Thanks you JMS!

[Boxinggandhi]

I have just finished all the collective parts of babylon 5( Original series, Crusade, movies) and just wanted to say thanks for making such a great thoughtful scifi tv show. When babylon 5 originally came out i was like 8 or 9, and wasnt interested. As I grew up, I never watched any tv shows regularly, and new of B5 but associated it with Star Trek and other "Nerdy" scifi. Now that im older and life has slowed down a bit, ive been going back and watching tv shows that i missed. I noticed it on hulu for a long time but was reluctant because of the shows age and the shoddy season one budget. When i finally got around to giving it a shot, it was still a hard sell in the beggining. Without the hulu episode comments I probably would have given up after 3 or 4 eps. However, the fan comments kept inching me along, promising bigger and better things to come. By season 2 I was into it, and when i picked up the season 3 dvds I was HOOKED! The ongoing plotlines, the realistic characters, the political intrigue, and( of course) the BIG ASS space battles had me loving every minute of the show. A day doesnt go by where I dont think " Hmm, what would Londo do in this situation?" I also find myself musing on G'kars bits of wisdom in times of thoughtfullness.

Hesitantly, ive shared my love of B5 with friends. I had hooked up onto farscape earlier( my SECOND favorite tv show ever), and they learned to trust my opinion on good tv. After some prodding and promises of good things to come, ive hooked a couple of friends on it now too! It makes me sad to read about the series history after original air, from the loss of crusade due to lack of sex appeal, and the unfortunate Legend of the Rangers pilot reception. It is my hope that some brilliant network might see the promise of a new show, but from all I have read I guess that doesnt seem likely. Why air a new B5 show when they have guaranteed success's like the new Flash Gordon? Scifi fails sooo bad lols. I guess its onto the books for me. Anyway, I just wanted to say that your show is still alive and through hulu is still gaining fans.

Thank you JMS for making such a great show that actually trancends the borders of the television to reach out and touch my mind every day in real life.

[Jan]

Welcome, Boxinggandhi. That was a great post.

Unfortunately, to the best of our knowledge, JMS neither posts to nor reads this site. The best way to post where he'll see it is to the moderated newsgroup, rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated. One simple way to find it and post there can be found in the FAQ thread.

If you want to hang out and talk about the show or othe JMS projects, though, you're welcome here.

Jan

[Dan Dassow]

Welcome, Boxinggandhi. That was a great post.

Unfortunately, to the best of our knowledge, JMS neither posts to nor reads this site. The best way to post where he'll see it is to the moderated newsgroup, rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated. One simple way to find it and post there can be found in the FAQ thread.

If you want to hang out and talk about the show or othe JMS projects, though, you're welcome here.

Jan

You can also post directly to rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated via Google Groups.

[Jan]

That's where the link in the FAQ thread goes, Dan. There's just more info on posting conventions in the FAQ that I thought would be helpful to new posters.

Jan

[Boxinggandhi]

Thanks guys, ill be sure to repost, this just seemed like the most likely place. I dont really write fanboy letters like this, i think last time i did was when I saw evil dead 2 and I wrote sam raimi praising him as lord of all(lol). Ill try to repost it where he might see it. BTW, i was pretty buzzed when i wrote that, need to grammer check lols.

[DGTWoodward]

Repost it where JMS will see it of course!

But stick around too!!!!!!!!

Welcome aboard.

[Dr Maturin]

I just finished the saga myself. This is the fourth time through Babylon 5, third through Crusade and first through everything.

Honestly, I really only liked B5 and the movies that were connected to the arc (TG, ItB). Crusade had so much potential, but all parties involved just dropped the ball. It sucks because while some of the characters sucked, I really enjoyed Woodward, Kim, Brooks and Cole (whom I have a man crush on). I didn't care for Thirdspace, ACtA or RoS. I didn't watch LotR this time around as I do not own it, but never liked it before. And TLT wasn't any better a second time.

With all that being said, Babylon 5 is probably the greatest science fiction show of all time.

[Morden]

Oddly enough, I have to admit that I didn't enjoy B5 as much as before during the last run through it, please don't bash me. I've seen B5 six times now I think, 4x the movies (ItB and ACtA more often), 4x Crusade, and 3x LotR and TLT. I re-watched the show again a couple of months ago with my girlfriend (both long time fans of B5) - and this was the second time the experience was a little weaker than before.

