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Sci-Fi Channel Picks Up Babylon 5
Schemer writes: "The Sci-Fi channel has acquired exclusive rights to all 112 episodes of Babylon 5 (and the 4 movies) from TNT. They plan to start airing the episodes every night at 7:00 pm starting in September."
I really got to like the show after a few episodes. They took their technology for granted, a prop for the ongoing political problems of falling and rising empires. The humans were believable- still warlike, arrogant, and into profit and sex. The aliens, although mostly bipedal, usually had more than just a few bulges on their forheads (ala ST).
Unlike ST, the shows must be seen in order with few missed, or the storyline will get screwed up. Each episode had a little adventure, but it was always a part of the bigger drama. They also had more than the same old characters, with the captain and senior crew usually staying at their posts. None of this "let's send the 1st officer on an away mission crap."
The technology was just taken for granted, none of this "emit verteron pulse, save the day" schtick. Pressing a button never solved any problems. In fact, I can't think of any fancy button pushing or techno-bullshit in any of the B5 episodes.
Unfortunately, I never bought the whole Psi-corps line, but it was enjoyable nonetheless. Some of the new-age senitmentality that forms the backbone of shows like Voyager started to creep into B5, with religious pilgrims, "techno-mages" etc. Crusader, the laughable spinoff, went straight into the ST line of scifi (pronounced, "skiffee"). New adventure every week with little overarching saga, lots of technobabble and button-pushing to save the day. I'm not sorry it was shitcanned.
B5 is a human drama set in space. Not a space story that happens to include a few humans. I think that makes all the difference between it and Roddenberry's spawn.
...then how come I have the complete set of series 1 to 5 on video (official video) sitting downstairs, eh?
the slashdot trolling project was a dream given form - a self-contained bowl of hot grits that i poured down my pants. thank you.
>BFD...Space has been doing the same thing in Canada for the last year.
>THe real question would be what took Sci-Fi so long?
>Of course, upon re-watching a lot of the episodes, I'm reminded of how
>much raw ass they suck. Aside from the space combat, which is one of
>the things that B5 has always done well, I find it excruciating to sit
>through most of the shows. God forbid it's a "character development"
>show, as opposed to some decent action.
This from a person who's a fan of a series that brought Wesley Crusher,Troi and Yuppie Klingons to the SF world? Bleh,Bleh,and more Bleh. The only good thing that came out of the New Gen run of Trek was Q. And Q was an TOS character....
>The only good thing that came out of the New Gen run of Trek was Q.
>And Q was an TOS character.... What? Q from TOS? I must have missed
>that episode... Fill me in!
Q was never a New Gen character. Notice how he never quite fit into the New Gen universe's mindset? On the other hand Q would've fit in with the TOS universe with no problems. I think Q and Harry Mudd would have gotten along just fine for instance.
I just want to say that this is going to be the first TV I'll consider keeping up with after coming over here (2 years). It rocks!
For those who haven't seen it yet: See it in order. There is so much more storyline than other shows that just picking a show here and there doesn't do it justice at all.
-Lars
Magel Barrett was a vocal B5 supporter, was a guest star, and went to B5 conferences.
She also has been heard saying "Gene would have loved it". (See the Lurker's guide @ http://midwinter.com/lurk to find links to conference reports.)
[Though you're obviously being a troll, since every episode of B5 wasn't about war....]
-Stu
--
"Convictions are more dangerous enemies of truth than lies."
--
"Convictions are more dangerous enemies of truth than lies."
I'm supposed to take your comment about Babylon 5 seriously after you complain about Sabrina?
laughable.
Not according to JMS. His original plan was always to have the Shadow War end before the series was over. one of the main themes of the show was to show the aftermath of a war. Hence the series started ten years after the Earth-Minbari war and moved through the entire progression of the Shadow war, including dealing with the after-effects.
As someone else has already pointed out, the whole point of the series was character and story arc development, not space combat scenes. But, B-5 was never for those with limited attention spans like yourself.
Incidentlally, the reason why it "took sci-fi so long" is that another network, namely TNT, already had the rights and has been showing the show for the past few years. But they relagated it to 7 am on Saturdays, so I'm glad to see Sci-fi pick it up.
http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/guide/072.html
jms speaks:
Is that good enough or would you like more?
You may want to read the Babylon 5 PsiCorps three book series, pretty good stuff....
"Dark Genesis" "Deadly Releations" and "Final Reckoning" all by J. Gregory Keyes. Check 'em out...
I could be wrong, but I was under the understanding that the SFX were not at all expensive and that was one of the selling points. The idea that such great sfx could be done so cheaply.
Vermifax
Vermifax
Logout
At least he didn't talk about his investments :-)
I see even classic Slashdot is now pretty much unusable on dial up anymore.
But my favorite trick of theirs is taking the non-broadcast channels that are part of basic cable (the cheapest level available), and therefore not scrambled, and moving them above cable channel 38, and putting the scrambled stuff between 14 and 38, so that older "cable ready" TVs and VCRs that only go up to 36 or 38 aren't so cable ready anymore and you have to upgrade or rent a converter box from them, and since that disables your remote, you can pay even higher rent for a converter box with a remote, just so you can watch channels that you're already paying for.
I see even classic Slashdot is now pretty much unusable on dial up anymore.
sig nazi annoying sig follows
I see even classic Slashdot is now pretty much unusable on dial up anymore.
Sob! Mommy, the Anonymous Cowards are being mean to me again, make them stop! :-)
I see even classic Slashdot is now pretty much unusable on dial up anymore.
Well Time-Warner is the cable company around here so I guess I'll see you in the "Time-Warner + AOL worse than Microsoft" thread.
I see even classic Slashdot is now pretty much unusable on dial up anymore.
The AC speaks truth. The more you like a show, the better its chances of disappearing by midseason.
What I want to know about the Sci-Fi channel is why it's a pay channel *and* it's jammed full of commercials, and furthermore, why do I have to subscribe to the golf channel and the hillbilly channel and who knows what else just so that I can pay them to see a channel full of commercials?!?
Did I mention that it's not part of the basic service tier?
I see even classic Slashdot is now pretty much unusable on dial up anymore.
But since both are a sort of "Casablanca" ("Everybody Comes To Rick's")/"Cheers"/"Tales of the White Hart" blend, either one can only claim just so much originality.
Not a slam against either show, by the way, I'm a fan of both.
I see even classic Slashdot is now pretty much unusable on dial up anymore.
Was "Strange Luck" the one about the kid who was the only survivor of an airliner crash, and was adopted by the cop who found him? On CBS about 10 years ago?
I see even classic Slashdot is now pretty much unusable on dial up anymore.
Compare Avery Brooks as Hawk in the Spenser series with his portrayal of the captain in the early DS9 episodes. Hardly seemed to be the same actor.
I see even classic Slashdot is now pretty much unusable on dial up anymore.
I can't get the Sci-Fi channel in Canada.
I remember seeing an intervew with him in the second or so year of the series. He was saying that he could get into the character and accent when they were putting on his makeup, by saying "Meester Girraballldeeee"...and he was set for the day's shooting...
-=Bob
We really are the Frengi's of the universe.
A real working, living Space station with commerce, space travel and adventures.
And then a hostile take-over. (;
-IronWolve
B5 Technomages, Their only magic was Technology.
-IronWolve
Now if they'd just pick up development on "Space: Above and Beyond".
Time's fun when you're having flies. - Kermit the Frog
Yeah, but "Infection" is far worse than "TKO"
PRO-TECT!!! *zapp*
Ugh
Personally, I enjoyed Babylon 5 much more than Star Wars Ep. 1.
(It was annoying to have season 4 rushed so badly, then season 5 was really bizarre. But 1-3 were fantastic.)
