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  • #1

    How did you find B5?

    I suddenly got inspired to ask this question.

    I'll go first. According to my notes sometime next week marks 2 years since I was browsing TV tropes and decided to watch the show after finding a quote by Lennier and Delenn that looked interesting. "I have pledged myself to your side come fire or storm or darkness or death. Can understanding be a greater danger?" "In this case, yes". It was the top quote on Warts and All and I wanted to know what Lennier would be understanding. Some research revealed that Delenn had cast the deciding vote for the Earth-Minbari war and spent 10 years trying to make up for it. That kind of character development promised a show I'd like.

    I also guessed both of their genders wrong based on the names. Then I found out that Delenn was intended to be a male character for the first season.
    "It means living each moment as if it were your last one. It means doing each right thing because it is the right thing. The scale doesn't matter. The where, the when, the how, or in what cause... none of those things matter."
    Tags: None
  • #2
    Lots of fans who loved B5 starting with 'The Gathering' call themselves 'First Ones'. I guess that makes me a 'Second One' since I only started watching with the first episode rather than the pilot.

    As for how I found it, it was from reading an article in TV Guide that had a quote from JMS about it being a 'novel for television'. I've never been a big TV watcher and in the year before B5 came out, I'd gotten tired of the few shows I'd watch only lasting a few episodes before getting cancelled.

    But...I figured I'd give it one more try - but I wasn't going to get fond of it! Nope. If I remembered to watch, fine. But no way was I going to really like any show anymore!

    Yeah...Well, okay, so I didn't miss any episodes. But that was really just lucky because my area had two PTEN affiliates so it was on Wed. as well as in the wee hours of Sunday morning. Then at some point, I don't even remember which (Signs and Portents, maybe?), my (now ex-) husband told me that I really did want to make sure to see the second showing if I cared about the characters at all. So I did. And that's when B5 became 'appointment' television for me. The only episode I missed was 'Comes the Inquisitor', which I didn't see until the TNT reruns.

    A year or so later I got my first computer and discovered JMS' interactions with the fans. The rest, as they say, is history!

    Looking forward to hearing other folks' stories.
    "As empathy spreads, civilization spreads. As empathy contracts, civilization contracts...as we're seeing now.

    Comment

    • #3
      Back when i started college, i had been watching for a few years the Stargate and Battlestar Galactica series.

      I started watching pretty much every classic sci-ci show. (Doctor Who from the UK, Macross, Gundam, Yamato from Japan, all Star Trek shows from the USA).

      Of those, the one i liked most was DS9. I learned that B5 was similar, so i gave it a go.

      The Gathering bore me to death, i stopped at the midpoint and tried it again the next day. I still didn't like it.

      Still, i started watching the regular season 1 episodes, slowly. Back then, i remember thinking : "why do they even have a clown character like londo on the show?"

      Then came "The Parliament of Dreams" : All that background on the alien races was pretty interesting.

      And after that : "Mind War" : With G'kar's "no one here is exactly what he appears", i was thinking "Ho, i thought he was going to be the generic bad guy of the show".

      After that, i started enjoying the show more and more, and when i reached Babylon Squared, i was a fan.

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      • #4
        I read online about it a decade or so ago. Back then I decided that it sounds like something I'd definitely like to watch.. one day. When Sense8 was announced a few years ago I knew that day had come much closer. I was thinking that ideally I should watch it before Sense8 to get familiar with JMS. But for one reason or another I wasn't really feeling like watching a 5-season show at the time so I decided it will have to wait a bit more. (In the meantime to get a taste I watched The Gathering (SE) a few times, as I really liked it, I just couldn't find the courage to watch 100+ episodes!)

        Fast forward to a couple of months ago when I figured the time has come to start with at least the first season.. and go from there.. Today, I am something like 10 episodes before the end of the 5th and final season (plus a few TNT movies + Crusade).
        Last edited by sense8ional; 10-16-2016, 10:43 AM.
        My posts are my own opinion and do not represent JMSNews.com's opinions or views. As it's written under my handle I'm "just a fan".

        Comment

        • #5
          My earliest memory of B5 was seeing a trailer for The Gathering when my friend and I rented the film Stargate (on VHS no less). We were both in our early teens, you know, back in the days when you still went to a video rental store to get your films.

