Watching Babylon 5 for the first time... *Spoilers, duh*

[OmahaStar]

She's gonna get me for that one.

You just wait...remember the saying about revenge being a dish best served cold? When you least expect it...

Remember what JMS did to Andreas and Peter in the script of an episode that Jeff hasn't seen yet? Just wait...

Jan

*muah* Gotta love me.

 

[Reverend]

You newcomers have it so easy. Just pop in a DVD or stream it on Netflix (or equivalent). Now, in my day, we had to wait at least whole week between episodes. Sometimes as much as three months! Now that was torture, let me tell ya! Young whippersnappers, you...got it so easy...



Happy 18th 'birthday', B5!

Jan

Tell me about it. Do you have any idea how hard it is to catch a program on late night Channel 4 when you're in your early teens? That plus half the time the bloody video recorder would go haywire and record Open University instead. Until Season 3 I was lucky to catch even half the episodes. In fact it wasn't until the Sci-Fi Channel (back before it contracted dyslexia) started showing the series from start to finish that I finally got to see it properly. Seeing 'Signs and Portents' in particular for the first time after already having seen most of the series was a strange experience...strange but fun when I realised just how much is laid out right there in plain sight so early on.

The most torturous part for me though was when they got to the end of season 5 and just stopped five episodes short of the end! I don't know how long it was until they got around the showing the last five episodes but it felt like an eternity.

 

[Quinton O'Connor]

I don't know how she did it, but I very clearly recall my grandmother not missing a single episode of B5 during its first run. Maybe the schedule was just that much better here?

 

[Angel4576]

The most torturous part for me though was when they got to the end of season 5 and just stopped five episodes short of the end! I don't know how long it was until they got around the showing the last five episodes but it felt like an eternity.

And then, just to top it off, they played them at stupid-0'clock in the morning, with that stupid 'Big Breakfast' logo over a quarter of the screen!

 

[Quinton O'Connor]

Big.. breakfast?

 

[Sindatur]

You newcomers have it so easy. Just pop in a DVD or stream it on Netflix (or equivalent). Now, in my day, we had to wait at least whole week between episodes. Sometimes as much as three months! Now that was torture, let me tell ya! Young whippersnappers, you...got it so easy...

You're being kind, Jan.

It wasn't just the wait for a whole week, it was trying to find it on the schedule too. Around here, and I'm sure in other parts of the country, the local station which aired it frequently changed where it was aired. It might be on Saturday at 6. The next week, Tuesday at 9. The following week, Sunday at 3:15 am. It wasn't until midway through season four (seriously) that it landed at a set time and stayed there through the end of that season's run. And then when it finally got to TNT, there we had an actual set time for when it would air.

Unless one was a dedicated, hardcore Fiver, I imagine fans would have given up on the series out of frustration with the schedule. Glad I stuck through it and was always able to find it.

Now, you can find it on dvd, on Netflix, on other streaming sites (legal and otherwise), on videotape, etc etc etc. Lucky kids today.

Ya know, I heard about this, but, like Jan, I was lucky not to go through it. It was always on Wednesday nights, back to back with DS9.

 

[Quinton O'Connor]

You newcomers have it so easy. Just pop in a DVD or stream it on Netflix (or equivalent). Now, in my day, we had to wait at least whole week between episodes. Sometimes as much as three months! Now that was torture, let me tell ya! Young whippersnappers, you...got it so easy...

You're being kind, Jan.

It wasn't just the wait for a whole week, it was trying to find it on the schedule too. Around here, and I'm sure in other parts of the country, the local station which aired it frequently changed where it was aired. It might be on Saturday at 6. The next week, Tuesday at 9. The following week, Sunday at 3:15 am. It wasn't until midway through season four (seriously) that it landed at a set time and stayed there through the end of that season's run. And then when it finally got to TNT, there we had an actual set time for when it would air.

Unless one was a dedicated, hardcore Fiver, I imagine fans would have given up on the series out of frustration with the schedule. Glad I stuck through it and was always able to find it.

Now, you can find it on dvd, on Netflix, on other streaming sites (legal and otherwise), on videotape, etc etc etc. Lucky kids today.

Ya know, I heard about this, but, like Jan, I was lucky not to go through it. It was always on Wednesday nights, back to back with DS9.

That might have been the case here in the Tampa Bay Area, too. In fact, the 'Wednesday' part sounds very correct to me...

 

[Jan]

That might have been the case here in the Tampa Bay Area, too. In fact, the 'Wednesday' part sounds very correct to me...

As I recall it was Wednesday night here in (then) north Orlando with an encore on Sunday.

The only episode I missed completely was "Comes the Inquisitor" which I didn't see until it went into re-runs on TNT.

Jan

 

[Angel4576]

Big.. breakfast?

The_Big_Breakfast

Actually, thinking about it, perhaps it wasn't The Big Breakfast, but it was some early morning TV show with a huge logo.

 

[theblitz]

The most torturous part for me though was when they got to the end of season 5 and just stopped five episodes short of the end! I don't know how long it was until they got around the showing the last five episodes but it felt like an eternity.

Reminds me of hen I was watching Voyager with my sons.
We would stay up every Saturday night til 2am to see the episodes. Great bonding time.

Then they stopped at the end of season 6!
The satellite didn't yet have the rights for the last season.
Grrr.

The good thing about it is that I learnt of the existence of IRC and then Torrent.

 

[Blamo]

And then, just to top it off, they played them at stupid-0'clock in the morning, with that stupid 'Big Breakfast' logo over a quarter of the screen!

On the bright side, didn't we get some episodes before the US?

 

[Mr Light]

B5 just turned legal, enh....?

I'll be in my bunk.