The interesting thing is how well Peter Jurasik(Londo) does that accent. If you ever meet him in person and don't recognize him by his face, his voice will give nothing away. He has a way of just being able to turn on and off that accent, and it's amazing to hear the difference. Most actors will only slightly modify their voice for characters they are playing due to how difficult it is to keep a voice change up for a period of time.
I definitly encourage anyone here to help support the effort to bring the game back. I played an early version of it at a convention in late 1997, and it was loads of fun to fly around a B5 station model. At that point, they had basic network support, and had 3 stations of 4 people fighting it out in Star Furies. The promise of the game at that point was awesome, and I hope to see it in stores some day.
I remember reading, back when B5 started, that all the episodes were actually filmed in widescreen and would be available eventually on DVD, in widescreen, with extra scenes. Did this ever happen?
*sigh*
Not yet...
Jay (=
(looking at his calendar... "someday"...)
Babylon 5 is one of the greatest scifi epics to ever grace TV. Straczynski vision of the future of man was brilliant, and it one of the first TV scifi saga to show that technology does not change people but people change people. I can't wait until september when I can rewatch the amazing saga from the beginning.
- Mark
Moderate me down if you will, but I just have to voice my criticism of the horrible computer generated effects in this series! B5 had an awesome story, and complex characters, but you'd think they'd be able to spend some more to get realistic looking spacecraft!
Take a look at the space station in any given episode. Extremely simplistic specular lighting, artificial looking material! Most of the craft in the show look like they were made by a 12 year old kid experimenting with 3D Studio Max!
Just my opinion... moderate me accordingly!
________________________________
Um, because he *wanted* to be poisoned. Or did you forget the influence he had over that telepath?
SCI FI picked up the rights to all 112 hour-long episodes...
No, it just seems like each episode is 112 hours long.
Thank you for not thinking.
Season 4 was supposed to end with Sheridan in prison (Intersection in Real Time).
Most of season 5 was supposed to be about the Earth civil war, probably ending midseason. Check out The Lurker's Guide to Babylon 5 for more information.
Je ne parle pas francais.
Actually, TNT hadn't agreed to pick up season 5 before after season 4 had ended or at the very end of the season 4.
Je ne parle pas francais.
Season 5 wasn't written and filmed until season 4 was over because they weren't sure they would get picked up. That's why last episode of season 5 (and of the series) was filmed during season 4.
I think the reason season 5 was as poor as it was (and it was poor, no matter what JMS and his disciples say, compared to the previous seasons), was because a) he didn't have time to rewrite and rethink the premises as much as he did before, and b) he had to fill up more episodes than he had planned (look at my other message for how the serie was supposed to progress).
Je ne parle pas francais.
And here I thought the Centauri were analogs for Czarist Russia... Well, I guess they were an amalgam of both.. .Maybe what the Roman Empire would have becone had it not fallen... Cantauri... Centurion.. Nah, too big a stretch.
-- What you do today will cost you a day of your life.
oh sure, blame canada
Hmm. Perhaps this'll give JMS a chance to take the series somewhere real on a network that'll appreciate what he's accomplished.
"You know, Hobbes, some days even my lucky rocketship underpants don't help" -- Calvin
"The Crusade" mini-series episodes happened after the Babylon 5 movie A Call to Arms.
:^P
/* Warning spoiler statements below. */
However, there was no mention of that in the article. Maybe it's because the series ended rather abruptly unlike the the B5 endings. They didn't find a cure--just a means to the way the virus worked.
/* slightly offtopic */
(Remember, that the first series (in syndication along with "Kung Fu The Legend Returns") ended with the Terran sun growing cold. When it got picked up by TNT, year 5 ended with Sheridan's death.)
Crusade happened in the middle of that. (Chronologically) However, it was the last ever broadcast. Moreover, the cast of "Crusade" included almost none of the original B5 cast members. (FYI, Dr. Stephen wasn't in the original movie but served at CMO throughout the entire series and appeared in the last "Crusade" episode.) (Of course, I won't mention that really bad episode of "V.I.P." on which he also appeared)
/* Geek gene off */
So anybody drinking chocolate flavored beer this weekend?
--Al
If they take off Lexx I'll KILL them...
It's a great show!
Lexx is really just soft-core porn without the porn. All the bad acting and plots and none of the nudity and/or sex.
"When you sit with a nice girl for two hours, it seems like two minutes. When you sit on a hot stove for two minutes, it
Just to back up this comment, JMS (the show's creator) has said that he often used the site to check his facts in an attempt to stay consistent throughout the five years.
skribe
62.0% pure
38.0% corrupt
36.3636363636364% insane.
Blog
I'm not really into comics, but liked B5 so much I gave it a try... very cool. If you liked the storylines about the Psi Corp, and how they get along with "normals", you'll see a lot of parallels in Rising Stars.
Check it out.
matt
Excuse me? VHs releases are alive and well. You can either go down to your local movie shop and pick them up, or go through Columbia House's RePlay and get them once a month.
"Though it may take a thousand years, we shall be FREE."
Bester's novel "The Demolished Man" included a Psi organization that may have inspired the Psi Corps (though if I recall, it wasn't quite as sinister as the B5 version).
Incidentally, Spider Robinson credits Bester with thinking up the names for his first two "Callahan's" anthologies (Callahan's Crosstime Saloon and Time Travelers Strictly Cash). Robinson's story "The Traveling Salesman" is dedicated to Bester; it features a manic character named "Al Phee".
From where are you drawing your conclusions that I'm a ST:TNG fan? I mean, here I am trying to be civil, and you call me a fan of Wesley Crusher? Sir, you go to far! You leave me no choice but to defend my honor. Q3A at 20 paces, perhaps?
--sugarman--
Like I said, it sucked anyway so no loss. He should have known not to make a deal with TNT suits anyway. These types never get the point of a series like that and are bound to screw it up. I also don't think it makes sense to compare this season 1 to B5 season 1 because now we have an established universe and everyone knows the rules and races. The idea is that it was supposed to continue from where the Drak war left off. THAT was exciting, this should have been too. It wasn't. Lastly, I'll say it again: Excalibur is too big. What enemy in their right mind is going to manuever into the sights of that main gun? Of course, it would be a good strategy if you want to sacrifice a ship and then have a helpless target afterward. I say, start a new series on SciFi with a next generation white star.
Peace, K1
Good for you. Crusade was crap! A cheap Star Trek TNG wannabe. Waaaay too cerebral. Didn't like any of the changes they made to the storyline. B5 was far better. The Whitestars kick butt over the Excalibur for action scenes. TNT really screwed up the B5 universe.
Peace, K1
I've heard good things (even from Joe Straczynski) about the original movies, but the show is just dumb. It's the kind of Benny Hill SciFi (pronounced skiffy) that makes people think that there can't be any such thing as good writers who produce science fiction.
Now, the science fiction snobbery asside, it's not as arousing as it aims to be, it's not as action-packed as it aims to be, and it's very rarely funny. It's sort of like Dr Who with sex, but without the interesting stories and occasional quality actor (e.g. Tom Baker). In short, there's simply no basis on which to recommend the show. On the other hand, they passed up Crusade because Lexx was in production. Think about this: they passed up a show with quality actors, good stories, a 5-year plan and an established audience for an "assassin, an idiot and a sex slave" in space.
Now, if only they'd bring MST3k back...
Amen! Ideally, they'd schedule it right. I'm glad to see that B5 will have an
easier to view time (OTOH, I'm starting to eye Replay & TiVo anyway).
JMR
Try e-gold - (contact me). I'm NOT e-
> News of its cancellation have been greatly exaggerated... again.
How very like Babylon 5 itself, then...
Faith Manages.
Brazil has decided you're cute.