          We were both big Star Trek TNG fans at the time, and were totally blown away by the visual effects in the trailer and the look of the show. We’d always wanted more action and big space battles from Trek. However, in spite of the impression the trailer made, I don’t think either of us really picked up on the show till later on. It wasn’t readily available to us at the time.

          For me, the tipping point was seeing the episode Z'Ha'Dum and being totally blown away by the epic nature of it. I think I’d loosely followed the series up until that point. I remember randomly catching the occasional episode on Dutch TV, when I was maybe 14 or 15. I lived out in Holland during my teens as my parents moved out there for work. When I graduated from high school I headed back to the UK for University.

          Channel 4 were showing B5 in the graveyard slot (perhaps somewhere around midnight). I got all my housemates into the show and we’d always watch it together with a few beers. One of them went from ‘I don’t like Sci-fi’ to being a massive B5 fan. A few years later I ended up buying the whole lot on DVD and re-watched it with my (then) girlfriend. And that was that.

          The show had become a big part of my life. And now I'm in my late 30s and still discussing it here. Strange how things stick with you. There's a lot of nostalgia with B5 for me. I can always overlook the less polished aspects of the show because it has a special place in my heart.
          Captain John Sheridan: I really *hate* it when you do that.

          Kosh: Good!

          Comment

          • #6
            I started watching B5 regularly at the start of Season 2 way back when. I did see a few Season 1 episodes and pieces of episodes when they originally aired, but I was super busy at that time in my life. On top of this the schedule of when the show aired in my area was all over place, so it was difficult to track down when it was on. I did sit down and get into the show for Season 2. I was a Claudia Christian and Bruce Boxleitner fan before B5 so once they were both on the show I had to force myself to make time to find when the show was on. Best decision ever. Too bad I didn't make that choice until Season 2. I wasn't able to see all of Season 1 until, I believe, right before Season 4 or 5 aired.
            Susan Ivanova, "I'll be in the car."

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            • #7
              I wasn't on the original discussion boards where JMS was talking the show up, but I did hear about a new Sci-Fi series and managed to watch the original broadcast of "The Gathering." I guess that makes me a first one!

              I thought it was good, but not great. Still, I kept looking for the series and had almost given up when it finally appeared. The first few episodes were enough to keep me coming back, but I wasn't really hooked until "Infection" of all episodes. As I watched it I was thinking "monster lose on the station/ship/facility." Pretty typical. In the last act, though, I was sold when Garibaldi questioned if Sinclair had a death wish, Earthforce zoomed in to grab the tech. It's hard to explain how refreshing that was in TV SF. You got story elements like that in books, but this intrigued me.

              From there became more and more of a fan, and eventually talked nearly 20 people into watching it, including hosting watching parties in later seasons for about a dozen people.
              "That was the law, as set down by Valen. Three castes: worker, religious, warrior."

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              • #8
                I'm feeling like a young one. Some guesswork leads me to think I'm 3 or 4 days away from 2 years since I started watching.

                That scene in Infection took me by surprise. Sinclair was one of my favorite characters during the first season, and I think that's the scene where I really started noticing it. I really liked it that JMS let him say that he didn't have an answer for Garibaldi.
                "It means living each moment as if it were your last one. It means doing each right thing because it is the right thing. The scale doesn't matter. The where, the when, the how, or in what cause... none of those things matter."

                Comment

                • #9
                  BBC2, think i caught it form "Parliment of Dreams" wasn't too impressed but kept watching (becuase I'd rather watch bads sci fi than almost anything else).

                  Here I am 20 years, one tricpet b5 shield tattoo and many dvds later, still loving ti. I quoted it extensively in early recovery (AA member) an dstill adore it now. I describe it, with no exagarration intended as the greatest tv sci fi ever made. End of.
                  "There are no good wars. War is always the worst possible way to resolve differences. It degenerates and corrupts both sides to ever more sordid levels of existence, in their need to gain an advantage over the enemy. Those actively involved in combat are almost always damaged goods for the rest of their lives. If their bodies don't bear scars, their minds do, ofttimes both. Many have said it before, but it can't be said to enough, war is hell. "

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                  • #10
                    Originally posted by Melanie View Post
                    I'm feeling like a young one. Some guesswork leads me to think I'm 3 or 4 days away from 2 years since I started watching.