Jeff, I didn't start B5 until halfway through Season Four, but at that point it was airing Saturday nights at 8pm on UPN 44 (Ch. 4 on cable). I think Earth Final Conflict ran after it at 9. And DS9 was on Sunday nights at 7pm.

Then in the final five episodes of S4, they started airing it at 4am on a Friday or something. That was annoying. I missed the season four finale because of that ridiculousness and didn't get to see it until TNT aired it in syndication a full year later!

 

[Forbin]

Anybody remember the horrible little bumpers TNT put into the season 5 broadcasts? That Planet of the Cheeseheads shit?

 

[Reverend]

Big.. breakfast?

The_Big_Breakfast

Actually, thinking about it, perhaps it wasn't The Big Breakfast, but it was some early morning TV show with a huge logo.

No it was defiantly on The Big Breakfast at some point. I always used to watch that show before school...mostly for Zig and Zag. What can I say? It was the 90's and I was young and foolish!

 

[JoeD80]

And is Takashima's pivotal scene the one where she mentions coffee at some point? Did they seriously not have that in the original version? Good mercy me if so.

That coffee scene was cut from the original yes.

There are a few ways to watch the original:

I have seen the original version of the pilot on both hulu and thewb.com

I *think* the first appearance of a Drazi.

The Drazi did show up a few times before "TKO" in "The War Prayer" and "The Parliament of Dreams"; the Drazi Sunhawk ship appeared in "Deathwalker."

IMO, lots of things got better once Richard Compton went away. His last episode was 'Grail' and word is that he was present but not doing much in the way of directing. It's a credit to the actors and crew that there was anything to make an episode out of at all.

Pretty much John Flinn ended up directing "Grail". Also at issue with Compton's episodes was the timing and the impossibility of editing what footage he did provide. Often there wouldn't be enough angles to fix problem scenes. Joe also had to write extra scenes for at least three of the Compton episodes because they couldn't edit enough complete footage together to fill the time - the courtroom scene in "Grail", the Kosh scene in "The War Prayer" (which was actually written for Parliament but shifted over to fill in the missing time), and the entire B-plot about raiders in "Believers."

 

[Quinton O'Connor]

"Ceremonies of Light and Dark"

Who knew Delenn was also aware of the fact that today was worth celebrating?

This was a pretty good episode. Once again, Babylon 5's weekly villains didn't do much for me with their hamfisted routine, and the whole AI thing seemed really unnecessary and not particularly funny, either. I'm also having a very hard time swallowing the idea that the command staff's passwords are that simple, but I'm also commenting on a 1996 episode of a television series in 2011.

Everything else was solid as ever. Some of the best moments were Londo's ownage of Refa, Marcus being Marcus and Lennier's subsequent confession, Sheridan beating the living hell out of that... what was he, with his 'good lord' thing, some kind of insane hypocritical bible-thumping reactionary bigot? And that whole denouement was amazing; one of the show's best so far.

Sheridan's admission of feelings was great but I feel horrible for Lennier now. Love that guy. Garibaldi's thing about being afraid is perfect and just what I'd expect from a constant cynic. (Believe me, I understand him.) Ivanova's lamentation of Talia is terrific. Franklin's 'I think I have a problem' is exactly what I was betting on him saying and I'm glad for it.

Since only the four of them (and Marcus and Lennier, really) took part in the ceremony, I'm going to make a list of what I'd expect everyone else to do if they could actually be coerced into showing up:

G'Kar: Gives up some ancient relic concerning the history of the Narns in order to symbolize a rebirth through new means in line with the texts he's writing; admits to a more dubious 'past' life.

Londo: Screws with the whole process by giving up the cheapest thing in his quarters; admits to making some questionable choices regarding past associates.

Zack: Surrenders the Night Watch armband he'd left around for no particular reason but to reflect; admits to having found the organization tempting at times.

Corwin: Offers his uniform like the command staff; tells a story broadening his character based on something we aren't yet familiar with.

And for fun, let's take this a tad further...

Sinclair: Turns in his girlfriend from the pilot episode for no discernible reason; admits to feeling guilty over his sudden disappearance.

Takashima: Gives Delenn some coffee while putting a finger over her mouth; admits to making coffee without permission and possibly being a sleeper agent at that.

Kyle: Gives Delenn the coffee Takashima gave him; admits he has deep emotional feelings for Kosh.

Lyta: Gets rid of the cosmetics she uses to make her hair so perfect; admits she has deep emotional feelings for Kosh.

Kosh: Ambiguously antes up a mint edition Willie Mayes baseball card; admits he has deep emotional feelings for Kosh.

Talia: Refuses to give anything up; reiterates she hates everyone.

Na'Toth: Forks over some bacon and eggs; admits she has no idea where she is.

Drazi Ambassador: Takes off his green sash; admits he needs it and takes it back immediately.

Draal: Removes his cloak in exchange for the cloak worn by Alec Guiness in Star Wars: A New Hope; admits he has deep emotional feelings for Kosh.

Neroon: Removes his cloak in exchange for a leather get-up; admits to having started the hit rock band 'Neroon Five'.

 

[Angel4576]

On the bright side, didn't we get some episodes before the US?

Yeah, we usually got the season enders first. Definitely got the end of seasons 2 and 3 first, maybe even 4.

Sadly, due to the huge delay on the final episodes on season 5, we definitely didn't get that first!

 

[Sykonee]

Kosh: Ambiguously antes up a mint edition Willie Mayes baseball card; admits he has deep emotional feelings for Kosh.

Oh that Kosh.

 

[Quinton O'Connor]

 

[Aeon]

I really like those new uniforms. Black always looks more stylish than blue.