I started watching Babylon 5 for the first real time

[bigdaddy]

I have actually seen 25% (three episodes! ) of Crusade, it's just been so long I don't remember anything besides a virus on Earth that there has to be a cure found because of the time jump at the end of B5.

[Tulin]

Admiral James Kirk wrote:

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Honestly I was skeptical about B5 when I started buying the sets a few years back. The rivalry between B5 fans and Niners was kind of off putting but... After watching the series in it's entirety I kicked myself. That show was on for five years and I never really gave it a chance. I watched an episode or two but otherwise I missed out.

Yeah.

We get that a LOT.

[DarthTom]

Klaus wrote:

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Glad to see another fan onboard.

And for the record, some of us love both B5 and DS9...

Agreed. I never understood the rivalry between DS9 and B5 fans. The story arcs were completely different and there were virtually zero similarities between any of the characters.

I'm personally a huge fan of DS9 - consider it the best of Trek on TV - and yet still enjoyed B5.

It's a said truth that we don't have two outstanding space dramas on TV today as existed then.

[OmahaStar]

Neroon wrote:

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One addendum on the actors' deaths ...

• - Richard Biggs (Stephen Franklin, the doctor for most of the series) was the youngest at age 44.
• - Tim Choate (a favorite recurring character "Zathras")
• - Andreas Katsulas (G'Kar and you may have seen him in TNG a few times), Jeff Conaway (Zach Allen also was in Taxi, Grease), and
• - Michael O'Hare were all in their 60's

There's a lot more than that.

http://www.isnanchordesk.com/mem/mem.html

[Sindatur]

DarthTom wrote:

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Agreed. I never understood the rivalry between DS9 and B5 fans. The story arcs were completely different and there were virtually zero similarities between any of the characters.

I'm personally a huge fan of DS9 - consider it the best of Trek on TV - and yet still enjoyed B5.

It's a said truth that we don't have two outstanding space dramas on TV today as existed then.

Agreed. My station that became UPN played DS9 and B5 bck to back on Wednesday Nights, it was an awesome time to watch both incredible shows the same night every week.

[Neroon]

OmahaStar wrote:

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There's a lot more than that.

http://www.isnanchordesk.com/mem/mem.html

Oh, I know, and you've done an exemplary job with maintaining that list.

I was simply focusing upon the characters/actors bigdaddy originally mentioned and is likely to become most familiar with soon.

[MacLeod]

Another one who liked both. Though CH4 the network that aired it in the UK sometimes played a bit loose with the schedule. I think when S4 it had 21 time slot/day changes. (out of 22 episodes).

[Sindatur]

MacLeod wrote:

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Another one who liked both. Though CH4 the network that aired it in the UK sometimes played a bit loose with the schedule. I think when S4 it had 21 time slot/day changes. (out of 22 episodes).

Yea, the WB stations apparently did that alot too, going so far as to air it at the wee hours of the morning even (Fortunately my station had a stable time slot and day). And then there were also some markets, that held back the final 4 episodes of each season, to show as the first four episodes of the new season, so, you missed out on the season ending cliffhangers/game changers and ended the seasons on more average episodes.

[MacLeod]

That wasn't an issue in the UK as sometimes we had the last few episodes have their world premier on this side of the pond.

[The Mirrorball Man]

DarthTom wrote:

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Agreed. I never understood the rivalry between DS9 and B5 fans.

The rivalry is overstated. From what I've seen, most Deep Space 9 fans like Babylon 5 as well.

[inflatabledalek]

MacLeod wrote:

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Another one who liked both. Though CH4 the network that aired it in the UK sometimes played a bit loose with the schedule. I think when S4 it had 21 time slot/day changes. (out of 22 episodes).

And famously showing the pilot after the rest of season 1 as a Bank Holiday special.

Just started a rewatch myself, and I'd forgotten how bad The Gathering actually is. I think JMS had so many ideas in his head after trying to sell the show for so long he just rammed them all in there in case he never got another chance. You could make a great drinking game every time the plot stops for a character to turn to camera and give a ten minute speech about their life story.

A lot of the rest of the exposition is handled pretty badly as well, like the stations assigned telepath having to have it explained to them what the station actually does.

The first regular episode hits the ground running much better though, and whilst season 1 generally gets a lot of stick I actually quite like it. Though I find with the exception of Garibaldi it takes the human characters a lot longer to find their groove than the aliens, who are pretty much awesome from the start. "Miiiiistahh Garrrrrrrrribaldi!".

I was never much of a fan of Sinclair though, he was either incredibly wooden or, on the occasions where he tries to emote, suddenly starts over acting like mad.

Whilst the special effects have dated, the design work is still top notch as well. Lots of lovely spaceship porn.

Season 5 and Crusade do have their problems, as well as the well known ones (season 5 being very last second, Crusade being buggered about by the studio) I think JMS was just running on vapours by that point after having written so many episodes in a row.

[Neroon]

"The Gathering" didn't strike me as being bad at all - just different from your regular space-based TV show. It did need some technical work - as was plain when it went back into the so for awhile, but the basics had substance.

[Admiral James Kirk]

The Mirrorball Man wrote:

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The rivalry is overstated. From what I've seen, most Deep Space 9 fans like Babylon 5 as well.

I count myself as a fan of both. I'm not sure I presented myself that way earlier.

[RandyS]

DarthTom wrote:

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Agreed. I never understood the rivalry between DS9 and B5 fans. The story arcs were completely different and there were virtually zero similarities between any of the characters.

Me either, although, I would dispute your last point. I love both series, but see ALOT of similarities between characters and situations, just that they were done differently. And equally good. But, in the interest of NOT starting an argument, let's just agree that we both liked both series, and leave it at that.

[RandyS]

Sindatur wrote:

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Yea, the WB stations apparently did that alot too, going so far as to air it at the wee hours of the morning even (Fortunately my station had a stable time slot and day).

Really? Were you not living in Sacramento back then? I was (and still do), and remember that ch. 31 had a TV guide listing for the show at something like 3:30am Sunday mornings. I faithfully recorded (on VHS) that hour every week for two years, and it was the same thing every time: the last half hour of a movie, and an infomerical. After that, I gave up. I was convinced that the series was either a hoax, or a lie, because nothing beyond "The Gathering" had ever been aired, and that was shown in prime time here in early 1993.

It wasn't until 1998, when TNT started to air the fifth season, as well as the reruns of the first four, that I discovered this show that I had been hearing good things about, but never actually saw (other than the pilot five years back) actually existed.

Suffice it to say, THAT'S when I became a fan.