But my favorite trick of theirs is taking the non-broadcast channels that are part of basic cable ... and moving them above cable channel 38 ... just so you can watch channels that you're already paying for.
Good point. Mind you, my VCR goes up to 99, which is a pain for recording anything abover 99, like all the cool movie channels and most of the Discovery channels.
So, we're agreed that both the networks and cable networks are out to get us. But what are we going to do about it?
Will in Seattle
oh, yeah, forget to disclose that ABC is a subsidiary of Disney, which I have shares in.
...
;-)
Seriously, why is it that, now that we have the SciFi channel, they figure they can run fewer SF shows on the standard channels like ABC, CBS, NBC, WB, and so on? I like comedies and cop shows, but enough is enough
Will in Seattle
The live action was all filmed in widescreen but in order to save costs the SFX are rendered in normal tv format, redoing everything properly for widescreen will involve rerendering all the sfx. If you want more info on this a search on the rast or umtsb5 groups will cover just about everything.
Actually the reason Londo has a "middle European" accent is that Peter Jurassic had got annoyed at a critic who had complained that an accent he had done in something else was incorrect. The critic could hardly could hardly make the same complaint about his Centauri accent.
You know, Mr. Morden helps Molori with the Narn listening post... and while this isn't the first time we've seen the Shadows its the first time they've destroyed a major strategic target.
Then the ship carrying Santiago is destroyed, and the malevolent Mr. Clark becomes Earth alliance president.
I really wish Crusade hadn't been killed off, it was like it wasn't even given a chance to suceed...
All the creatures will die, And all the things will be broken. That's the law of samurai. (Jubai, 1605)
You know, when I was a kid there wasn't any such thing as this "IT" thing people are talking about now. Of course, we had computers, but somehow when you thought computers, you didn't think of them in terms of well, I'll say it IPO's. Not to say nerds weren't interested in making money... so they could buy more computer stuff. They (or should I say I... no I think since nerd refers to a stereotype I can say they) mostly thought about computers as entertainment (or... dark obsession).
It seems to me that you are an IT Professional who wants to divorce the concept of "IT" from the concept of nerd...
Remember, the word nerd refers itself to an evil stereotype about guys who are obsessed with Star Trek and computers. (I'm not a Trek fan myself, but I don't have anything against it. I have probably seen every episode of classic trek and NextGen at least three times though....) When you adopt the name "nerd" for yourself, you adopt all the baggage, good and bad that comes with that term.
I, for one, am perfectly happy to see IT professionals draw distinctions between themselves and "geeks" and "nerds." (Hey, when I was in school I wanted to divorce myself from those concepts... I wasn't ever successfully able to do it though, despite the fact that I loved my Atari 800, Dr. Who and Dungeons and Dragons I was still considered a nerd ;_;)
I've never actually watched anything to do with StarGate.....
Was your post a troll?
All the creatures will die, And all the things will be broken. That's the law of samurai. (Jubai, 1605)
"The avalanche has already started, it is too late for the pebbles to vote..."
All the creatures will die, And all the things will be broken. That's the law of samurai. (Jubai, 1605)
"And so, it begins...." (again!)
What's it about?
Hates people who have stupid little sigs
No no no, Londo's the only one with a French-ish accent. This was done on purpose, because the Centari were modeled a bit on pre-Napoleon-France (before the Aristocrats were executed), and really any over-the-hill empire.
Most other aliens either have an American or an English (As is common for all sophisticated species... 'specially the evil ones) accent.
"Can of worms? The can is open... the worms are everywhere."
Technomages were around the end of year 2, beginning of year 3, if I remember correctly. Just to give those that haven't seen the very few B5 episodes with technomages in them. If you are only interested in seeing those episodes, I would probably suggest starting to watch them right around Mid-End October. (as they are starting sept.) This would be right about the first time they are mentioned. If my memory serves me right, they also come up in the movie 'A Call to Arms' (help me if I have gotten the movie title wrong) When one of the mages (later featured in crusade) contacts Sheridan and brings him together with the others needed to complete said mission. Other then those two times, they weren't shown/featured until Crusade.
Having seen all the episodes atleast 3 times, and more in some cases, I have to say that I truly wish/hope that they could get the actors back to revive B5 or Crusade as the case may be. Of the very little TV I watch, my interest in the boob tube would most definately be revived if one or both of these shows were.
- DL
. o O ( Those Voices in my Head Won't Shut Up ) O o .
Dude.. if *anyone* in this group of readers reads your post, and HASN'T seen the episode you're talking about, you've basically just spoiled what was an "epic" moment for me the first time through the B5 series. Only a few episodes actually mention Delenn's connection to the Earth-Minbari war.. shush up! =b
- DL
. o O ( Those Voices in my Head Won't Shut Up ) O o .
The contracts were only held for a certain amount of time, and another part of the problem with the ending of 4 and beginning of 5 was that the chicky who played Ivanova (too tired to recall her rl name) said she wanted more money AFTER they had killed off Martin (dont wanna remember that guys name either) jms got into a very sticky situation with things not leading to where he wanted and also being practically forced into zipping up the whole series with 4, instead of having the ability to lead on through 5. I forget where the article was, but there is, and did exist an article which focused on, and discussed the fact that actor contracts, as well as tnt, had driven jms into trying to do a lot of stuff with a small amount of time. when he was given the extension, as someone else said in this string, he wasn't given the time to "give birth" to ideas and plots that would be more enthralling.. so season 5 basically was a type of 'premature birth' of what he was trying to do. Only about 4 or 5 episodes of the last season were up to par.. and those were the ones that were end of the season, not the one in the beginning.
The hardest part of the last episode, was them giving insight to the future. Not only did they close off a lot of options, but when Crusade was aired for a "season", we already knew the outcome of their mission. So no matter if it took them 3 seasons, or 5 seasons (last minute type stuff) we knew they found a cure and saved the world, etcetc. WHICH, made Crusade cheesy in a way, bt ended B5 from future episodes if need be.
All in all, I was/am sorry it went away, but jms did a decent job of ending the series with what little he had at the time.
- DL
. o O ( Those Voices in my Head Won't Shut Up ) O o .
I read once that most of the live action was filmed in widescreen, but the special effects (space battles etc...) were only done in normal TV format to save money (as those effects were very expensive).
The fact that no two snowflakes are identical should tell you something important about God's will.
I am also quite addicted to Babylon 5- most notably for its ability to combine humor and truth to produce something that depicts life in an imperfect universe not so different from our own. People change, there is no such thing as the "good" or the "bad," all of the characters change over time and grow from their experiences to create an overall story. I have always enjoyed this website to get most of the great quotes from the series, I would highly recommend it to those who are in search of the definitive Babylon 5 audio collection.
I can't wait!
Understanding is a three-edged sword - Kosh (Babylon 5)
The episode you refer to was actually 'The Coming of Shadows' from season two.
One of my favourite episodes (I couldn't pick just one) would be 'The Geometry of Shadows' from early season 2, where the Technomages were introduced. No big explosions, just a wonderful feeling to it, and I liked the old, jovial Sheridan before he got a hard edge. JMS conveyed more in that episode through what was implied than through what was said - a wonderful episode for the imagination.
Kind of a shame that they brought back the Technomages at all, really. They worked so well in that one episode because they weren't neatly explained by the end of the episode. They were left mysterious.
I never was able to catch any of the short-lived Crusader spin-off.
"Prejudice is wrong; you should hate everyone the same."
The 1st few episodes requires the watcher to be patient and wait for the large holes to be filled. The loose ends are all over the place. Most ugly americans arn't willing to wait to get their package all wrapped up in a neat bundle. Or, at least that is what the TV exec believe.
In the one episode with the white stars blowing up asteroids, Sheridan lays out the problem in the 1st 5 minutes, how to get the other races to sign. And before the show is done, they have signed.
