• Welcome! The TrekBBS is the number one place to chat about Star Trek with like-minded fans.
    If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

Babylon 5

How different are the two versions? I'm not positive, but I think I've only seen the TNT version.
I originally bought and watched it on ITunes a long time ago, and then when I started to do a rewatch, I watched it again on the movies DVD set.
 
How different are the two versions? I'm not positive, but I think I've only seen the TNT version.
I originally bought and watched it on ITunes a long time ago, and then when I started to do a rewatch, I watched it again on the movies DVD set.

There are scenes taken out of or added to the TNT version, the music has been replaced, and the thing in my previous spoiler tag happens. There's also less emphasis on lingering conspiracies as the story finishes.

The only way to view the original broadcast version currently is by purchasing it on Amazon Video, so you've definitely seen the TNT version.

I had conversely only seen the original broadcast version because I had only previously watched it through Amazon Video.
 
I wish we had gotten to see more of her and Corwin. Tough as she was coming on B5, Corwin was always so much more at ease than he was around Ivanova.

I certainly can't imagine Corwin ever cheerily telling Ivanova about how he deals with workplace stress by hitting himself with an emotionally abusive NERF toy.

One thing that I'm going to spoiler-tag:
I had no idea what it was that Kosh said to the faux Sinclair in the TNT version until I listened to a couple of podcasts about the episode, so I'm not sure if that makes me dense or if the line should've been mixed more clearly when they inserted it.

Considering how many people are all "OMG the special edition is all spoilers, first-time viewers need to watch the original cut," because of that addition, I'd say that's evidence they got it just right.

How different are the two versions? I'm not positive, but I think I've only seen the TNT version.
I originally bought and watched it on ITunes a long time ago, and then when I started to do a rewatch, I watched it again on the movies DVD set.

Extremely different. Many different takes are used, in the original version, Takashima's dialogue was all re-looped to make her sound "less mean," a different composer did the music in the original (lots of electric guitars), there are some terrible cheesy moments that were edited out (a tour of the Alien Sector that incorporated "front porches" into the apartments, which just made it look like a zoo, a terrible technobabble line about ships having to slow down after coming through the jumpgate, and the bartender in the Zocolo (not yet called "the Zocolo") was a gorilla. He still is in the special edition, but he doesn't get so many close-ups). They also raided later seasons for CGI that they could slot in place of the original effects (plus one or two all-new shots). The re-edit is the definitive, far-superior version.

IIRC, the original cut was never released on DVD (at least in the US), but the streaming and download services seem to arbitrarily decide whether they include the original or special edition version when they carry the series. I myself got the original cut off of iTunes using a free download credit many, many years ago so I could finally see it, though I believe the special edition replaced it at some point. Something similar seems to be happening with Stargate SG-1's special edition of their pilot, where it replaced the original in Amazon Prime's complete-series run when they had the show, but I think other services show the original cut.
 
Last edited:
Yeah, I definitely saw the TNT edit, so I must have gotten off of ITunes after they changed. That was the only part of the series I got that way, I got the seasons and the movies all on DVD.
 
@David cgc
All of the people hosting the podcasts I listened to knew what Kosh said, so the truth most likely is that I'm just dense.

Also, what Kosh says isn't a spoiler unless newbies are told what the thing he says means.
 
As an introduction to the series it works fine...it's not as though most of the Trek pilots are considerd the shining gems of their series...but that doesn't make it compelling on its own terms...to me, at least. As you said, some tuning would have been beneficial. And I think Sinclair is a tough sell as a commander for people who are expecting something a bit more dynamic in terms of performance.

ETA: Sorry, I didn't realize there'd been so many posts since the one I intended to be replying to or would have done a quote.
 
Disney Planet.

Disney loses the rights to Micky Mouse in 2024, unless they have some sneaky lawyers.

1. The Walt Disney Corporation went to another planet in disgust after their last patents expired. They invented a new legal code where they got the rights back, and would never lose them again. Treaties with earth may make those new patents on alien/colony worlds enforceble on Earth.

Or...

2. The Disney Corporation have fantastic lawyers. By 2260 they still have not lost a single patent. The only way for regular people to have any fun with Micky and Donald, with out paying impossible licencing fees, was to colonize another planet and build a few theme parks and bootlegging factories, and then smuggle their wares back to Earth.
 
I certainly can't imagine Corwin ever cheerily telling Ivanova about how he deals with workplace stress by hitting himself with an emotionally abusive NERF toy.
Jokes aside about Corwin having been Ivanova's nerf toy, he did get in a few zingers on her as time went by. I think JMS did some of his better character development on the characters that were not his prime focus. His writing let them become something different without being plot monkeys. Corwin went from nervous newbie on the bridge to confident command officer without absurd dramatics. He matured through the experiences lived on board B5.
 
A friend, years ago, very opinionated, tried to convince me that there was an unseen, second Lt Commander on the B5 command staff that looked after the station while the faces we are familiar with are sleeping.

It sounds crazy, but Voyager had a Commander, and two more LT Commanders that we never got a bead on.

Corwin was Station Commander between Ivanova leaving, and Lochley arriving.
 
A friend, years ago, very opinionated, tried to convince me that there was an unseen, second Lt Commander on the B5 command staff that looked after the station while the faces we are familiar with are sleeping.

