# Excuse me, but I'm in the middle of 15 things, all of them annoying.
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excuse-me-but-im-in-the-middle-of-15-things-all-of-them-annoying/688163
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [May 11, 2014, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excuse-me-but-im-in-the-middle-of-15-things-all-of-them-annoying/688163 "2014-05-11T00:48:08Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)
#### Post date: [May 11, 2014, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excuse-me-but-im-in-the-middle-of-15-things-all-of-them-annoying/688163/1 "2014-05-11T00:48:08Z")
Haven’t watched Babylon 5 since it was first on, 20 years ago. I’m 6:18 into episode 1 and Michael O’Hare has already shown with just looks six more emotions than Boxleitner has in his whole career. And I’ve been reminded that Ivanova is indeed God (see thread title). Note that I have no problem with spoilers, even though I can remember little of what I saw two decades ago so it’s all sorta new to me. People bothered by spoilers might want to avoid this thread and just Netflix the damn thing.
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### Author:  [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)
#### Post date: [May 11, 2014, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excuse-me-but-im-in-the-middle-of-15-things-all-of-them-annoying/688163/2 "2014-05-11T00:52:25Z")
B5 has some great stuff in it, but binge watching it really reveals how weak the writing is. JMS has a go-to list of about a half dozen stock phrases that get used in every episode, for example. And about 80% of them have a pointless fight scene exactly four minutes in.
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### Author:  [@tim314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim314)
#### Post date: [May 11, 2014, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excuse-me-but-im-in-the-middle-of-15-things-all-of-them-annoying/688163/3 "2014-05-11T01:16:41Z")
Sweet, Babylon 5 is back on Netflix? I watched it on TV when it first aired and was two thirds of the way through rewatching it on Netflix when they stopped carrying it.
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### Author:  [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)
#### Post date: [May 11, 2014, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excuse-me-but-im-in-the-middle-of-15-things-all-of-them-annoying/688163/4 "2014-05-11T01:35:33Z")
I don’t actually know if it is, having acquired Season 1 by other means. I know it isn’t on Hulu Plus, raising the question of why I’m paying for it.
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### Author:  [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)
#### Post date: [May 11, 2014, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excuse-me-but-im-in-the-middle-of-15-things-all-of-them-annoying/688163/5 "2014-05-11T01:46:02Z")
What is Babylon 5?
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### Author:  [@tim314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim314)
#### Post date: [May 11, 2014, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excuse-me-but-im-in-the-middle-of-15-things-all-of-them-annoying/688163/6 "2014-05-11T01:56:37Z")
> [@salinqmind](#):
>
> What is Babylon 5?
A sci-fi show from the 90’s. Ran for five seasons, plus a few made-for-T.V. movies and a spin-off series that didn’t last very long.
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### Author:  [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)
#### Post date: [May 11, 2014, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excuse-me-but-im-in-the-middle-of-15-things-all-of-them-annoying/688163/7 "2014-05-11T03:00:58Z")
It’s diplomacy sci-fi. I used that term used on purpose to piss off Harlan Ellison, who hates it when people say “sci-fi,” or did at one time, and was one of B5’s creators. But it’s easy to piss off Harlan Ellison.
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### Author:  [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)
#### Post date: [May 11, 2014, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excuse-me-but-im-in-the-middle-of-15-things-all-of-them-annoying/688163/8 "2014-05-11T03:11:09Z")
> [@salinqmind](#):
>
> What is Babylon 5?
A dream given form… It’s a port of call - home away from home for diplomats, hustlers, entrepreneurs, and wanderers. Humans and aliens wrapped in two million, five hundred thousand tons of spinning metal, all alone in the night.
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### Author:  [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)
#### Post date: [May 11, 2014, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excuse-me-but-im-in-the-middle-of-15-things-all-of-them-annoying/688163/9 "2014-05-11T03:19:19Z")
It can be a dangerous place, but it’s our last best hope for peace.
And it was better than ST: Voyager and grimier than Deep Space Nine.
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### Author:  [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)
#### Post date: [May 11, 2014, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excuse-me-but-im-in-the-middle-of-15-things-all-of-them-annoying/688163/10 "2014-05-11T19:21:24Z")
> [@](#):
>
> Quoth **dropzone** :
>
> It’s diplomacy sci-fi.
Sometimes, I idly wonder if any other show where 80% of the main cast are diplomats could possibly get greenlighted by the networks.
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### Author:  [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)
#### Post date: [May 11, 2014, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excuse-me-but-im-in-the-middle-of-15-things-all-of-them-annoying/688163/11 "2014-05-11T19:58:58Z")
Anyplace where you can eat fried tubeworm can’t be all bad.