It is traditional American TV fair, and makes the episode a good one to show to a 1st time viewer and have them feel like they 'saw all' they 'needed to see'. A B5 viewer can then point out how all the other items are linked together...and how some of the underlying plot threads have went on for many seasons.
I'm betting the Sci-fi seires will get a whole new set of viewers with short attention spans....because they can wait a day (or 3) for 'the next chunk' of the puzzle that is B5. The ones that can't wait a month, can go read the web pages about B5.
If it was said on slashdot, it MUST be true!
I thought I read an interview which said that was not the *original* plan at all... But assuming i am wrong, and you are right, how do you explain why series 5 was so much worse than all the others? Here in the UK it got to be so rubbish that they moved it from a prime-time slot to 2am in the morning (presumably because no-one was watching it anymore).
Abashed the Devil stood,
And felt how awful goodness is
But, as I said, I would rather you gave me more on why series 5 was so poor.
Abashed the Devil stood,
And felt how awful goodness is
would be to convince them to release one DVD, ideally the pre-series 1 movie, and then ensure that all the fans buy it. When they see they can make money, their greed will cause them to release the rest of series 1, and so on until they are all available.
Abashed the Devil stood,
And felt how awful goodness is
The reason it was so crap after the Shadow War ended was that the war was originally supposed to run until the end of series 5. However, they thought they were being axed at the end of series 4, so they did the conclusion of the war in series 4. Then when they got another series, they had no plot left to fill it.
Abashed the Devil stood,
And felt how awful goodness is
That is the one where they break away from the earth alliance and the minbari come to the rescue at the last moment. That can stand on it's own, although the related story elements matter. There is only one human captian that has beat a minbari ship. He is behind me and you are in front of me. Not an exact quote but very memorable.
there ya go
Blakes 7 is getting a film http://news .bbc.co.uk/hi/english/entertainment/newsid_705000/ 705922.stm
B5 has Drazi ships designed as a homage to the Liberator from this show
A couple to start with:
Confessions and Lamentations (a plague - we find a cure, but actually we are too late; Trek would have saved everyone)
In the Beginning - TV movie
It isn't designed to stand alone; thats the point you don't read selected chapters of a novel; B5 is a novel in TV format, so all the chapters/episodes are essential. I can't think of a single episode that has *no* baring on the arc; even exogensis does (it mentions the package arriving from Mars - Dr Kirkish)
It can't be a DS9 copy cat considering it was ceonceived in the mid 80's, when TNG had only just started! But all fans know that anyway
umm B5 didn't fail; it went 5 years AS PLANNED against all expectations; it was thretened with cancellation each year, even though it came in *under budget*
If you can't find deeper than skin philosophies in B5 you can't have watched it. Try "Passing Through Gethsemane" as a good example. It shows the only realistic view of Christianity I have ever seen and an interesting dilemma for Sheridan over forgiveness.
There is more philosphy in B5 than in all the Treks combined. Watch it regularly and you will realise this
There's a petition to make it happen here: http://b5petition.ii.net/
Does anyone remember the episode about the technomages? That had to have been my favorite. I only got to see it once even though the every other episode got played like five dozen times. We are now starting to see more of a generation gap in the hacker community when people ask why should babylon 5 be here.
I loved the show. Nobody complains when starwars gets all the articles.
Environmentalists are their own worst enemy. ~tricklenews.com
MAJOR SPOILERS!
I remember that episode. It was right at the end of season four, when the far future human was collecting data on how the New Alliance affected the history that came after it. One of my favorites, too.
-RickHunter
J. Michael Straczynski, the creator of the show, said that they were saving the 3D models for re-rendering later.
The filming was done in widescreen, not normal TV aspect ratio, so that they could release a widescreen version later. But the graphics were only rendered to the standard TV aspect ratio. The plan was to re-render the models, this time in widescreen. It would be very possible to swap in more recent, better-detailed models for some of the more primitive early models.
lf(1): it's like ls(1) but sorts filenames by extension, tersely
Something about not paying the power bill...
B5 just vanished in my area until TNT brought it to cable. (I think I did like the ability to watch everyday for an hour... some of the episodes left me so anxious to see the next part, I think the week pause would have driven me crazy...)
For those who haven't seen it, watch. I guarantee that the story will have you hooked (after the first season "intro" episodes, at least)
Maybe this leaves the future open for Crusade???
The fact is that B5 is a American production, and the largest market by far for anything B5-related. The rights having been transferred from TNT, which seems to have lost interest in the series, means there's a larger chance of video releases (DVD or VHS). Also, non-US networks are also more likely to pick up the series if it gets attention in the US.
BTW, if any Finns read this, Crusade starts tonight on TV2 at 23.40
Two words: Lexx must die. :-|
Why does everybody hate Lexx?????
It's a great show!
Mikael Jacobson
Greylisting is to SMTP as NAT is to IPv4
Didn't matter a bit.
It got killed by a power tripping suit at TNT who wanted "more horney aliens" and "more space kabooms" and when JMS (writer producer director) refused to be bullied, they showed him who was boss and killed his project in a display of infantilism normally only seen in Washingtoon.
Best Episode? All of 112 of them - because it is all one story.
In Nearly All Paradigms, Shift Happens.
I had no clue till recently that there was a SciFi author by the same name. Further research indicates that he was quiet in terms of book output during the production arc of B5. His most recent release has an intro by none other than Harlan Ellison.
It occured to me that Alfred Bester might be a pen name for JMS.... Anybody got a clue?
In Nearly All Paradigms, Shift Happens.
Well, TNT showed it for a while, where I watched it religiously every night at 7.. They eventually had a vote to move it to saturday at 6 and 7 in the morning.. Where I TAPED it religiously. Nobody is getting me up that early in the morning!
Then they got into season 5 and I stoped whatching, Then they had it only once a week.
Also, it has been on Sci-Fi UK for about a year and a half now. Sci-Fi USA was probally just bidding its time.
Now to get MST3K back.....
-Kai Rasmussen Life, Don't talk to me about life. Here I am, Brian the size of a Planet, and it is Can you pick up the
That site would be: http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/lurker.html It's an amazing trove of information. Gordon.
He that breaks a thing to find out what it is has left the path of wisdom.
-- J.R.R. Tolkien
Sorry about the formatting above.
That site would be:
http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/lurker.html
It's an amazing trove of information.
Gordon.
He that breaks a thing to find out what it is has left the path of wisdom.
-- J.R.R. Tolkien
Oh man, I can't wait to see her back on television, she's DA BOMB!
By the way, the preferred pronunciation is: 'The skiffy channel' per Harlon Elison who should know.
When you are dancing with wolves, never limp
No. My post wasn't meant as a troll. I just felt that the forums were an apropot place to mention my frustration at some of the "stereotypes" that have been associated with nerds, geeks, etc.
I suppose this argument is a bit semantic. My defenition of a nerd is, i suppose, not quite the same as many others'. I suppose i'm thinking more along "geek" lines as far as a person who is extraordinarily into high tech gadgets and computers. I most certainly fall under these lines. While I don't do calculus (sp?) or sit at home and play D&D all night, I eat, sleep, and breather computers/high tech. I make computer jokes that no one who isn't into *nix gets (e.g. - go away or i will replace you with a very small shell script). I don't consider myself an IT professional, as the vast majority of professionals aren't as involved in computers as i am. Generally, when they're on a box, they're working. Or they're doing something that helps them with their job (certifications, etc.) As i said, I eat, sleep, and breathe computers.
The problem is I'm just not a fan of anything else that most people in my position are into. I really think D&D is boring as hell. I don't think that Star Trek or B5 have any really redeeming qualities. (please don't take this the wrong way - but seeing every episode of ST and STTNG at least three times would definitely qualify you as a Trekkie). Star Trek is a fun place to visit...but I wouldn't wanna live there.