It sounds crazy, but Voyager had a Commander, and two more LT Commanders that we never got a bead on.

Corwin was Station Commander between Ivanova leaving, and Lochley arriving.

I'm not sure if that was mentioned in one of the novels, but for the tv show, there was Major Atumbe (mentioned in Eyes) called to cover for Ivanova at one point. I know some people seemed to think he was the other shift guy or Ivanova's deputy at the time.
 
It makes some sense that there would have been an additional watch officer, and it's something that I feel Trek didn't always handle well. "How convenient that all of the major crises always happen during Alpha Shift..." and such.
 
I'm not sure if that was mentioned in one of the novels, but for the tv show, there was Major Atumbe (mentioned in Eyes) called to cover for Ivanova at one point. I know some people seemed to think he was the other shift guy or Ivanova's deputy at the time.
Atumbe never came up outside of that one throwaway reference in "Eyes," including in novels and comics (nor, IIRC, did any other night-shift commander; I remember one character who might've fit the bill, but I'm pretty sure she was in the security department), but they certainly had an outsized presence in certain circles of the fandom, probably those most into the fanfic scene. I've been seeing something similar in more recent years on Tumblr, with people casually and confidently mentioning Spock's family name as "S'chn T'gai" and I'm like, where did you even read those words in this day and age? The answer, of course, is someone put it on a wiki, not that there was a stealth phenomena resurgence of an old Star Trek novel that involved a time-travel sitcom crossover.
 
Was the Gorilla only in The Gathering? I could have sworn I remembered seeing him in the background in a whole bunch of episodes.
 
It makes some sense that there would have been an additional watch officer, and it's something that I feel Trek didn't always handle well. "How convenient that all of the major crises always happen during Alpha Shift..." and such.

Well it's matter of 8 hours? (Three shifts? I think Voyager might have only had two shifts, because of how little crew they had, and that Berman is dumb. Night Shift and day shift. But seriously, 12 hours on and then twelve hours off, two thirds of which, you're sleeping? They'll all go space crazy real quick.)

Arriving at a planet while the Captain is awake, that you've known is coming for months, is about travelling a fraction of a warp factor faster or slower.

"At current speeds, the Captain will be sleeping when we arrive at Methusela VII."

"Slow down to warp factor four. We'll arrive three and a half days later, but the Captain is awake when we reach parking orbit."
 
Was the Gorilla only in The Gathering? I could have sworn I remembered seeing him in the background in a whole bunch of episodes.

Pretty sure he's only in "The Gathering." The only good picture I can find is on this page of weird things in "The Gathering."

How do I always remember Gorilla Bartender but not Dinosaur News Anchor? I can't find it at the moment, but one of the editors or VFX artists from the show posted that whole news segment from the background monitors on-line a while ago (well, mostly, there was a new shot slipped in of the NX-01 being the crashed space-ship mentioned in a story, which I believe was topical when it was posted).

Well it's matter of 8 hours? (Three shifts? I think Voyager might have only had two shifts, because of how little crew they had, and that Berman is dumb. Night Shift and day shift. But seriously, 12 hours on and then twelve hours off, two thirds of which, you're sleeping? They'll all go space crazy real quick.)

It's implied that in the 24th century Starfleet, there's a lot of downtime thanks to automation, even when you're nominally on-shift. It could be more like being "on-call," and you're actually expected to be at your station doing work for only a fraction of that time under most circumstances. That'd also explain how Harry could be on both shifts without simply living on the bridge.
 
Ds9 and TNG had 3 shifts, until they had four.

Actually, did the Enterprise go back to 3 shifts after Jellico made an exit? Hell, Picard should have been of two minds about demoting Data.

Some wiki is saying that it's day shift, swing shift and night shift, but I just Google searched all of Star Trek and the term swing shift was not used even once.

Byron is a yutz.

Zack summed him up in seconds.

A martyr.

Was Lyta blinded by her lady boner or by the sheen from his pretty jesus barbie hair?
 
Last edited:
I don't think Byron ever wanted to be a martyr. I think his followers lost sight of his message and made him one, and I'd like to think that if he had the opportunity he'd smack them all upside their collective heads. Especially Lyta.
 
Some wiki is saying that it's day shift, swing shift and night shift, but I just Google searched all of Star Trek and the term swing shift was not used even once.
I have a distinct memory of Rom going on about being assigned to the swing shift...I'm guessing some time in season 4 or 5?

Haven't watched DS9 in forever.
 
How do I always remember Gorilla Bartender but not Dinosaur News Anchor?
I don't think I ever noticed Dinosaur News Anchor. Those two make me wonder if they were just grabbing any old random costume they could find to fill out the alien extras in The Gathering.



It's implied that in the 24th century Starfleet, there's a lot of downtime thanks to automation, even when you're nominally on-shift. It could be more like being "on-call," and you're actually expected to be at your station doing work for only a fraction of that time under most circumstances. That'd also explain how Harry could be on both shifts without simply living on the bridge.
Harry working both shifts has always bothered me, that is just completely nuts. I would think that would have to add up to at least 24 hours straight, and I can't image it would be a good idea to have one of you're bridge officers working on that little sleep.
 
If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

Sign up / Register


Back
Top