                    That scene in Infection took me by surprise. Sinclair was one of my favorite characters during the first season, and I think that's the scene where I really started noticing it. I really liked it that JMS let him say that he didn't have an answer for Garibaldi.
                    It's not that you're young... it's that I'm old enough that I was always on the look out for new SF and it wasn't hard since: a) there wasn't that much and b) there were really only 5 networks for me to check.
                    "That was the law, as set down by Valen. Three castes: worker, religious, warrior."

                    Comment

                    • #11
                      Originally posted by phazedout View Post
                      BBC2, think i caught it form "Parliment of Dreams" wasn't too impressed but kept watching (becuase I'd rather watch bads sci fi than almost anything else).

                      Here I am 20 years, one tricpet b5 shield tattoo and many dvds later, still loving ti. I quoted it extensively in early recovery (AA member) an dstill adore it now. I describe it, with no exagarration intended as the greatest tv sci fi ever made. End of.
                      Yep, for all it's little flaws and comparatively low budget, it's STILL the best SF show ever! Nothing has equalled it in terms of scope. I am still hoping 'The Expanse' will rise to the challenge and equal it. I crave more Space Opera on TV and The Expanse looks to have a proper long term arc to it!
                      Captain John Sheridan: I really *hate* it when you do that.

                      Kosh: Good!

                      Comment

                      • #12
                        Originally posted by Melanie View Post
                        I suddenly got inspired to ask this question.

                        I'll go first. According to my notes sometime next week marks 2 years since I was browsing TV tropes and decided to watch the show after finding a quote by Lennier and Delenn that looked interesting. "I have pledged myself to your side come fire or storm or darkness or death. Can understanding be a greater danger?" "In this case, yes". It was the top quote on Warts and All and I wanted to know what Lennier would be understanding. Some research revealed that Delenn had cast the deciding vote for the Earth-Minbari war and spent 10 years trying to make up for it. That kind of character development promised a show I'd like.

                        I also guessed both of their genders wrong based on the names. Then I found out that Delenn was intended to be a male character for the first season.
                        I turned on Channel Four and there it was!

                        Comment

                        • #13
                          I was in a group of Star Trek fans from work, coming together to watch a few episodes in an evening.
                          One time someone came with "The Gathering" ad we watched that one.
                          I did not like it much, but gave it a chance when the series proper started airing on Dutch TV. After a few episodes I liked it quite a bit, and grew to love it.
                          Jan from Denmark

                          My blog :

                          http://www.babylonlurker.dk

                          "Our thoughts form the Universe - they *always* matter"

                          Comment

                          • #14
                            I originally found out about Babylon 5 on two USENET groups:
                            alt.tv.star-trek.tos and rec.arts.sf.tv
                            https://groups.google.com/forum/?hl=....star-trek.tos
                            https://groups.google.com/forum/?hl=...rec.arts.sf.tv

                            I participated on rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5 and rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated when they became available.

                            https://groups.google.com/forum/?hl=...sf.tv.babylon5
                            https://groups.google.com/forum/?hl=...lon5.moderated

                            I probably can be considered a First One, since I saw The Gathering when it first aired. However, we had very poor reception of the PTEN affiliate (KPLR-TV-30 St. Louis) and saw mostly static. Babylon 5 was frequently pre-empted and/or delayed due to Blues hockey games, since KPLR has a contract to show Blues games. When I complained to the station manager regarding the treatment of Babylon 5 by email, he jokingly replied that he would make tapes for me to stop complaining. I respectfully declined, since I did not wish to violate WB

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                            • #15
                              ZOG!

                              That got my attention alright.

                              I am not a first one, but probably a second? I had heard of the show as it aired after TNG, which I watched, here in Sweden in the late 90ies. And one day I happened to return to the TV right at the ZOG moment, and the rest is history ...

                              Looking into the airdates now, it must have been the first airing. Unfortunately we had the same problem here as elsewhere with changing schedules and I was a university student at the time so I had a hard time following it. The last season I saw was actually the first one, which I found as second hand VHS-tapes.

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