I listened to the commentary for "In the Shadow of Z'Ha'Dum", and I had not realized just how small the budget for this show was. They had to redress and reuse the same sets over and over.
Yeah, a lot of the sets were specifically designed to do at least double duty, the wall sections were all on wheels they they could be pulled out, reconfigured and some even had other walls painted on the other side. IIRC the person responsible for all that had a background in theatre and so used a lot of the tricks of the trade. Even that painted stipple effect wallpaper looking stuff they used all over the place was chosen specifically to give some depth and texture to the background. Also the use of drapery and other hangings, glass beads on the lighting fixtures, lots of little touches like that.
In terms of budget, I think (per episode) they had to work with less than half of what Star Trek did at the same time. It really showed in the first season but as time went on. they got better and better at doing more with a lot less.
What I found most impressive is that later in the show they're able to show places other than the inside of the station (Narn, Centauri Prime, Mars and even Minbar) and sell it despite the fact whole show was shot on-stage. No location work, ever. I think the closest they came is a fairly memorable shot (that I shall be deliberately vague about) of Londo standing in a garden looking up at something overhead and that was basically done in the car park just outside the sound stage IIRC. I think it's the only actual natural sunlight you'll ever on B5.
One of my favorites from the B5 franchise is actually a Crusade episode, "Visitors From Down the Street". This episode is based on another series I like, The X-Files.
That is easily my least favourite episode of Crusade, bar none. It felt so clumsy and ham fisted at the time and since then it just looks increasingly dated.
The premise is interesting enough, but the execution is just a string of X-Files references held together by cardboard characters and barely involves the main cast. You can pretty much sum the whole thing up by havin the screen writer go
"Hey, do you know X-Files? We know X-Files too! Look, we're totally doing X-Files! It's got the smoking man and the tape on the window and everything!!!"
That kind of thing is fine for a one-off gag or reference, but stretching it out to a whole episode just didn't work for me.
