I started watching Babylon 5 for the first real time

[bigdaddy]

I' going to watch it, it's just the first episode I went "Nah, I don't want to watch this right now".

 

[Tulin]

Slightly off topic but to inverse your sentiments regarding that episode I thought I'd share a funny story.

Back in about '99 I was involved in a social club and had quite a large amount of acquaintances. I slowly started introducing them to the recently concluded B5. I gave them S1 with the caveat that it started very slowly but built as time went on and the usual, "Something that could seem VERY insignificant early on MAY change the universe later in the show, yada yada yada".

With the first couple of people I saw something interesting happen. By the time they got to "Chrysallis"(S1 finale), they were HOOKED and were BEGGING for more. I started an interesting bet with future viewers and myself. I told the next lot of viewers/victims that if they got to the end of the first season and didn't want anymore, I'd give them $100. A few days later, without fail they were on the phone and asking when they could come get the next lot of tapes(this was '99 remember?).

For each new set of people, I upped the amount by $100.00. I eventually ran out of potential viewers when I got to $800, which was probably for the best.

Either way, I look forward to YOUR reaction and thoughts by the time you get to the season 1 cliffhanger! I normally don't participate in the seemingly endless amount of these "I have seen the light and guess what, B5 is actually good!!!1!"(ummmmm, yeah, we know)threads started by every n00b that can scare up a login name and password, but, like me, you have been here for a long time and I can respect your thoughts on the show.

 

[bigdaddy]

I can see that it's going to be good, I know that. It's just this one episode started and I was like "Ugh... mind reading / controlling episode". I'll get around to watching it, probably tonight, I just don't like mind episodes.

Plus it was reminding me of the TNG episode which Crusher was all alone. That is never a good thing!!!

 

[Gov Kodos]

I didn't get far into the episode I just went "Oh look, the mind-reading mandate for all sci-fi shows episode" and stopped caring. It just feels so over done by now (even though this was done before it was overdone) that I couldn't watch it last night.

You might want to give it another try. It's a pretty important episide and changes one relationship considerably.

I had somewhat the same reaction back in the day except for me it was 'oh, look, the main guy gets captured'. But it turns out to be well done.

Jan

B5's handling of telepaths was enjoyable and the Earth society's response to telepaths was more believable than in Trek for my money.

 

[JoeD80]

And why doesn't the assassin react to seeing [Kosh]

The Minbari know who the Vorlons are.

It's just this one episode started and I was like "Ugh... mind reading / controlling episode". I'll get around to watching it, probably tonight, I just don't like mind episodes.

That's not really what "And the Sky Full of Stars" is about; it's about Sinclair's character, and some background information that is revealed. The mind-reading stuff is just a delivery system for the meat of the story.

 

[tomswift2002]

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.

I remember here in the Ottawa area CHRO (now CTV2) used to air the series just after the Star Trek The Next Generation and seaQuest on Saturday nights, from 1994-1996, and then the station lost both shows (I think they were only half-way thorough Season 2 --- of course with the first 4 seasons, the season used to run over the course of a calendar year, so there were lots of repeats of the early episodes, as you can see on the DVD booklets the season would start airing in January and finish in November or December) about mid-way through season 2, so I never did see the remainder till I bought the DVD's in 2007. CHRO might've lost the shows at that time (along with Star Trek Deep Space Nine) due to the costs of licensing the shows maybe reaching their budget---they were a small station at the time. But also, right around 1996 was when the station was purchased by a network, so it could've been the new network that cancelled the airings.

 

[OmahaStar]

After that, I gave up. I was convinced that the series was either a hoax, or a lie...

The cake is a lie!

You didn't expect me to just let that meme go by, did you?

 

[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).

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.
.

Perhaps it was Vorlon or Shadow plot to prevent you from watching.

 

[bigdaddy]

I watched And the Sky Full of Stars and Deathwalker.

I'm assuming "You have a hole in your mind" is from The Gathering, and found it ended a lo better than it started.