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### Author:  [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)
#### Post date: [May 11, 2014, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excuse-me-but-im-in-the-middle-of-15-things-all-of-them-annoying/688163/12 "2014-05-11T20:06:07Z")
> [@tim314](#):
>
> Sweet, Babylon 5 is back on Netflix?
Looks like it’s currently discs only, no streaming.
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### Author:  [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)
#### Post date: [May 11, 2014, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excuse-me-but-im-in-the-middle-of-15-things-all-of-them-annoying/688163/13 "2014-05-11T23:34:28Z")
> [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#):
>
> Looks like it’s currently discs only, no streaming.
Not only that, but when I watched it last year on Netflix, a disc from Season 4 with some very crucial episodes was missing (showed “long wait” in my queue) - I had to go to Amazon and pay to stream them. :mad:
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### Author:  [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)
#### Post date: [May 12, 2014, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excuse-me-but-im-in-the-middle-of-15-things-all-of-them-annoying/688163/14 "2014-05-12T02:03:20Z")
> [@Baker](#):
>
> Anyplace where you can eat fried tubeworm can’t be all bad.
Or spoo. Everyone loves spoo. It tastes like meat jello.
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### Author:  [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)
#### Post date: [May 12, 2014, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excuse-me-but-im-in-the-middle-of-15-things-all-of-them-annoying/688163/15 "2014-05-12T02:23:46Z")
> [@friedo](#):
>
> Or spoo. Everyone loves spoo. It tastes like meat jello.
Skeletor [doesn’t](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XsSNhIx9-T8&t=23s), and he doesn’t even know what spoo _is_. (The [answer](http://meyerweb.com/other/humor/spoo.html) to which may be the funniest thing JMS has ever written.)
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### Author:  [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)
#### Post date: [May 12, 2014, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excuse-me-but-im-in-the-middle-of-15-things-all-of-them-annoying/688163/16 "2014-05-12T02:42:59Z")
> [@salinqmind](#):
>
> What is Babylon 5?
(spoilers in link)
[It was the show that changed my attitude towards TV…](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=17286797&postcount=27).
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### Author:  [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)
#### Post date: [May 12, 2014, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excuse-me-but-im-in-the-middle-of-15-things-all-of-them-annoying/688163/17 "2014-05-12T03:21:03Z")
dp
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### Author:  [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Face_Intentionally_Left_Blank)
#### Post date: [May 12, 2014, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excuse-me-but-im-in-the-middle-of-15-things-all-of-them-annoying/688163/18 "2014-05-12T06:15:54Z")
> [@Balance](#):
>
> Skeletor [doesn’t](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XsSNhIx9-T8&t=23s), and he doesn’t even know what spoo _is_. (The [answer](http://meyerweb.com/other/humor/spoo.html) to which may be the funniest thing JMS has ever written.)
I’d forgotten about that bit of writing. It’s positively Douglas-Adams-esque. 🙂
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### Author:  [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)
#### Post date: [May 12, 2014, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excuse-me-but-im-in-the-middle-of-15-things-all-of-them-annoying/688163/19 "2014-05-12T15:14:09Z")
Eh, the one example we know of spoo being eaten by humans has both of them much preferring baloney.
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### Author:  [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)
#### Post date: [May 16, 2014, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excuse-me-but-im-in-the-middle-of-15-things-all-of-them-annoying/688163/20 "2014-05-16T15:42:31Z")
The first season is definitely the weakest. Some of the guest stars are hams that chew up the scenery with their theatrics. The second season is a major step up, and the third season is the greatest. The fourth season was completed in a rush, because JMS had planned a 5-year story arc and the series was facing cancellation. The fifth season continued some subplots from the previous season, but some major cast members had left and B5’s glory days were clearly behind them.
B5 had some truly marvelous characters and storylines, and there are scenes that are so deep and profound, they stay in your psyche forever.
Par exemplar…
[spoiler]One episode has Captain Sinclair bewildered on what to do to represent Earth for an upcoming event observing each world’s religions. He attends each alien race’s ceremonies, but can’t think of an appropriate Earth religious ceremony to enact.
At the end, he brings the ambassadors to a line of Earth people, each wearing different religious garb. “This is so-and-so. He is a Catholic priest. This is so-and-so. He is an Orthodox Rabbi. This is so-and-so. He is a Buddhist Monk.” The camera travels down a seemingly endless line of religious representatives as Sinclair continues to make introductions.
To me, it exemplifies the diversity of the human race. Each alien race is typically one chief culture that has little variation. Imagine how these aliens reacted to seeing up close how fractured human society is, but still capable of banding together to work miracles.
[/spoiler]
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