I enjoyed Babylon 5 back when I watched it a few years ago. I bought all of the seasons and movies, and watched it straight through and plan to do so again. But I really enjoy Farscape a lot more. I thought Farscape was a lot more fun. B5 is basically a traditional sci-fi story, it is very well done, but IMO there is a lot more originality in Farscape. I like the characters better in Farscape, and thanks to the absolutely amazing work done by Jim Henson's Creature Shop (IMO Farscape was one of the best things they ever did) it has a lot more interesting aliens. I know a lot of people make fun of the fact that it's puppets in space, but that was one of my elements of the series. But I'm also a huge life long fan of The Jim Henson Company, so I could be a little biased.
I, on the other hand, am not a fan of puppets. I LOVE Farscape. Its awesome. It is not a puppet show. After a while you forget you are not looking at aliens. In answer to your question though, I don't know. they are both among my favorites. If you plan to get them both eventually I would say it doesn't matter. You should enjoy whichever you get and can get to the next when you can afford it.
^Oh, I agree complelty about the puppets in FS, it's just something that I think should be addressed when recommending them. After a few episodes you really do start to think of Rygel and Pilot as other characters, and not as the puppets.
I love both shows, but I would go for Farscape, just because I feel the characters had a much significant change in Farscape than they did in B5. Also, Farscape I felt was a whole lot more fun, while on B5 they did have fun bits (Ivanova and Mollari), it seemed more serious in the later years.
Having seen all of B5 and having tried to watch Farscape and not been able to even finish an ep, I'd have to say B5 all the way. Stronger acting, better plot and dialogue, stronger through story. Win-win-win across the board with B5.
Translation= funky but murky through story that doesn't seem to have much to say OR do a very good job of getting there. Complete and utter horsecrap! Katsulas, Jurrasic, and Furlan in particular stand head and shoulders above Browder or Claudia Black. Boxleitner was excellent in his role as was Doyle, and Carter, Biggs, and Conaway are very strong supporting actors Londo, G'Kar, Franklin, D'lenn, et al vs a bunch of muppets whose names I can't ever remember? Clear win for B5. So entertaining I couldn't even make it through a full episode... Go peddle your kool-aid elsewhere, Legion, because it ain't selling with me.
Except that Farscape is one of the most popular shows on the board, along with B5. And out of curiosity, which episode of Farscape did you try and watch?
^Actually tried several different eps from time to time when I could catch them over the years, and recently tried to do the S1 E1 thing and couldn't even get through the pilot. It was mostly because of the fact I liked Browder as Cam Mitchell that I even tried that last time. Crichton just annoyed the heck out of me, as did the muppets. And no, it wasn't because theywere muppets, (one of my all time favorite supporting characters [Supreme Commander Thor] was a "muppet") it was because I found them uninteresting and forgettable. ETA: I changed my prev post to be more precise.
Well, it's not for everybody. I would probably have a hard time if I watched the show starting with the first season. I was introduced to it with the 3-parter at the end of Season 2, which is just full of action. I had no idea what the hell was going on, but I frickin loved it anyway!
I too am really taken aback by this claim of poor acting in Babylon 5. Sure, Claudia Christian and Pat Tallman aren't Meryl Streep, but, they do a fine job as the characters they play. The rest of the principals are all great actors, IMHO (as well as several of the recurring actors who played multiple roles such as Kim Strauss and Wayne Alexander). Certainly, some of the acting is more like a stage play than TV, and more formal and Shakespearean, but, I don't think the acting is poor in the slightest.
I think the actors in B5 do a fine job, but I also think many of their performances could have been better directed and the dialogue better written. Much of it just sounds very unnatural.
As far as guest actors, I'll give you Marjorie Monnaghan, she probably should've chosen a different career, she's great as an action hero, but, her line delivery leaves an awful lot to be desired in any role I've seen her in
I ended up going with Babylon 5 season 1. After seeing the first episode, I think I'm more in the mood for a series like that right now. Still, whenever I get enough money for Farscape, I'm going to get it. It looked good when i watched the first episode of it awhile ago, but even if it hadn't I was a big fan of Claudia Black and ben Bowder in SG-1, and that would probably be enough for me to try Farscape out anyway (I know Black's characters are fairly different in the two shows, I stillbecame a fan because of sG-1 and its still a positive thing to me).
Claudia Black really impresses me as an actress. I never could have envisioned her playing anyone other than Aeryn Sun, and then I saw her as Vala in SG-1 and blown away by how different the characters were.
Its funny, I can't imagine her playing anyone else other than Vala, but it will be interesting to see her in Farscape when I get to it. I've liked the stuff I've seen with her. Plus, she's also a great voice actress, Morrigan was my favorite character in Dragon Age Origins, and without Black's voice acting, it wouldn't have been the same. Same with Chloe in Uncharted 2. She was also good as Cheetah in the Justice League: Doom animated movie. She hasn't done a lot of very popular stuff (on wikipedia she doesn't have seemed to have done much that I've seen outside of stargate, although her being in an episode of Xena is kind of funny, I can't imagine watching a Xena episode and just randomly seeing Claudia Black show up) , but whenever I see she's in something, I'm excited.
No need to get so hostile. I prefer Farscape, but I don't feel a need to belittle B-5, which I have a lot of respect for. I get that you're a big B-5 fan, and FS didnt work for you, but why go at FS so aggressively? Both shows had many good actors and interesting characters, including, in the case of FS, Crichton, Aeryn Sun, Chiana, Zhaan, Rigel, Pilot, Maya, Scorpius, Talyn, etc. (See, I can remember their names even if you can't.) It's not like we're comparing 2001 to Plan Nine here. Both shows were quality productions with devoted fan bases. Neither show is qualitatively better than the other. Any preferences are mostly a matter of taste. B-5, at its best, was ambitious and epic and dramatic. Farscape, at its best, was colorful and irreverent and emotionally gripping. Personally, I lean toward colorful and irreverent, but, like I said, that's just a matter of taste. I have fond memories of B-5 as well. That time Delenn turned back the enemy fleet? Great stuff. Just like the time Scorpius cut open Crichton's brain . . . . (I'm trying to keep my spoilers vague here.)
They both seem like great shows, which is why I was having so much trouble deciding which one to get. I'm actually kind of glad I've waited so long before watching them. Its nice to have two good sci-fi shows to eventually watch that are new to me.
Honestly, you're in a good position here. It's like trying to choose between a pumpkin pie or a cherry pie. You can't really go wrong either way . . . .