An honest recommendation from me... (nothin' but love for ya ;)

SKiller

Senior member
Oct 10, 1999
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I hope you guys will give this some consideration before dismissing it as another sales pitch or lecture.

Starting September 25th, the SciFi Channel will be showing reruns of Babylon 5 on weekdays at 7pm eastern.

I'm not going to go into a rant, trying to convince you of how good it is or how you'll miss out if you don't watch it (regardless of how strongly I may feel on the issue). The truth is, you can't convince someone to give something a chance when they're determined to do otherwise, because they'll only perceive it with a feeling of being "pressured" into it and won't really get what you're trying to tell them.

I wouldn't share this with just anyone because asking someone to share a great experience with you puts you in a vulnerable position. I don't have any illusions of having earned your respect or trust, so I guess what I'm asking for is a leap of faith. So if you believe nothing else that I say, believe this: If you watch B5 from beginning to end in it's entirety, you will NOT be sorry you did.

Babylon 5 is not just any show, it's a novel written for television. It has the benefit of great artistic integrity as the only show of it's kind has been created, written, and exec-produced almost entirely by one man (he wrote about 90 of 110 episodes, exec-produced all). It has a very rigorous story "arc" that has been worked out in great detail, to the last scene of the last episode, before a single frame was filmed. Quite simply, this is unlike anything that's been done before. Babylon 5 has, very profoundly, changed the face of scifi tv, much like the original Star Trek and the original Twilight Zone did in their respective times.

One thing to keep in mind is that J. Michael Straczynski's (the man behind the vision) approach is to get the audience comfortable with basic, seemingly "formula" stories, and then whack them upside the head when they're not looking. So this might require some patience, as it may be a while before you even suspect there is a huge monster of a plot lurking under the surface.

Thank you for you time. I hope I didn't bore you :) and here is a related link:
Introduction by JMS at the SciFi B5 site
 

Total Refected Power

Diamond Member
Oct 13, 1999
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B5 was good seasons 1-4. With seasons 2,3 and 4 awesome.

Very dissapointed in SEASON 5. Felt like the show ran out of gas.

Still all and all it is great TV. Really like it.
 

SKiller

Senior member
Oct 10, 1999
660
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TRF

Maybe season 5 wasn't as rigorous as 3&4, but I wouldn't call it disappointing. Watch it again, you might see what I'm talking about. It wasn't meant to have things move with as fast a pace, but they're no less deep than the rest. Truly, this is the only show that I've seen reduce grown men into a sobbing mess.
 

yllus

Elite Member & Lifer
Aug 20, 2000
20,577
432
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I wholeheartedly second SKiller's recommendation, and add one more piece of advice: Stick with the show through the first season to at least a couple episodes of Season Two. That's what the real magic begins. Isn't the Sci-Fi network down there going to show it in widescreen format? That would make it absolute required watching. :)

Another link for JMS fans:
Interview with J. Michael Straczynski @ Filmforce.ign.com

Season Five really was about wrapping up most of the loose ends of the story character-wise. But it still had it's fair share of action. And I think the general consensus we reached over at the official B5 board was the greatest-to-least seasons went: 4, 3, 5, 2, 1. Note: I said greatest, meaning even Season One was great. :)
 

MisterM

Golden Member
Oct 9, 1999
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I too agree with what SKiller said about Babylon 5, it`s definitely worth watching! :)

I wish i could watch the reruns, but I`l have to wait until some german tv channel starts B5 again....at least we have got reruns of Season 5 at Saturdays 10 or 11 AM... (but I´m still in school when they are on :().