in my life.

Just curious, what are the other two:

For me, my top 4 Sci fi series:

Farscape
DS9
Babylon 5
TNG

(Doctor Who would be up there two, if I was doing top 5)

[RandyS]

Professor Zoom wrote:

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Both are great. You can watch and love both.

Absolutely.

Of the two, I think Babylon 5 is the better show, and will always be my second favorite sci-fi universe behind the various Star Treks, but Farscape is fun and enjoyable too.

I guess if you were going to compare them (and that's really not necessary, but I will anyhow), Baylon 5 is political intrigue and mythology, while Farscape is one long space adventure.

In short, both are valid forms of storytelling.

[caisson2delta]

I liked both and there isn't much I can say that hasn't already been mentioned, numerous times. I would only suggest, to the OP, watch Farscape and see what you think about it. I'm sure you'd find something of value out of it.