I think i'm just trying to express a sense of maladjustment here. I'd like to hear from someone who feels the same. My level of involvement in computers sometimes inhibits my ability to make non-technical friends, while my ambivilance towards most things "nerd" seem to alienate my from some of my more technical aquaintences (sp?).
FluX
"It is seldom that liberty of any kind is lost all at once." -David Hume
who just doesn't see anything entertaining in shows like Babylon5 (or even some of the star trek's for that matter.)
I don't know - i just get tired of this stereotype where people think that just because we're in the IT field, all we ever do is sit on our asses designing a "better" OS and watching StarGate SG-1.
this rant was brought to you by the WB network: "we syndicate every fucking sci-fi show we can get our hands on...and the Wayans brothers."
FluX
"It is seldom that liberty of any kind is lost all at once." -David Hume
Okay, last I heard, B5 was definitely coming to DVD, widescreen was possible (and in discussion), and extra scenes were unlikely.
As of now, though, no DVD's have been released, widescreen or otherwise, and extra scenes are unlikely.
Not much news, but hey.
Well, I respectfully disagree with you on the character development, but as I know it, the reason we in the States haven't been able to see it on Sci-Fi is the fact that WB licensed it to TNT to show (and that will expire by the time Sci-Fi is showing it).
Actually, doesn't Delenn have a Croatian / Yugoslavian accent (born in Zagreb, Croatia, according to Lurker's Guide.
"The Geometry of Shadows" was the episode with the technomages. (Talk about hackers... they're everything hackers -- physics, computers, space flight,...)
The funny thing about all the copycat stuff that seems to always come up is that B5 people said DS9 was copying them, and DS9 people said the same thing, and book people said they were all copying someone like Jules Verne or whoever.
Of course, now we're all free software / open source / whatever people, and we copy stuff freely (of course, we give credit where credit is due). Now there's an idea, next time there are twelve asteroid movies or sixteen "hacker" (ahem) movies or whatever, just let them just cite each other in the credits and come up with one good movie! (And give me a warp engine that works in hyperspace while you're at it.)
Okay, since I very much like B5, I'll take this one.
"TKO" pretty much stands alone.
"The Deconstruction of Falling Stars" also does, but it covers a million years and does tie in the fifth season, the Rangers, ISN, and everything else.
And although it does not stand alone, the one episode that stands out more than any other is of course, "Grey 17 Is Missing", since even JMS was embarassed by how the Zarg came out. ("As for the Zarg, that's also one of those things that didn't come off visually as I'd wanted.")
Of course, last time I checked, having two or three episodes out of five years that can pretty much stand on their own is a feat worth mentioning, which is why I am a Babylon 5 fan.
Actually, it was cancelled by Sierra last September. About a month ago, a potential deal with Codemasters fell through due to their restructuring into an online gaming company (many lost jobs, too).
As of now, there is a group of people (who have just had their first meeting) who are going to be raising capital, buying all the IP and licensing rights, and making the game (which will then be distributed through an as-of-yet undecided third party).
News of its cancellation have been greatly exaggerated... again.
They've been saying they might do it, but I would REALLY love to see this film on DVD. I taped all but one season when TNT re-broadcast it... I even got cable just for that reason. But to have it in DVD-quality..
wow.
You should never, never doubt what nobody is sure about.
You quitting proves that the karma kap worked. The most annoying of the whores shut up. --CmdrTaco
Actually, if you fast-forward through the alien kickboxing and just watch the stuff with Ivanova, it's not so bad.
According to a recent JMS post, it's "way too early" to start looking at that. I kind of get the impression that the show itself is extremely dead (TNT was extremely vindictive when they found that the show's creator and main writer wasn't willing to compromise its integrity by turning it into space wrestling, and they killed it dead. So dead that TNT will probably refuse to air the 13 existing episodes again or even let anyone else air them until their broadcast rights expire).
A pity, since the 5 episodes done without TNT's interference were pretty damn good, and there were some good bits in the other 8 as well.
My wife and I got hooked on B5 when we were already watching all the Star Trek shows, and we agreed that after B5 started, some ass-kicking must have gone on over at Paramount because all of the sudden, the so-so ST:DS9 and the rapidly declining ST:Voyager suddenly became a hell of a lot better. We were getting ready to write off Voyager. In any case, we REALLY liked B5 and were quite impressed with Crusade, thinking that it in many ways was an improvement over B5. B5 had some truly distinctive characters and damn fine drama as well as some nice comic moments too.
IMHO if you think LEXX is like Hitchhikers, then you totally missed the point in Hitchhikers.
Other then the Hot checks, lexx does very little for me personnally. I'm pretty easy to make laugh, but LEXX is just not funny.
and YES, we do get it, I just don't 'get' it. But hey, each to there own! =)
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
Did I mention that it's not part of the basic service tier?
Here in CA, USA. we have time warner, SCI-FI was part of the basic service. then it got popular, now its part of there 'satalite' service.read as "More expensive."
I have always wondered why I have to put up with commercials on any channel I pay a monthly fee for.
I think we should be able to only pay for the channels we want. I do not need a channel in a language I don't understand.
as a matter of fact, I am now pissed. see what you did, I was having a perfectly good day, then You made me think about cable companies! I'm not going to get any work done now. stoopid cable.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
FYI. the Supreme court has rulled that non cable company owned converters are LEGAL. It falls under the same ruling that you can use any phone on you phone line. You still have too pay for the cable service, but you don't have to rent there box.
Now the cable companies continue to down play that, including lying to their own employees. I would look up the specific case info, but I don't have time right now.
Since I'm not sure of your age Here's another FYI: You used to have to rent your phones from the phone company. I think that changed in the early to mid 70s.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
Push for dereulation of the cable industry.
Or try to get them to have a "geek" package. the basic 12 plus sci-fi, discovery, tlc. then have them junk all those damn sports channels. I still say Fishing isn't a sport. Well, maybe if your fishing for sharks, with a knife, while wearing a suit make out of pot roast.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
Wow this is cool.. not my favorite show of all time, but still a very good one. I don't get the SciFi channel right now, but I will beginning in May.. the downside is the SciFi channel is replacing the porn channel. Dammit!
segfault@bellatlantic.net
ClayJar said: Or G'Kar, a flat, one-dimensional character who wanted nothing more or less than to see the Centauri exterminated, who by the end of the series not only had forged a lasting peace between their two races but had also grown strong enough to turn down the chance to be ruler of his entire world.
G'Kar exemplified Babylon 5 at its best. Andreas Katsulas gave a portrayal that was Shakespearian. G'Kar gave Londo meaning as well. Their moments when G'Kar was chained in the cell were extraordinary television.
Jerry Doyle's Garibaldi was always convincing, as was Walter Koenig's Bester, and Jeff Conaway's wonderfully underplayed Zack Allen. The only character that really fell apart was the cheap hippie imitation psi guy ... mercifully, I forget both his character and actor...
And everything was dirty on B5. I loved it. You know that people actually pissed and shat in that show!
