B5 influenced by Battlestar Galactica?????

Both shows drew on archetypes from the golden age of science fiction literature and beyond. In no way did I see B5 as being influenced particularly by BSG but insofar as they both deal with civilizations that span the stars and the struggle of good and evil, they have SOME common roots. BSG was a very simple show that reached mostly a very young audience. I was already an adult when it came on the air, so while my kids enjoyed it, it caused me to do many an eye-roll. B5 OTOH gripped me from the start and continued through the seasons and beyond. I'm going to give the new BSG a shot even though the premiere didn't thrill me. There is very little hard SF on the air these days so I just about will give anything a chance....

[b5finland]

I have seen 12 episodes so far and next monday comes out season finale of Battlestar galactica, ive noticed 2 actors from Jeremiah and one great actor who has one lead role in B5 Legend of the rangers and also in Jeremiah... I hope they hire more ex B5 actors on season 2

[Jan]

Originally posted by z^3
Yes, but isn't JMS on this side of the pond the moment?

I don't know. I think he's back and forth but he doesn't check in with us. <g> He hasn't posted for a couple of weeks now but that's no indication either.

Jan

[z^3]

Originally posted by Jan
Not so far. But then it only aired the first of the new episodes on Friday.

Jan

Yes, but isn't JMS on this side of the pond the moment?

[Jan]

Originally posted by z^3

(As an aside, I'd be interested to hear from anyone in the B5 moderated group as to whether JMS has been asked for comment on new BSG...)

Not so far. But then it only aired the first of the new episodes on Friday.

Jan

[z^3]

Originally posted by TheFrozenMuffin
"though I'd place them as closer to the FX from SPACE: ABOVE AND BEYOND "

I'd agree with you there, The old BG is more like B5, while the new BG is more like SAAB.

I haven't seen the old BSG, so can't comment, but in terms of plot, sophistication and arc, I'd state the exact opposite: new BSG is *much* closer to B5 than S:AB.

Let me explain: unfortunately, we'll never know what S:AB would have grown into, however whereas that series was very much episodic in nature, with but a hint of an arc (think B5 early season 1), BSG is a sophisticated, mature show, more reminicent of late Season 2 B5. As mentioned in some of my previous posts, some of the themes are brave and unusual for tv, again much more reminicent of B5 than S:AB.

The similarity between S:AB and BSG is, I think, very much on the surface. Two space cruisers which serve as launch vehicles for fighter craft reminicent of fighter aircraft, fighting a war they seemingly can't win. Go beyond this, however, and I think the depth of new BSG aligns it much more firmly with B5 than with S:AG.

(As an aside, I'd be interested to hear from anyone in the B5 moderated group as to whether JMS has been asked for comment on new BSG...)

[TheFrozenMuffin]

"though I'd place them as closer to the FX from SPACE: ABOVE AND BEYOND "

I'd agree with you there, The old BG is more like B5, while the new BG is more like SAAB.

[TheFrozenMuffin]

Originally posted by The One to come
Well for BSG it was based on the Bible and thye 12 tribes of Isrial, not much more thatn that realy, but I don't know that much more about BSG.

Marco

BG's story was based on the Book of Mormon not the bible, most the writing staff was LDS (mormon) and LDS do believe in the bible, but the story is from the book of nephi in the book of mormon.
Plus the rituals and morals all have parellels in the LDS culture.

"free agency"
"eternal progression" war of the gods...
"eternal marriage"
even the Doctrine and covenants (a LDS scripture is paraphrased in a few episodes)

No other religion teaches these 3 things together.

yes, I'm LDS. no, I only have 1 wife... ^^

[Joseph DeMartino]

The new Galactica debuted on Sky One in the UK some time ago, while SFC just started airing the weekly episodes in the US

We were often in the same situation with B5 during its initial run, with episodes airing in the UK before they showed up here and vice versa because of the different "seasons" on the two sides of the Pond. So spoiler protocol is appropriate once again.

Galatica offended a Lot of long time SF Fans because of the Blatant plagiarism evident in so many of their scripts.

There is a reason Glenn A. Larson is known in the business as "Glenn A. Larceny".

Regards,

Joe

[Jan]

Originally posted by LightStorm
Am I reading this right....You guys haven't got BSG the TV series yet?