I love Deathwalker, it felt real even though it's 200 years in the future. Mankind doesn't care about anyone besides themselves. Vorlons killing her in the end was somewhat a nice surprise. It wasn't a surprise she died, but the fact they killed her, plus the fact that the telepath thinks they are evil. Some nice foreshadowing going on. Is the Deathwalker race the one that starts the sickness on Crusade? A simple yes or no will do.

 

[Lindley]

No. In fact, the Dilgar is surprisingly scarce in the series considering they supposedly played a significant role in a recent war.

 

[Booji]

No. In fact, the Dilgar is surprisingly scarce in the series considering they supposedly played a significant role in a recent war.

I thought Deathwalker was supposed to be the last of her race due to war and the testing she did on her own people?

 

[Lindley]

I don't remember on that point.

 

[OmahaStar]

Yep.

 

[RandyS]

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.
.

Perhaps it was Vorlon or Shadow plot to prevent you from watching.

Nah, it was that bastard Clark. When ISN was nationalized, they "accidentally" blacked out the show in my area.

Or, so they would have me believe.

 

[bigdaddy]

No. In fact, the Dilgar is surprisingly scarce in the series considering they supposedly played a significant role in a recent war.

I thought Deathwalker was supposed to be the last of her race due to war and the testing she did on her own people?

This is correct, I just wasn't sure if it was a "She is the last of her kind" and then they find more hiding somewhere down the road.

I had to skip Believers because it's not on the site. We all agree it's not important right?

I just watched Survivors. Good episode. the episodes feel long, but not in a bad way. There just seems to be so much going on. I like the conflict between B5 command and the Earth president. I know that will increase in time.

 

[Lindley]

They actually are a bit longer than modern shows. An hour has been getting shorter over the years as more commercials creep in. That's why so many series have 10-second intros, if any, rather than the full 90 seconds or so B5 has.

Believers is about equal parts well-done and annoying, and in the same storyline no less. It's probably worth seeing but not critical to any ongoing story.

 

[Sindatur]

They actually are a bit longer than modern shows. An hour has been getting shorter over the years as more commercials creep in. That's why so many series have 10-second intros, if any, rather than the full 90 seconds or so B5 has.

Believers is about equal parts well-done and annoying, and in the same storyline no less. It's probably worth seeing but not critical to any ongoing story.

Yea, if you're used to the typical TNG or Voyager tropes, the ending is quite surprising, definitely handled much better than most Trek would handle the episode. Not the amongst the best episodes S1 of B5 has to offer, but, often times, even lower end B5 episodes are better than a lot of shows best episodes. And yea, if you don't have access to watch it, it's petty much standalone, so you won't miss anything arc-ish.

You can watch it on Amazon.com for $1.99 if you so choose
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0105946/episodes?season=1

Always a good idea to check IMDB episodes, often times you can find free episodes on Hulu or by episode watch from Amazon for a small fee.

 

[MacLeod]

They actually are a bit longer than modern shows. An hour has been getting shorter over the years as more commercials creep in. That's why so many series have 10-second intros, if any, rather than the full 90 seconds or so B5 has.

Believers is about equal parts well-done and annoying, and in the same storyline no less. It's probably worth seeing but not critical to any ongoing story.

Well it's another 80 seconds of advert time.

 

[bigdaddy]

I'm going to borrow my sisters DVDs, so I will be able to watch it, just not right now. I love how it's $2 an episode on Amazon when I can get the whole season for $12.50 from the WB store.

 

[Sindatur]

I'm going to borrow my sisters DVDs, so I will be able to watch it, just not right now. I love how it's $2 an episode on Amazon when I can get the whole season for $12.50 from the WB store.

Heh, yea. And $39.99 to download the whole Season from Amazon , but, you can get a box set of DVDs for under $20.00 now

Yea, I figured for a single episode, it wasn't that big a deal (I recorded a bunch of Trek on DVD from VHS, and a couple episodes were bad, so, I bought the storebought VHS for like $5.00 for those couple episodes to round out the full collection)