Dennis
http://maltedmedia.com/
Words from the B5 community: All of the live-action footage has indeed been filmed in widescreen, so it is possible to eventually get widescreen versions out on DVD and the like. However, the CGI was done full-frame. On the bad side, that means all of the CGI would have to be re-rendered for widescreen release. On the good side, all of the CGI elements have been archived, so it's a fairly simple process to open the files, move a few elements around to take advantage of the wider screen, and render it all again. Newer render farms could do it faster, cheaper, and better than the original ones, too! The effect might be something akin to comparing the original B5 pilot movie with the Special Edition released a year or two ago. On another front would be the possible extra content. I don't recall any mention from JMS about desires concerning extra content, but he would want to be directly involved in such, which could be a substantial amount of time. Warner might issue such discs with just the bare episodes, however, similar to how Paramount is releasing the Star Trek episodes on DVD. On the third front, though, is the viability. An earlier response mentioned the sudden stop of the Warner Home Video tapes. Now that the show will be on somewhere that raises its public presence again, sales of the tapes could pick up. Such sales would probably have a direct bearing on whether WHV would be willing to put the series on DVD. In the near term, though, a DVD release would be just the current full-frame form, probably with little or no extra content. A widescreen release isn't likely until the number of widescreen/HDTV sets in the market dramatically increases. All in all, the chances of seeing episodes on DVD are probably most directly related to VHS sales (and SFC broadcast ratings). So the best things you can do to promote DVD releases, weird as it sounds, would be to BUY THE VHS TAPES! and WATCH THE SFC BROADCASTS!
I think in some ways it did copy some things from DS9 (yes, I know it was conceived several years before DS9, but it was filmed after DS9 started), especially with the 1-shot episodes. After a few seasons it really started to pick up the pace, and became very enjoyable. A lot of the plotlines were taken straight from SF novels, and it even grew fairly melodramatic. Sci-fi is one of the few genres that can handle melodrama and still work though, and while when it was bad it was very bad, when B5 was good it couldn't be touched...
Woohooo! Glad to see B5 live on!
There are two major products that come out of Berkel
Over 50 posts between 3/27 and 4/07... You need a life dude. Did ya ever notice that the ones that complain most about /. are the ones that stink it up with the most crap and stupidest posts?
There are two major products that come out of Berkel
yes they were pretty "cheap" as efects go. They were originally done on videotoaster (according to an old videotoaster magazine I had). It was my understanding that support for the commadore spawned 'toaster disintigrated somewhere around mid 2nd season for B5 ...... anyone have more info on that??
sig? never touch 'em.
"He's a real midnight golfer"
Ever wonder how it is that B5 always seems so crowded? It's not cause they had the money to hire all those extras and makeup for them...
Also, a TON of the scenery was CG/enhanced.
The raw space battles may have seemed a little flat or too plasticy I agree, but they were good enough for suspension of disbelief, and as has been mentioned, were done on a tight budget. B5 was to tv shows what Episode One was to films (on the technical merits of their production that is...)
The flight sim was cancled around a month ago.
The Eagle's Talon shale rule the Galaxy.
Babylon 5, from the first episode to the last will always be special. The character development is, in my opinion, the best ever done in a sci-fi series. The story is, quite simply, the greatest ever done. It is an epic that spans thousands of years. The way it portrays human nature is incredible. J. Michael Straczynski did a awsome job writing and directing Babylon 5. From the Earth-Minbari War, to the Narn-Centauri war, to the Great Shadow War, to Sheridans final showdown with Earth. The story is an epic of unparalled proportion. I thank the Sci-Fi channel for picking up the show. They have a real winner on thier hands.
The Eagle's Talon shale rule the Galaxy.
I'm not a realy big fan of Babylon 5, but i'm really glad that there is something offered as a distraction between Star Wars, Star Trek, and all the other Sci-Fi stuff out there. I mean, I can only take so much from watching Seven of Nine.
When anyone in your party wears Sprint Shoes, your party will walk twice as fast as before.
B5. Great series. It was extremely watered down in its last year due to the change of networks and the untimely departure of Claudia What's-her-name. Did she go back to playing a hooker in the movies? The very last episode was taped well over a year before it was broadcast and it was the ONLY episode I never saw.
The last year was further sullied by the "Byron" storyline. Such a waste. I religiously watched EVERY episode until year 5. Then I caught a few here and there but missed a few. I finally saw those in reruns but by the time the wrap episode was broadcast on TNT I just didn't care anymore. Like I said - a shame it had to suffer the fate it did.
Nevertheless I encourage anyone who hasn't watched it to do so. The writing is excellent.
My only bitch about Stracyzinski is that he used to write for that old hag on "Murder She Wrote". I never had any respect for that show, probably because Jessica Lange never looked good in her best day and she was a lousy actress as well IMO.
Now, it's again been a few years since the last ep was made, so the graphics begin to look a little frayed around the edges. But the work done, then, was tremendously impressive and helped prove that CGI could be used to generate effects-intense shows on a reasonable budget.
The Mongrel Dogs Who Teach
I think Babylon 5 can be compared to the new Star Trek series (DS9, Voyager). One of the most important things, in my opinion, that made the original Star Trek series (Next generation) so enjoyable was its deeper than skin philosophies and messages. It wasn't just about flashy photon torpedo fires or alien battles, but rather, integrity, courage, and human nature. Both the new Star Trek and Babylon 5 series lack those elements in their show, which is why I believe they failed, and will fail again if Sci-Fi goes ahead and airs it.
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JavaScript tutorials scripts
Well, I'm definately on the side of those who are hooked on B5.
.... the B5 videos commercially available are missing all the middle seasons. At least in Australia I could have bought all the seasons ... except, oops, they're PAL and we're NTSC?!?!
.... aghhh!!!! As it is, I have bought every video up to the middle of Season 2, and am now stuck.
The reason this piece of news is good to me is that it means I finally have the opportunity to see the whole storyline, and not be stuck where I am now. I didn't get into B5 till I moved from Australia to the US, and then found one of the downsides of living in America
*InsertSoundOfHairRippedFromHead*
Can anyone explain to me the logic behind WB having released Season 1, HALF of Season 2, NONE of Season 3, but instead Seasons 4 and 5 on video. I mean
So - roll on September 25!
Just wanted to say that i have seen all 112 (actually, there are 110) episodes of Babylon 5, and all 4 movies, and all 13 Crusade episodes. Anyone who has comments or questions can direct them to me :)
> "TKO" pretty much stands alone.
TKO doesn't really stand at all. I'll give it "hobbles", "whimpers", "festers", or "oozes", but that episode would be improved by recording Star Trek V over it. Yeech.
B5 certainly fits the old nursery rhyme. When it was good it was very very good, but when it was bad, it was horrid.
-- Rick
> Why to all the aliens have french accents?
So you can tell they're ALIENS, silly! Much like the forehead bumps on the various Star Trek programs.
Now go away, or I shall taunt you a second time!
-- Rick
Err, I think you'll find JMS offered B5 to Paramount, who turned it down, and then started production on DS9. Thus raising many eyebrows...
JMS always said he was filming in wide screen... I could only hope about the DVD part; but since he's a bit of a perfrectionist I would expect no less. Oh this is good news.... a lot of us in rastb5.mod were asking why the SciFi Channel didn't just go get the rights from WB sooner. Hopefully this'll replace Lexx. It would make for a great double header with Farscape (about to start, so I gotta get going).
<*>
0.
On no other show would the female leads get together and host a joint web site as http://www.crusadebabes.com
My favorite ep had to be Signs and Portents. #116 (Though Into the Fire in Season 4 was killer on the gfx)
It was a first season episode that got the major story arc underway... It was the one where the Centauri Emperor dies on B5, and Kosh has that one foreboding line...
I've got the whole series on tape - except for two eps where TNT superceded the show with NBA playoffs (bastards!)
This is the ONE (no hidden B5 reference, really...) show that would make me buy a ReplayTV unit... Having another chance to watch it makes me giddy - it's like a sugar high.
I just hope that Sci-Fi runs the episodes in order. If they're out of sequence, the arcs fall apart - it would be a waste.
-- What you do today will cost you a day of your life.
For all new to B5, those who want a plot archive and insider/behind the scenes tid-bits, visit:
The Lurker's Guide to Babylon 5
This is probably THE best fan site out there, with plenty of links, back-plot, production info, yadda-yadda... Well worth the click.
