Share your first experience of Babylon 5

[WorkerCaste]

I'm coming late to this, but I've been on vacation.

I saw the original broadcast of the pilot and thought it had potential. Then I didn't see anything forever. After a time, I assumed that it just hadn't gotten picked up, and basically forgot about it. Then I heard about a series starting up and it took me a while to realize they were talking about the continuation of "The Gathering". I watched it as it was broadcast, but, if you'll believe it, the episode that really started setting the hook for me was "Infection". The meat of the episode, moster loose on the station, was somewhat ho hum. Been there done that. But then at the end there was this great conversation between Garibaldi and Sinclair. He was bascially asking his friend if he had a death wish. What's more, his friend admitted that he didn't know the answer and thought he should. Then Franklin and Ivanova are talking and saying Earth would never do something so foolish -- and along come some government reps to claim the tech. Finally, there's Sinclair with a great speach about why humanity needs to be out among the stars. The last few minutes of an overdone story all of a sudden changed the whole impression of the series for me.

As a side note, I can also say that B5 put me online. I had never had much interest in the Internet. I didn't have a lot of spare time and had a lot of other interests. Then I heard that there was quite a bit of info on B5 out there, and that pushed me over the edge.

[Trollheart]

Oh wait --- you DID vote, didn't you? D'oh!

Well, everyone else vote! Please...

[Trollheart]

Thanx. I'm not REALLY that interested though: it just annoys me when people start comparing two of my favourite shows and saying the one ripped off the other, when I just don't see it.

Not to worry: off you go and vote in my poll--- as Steve Earle says, "If ya don't vote, don't bitch!"

[babylonlurker]

Let's not, okay?

Really, this is an old argument that's caused many a rift on many a forum and ten years after both shows are ended, we don't need to rehash it.

Suffice it to say that, while there were definite similarities between the shows in the beginning, both ended up being good shows on their own merits.

Jan

That is very true, Jan

Trollheart, if you want more info, I can PM you here, just ask.

[babylonlurker]

You're surprised by this??? Paramount was one of the studios JMS took B5 to before Warner Brothers. Paramount had the B5 series treatment in hand before they made DS9.

Not really, I heard the JMS interview on the Babylon Podcast myself .... so not really.

But for someone not knowing what we know - it would be very surprising.

[Jan]

If someone would care to enlighten me, I'd be interested to know.

Let's not, okay?

Really, this is an old argument that's caused many a rift on many a forum and ten years after both shows are ended, we don't need to rehash it.

Suffice it to say that, while there were definite similarities between the shows in the beginning, both ended up being good shows on their own merits.

Jan

[Trollheart]

I'm a big fan of DS9 (favourite of the Treks) and it always annoys me how people compare it to Babylon 5. I just don't see it. Other than the fact that both are set on a space station run by the military, what other similarities are there between the two?

OK, so Sisko when he arrives doesn't want the post. Neither Sinclair nor Sheridan are thrilled at first to be running a city in space.

There's no huge threat to humanity, going back 1000 years, lurking in the (ahem!) shadowa, unless you count the Dominion, and I don't buy that. But even if that is accepted, ok then that's two. More or less.

Is there a multi-world alliance against a common foe? Not really, not as it happens in B5. Most of the enemies of the Dominion are old allies, and there are no new ones brought in to the fight.

Is there a big romance between the lead? Nah.

Does a lead character "jump species", become a hybrid as Delenn does? Nope.

Is there a Civil War on Earth? No. Martial law, yes, but very tame compared to Nightwatch and Clark's reign of terror.

Do the bad guys become the good guys? You'd have to say no. G'kar, at the outset, is shown as a destabilisng influence, a troublemaker, but of course he changes radically. Nothing like that happens in DS9.

Is there a "messiah"? Yes, Sisko I guess, but not in the same way as Sinclair becomes Valen.

Are aliens treated as gods/gods treated as aliens? No, B5 is much more adult about the way "godlike beings" are handled.

Are there telpaths? Who said Betazoids? No, none to speak of.

Are shadowy forces used to help bring down an empire, a galaxy? Nein.

Does the station declare independence from its own govenment? Not unless I missed it!

So, where are all the main points where the story and plot of Babylon 5 intermesh and entwine with that of DS9? I really don't see it.

If someone would care to enlighten me, I'd be interested to know.

[KoshN]

BTW in connection with an article comparing Trek and B5 I came across a large number of similarities between B5 and DS9. Surprisingly many.

