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Babylon 5 - I'm finally going to do it

Am I the only one who liked season 1 the most?

I think I like all of the seasons equally, if for different reasons. I definitely think that B5 wouldn't have been nearly as good without the universe building that we got in season one. For all that later seasons are exciting and a great payoff, without the set-up in season one we wouldn't have cared nearly as much.

Jan

Am I the only one who liked season 1 the most?
If it helps, I did like O'Hare more than Boxleitner, but I wasn't too keen on either.

I like O'Hare and Boxleitner equally, but I think for me I don't really care for the action based, conflict/ war stories. So I had a tendency to tune out as the war grew closer.

Plus, I love seeing things in their formative stages, with lots of potential and speculating where they'll go.
 
I like O'Hare and Boxleitner equally, but I think for me I don't really care for the action based, conflict/ war stories. So I had a tendency to tune out as the war grew closer.

Plus, I love seeing things in their formative stages, with lots of potential and speculating where they'll go.

Which explains a great deal of why you like S1 so much. That season lays out hints all over the place, so one can't help but wonder "where it's all going". Did you find that interest growing as the season drew to a close, with episodes like "Babylon Squared" (where they find Babylon 4 and introduce Zathras) and "Chrysalis" (the season finale) ?
 
Am I the only one who liked season 1 the most?

I think I like all of the seasons equally, if for different reasons. I definitely think that B5 wouldn't have been nearly as good without the universe building that we got in season one. For all that later seasons are exciting and a great payoff, without the set-up in season one we wouldn't have cared nearly as much.

Jan

I'm always a little perplexed at how people seam to find it necessary to rate the different seasons or come up with "top 10 episodes" lists.

My favourite novel is Dune and I must have read it a dozen times, but if you were to ask me which chapter I liked the most, I'd be at a total loss to name even one that stands out. After all, the last chapter alone would mean nothing if it weren't for the ones that came before it and the first one would be pointless without the ones that came after it. It's a novel. It tells a story with a beginning middle and end, just like Babylon 5. Single out any one and it ceases to be a story.

Sure there are peaks and valleys of drama, action and intrigue and the temptation is often to focus on those high points and label them the "best" episodes but to me that does the rest of the show an injustice.

I can understand it with say Star Trek, Twilight Zone or any other truly episodic forms of entertainment, but not B5, it's just not built that way.

On and Neroon; if you wanted a pretty, new Anla'shok avatar, you only had to ask. ;)
 
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Rev ... I was in the mood to change it since Veterans' Day was over. When I looked through my archives, yours stood out there. :D

I'll probably change it in a day or so, depending on how life goes.
 
I'm *so* glad we didn't lose this episode due to the story idea posted by a fan. Actually, I think it may have become a stronger story for having had to delay the writing since IIRC originally it was supposed to be a B story.

I don't think it was supposed to be a B-story, just that this story would have preceded Convictions and involved the Monks checking out the station before they moved the others in.

The other point of the story is how Sheridan deals with forgiveness; take a look at his reaction at the end
 
^^ What they mean is it was originally going to be a Season One/Two story as a B Plot, but then an online fan mentioned the same idea and JMS had to spend a year or two tracking him down to get permission to do the story without being sued.
 
I already knew the story behind the whole story idea/shelving the episode, thus why I described it as being set before Convictions. I don't think it was a B-plot at any point, thus why I stated such. However, I now found the post where he did call it a B-story:

jms said:
"What if Joe wrote a story in which a "memory-challenged" person DISCOVERED records of who or what he was?"

I was in the process of developing that as a b-story in an upcoming episode.
 
I already knew the story behind the whole story idea/shelving the episode, thus why I described it as being set before Convictions. I don't think it was a B-plot at any point, thus why I stated such. However, I now found the post where he did call it a B-story:

jms said:
"What if Joe wrote a story in which a "memory-challenged" person DISCOVERED records of who or what he was?"

I was in the process of developing that as a b-story in an upcoming episode.

That's the post I was thinking of.

Jan
 
Did you find that interest growing as the season drew to a close, with episodes like "Babylon Squared" (where they find Babylon 4 and introduce Zathras) and "Chrysalis" (the season finale) ?

Yeah, then I had to go back and find all of the hints that had been laid out before. :lol:

What I liked about B5 is that I never got the sense that they were just making it up as they went, and wandering all over the place. They had a specific place they were going to get to, and things were unfolding at an even pace.
 
What I liked about B5 is that I never got the sense that they were just making it up as they went, and wandering all over the place. They had a specific place they were going to get to, and things were unfolding at an even pace.

Something that I always appreciated was that even when a thread was out of focus for a while (such as Earth's troubles while Our Heroes were concentrating on the Shadow War) there would be something in the current episodes to keep you from forgetting it, whether a snippet of dialogue or a short scene.

Jan
 
I was in Glendale last night to see John Cleese perform (Phenomenal evening!) and as we were all filing into the theater, I looked behind me... and there stood JMS!
Like an idiot, though, I said, "Excuse me, are you J. Michael StraczzzzZzzski?" (I just couldn't pronounce Straczynski!)
"I could be!" was his reply.
I just shook his hand and scurried off with my proverbial tail between my legs.

Should've just said, "JMS, I presume?" or some such.
 
(I just couldn't pronounce Straczynski!)
"I could be!" was his reply.
I just shook his hand and scurried off with my proverbial tail between my legs.

Should've just said, "JMS, I presume?" or some such.

At cons when somebody tries to pronounce his name he says just to call him Joe. I've never had any trouble with pronouncing it Stra-zin-ski.

Jan
 
Joe has mentioned this a few times before:

jms said:
The *correct* pronunciation, the Old World version, would indeed be "stra-chin-ski," though I don't worry about that since nobody should ever have to worry about looking at a CZ and pronouncing it CH. The Americanized version is "stra-zin-ski."

jms said:
English version:

struh-zin -ski.

Byelorussian version:

strah-chin-ski

When asked which he prefers:

jms said:
 
I'm still watching B5 (Finished the first disc of season 3 last week but haven't watched any more), but tonight I just ordered Farscape: The Complete Series. Who knew this year would be so freaking awesome in terms of quality shows being released. I get into B5 to the point of buying the series, and now my favorite Series of all time is going to be shipped to me in the next few days. Good thing I found work because I'm usually not this antsy to buy stuff. ;)
 
OP, enjoy.
B5's not at all the sub-Star Trek it's often claimed to be. (In my country, at least.)
I watched the whole series this summer for the first time and had a blast. :)
 
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