Babylon 5- best at the epic stuff?

[Benj]

Babylon 5 to me is equal to stargate for entertainment, both stargate and B5 have individual strengths however. personally i think B5 does the big stuff better than SG-1 (ie Battle scenes, politics, and sheer magnitude of history) SG-1 does interpersonal banter, close up action and a sense of fun better than B5 with also special effects and camera work i believe to also be superior to B5. Anyone agree as i feel these two series represent the pinacle of science-fiction writing and believability. Any comments/thoughts would be lovely. just a last note is that for some unknown reason i 'feel' more for humanity and its destiny in B5 than SG-1.

[KorbenDirewolf]

Well.. As far as television series go, I guess I'd agree with that.

[Tok'Ra Hostess]

Character development on B5 was(IMO) waaay superior to Stargate. I'm convinced that is so because JMS went in determined to tell one story in a five-year arc. He knew everybody's path and what changes would ensue. Because of this, he made time for resolution(something we rarely get on Stargate )

You simply can not so richly develop your characters when they have an undetermined lifespan.

B5's SFX still amaze me, particularly because they tried to keep things realistic rather than go for all-out Hollywood flash & dazzle. Even after all these years the action doesn't look dated.

In my own opinion, for sheer magnitude of history, nothing in SF tv even comes close. It was the most intelligent, romantic(both relationship wise and historical), action-filled, thought-provoking series I have ever watched, and I doubt it will lose it's top place, for me, anytime soon.

[Larry]

B5 would have to be considered the most epic thing ever done on TV, period. B5 never had any stand-alone episodes. Every episode was important to the overall story the show told and story arcs didn't change from season to season. I don't think there has ever been a TV show that tried that, much less a science fiction show, for it's full five year run.

[Ancient 1]

I must agree with your considered thoughts on the matter. I recorded all of B5 to include the movies and am currently doing the same with SG-1 (minus the movie; prefer the series to it plus I don't have to deal with the inconsistencies between the 2.)

Would you classify these as SciFi Soaps? or just serials?

[Thorette]

In my own opinion, for sheer magnitude of history, nothing in SF tv even comes close. It was the most intelligent, romantic(both relationship wise and historical), action-filled, thought-provoking series I have ever watched, and I doubt it will lose it's top place, for me, anytime soon.

I whole heartily agree! I think the main difference is that B5 seasons 1-5 were one story. People were not allowed to ad lib or it could throw something off in a later (or earlier) season. You could enjoy individual shows but there was much more depth if you have the whole story. By far the pinicle of TV Sci-Fi.

[Elwe Singollo]

I think the whole thing about having to watch the whole season (or season before) to get into the story was kind of, ugh, to me, so thats probably why i never started watching it, i did watch an episode or two, but lost my interest quickly

[Erik Pasternak]

B5 never had any stand-alone episodes.

Actually, you're wrong. B5 did several stand alone episodes, while I can't name them all, a couple notable ones are "A Day in the Strife," "The Corps is Mother, The Corps is Father," and "The Long Dark."

[Matt G]

Yeah well most of the standalones were in S5 which in all honesty came out slightly like SG1 S7 due to the last minuteness.

[ibwolf]

IMHO B5 is the best show to hit the TV screens ever. Period. And we are not likely to see it's kind again anytime soon.

Of course it had its rough spots, it was after all produced for less then half of what they were spending on Star Trek at the time. But looking at what JMS managed to create with such limited resource one can't but help being awestruck.

I remember watching 'The Long Twilight Struggle' (S2, near the end) and the scene

Spoiler:

where Lando watches the orbital bombing of Narn

and thinking 'wow, this show is something special'. That one scene made me a fan and I don't easily describe myself as a fan. In fact despite loving Stargate and owning all the DVDs (S1-7) I would still hesitate to describe myself as a Stargate fan.

[aAnubiSs]

I'd like a spin-off about the First Ones =)

[Thorette]

I'd like a spin-off about the First Ones =)

My son really enjoyed the Crusade spin-off. He really liked the "mage's" humor. "Look there goes my liver..."

Crusade was interesting but it didn't have the depth that B5 had/has.

I got hooked on B5 after watching just one show of Season 2 w/ Bruce Boxlitner (sp). I didn't get to see season 1 till it started over again. I enjoyed it immensly and enjoyed it even more watching the 2nd time round knowing more of the backstory.

[Tok'Ra Hostess]

Of course it had its rough spots, it was after all produced for less then half of what they were spending on Star Trek at the time. But looking at what JMS managed to create with such limited resource one can't but help being awestruck.

Ron Thornton did all the CGI for the pilot on his Amiga computer, in his bedroom.

[aAnubiSs]

Well Crusade was bad because of one reason. JMS was forced to add romance and such stuff, and they didn't want any complex stories either. And when they wanted even more JMS just dropped the whole thing. He didn't want to make it a show about hot femle gueststar of the week =)

[systemlord]

The first few seasons of Babylon 5 were excellent. But somehow the story drifted apart after someone decided to make, what's his name, that captain, into a living God. I didn't like that part at all. The whole series turned into something like cult worship.