We just got the first two episodes, "33" and "Water" on Friday and they're rerunning right now. Please be careful about spoilers, folks.

By the way, you can hide spoilers, thanks to DougO. To use a spoiler tag:

To create a spoiler simply place the text between a {spoiler} and {/spoiler} tag (except use square brackets instead of curley).

Otherwise blank lines or hard-to-read text color is good, too.

Thanks.

Jan

[DGTWoodward]

Originally posted by Capt.Montoya
The interesting thing there is that the tachyon particles (also used in B5) stemmed from a prediction of an early version of String Theory, and it was one of its most controversial predictions (but is was considered analogous to the historic prediction of antimatter), current versions of string theory do not need nor postulate a faster than light particle, so that science has become nothing but fiction.

Getting outdated seems to be part and parcel of Science Fiction as whole. Several classic SF stories are based on ideas on the cutting edge of science at the time they were written, but further refinement and development of science meant that such ideas were proven wrong and abandoned.

Which in the end doesn't matter as long as those stories are still good.

Trek however has an unfair advantage: treknobabble can't be proven wrong as it isn't really scientific. <insert evil emoticon here>

B5_Obsessed:

I'd think you might be right and that the visual homage to Galactica might have been inserted by the CGI people without JMS realizing it.

The new Battlestar Galactica starts this Friday... I'm looking forward to checking it out.

Am I reading this right....You guys haven't got BSG the TV series yet? Firebird and I have been watching it avidly for 11 weeks now and it is one good show! Whilst not the same as B5 of course, it is very entertaining and well done. Darker and more realistic, long running thread, good FX, (though I'd place them as closer to the FX from SPACE: ABOVE AND BEYOND than I would to B5)...sound familiar? Does start a little slowly though but it does build so stick with it, that would be my advice.

[Paul]

Has anybody seen the basestar on the Nu Galactica series? It looks like a shadow vessel. The Cylon raiders make a screaming sound like the Shadow fighters.

[bakana]

In many ways, B5 was the most un sci-fi sci-fi show for a long while. And was better for it.

Perhaps a better discussion would be how the new Galactica (and other new SF Shows) are (or are Not) being influenced by Babylon 5 .


There are None so Trek as those who will not learn...

[z^3]

Originally posted by sketh
I see your point, but I read an article in SFX about the remake, it seems there is a deliberate intention that they want to make it the most un sci-fi sci-fi show.

Interesting quote - though I'd be interested to hear what they mean by 'sci-fi' in each of these instances!

Where new BSG is different to the standard sci-fi fare of late is the characterisation and the emphasis on well-rounded, thought out characters. These are really fully-fleshed, three-dimensional characters and the show is all the better for it. There is no techno-babble, with the show concentrating on the story - again a choice from which the show benefits. Without spoilers, the themes are intelligent and complex (and are shaping up to be *extremely* interesting and thought-provoking). And, yes, they can be classified as sci-fi.

So maybe I've answered by own question, an "un sci-fi sci-fi show" could well mean a show dealing with science-fiction concepts in an adult and sophisticated manner (i.e. differently to the classic breed of episodic sci-fi show). In many ways, B5 was the most un sci-fi sci-fi show for a long while. And was better for it.

[WorkerCaste]

Originally posted by bakana
NOT.

Most productions of A Christmas Carol quite properly credit Charles Dickens as the original author.
BTW, one reason so many studios Do it is that the original copyrights have expired and it is in the Public Domain.
Meaning anyone is Legally allowed to use it.
And they don't have to Pay for it.
Even so, as I said, they show the courtesy of giving the author Credit.

Galactica never showed Anyone that courtesy.

Actually, I said that poorly. Remakes would credit the source material. What I was thinking (which I agree was not what I was typing) was all the TV series that do a story about a miserly/miserable character who has a dream/visitation and sees the mistakes they have made, finally becoming a better person. I was also thinking about that story where the rogue comet is going to hit the Earth and our heroes set out to stop it/save humanity. Or perhaps the story where an expert in history follows clues hidden in famous works to find some treasure hidden by a secret society. The story ideas get borrowed without credit often. The stories themselves don't.

And I've always enjoyed Saberhagen. I found the beserker series back in the 70's I think and quite enjoyed them.