For the rec, I'm a HUGE fan of B5. It's a brilliant plot, even though it does tend to lean a bit heavy on Tolken. (Then again, Tolken leans on the Illiad, so NYAH!)
B5 is the only sci-fi show with believable people, alien aliens, characters screwing up because of their faults, the good guys losing, people getting hurt - and staying hurt for several episodes, warm and touching moments, hillarious character banter, deeply developed personalities, teddy bears shoved out of air-locks, and an actual philosopy.
The cheesiest line on B5 beats most of the profound crap on ST:xxx. "Get that cheese to sick-bay" my ass! There is no techno-babble about reversing the polarity if the sub-ionic Heisenberg compensators or any such crap. People hit computers to make them work...
Ah... ramble-ramble... I think I'll go dust of my VCR, to make sure I can get those two episodes I'm missing. Fasten, then zip!!
-- What you do today will cost you a day of your life.
The Technomages were covered a lot more in Crusade. They were supposed to have been revisited in season 5, but TNT had threatenned to can the show in season 4, so the plot threads were tied off sooner, hence the relatively weak season 5.
Since TNT shafted Crusade as well, the Technomages never did get to fully shine. Too bad, they were yet another brillian facet of the show, along with the Psi-Corps, the fate of Lando and Daniel, the telepath war... Plenty of room to grow into as well, with the Great Burn and so forth.
Oh, I sure hope this is a revival, and that JMS will get enough encouragement and support to consider picking up the B5 pen again. I can dream, can't I?
-- What you do today will cost you a day of your life.
Babylon 5 (season 5, which I'm not sure was worth it) is the reason I got cable. And laziness (combined with South Park) is the only reason I haven't bothered to cancel it.
About season 5... I watched my tapes again a few months ago, and it doesn't really suck. I mean, I stil hate Byron as much as I ever did, but it really isn't bad as long as you don't compare it to the previous seasons (especially 2 & 3).
---
As copyright owner of this comment, I authorize everyone to defeat any technological measure which limits access to it.
If you are into the story at all, individual episodes are quite ejoyable, but are far from a complete story. As some say, watching the first few seasons is like reading lord of the rings. It's an epic. I don't WANT stand-alone. I don't believe you can convey real meaning in 35 minutes of TV. Unlike a soap-opera, B5 was thought out in it's entirety BEFORE they were aired. The whole story was written, it just took a while to tell
It wasn't 10%. I think B5 was costing around $800,000 per episode (which peaked out at about $1M toward the end of the series) and ST:TNG was around $1M-1.5M per episode. Everyone was aghast that Space: Above and Beyond was costing $2M, so there's no way TNG was costing $10M!
BTW: The B5 numbers are quoted from Straczynski (back when rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5 was THE group) who was very up-front that these numbers were ballpark, and he was not allowed to go into detail.
Yeah, and what's up with about 50 sports channels I could care less about, which they include on the expanded tier, but they charge us for the good channels?
Will in Seattle
My brother subscribed to the short lived Babylon 5 comic book, in one episode there was a letter from a guy in Denmark. The guy in Denmark said he was happy to get the B5 comic even though he couldn't watch the series in Denmark. Unfortunately, that was the last issue of the Babylon 5 commic published. So my brother, insane Babylon 5 evangelist that he was, started taping episodes of Babylon 5 off of TV and mailing them to this guy in Denmark. (In clear violation of region coding! Oh, the villainy of it!)
Ok, so, if there are any fan tapes of B5 circulating in Denmark now, maybe you can thank my brother...
Now it is an international story, see... ^_-
All the creatures will die, And all the things will be broken. That's the law of samurai. (Jubai, 1605)
You can probably pick up most of the first-season episodes without prior knowledge of the series, although it helps. A background in the show helps to understand the fifth-season episodes, although I don't remember it as always being necessary -- with some exceptions, "Day Of The Dead" coming immediately to mind (otherwise the interactions between Leneer and Malden, and between Garibaldi and Dodger, don't make as much sense).
Anybody coming in in the middle of any of the other seasons is probably going to be lost until they watch for a few weeks to catch up with the action. That's something of a drawback, because not everybody is going to put in the effort to catch up. Those who do, though, will be well rewarded.
--
Someone you trust is one of us.
Now, if only they'd bring MST3k back...
"You spoony bard!" -Tellah
They may have exclusive rights in the US, but Babylon 5 has been airing up here on the Space Channel for a long time... every night. I've seen almost every episode. It's one of those sci-fi shows you don't really like at first, but later you get right into the characters. Except for all the Sheradan / Delene love crap. They overdo that WAY too much for my tastes.
In most American TV, each episode can stand alone. B5 RARELY had an epesode that, by itself, stands alone.
The only one I can think of is, after the shadow war, he send the white star fleet to destroy asteroids (with the intent of the other races to believe the enemy is invisible to their sensors....but not the white star fleet)
What episodes do you think could stand alone? Episodes that are self-explanitory, and could be pulled out of the series, and someone would feel that from a plot context-wrapup in an hour match normal American TV?
If it was said on slashdot, it MUST be true!
I remember reading, back when B5 started, that all the episodes were actually filmed in widescreen and would be available eventually on DVD, in widescreen, with extra scenes. Did this ever happen?
Abashed the Devil stood,
And felt how awful goodness is
there is a site that has all episodes and the plots of those episodes, plus commentary from JMS who write most of the episodes and analysis. I don't remember the URL, I'd have to do a websearch to find it. Anyway my advice to anyone is watch the entire series TWICE. The first time through, the first season will bore you. Things are really moving the fourth season and once you have seen it once the whole way through, you will look at the episodes in the first season and say things like "Wow, that doesn't come up until season 4 and this is only the 4th episode!!". You will see the plot threads that come together and probably be pretty impressed. It's the closest you are going to get on TV for having the complexity of a good novel. When it went to TNT, I bought cable just to be able to watch the show.
Its complex; keep watching. If after the episode "And the Sky Full of Stars" you haven't found you like it, feel free to stop, but give it a chance to that point. (its the episode where Sinclair is captured, drugged and has his mind probed.) The Lurkers guide is the best place for information: http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/
This was announced 4 days ago! Anyway excellent show; finally you Americans can see it weekly on a well known channel. It is a completely different show when you see the episodes concurrently. I've watched most episodes more than 7 times and I still catch new information, in jokes and stuff. If you haven't seen the show before, stick with it; it begins to get really good frm "And the Sky full of Stars" there's loads of back story and you expect the answers to appear within a few episodes, but you don't get all of them till the next year! Heck there are things from the 1st season which don't have an impact until the 5th season. Talk about planning ahead. : heads home tomorrow; B5 videos ahoy!
That was what I liked about the original Star Trek as well, but to be perfectly honest, I find that Babylon 5 not only has integrity, courage, and human nature, but it has them in spades.
I vividly remember the first time I saw all the episodes of B5, and those factors were what made it so good. It was a terribly realistic portrayal of a lot of what it means to be human.
There were wars that had no meaning that went on simply because they always had. What about when Londo Mollari, the Centauri ambassador to B5, decided to give up his future, his freedom, even his very life, in order to save his people -- and right when he was finally where he wanted to be.
Or how about Kosh being afraid of dying -- a "superior" being who had all the frailties inherent in every human being. Or G'Kar, a flat, one-dimensional character who wanted nothing more or less than to see the Centauri exterminated, who by the end of the series not only had forged a lasting peace between their two races but had also grown strong enough to turn down the chance to be ruler of his entire world.
I could continue, but my point is that not only did all this happen and more, but all these stories were told and woven together in a way that made them all believable and made them your own. That was Babylon 5
To call B5 a Star-Trek rip-off is like calling one hard-boiled detective a rip-off of another. People sometimes forget that Star Trek is not the be-all and end-all of science fiction. Most people have forgotten that when Star Trek first came out it was laughed at as a Lost In Space rip-off. I mean, it had people in space, right?
