Oh, I know, and you've done an exemplary job with maintaining that list.
I was simply focusing upon the characters/actors bigdaddy originally mentioned and is likely to become most familiar with soon.
I started watching Babylon 5 for the first real time
- Thread starter bigdaddy
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I was simply focusing upon the characters/actors bigdaddy originally mentioned and is likely to become most familiar with soon.
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.
The rivalry is overstated. From what I've seen, most Deep Space 9 fans like Babylon 5 as well.
And famously showing the pilot after the rest of season 1 as a Bank Holiday special.
Just started a rewatch myself, and I'd forgotten how bad The Gathering actually is. I think JMS had so many ideas in his head after trying to sell the show for so long he just rammed them all in there in case he never got another chance. You could make a great drinking game every time the plot stops for a character to turn to camera and give a ten minute speech about their life story.
A lot of the rest of the exposition is handled pretty badly as well, like the stations assigned telepath having to have it explained to them what the station actually does.
The first regular episode hits the ground running much better though, and whilst season 1 generally gets a lot of stick I actually quite like it. Though I find with the exception of Garibaldi it takes the human characters a lot longer to find their groove than the aliens, who are pretty much awesome from the start. "Miiiiistahh Garrrrrrrrribaldi!".
I was never much of a fan of Sinclair though, he was either incredibly wooden or, on the occasions where he tries to emote, suddenly starts over acting like mad.
Whilst the special effects have dated, the design work is still top notch as well. Lots of lovely spaceship porn.
Season 5 and Crusade do have their problems, as well as the well known ones (season 5 being very last second, Crusade being buggered about by the studio) I think JMS was just running on vapours by that point after having written so many episodes in a row.
I count myself as a fan of both. I'm not sure I presented myself that way earlier.
Glad to see another fan onboard.
And for the record, some of us love both B5 and DS9...
Agreed. I never understood the rivalry between DS9 and B5 fans. The story arcs were completely different and there were virtually zero similarities between any of the characters.
Me either, although, I would dispute your last point. I love both series, but see ALOT of similarities between characters and situations, just that they were done differently. And equally good. But, in the interest of NOT starting an argument, let's just agree that we both liked both series, and leave it at that.
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.
It wasn't until 1998, when TNT started to air the fifth season, as well as the reruns of the first four, that I discovered this show that I had been hearing good things about, but never actually saw (other than the pilot five years back) actually existed.
Suffice it to say, THAT'S when I became a fan.
I was living in Sunnyvale in the Bay Area at the time, so, I was watching on Ch44, which became UPN (And I guess is now CW).
I like how we are on page three and I just watched the 7th episode. At this pace there will be 55 pages before the end. 
It was the episode in which humans wanted the aliens gone. I can actually see this happening whenever we find intelligent life out there. People never react well to change.
It was the episode in which humans wanted the aliens gone. I can actually see this happening whenever we find intelligent life out there. People never react well to change.
What kills it for me; other that the badly done exposition; is the murder plot makes no sense...
Who is the assassin actually trying to frame? They keep Londo from going to the meeting (which would at least make sense from the Narn involvement point of view); carries out the first assassination attempt disguised as Sinclair and the second as Lyta (without having bothered to ensure she doesn't have an alibi like he did with Sinclair, meaning he gets found out almost comically instantly). Which one of them was intended to be the fall guy?
Sinclair seems to be the actual main target, but the attempt to implicate him depends on the rules about telepathic scans being broken as they'd have never found out who the assassin looked like otherwise.
What isn't a flaw about the pilot itself but seems odd in the light of later episodes (and I think even gets pointed out in one) is Kosh coming out of his suit to greet what he thinks is Sinclair so the poison tab could actually be put on his hand. In the special edition he even calls him Valen! So was he actually going to reveal himself and explain everything to Sinclair but got put off by the murder attempt? And why doesn't the assassin react to seeing an angel?
Of course, even just taking the pilot into account, how did the assassin intend to apply the contact poison when Vorlon's are famous for not coming out of their suits?
Sinclair seems to be the actual main target, but the attempt to implicate him depends on the rules about telepathic scans being broken as they'd have never found out who the assassin looked like otherwise.
What isn't a flaw about the pilot itself but seems odd in the light of later episodes (and I think even gets pointed out in one) is Kosh coming out of his suit to greet what he thinks is Sinclair so the poison tab could actually be put on his hand. In the special edition he even calls him Valen! So was he actually going to reveal himself and explain everything to Sinclair but got put off by the murder attempt? And why doesn't the assassin react to seeing an angel?
Of course, even just taking the pilot into account, how did the assassin intend to apply the contact poison when Vorlon's are famous for not coming out of their suits?
I have to make it there. I started watching the 8th episode in which some people are in Sinclair's mind. I was so bored I went to bed.
And The Sky Full of Stars bored you? That was the first episode that really showed me how deep B5 was going to be in mystery and Mythology and totally had me hooked
I have to make it there. I started watching the 8th episode in which some people are in Sinclair's mind. I was so bored I went to bed.
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
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