I only watched the the first two seasons, but I still give it the award for Best Court Drama In A Science Fiction Setting.
ETA: I’m talking about a royal court, not a legal court.
Perhaps Avatar: The Last Airbender? I don’t know how much detail they planned out, but the basic structure of a season each for Water, Earth, and Fire was surely there from the start.
Well, SenorBeef, you obviously didn’t see my most recent post before you posted all that, but thanks for your insights.
I think the show aged marvelously. I enjoyed Season 1 all the way through Season 5 almost equally. I really loved the structure of the show. It was like a masterfully written novel.
Season 1 was like the prologue. A series of individual stories and characters that don’t seem all that interconnected. It was episodic, and kind of disconnected, like a prologue of a book. You could almost skip it and just start with Season 2 but you’d miss out on so much context and background, just like the prologue of a book.
Season 2-4 were much more serialized and riveting, just like the middle of a well written novel. It was a page turner. Every episode made you want to come back and keep watching and all the threads that had been set up in Season 1 came together in surprising and amazing ways.
Season 5 was like an epilogue, more episodic in nature again (though not quite as much as season 1) and you could almost get away without watching it at all, but again, you would miss out so much. I loved that in a way it kind of went back to the episodic format of the show from Season 1 and wrapped up different people’s storylines.
I thought the acting was phenomenal all around. I thought the characters, makeup, costumes, sets and everything held up extremely well (and I’m the kind of guy who just can’t get in to TOS because of how poorly I feel it has aged).
I feel it had a phenomenal soundtrack, I feel the 3d animations while not outstanding, still hold up nicely.
I absolutely loved it. Absolutely, entirely loved it. And I had absolutely no exposure to it prior than a few months ago when I started watching it. So there is no nostalgia or forgiveness for time.
It wasn’t perfect, as you say. There were some clunkers of episodes here and there. Some of the actors weren’t always perfectly convincing. But, it’s easy to pick apart a masterpiece when you aren’t the one spending thousands of man hours putting it together, isn’t it?
And that’s what I feel Babylon 5 is, a masterpiece of television or possibly even of art/entertainment in general.
1961, not 22xx, but couldn’t resist.
I like your descriptions of the seasons, and their feel. Well put.
Loved the show when it was first run, and still watch it from time-to-time. Take into account the fact that they weren’t always sure they would be renewed, the age of the show, cost restrictions, etc, it’s even better.
I remember hearing that Bruce McGill was hired, by accident, to play Major Ed Ryan. There was a screw-up and names were associated with the wrong people apparently. Anyone else ever hear that? I liked McGill’s performance.
BTW, Drewtwo99, I didn’t see you in the Firefly thread. Might be your next show to watch.
Perhaps. I’ve heard nothing but good things. But it was so, so short lived. Kind of turns me off to watching it because I feel like I’d just want MORE.
B5 had just the right amount, for me 
You will want more, but 14 episodes and a theater-released movie that gives some closure is better than nothing, particularly when casting, dialogue, plot and characterization come together this well. If you liked B5, there’s a good chance you’ll love Firefly.
Hey hey hey, don’t forget the comics! There’s good stuff in there!
That was kind of an accident. Part of the reason Season 4 (and Season 3 to a lesser extent) is so tightly plotted and action packed is that the show was in literal danger of being canceled every year. The fans had massive letter writing campaigns (this back when letter writing was still a ‘thing’) every year to their local affiliates to try to keep it on the air.
So, with the show in danger of failing all the time, JMS simply shoved a lot of what would have been Season 5, like the end of the Earth Civil War, into Season 4. The end of the Shadow War and the departure of the First Ones was intended to take a bit more time. Instead, it got wrapped up very fast.
That led to the need for a lot more filler in Season 5 and the introduction of the execrable hippie/telepath storyline.
Bruce McGill claims it’s true here and that JMS wanted Everett McGill. Funny story if true, since they look and act nothing alike.
I can’t find a source, but apparently JMS said something like “I want that McGill guy” and they got the wrong one.
“…and Babylon 5: Babylon 5 endures.”
Seconded, from a long-time B5 nut who only recently discovered (and devoured, and now mourns along with all the older fans of) Firefly.
**@drewtwo99 **- it is a very short run, but I can tell you this: the movie almost makes up for another season or two, and ends in such a magnificently note-perfect way you won’t regret the time it takes to get there. Just as “Pleased to meet you, Mr. Garibaldi” and the word “shadows” will never mean quite the same thing to you, there’s an equally banal line that will never again fail to make you laugh.
Have they ever said why Sheldon (BBT) hates B5? Seems like the kind of show he’d love.
You are my new best friend of the day. Thanks for the verification. I’ve long heard that story, probably from back in the heyday of Usenet message groups, but never directly from JMS or Bruce.
He said it failed as sci fi, failed as drama, and was pointless and derivative.
Couldn’t disagree more!
Also, I felt like the wrapping up of the shadow war and Earth civil war was handled at a perfectly fine pace. If it was longer and more drawn out I don’t think it would have been any better.
I liked the telepath storyline of Season 5 as I feel it gave fantastic development to Lyta’s character. She was the only one who I didn’t have any strong feelings about one way or the other and saw her as more or less a forgettable character. But the telepath storyline really helped develop her into something amazing, interesting, and… something to be feared. So, for that, it was worth it, well well worth it. I just had a huge smile on my face at the end when I saw her talking to Girabaldi and explaining what she was, and how her voice and demeanor and everything had changed from the push-over she once was. Just, amazing.
I loved it all!!!
“My shoes are too tight, but it doesn’t matter because I have forgotten how to dance.”
Says a caricature from “Generic CBS Sitcom 2007”.
Chutzpah, meet the BBT writers.
I loved Red Dwarf and like all of Star Trek stuff - but B5 is far better as a story arc. Some let downs due to decisions on production but all in all a great show.
G’Kar and Ivanova are the best of the lot - Delenn is the worse IMHO…
Also Watch out for Bester. What a guy…
Yeah the only thing I wish I could have seen was Girabaldi get revenge on Bester. Or Lyta. Or the two of them together ganging up on him.
He was a fantastic villain, and I kind of liked how ended up being the real villain of the show above and beyond the shadows.