"The Gathering" 15th Anniversary

[Jan]

According to The Lurker's Guide, "The Gathering" first aired onFebruary 22, 1993.

I missed the pilot but began watching from the first episode. Anybody catch this first showing?

Jan

[*Starstuff*]

Incredible, 15 years!!! I feel old.

No, seriously - I didn't catch "The Gathering", haven't seen it so far, I have to admit. I caught most of the episodes of the first three seasons on TV, they were shown about a year later than the US release, I think.

But isn't it awesome that after all this time, we are still here and want more B5? If we are not careful, we'll turn this into a second ST movement

[raw_bean]

Wow, back when I was only nine years old.

The first bit of B5 I ever remember seeing was in Season 3, Convictions, where Londo and G'Kar are trapped in the lift together after an explosion.

[OmahaStar]

According to The Lurker's Guide, "The Gathering" first aired onFebruary 22, 1993.

I missed the pilot but began watching from the first episode. Anybody catch this first showing?

Jan

I sure did. I even taped it. Of course, that tape got burned up in the fire, but I was there. Man, I miss Stewart Copeland's music. Ah, well, Franke's pretty good too. Ok, he's incredibly awesome, but Copeland brought something completely different to it.

[Truth66]

Unfortunately I never saw The Gathering when it originally aired. My first viewing of Babylon 5 was when Midnight on the Firing Line (Season One)originally aired. I remember giving my mom a call to ask if I could come over to watch it because she had the channel that it was airing on and I didn't have that particular cable package. I was hooked from this episode onward.
The first time I saw the Gathering was when B5 had switched over to TNT and my buddies brother had that channel via satelite and recorded it for me. Amazing that it's been 15 years already.

[RMcD]

I did see many of the S1 episodes when they were first broadcast on C4 in the UK, but I don't think they got round to airing the Gathering until much later. I didn't see it until I bought it on VHS.

So one question that springs to mind is, how well has it dated in 15 years? I think it's slightly difficult to judge, since B5 was a low-budget show even at the time. It didn't have the most expensive sets or the most photorealistic sets. And of course a lot of the fun to be had from watching B5 is in seeing it improve and surpass all expectations from fairly humble and unpromising beginnings.

Some of the themes, however, such as the war-weariness and sense of punctured optimism resulting from the Earth-Minbari war, the moral complexity, the growing friction between major powers, and the vicious circle that trapped the Narn and Centauri still seem right on the money, maybe even more so now than they did then.

[WorkerCaste]

I saw the pilot when it was first broadcast and it interested me enough that I started watching for the series. I watched and waited and was just about to give up. I thought it had probably not been picked up. Then I almost missed the start of the first season. Glad I didn't. My only regret is that I didn't start taping until the second season. I didn't have the foresight of OmahaStar.

[vacantlook]

Yup, I saw The Gathering when it first aired. All we had was plain broadcast tv at the time, and the reception was kinda bad. So I took my little tiny tv from my bedroom and hooked it up next to the other tv and had the antennas of each pointing in different directions so that when one's reception went wonky the other one was viewable.

I don't really remember what I thought of the plot at the time; what I remember most was seeing the visuals of it and finding it to be so different and fun. I pretty much grew up on Star Trek The Next Generation, in which ships pretty much just sat still for an effects shot, so when I saw Kosh's ship for the first time I bought fell out in the floor.

[frulad]

I remember watching it. I still have it on tape somewher packed away with the original Andy Summers soundtrack...

I also remember calling the local station that aired it asking when the series was supposed to start. That wait until the fall was murder.

[OmahaStar]

I remember watching it. I still have it on tape somewher packed away with the original Andy Summers soundtrack...

I also remember calling the local station that aired it asking when the series was supposed to start. That wait until the fall was murder.

Summers? What did he do?

[Night Marshal]

The First Episode that I sat all the way through was "A Voice in the Wilderness" before that I had seen bits and pieces but hadn't really liked the show. Voice was the show that really brought me in. But for years until the TNT remake I always wondered what they heck they were talking about with Vorlons attacking the station reverenced in "And Now For A Word" because that seems like it would be kinda of important to only be mentioned once afterward but after you see "The Gathering" you understand that the reporter is more playing for drama. But Still made me wonder for years what she was talking about.

[Garibaldi's Hair]

Summers? What did he do?

Andy Summers was the third member of The Police ... you know the one that wasn't either Sting or Stewart Copeland (who actually did the soundtrack for The Gathering)!

[glindros]

Andy Summers was the third member of The Police ... you know the one that wasn't either Sting or Stewart Copeland (who actually did the soundtrack for The Gathering)!

:cough:

Stewart Copeland did the soundtrack.

IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0004841/


"From time to time, you will make mistakes. They are inevitable. Sometimes, those mistakes will be huge. What matters is that you learn from them. There is nothing wrong with falling down, as long as you end up just two inches taller, when you pick yourself off the fall." : JMS/Sheridan

[jonodan]

I caught it on its first broadcast (and after following JMS's comments on GEnie, back in the day, before the pilot was made...) and I enjoyed it. I thought it needed a little bit of work, but I really thought it had potential and was thrilled once the series was approved.

What I loved about the series is that is wasn't PREDICTABLE (like certain other sci-fi series were...), and with the cutting edge CGI, we were treated to some very enjoyable effects in the show.

I think the series really kicked in (for me) with the second season through... and now 15 years on, I own all the DVD's... and listen to the podcasts most weeks... and am hoping for more stories within the B-5 universe.

[Carl Sagan]

I think it's really crap that we in the UK still haven't been given the chance to see the re-edit of The Gathering...