Babylon 5 was a ground-breaking science fiction series, the first to utilize a multi-season story arc for its entire run. It was written and plotted from the start as a "novel for television", with a clear beginning, middle and end. Moreover, it was a visual effects pioneer, being shot in th cinematic 16:9 rather than the standard 4:3 of TV, and all the visual effects were completely computer generated (CGI) at a time when models were still the standard.
In setting, Babylon 5 was also atypical, a change from its predecessors, in that it dealt not with a utopian society coming to grips with nature and the unknown, but with inherently flawed humans and aliens, their problems and conflicts, hatreds and likes. Others have followed suit, but Babylon 5 was the first.
There are conspiracies of light and shadow, choices made and consequences faced. For all the serious plot lines, there are plenty of moments of humor to lighten the mood.
Comments
@DarkReality Great analysis, really interesting!
@pb5k i followed your advice and am now somewhere @ mid s3 and love it! (if you look aside the bad acting and the dated fx.. its a mental switch) :-)
One of the best space series on TV of all time. Great topic, good characters & aliens!
Anyone who likes Star Trek: Deep Space Nine really owes it to themselves to see Babylon 5, as DS9 was based on an idea B5's creator pitched to Paramount. While Paramount had been toying with the idea of a space station for a while, after sending JMS packing, they certainly incorporated a few of his ideas, and he wrote the entire thing in advance. The story is much better than the set designs and costumes, that's for sure, but if you can get past that, it's an amazing show, and it certainly ended better than DS9. However, DS9 has Trek's best episode, Season 6's "In the Pale Moonlight", and B5 never approaches that level of greatness. Still, I have seen both space station shows front to back twice, and I love both of them about equally. They complement one another so well. I mean, B5 did politics and war better, but DS9 wins on religion. B5 was in widescreen, but DS9 had better set/costume design and special effects. DS9 had better acting, but B5 had a better story. In science fiction they are like twins, and if you loved one of them, you should give the other a chance.
we need another show from these people, great story, great roles. my fav
Aw, I have a soft spot for Sinclair.
@josbeir If you haven't seen B5 yet, forget about season 1 and start watching season 2, it gets MUCH better from season 2 thru 4. Season 5 was a bonus season, and is ok...
Yeah, as i big star trek fan (seen it all en got it all on dvd.. except TOS). But i really never got past the first few episodes of B5 because it kind of was... hm... don't now... weird.
Star trek TNG is much older and i didn't had a problem with it at all.
Brilliant series. It would never have gotten past 10 episodes if it were filmed today.