I think it has to do with the direct comparison - we've watched The Wire, Rome, The Shield, The Sopranos and BSG during the last years, and I always thought that all those shows had more impact on me with their cinematography, their look&feel, their actors, settings and their music. I always hoped B5 would live up to my memories when watching it again, but it didn't, unfortunately. In a direct comparison, the lower production value, sometimes cheap looking of many B5 settings and the wooden acting of lots of suppurting characters hit me straight in the face. I still think half of season two, most of season 3, nearly entire season 4 and some of season 5 make great TV with very good episodes. But honestly, season 1 starts to get very boring on me, as does season 5 (apart from the few often-quoted classic episodes). Crusade I still like because of it's feel and potential, and regarding the movies, ItB still belongs to the best outings of the entire saga, while RoS and 3rdspace never felt really right, and ACtA still works as some kind of semi-pilot for Crusade. LotR makes me laugh (in a negative way), it still belongs to the weakest shit I've ever seen, and TLT may be a silly and misplaced, but still handsome and welcome addition. TG, special edition or not, I still am surprised how this ever made it into a full series...!
It is as it is, I have problems with the weak first and the relatively weak 5th season, characters like the silly bad guy pseudo-gangsters with muscles and a nasty face we have to witness every 3rd or 4th episode or so, the acting of most of the ambassadors besides G'kar and Londo, the weak cinematography of some episodes (heavily depending on the director), the Byron arc, the non-fitting episodes of some early guest writers, and a few more. Thank God for Chris Franke's music, it helps the show even through it's weaker moments.

Don't get me wrong - I still love B5, and still think it belongs to the best ever produced tv shows. I'm a fan since hour one. But I get the feeling that it heavily ages, and that I start to like it more because of a certain sentimental, nostalgic touch, as by far not all of B5 holds up to today's standards like season 4's Earth civil war arc, Z'ha'dum, ItB and some other episodes do.

Just my thoughts and feelings. Nevertheless, I'll still stay a big fan, will continue to promote the show as a great scifi-epic, and will continue to hope for more of it...!

[Dr Maturin]

Thank you for your candor.

The Shield is probably my favorite show of all time.

[Macbeth]

Great post Morden.

I agree with everything you said. When I "rewatch" the series I have it pared down to around 70 episodes. Basically the 50 or so "wham" episodes as indicated on the Lurker's Guide plus a couple dozen of favourites.

Cheers

[Jan]

When you've been through the show as many times as some of us have (I've completely lost count), it's natural that any flaws will become more and more apparant. For me, the logic holes in how they got involved in the Shadow War are more apparant each time I watch.

I'm not sure...are all of the shows that Morden cable shows? I think that in terms of story, the writers would be far more free to go wherever they want than B5 would have been.

Jan

[Garibaldi's Hair]

Great post Morden.

I agree with everything you said. When I "rewatch" the series I have it pared down to around 70 episodes. Basically the 50 or so "wham" episodes as indicated on the Lurker's Guide plus a couple dozen of favourites.

Cheers

For me, the continued joy of B5 is that it has that many "Wham" episodes in the first place. Any show that can still give viewers that kind of enjoyment after multiple re-watches and 11 years after the broadcast of the final episode has done something pretty special as far as I can see.

[Dr Maturin]

For me, the logic holes in how they got involved in the Shadow War are more apparant each time I watch.

Elucidate, if you please.

[WorkerCaste]

I agree with most of the things said. The more you watch, the more the flaws show. Of course, I've found that to be true with basically every TV show and movie that I watch many multiple times.

One thing I'll point out, though, is it isn't just familiarity -- it's the changes in some TV that we've experienced. When you place B5 in the context of when it was produced, it was much more exceptional. The story telling was pretty different from most of what was out there. It opened the door for some of the changes, and that gives it an honored place. In some respects, the surprising thing is how well it has held up considering changes in tech and what not.

[Jan]

Elucidate, if you please.

Mainly, I'd say that at first watching, I assumed that a lot happened offscreen to convince Our Heroes to go to war. What we actually saw were some suspect races heading toward a planet we'd heard bad rumors about and some not-necessarily-trustworthy alien ambassadors telling us about the Bad-Nasty-Horrible Shadows. Granted, much of my suspicion of Kosh was based on his fragging DeathWalker, but really, would you have prepared for war based on something that a being you knew virtually nothing about told you?

There aren't many TV shows I want to watch even twice, much less the number of times most of us have watched B5. I'm only now beginning to notice that the CGI isn't up to today's standards and the sets only bother me when a wall shakes.

Jan