And to say the Borg mean anything, compared to the complex backstory in B5, is funny, too. At least the Vorlons and Shadows stood for the same thing consistently. The Borg started out as decentralized technology junkies, became cybernetic parasites, and were eventually turned into an insect hive, with no explanation.
"Oh, my god, these two novels both have words in them! This one's an obvious rip-off!"
He doesn't just have accidents.
But it was on Fox, but CBS.
Fight Spammers!
Yeah, I know Automan was not real smart, but it was funny.
Fight Spammers!
Fight Spammers!
I was going to cancel my SCI-Fi channel. Now, if they pick up Strange Luck and bring back The Flash.
Fight Spammers!
It startwith this cop geek. He builds a program that analyzes data, that has the personalities of all the great detectices inputted into it. He hooked it up to a holographic projector. Now, with enough power, the program becomes alive.
Automan has the ability to become as solid as needed. He has cursor which can draw. Of course cursor draws his car, which has no inertia. Cursor on occassion has redrawn the car into a jet and helicopter.
Fight Spammers!
Why to all the aliens have french accents?
Judge Pag, the Learned, Impartial, and Very Relaxed
At the same time, somehow he managed to almost make me feel sorry for him at times, and he son become more than just the one dimensional character.
And who can forget the whole 'psi-corps spy' affair!? Phew....
I stand corrected with regards to Babylon 5 lacking depth. Since I don't watch the show that often, it was probably haste of me to pass judgement like that. The fact remains, however, that the new Star Trek series suck :-)
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Babylon 5 was produced on roughly 10% of the budget that ST:TNG had, per episode.
Given this, they had decent acting, great writing, and pretty damn spectacular CGI. B5 had more original (meaning non-recycled between eps) CGI in one episode (I forget which, but I'm sure the Lurker's Guide has the statistics) than a whole season of TNG.
Add to this that the initial CGI work was done on Video Toasters (and later on less then top-noth graphics worstations), and you've got a totally GEEKY show, made great through effort and perseverence, not a big budget. B5 is a work of art, the ST series are a politically correct marketting franshise.
Just found this on the Lurker's guide:
The B5 effects teams, both at Foundation and at NDI, use Lightwave 3D by NewTek and specialized software to design and render the visual effects. For the pilot, the effects were rendered on a network of Amiga computers; later, Foundation used 12 Pentium PCs and 5 DEC Alpha workstations for 3D rendering and design, and 3 Macintoshes for piecing together on-set computer displays.
Considering that, it's pretty damn good... No?
Also, the graphics were not poor, they were realistic, IMHO. Video of Mir and other orbitting craft look pretty cheesy too, due to the harshness of the light outside the atmosphere.
Maybe what you meant to say was that the effects didn't look like those in big budget productions like Star Trek and SW:TPM?
-- What you do today will cost you a day of your life.
It was "The Deconstruction of Falling Stars", and yes, it was good.
Personally, I really liked "Severed Dreams". Delenn's speech was moving to more than the bad guys.
Of course, then there's G'Kar's voiceover at the end of season three in "Z'ha'dum", which I actually had on my desk at work.
And of course, "Confessions and Lamentations" was the most wrenching episode of anything I have ever seen. The feeling in Delenn when the doors opened to show her there with nobody left alive has haunted me ever since.
No other series has ever had a moment burn itself so deeply into my mind as Babylon 5, and that is why it is significant.
- Galen alone is a better character than any other sci-fi channel character. Not because technomages are cool, but because he is more than just an SF stereotype. Yes, he's Aragorn and Gandalf. Yes, he's got bits of a lot of archetypes, but he's a living breathing character. Plus, technomages are cool.
- ;-)
9.- The sci-fi channel has some people (at least indirectly) who are familiar with how to integrate good animatronics into a science fiction show, and it would be a cool thing to see some of Straczynski's odder ideas put into play (e.g. the praying-mantis-like character from B5).
8.- The bits of Crusade that TNT didn't f**k with were much more interesting than the bits that they did. This makes me think that a station willing to let Straczynski do his thing will reap the rewards.
7.- There's a ready-made fan-base, as I'm sure the B5 ratings will tell them.
6.- The sci-fi channel has good connections among teleplay-capable SF authors. This means that they can feed Straczynski with good authors and keep him down to those 8-12 per season where he does his best writing (e.g. see the first 2 seasons of B5 vs. the rest; still a lot of good writing, but not as many GOOD EPISODES).
5.- They need a good companion show for Farscape (once they start writing episodes as well as they did at the end of last season, and I'm hoping that they will...)
4.- A 4+ year show that's pretty much guaranteed to have interesting stories for the full run.
3.- Sci-fi could use some good will among fans right about now.
2.- If they don't Joe will go somewhere else, and do something that Sci-Fi will wish they had.
1.Ever since I first saw Lexx, and every time I accidentally catch a little of it by way of the promo spots, I sigh and say "this is what Sci-Fi wanted in stead of Crusade." I can only hope that the move to pick up B5 is a trial before going whole-hog and developing Crusade. Fellow fans, let us hope....
This is the series that got me interested in space-opera again. Something that Star Trek, in its endlessly repititive episodes, fail to deliver. (Dons flame retardent asbestos suit).
Okay, this is just slightly off topic, but I think it's close enough (flame me if I'm wrong and I'll apologize personally).
Babylon 5: Into the Fire was/is a sim based on the StarFury fighter in B5. If you haven't heard about it, it hasn't made it to life yet. It has now been dropped around twice or so, and a last-ditch effort to save it is continuing.
If anyone cares, you can see the current status at FirstOnes.com. If you liked the show, and might like the true inertial space flight sim (you can spin around in mid flight just like in space and the show), support B5:ITF now and we might even be able to convince them to port it to Linux once it's actually revived... again.
(Just thought it would be informative for those who really liked the show and would like to fly a 'Fury. If you don't like this post, please just flame me and let me apologize in person; don't moderate it down.)
As a fan of Babylon 5 from day one, I can say that this is news I've been waiting for a long time to hear. TNT terribly mistreated Babylon 5 after doing so much, producing the final season and four telefilms, then screwing over both Babylon 5 and it's short-lived but promising spinoff Crusade.
/.ers who haven't seen Babylon 5, give it a try. Especially if you like the epic scope of The Lord Of The Rings, you'll find many parallels to Babylon 5. While Babylon 5 doesn't always have the production values of Star Trek, the compelling stories and characters more than make up for it.
For those
Now that it's on at a decent time, give it a try. You could end up as hooked as me and all my friends...
This is the one show that I got hooked on religiously. I have none of the extra paraphenalia nor have I tried to extend its universe. I just found it to be a damn good show, one that was (pardon the fanaticism) extremely well written with intertwining plots and a human race that seemed believable.
This was the first show I saw where I felt the politics were believable. Most of the star treks always felt like they assumed that going into space would unite humanity. Babylon 5 went with the idea that... 'ooo, space' and life moved on. Perhaps it felt believable because that world was as cynical as the one I live in today, but I really got lost in the show when it came on.
Since I know we're all going to start mentioning favorite episodes, let me submit mine. I think it was called "The Deconstruction of a Star" but that doesn't seem right. In any case it right after the new alliance was created and everything seemed alright.. so this one episode sidetracked and stepped ahead into the future at different intervals. I don't remember all of it, but I know it showed the alliance after sheridan's death, a new 1984ish government complete with its brand of newspeak attempting to change history, and even a race of people without technology following a religion that worshipped sheridan and the alliance.
You can bet that 7:00pm is now booked solid from now on for me.