You're surprised by this??? Paramount was one of the studios JMS took B5 to before Warner Brothers. Paramount had the B5 series treatment in hand before they made DS9.

[Delenn_of_Mir]

I didn't really see any comparison either until we got to the nightwatch/martial law storyline, that definitely gave me an original V vibe. But other than that I didn't see any comparison.

I'm thankful that someone made the accusation though becasue without it I may never have discovered this gem. And I would have never discovered V if it wasn't for the 4400. That was a really good show too. But Babylon marks the top for me.

[babylonlurker]

Oh, OK. But even so... there are NO similarities I can see between B5 and V, at least, beyond the fact that it's sci-fi and there are aliens in it. What next? BSG? Sliders? Futurama??

Fact of the matter is, *everyone* uses ideas from all over the place, so everyone can be (rightly or not) of "ripping off" something else.

B5 has been accused of ripping of Lord of the Rings, and also Trek. Just because someone uses older ideas it need not be a "ripoff".

On the other hand - if the original Trek had not been so successful B5 might not even have got a chance to start. Trek (as many other stories before) has influenced B5, and in turn B5 has had a substantial influence on the kind of scifi we see on TV and film now. That does not necessarily make those other stories a "ripoff" of B5.

And that kind of accusations is not unheard of in fan circles, even if it does not make them more true.

BTW in connection with an article comparing Trek and B5 I came across a large number of similarities between B5 and DS9. Surprisingly many.

[Trollheart]

Oh, OK. But even so... there are NO similarities I can see between B5 and V, at least, beyond the fact that it's sci-fi and there are aliens in it. What next? BSG? Sliders? Futurama??

[Jan]

You misunderstood, Tollheart. V has been accused of ripping off B5.

I'm afraid that's become rather standard among fans and non-fans alike. They see an element that reminds them of something and suddenly they think it's a rip-off or 'homage' to whatever that is.

Jan

[Trollheart]

Delenn, are they serious?? B5 ripped off V? There's no comparison! I fail to see how anyone could make that connection, I really do...

[Jan]

Jan, I'm curious. WHat episode was it that your hubby said you shouldn't miss, and that then hooked you?

I wish I could remember, Trollheart. I remember his telling me that if I cared about the characters I needed to see that episode but which one is lost to the mists of time. I think the very latest it might have been is "Signs and Portents" but I don't really remember.

Jan

[Delenn_of_Mir]

Love B5. Hate Startrek.

I was just a kid during B5's original run, and my parents did not watch sci fi, so I mssed it completely. At some point in my late teens perhaps, I caught a couple of B5 episodes on tv. I liked it, but was not a sci fi fi fan yet, and was just not ready to committ to it. I then completely forgot I ever watched those episodes.

Over the years I have gradually grown to enjoy sci fi, stlll can't get into star trek though. I am a huge fan of V the new series, however, after showing only 4 episodes they went on hiatus for 4 months. New episodes finally start next Tuesday, Yes. (sorry wrong forum)

Anyway, I needed something new to watch while I waited for V to come back. I wanted to buy a complete series (having had good luck with the 4400 box set). I wanted something that had a lot of seasons, and that sounded interesting. Babylon 5 had been mentioned on the V board, as one of many shows it was being accussed of rpping off. it had 5 seasons, and it sounded like it might be good. So I went for it. Big risk, since I had no memory of having ever seen it before, and not knowing if I would even like it.

But I loved it! Babylon 5 has become my favorite show of all time, and it has completely changed my idea of what is and what is not sci fi.

I started with season one, and liked it, didn't yet love it. But I didn't have anything else to watch, and I did like it. At some point in season two, I can't pinpoint exactly when I fell in love with Delenn. And from there I fell in love with everything else.

I have gone completely through the series twice, have seen all of the movies (I can't watch the gathering again. But I love In the Beginning and Soul Hunter). I am now endeavoring to collect every comic and book there is. I also want the action figures. B5 is the only show I have ever become as obsesses with that I want to collect memorabilia.

The things about the show that most struck me were that the aliens were real people. The scope and depth of the wars. The believability of the universe. I feel as if at some point in the future B5 could become a reality. the characterization. The way characters grow and change over time. The relationships. The way sleeping in light affected me so much that I was depressed for days after. I have never been so deeply and emotionally effected by the end of a series.

In short I am a Babylon 5 fanatic, and I have been changed to the point that I will never look at sci fi television in the same way again.