Babylon 5-best Sci-fi Ever?

[FoolishPleasure]

What is JMS up to these days anyway?

I've often wondered what he would bring to SG1 and SGA as a writer.

[NowIWillDestroyAbydos]

, no. Not the best, it's not even in my top 10 of best SciFi shows ever. Probably in the 11th range.

[LaCroix]

Yes and these are the reasons why, from IMDB trivia section

Babylon 5 filmmakers received informal technical advice on the series from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

During the run of the show, the show's creator, J. Michael Straczynski, was contacted by NASA officials who asked if they could borrow the design of the show's fighters - called, 'Starfuries' - for use on the International Space Station. NASA wanted to use the ships as a combination tug and forklift, adding, "Your design is the most practical we've seen." Straczynski replied that it was fine with him, but that NASA had to call them Starfuries. NASA agreed.

Creator and "father" of scifi-show Babylon 5, which won two Hugo Awards.

To answer FoolishPleasure question

(February 2005) Announced that his film Babylon 5: The Memory of Shadows had been cancelled.

Opted to scuttle the Memory of Shadows movie when the studio insisted on swapping out several cast members for big-name actors.

In addition to his successful television career, has found new stardom as a writer of comic books. As the new writer of the Amazing Spiderman, he managed to triple that book's sales in less than a year.

[david2708]

Season One: Truely dreadful 1 star
Season Two: Much improving 2 1/2 stars
Season Three: Terrific-best season- 4 stars
Season four : Not as good as three- 3 1/2 stars
Season Five : Completely pointless-1 1/2 stars

Overall: I'd give it a 3 stars out of 5. take 1 and 5 out and I'd rate it higher.
DS9 was much better, but they had more resources at their disposal.

[Perriman33]

I think B5 was a great series with a very long and well thought out story I also liked the realism side to it. The charcters were great as well with none of the usual stereotyping (all aliens are evil).I was also a big fan of DS9 at the time and the two kept me going for a couple of years.
The difference between the two is the star trek universe is usually seen through rose tinted spectacles. B5 was a bit more gritty and political.
I never watched the follow on though!

[LaCroix]

I know that a lot of people say that DS9 is a lot like B5. But considering it was shopped around to a lot of studios, one could say that DS9 is more like B5. Harlan Ellison and JMS tend to think so.

[P-90_177]

I was never a huge fan of Bab 5 but it was a good watch when there was nothing else on. Personally I liked all the Sheridan seasons, Sinclaire I never thought was a good captain. All the Aliens were cool and I loved the movies. Crusade kind of failed to bring the same quality but I loved the Excalibur, especially that huge space cannon that requires most of the ships power to run. In my opinion, not the best Sci-fi ever but it is pretty good.

[LtColCarter]

To offend as few people as possible...and to answer the question of this thread. No.

[walterIsTheMan]

I loved B5. I dont think it is the best SciFi ever, but it is very good, esp. seasons 3&4.

To the people who don't think B5 was any good, IMO you NEED to force yourself to sit down and watch it through. How do I know? Because I felt the same way. Back then I was big on the ST shows just like everyone else, and also getting into SG (which was just starting at the time), and B5 just seemed like a corny stupid Star Trek wannabe. Then they started playing the reruns on SciFi every day, like they do with SG now. So I started watching it, and couldn't stop. And once SciFi got into the season 3 and 4 reruns, I was hooked! The plots in the show prior to season five were really good. One great thing about the B5 plots (prior to season 5) is that they flowed together. There weren't a lot of mistakes, and alternate timelines, and little things that didnt quite add up. Like the whole time episodes dealing with Sinclair. They all flowed together and made sense, unlike ST and SG alternate timelines which are a mess (though still enjoyable to watch).

So all I say is give it a chance. It doesn't have to be the best Scifi ever to not be lame. Watch it all through and you'll change your mind

PS - To the person who said that how could B5 be good with FF on the air, IMHO, FF was far worse than B5, even during B5's worse episodes

[kmiller1610]

Every series has its ups and downs.

Babylon 5 excels where Trek fails: Continuity, stories that build slowly and go somewhere , Aliens who are REALLY Alien (no simple head bumps and nose ridges here) and large fleet engagements where you see actual tactics of substance. There is nothing in Trek like Ivanova's "Death Incarnate" speech and her flying wedge with the White Stars. This is a MUST see for any Sci-Fi fan.If Trek had had consistent ownership and was not so full of YATIs (yet another Trek inconsistency), capped off by Enterprise which flattened a square mile of Trek precedents, it could be considered the greatest. The acting on B5 is less natural and more like stage acting than what you see on Sg-1 or Firefly, but many of the speeches are quite poetic and moving. The big weakness in B5 is the acting of the humans in comparison to the many terrific guest stars and Aliens.

But the best ever? I don't think so. Seasons 2-7 of Sg-1 are the best T.V. Sc Fi of all time. But for those who have not seen B5, symbiotes did NOT originate with SG-1. In fact, truly origianl writing is Stargate's greatest weakness and B-5's greatest strength.

My personal ranking is Sg-1 first, B-5 second and Voyager third.

[DarkMesa8]

I'm not sure if this has been mentioned yet (didn't read all replies).

My favorite part of B5 was the fact that it was so well thought out before hand. Just look at the episode in season 1, where Babylon 4 returns. Than look how well it ties in two season later in season 3.

Its stuff like that which made me fall in love with B5.

[the fifth man]

Personally, I'd vote for SG-1. But that's just me.

[Peoples_General]

Of course Babylon 5 is good. Heck, you now have TPTB taking elements from the Shadows and Vorlons and putting those elements into the Alterans and Ori!

[LaCroix]

Of course Babylon 5 is good. Heck, you now have TPTB taking elements from the Shadows and Vorlons and putting those elements into the Alterans and Ori!

Well considering that Doug Netter (Exe. Producer along with JMS) may have taken the project to his old stompng grounds when both of them were looking for a studio to produce it, Yes.


Here's the link http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/making/creators.html

[mckaychick]

I have to admitt that i loved b5 to death and am getting all the dvd's but i cant say that it was the bewt scifi show. It is probably in the top 3 but not the best