B5 is now available on Amazon Prime

[Gate_Boarder]

I remember watching B5 around '96. First show I watched I gave up on the show thinking that this was some god awful Italian sci-fi show. Luckily there were only a few shows that I watched on TV so I went back.

Something happened after season 4 because I lost season 5 and it took about 5 years for me to see it.

... And there is twenty years of books and movies that can be padded if Stracinski wants to do a re-boot. Just remember that he wrote some of the "Sense8" episodes so we don't know in which direction he will go.

 

[YJ02]

Something happened after season 4 because I lost season 5 and it took about 5 years for me to see it.

s4 was when the PTEN network--its home--went belly up

tnt picked it up for the 5th and for the movies

there was a little time issue and if you didn't get TNT up there back then, well..

 

[Gate_Boarder]

s4 was when the PTEN network--its home--went belly up

tnt picked it up for the 5th and for the movies

there was a little time issue and if you didn't get TNT up there back then, well..

You are talking like it was only twenty years ago - oh, wait it was like twenty years back.

I remember Buffy-butt and Roswell moving to The Great CW. Yup, no TNT, or at least I can't remember what the Canadian station would of been? Or whether I saw the final season when "Space - The Imagination Station" started to broadcast the show in its entirety.

 

[YJ02]

yet more opinion on the ds9 vs b5 thing

i find it all silly, but you know how things go?

grist for the mill and all

https://www.tor.com/2013/02/26/is-this-the-smoking-gun-proving-deep-space-nine-ripped-off-babylon-5/

 

[YJ02]

You are talking like it was only twenty years ago - oh, wait it was like twenty years back.

I remember Buffy-butt and Roswell moving to The Great CW. Yup, no TNT, or at least I can't remember what the Canadian station would of been? Or whether I saw the final season when "Space - The Imagination Station" started to broadcast the show in its entirety.

what channel did it air on first run in canada? was it PTEN there as well?

More importantly--did you get to see TIME TRAXX?!?! It aired the same night as B5 just before the B5 timeslot. only reason i knew about the show


BTW now reviewing stuff about timetrax..this is an interesting and familiar description! i think one or two shows have been made since then with this premise

"Time Trax is an American/Australian co-produced science fiction television series that first aired in 1993.[1][3][4] A police officer, sent through time into the past, has to track down and return convicted criminals who have escaped prison in the future"

 

[Gate_Boarder]

what channel did it air on first run in canada? was it PTEN there as well?

More importantly--did you get to see TIME TRAXX?!?! It aired the same night as B5 just before the B5 timeslot. only reason i knew about the show

Time Traxx sounds familiar, but who knows. PTEN sounds like one of those cross-border stations that I use to get with my cable. Paramount probably.

 

[YJ02]

I knew the whole Kim family were big fans of western entertainment (Kim Jong Il had the world's largest collection of Daffy Duck memorabilia)

Kim Jong Un is a big B5 fan

even modeled his haircut from the character Vir's hair

https://www.someecards.com/news/kim-jong-un/kim-jonguns-new-haircut-is-straight-out-of-babylon-5/

 

[Overmind One]

I really wish that they had spent more on graphics for B5. The story was so engaging, and the scope of the story was awesome, and it deserved better graphics.

 

[YJ02]

I really wish that they had spent more on graphics for B5. The story was so engaging, and the scope of the story was awesome, and it deserved better graphics.

and they just may have gotten that if it had not been launched on a startup network

even though PTEN was owned by paramount (?) they never really seemed to invest a lot of money into anything on the network

when it launced, i was at ft bliss. PTEN was only on a few nights a week on a local FOX station. the nights they aired B5 and time trax and then the kung fu show. were nights that FOX didn't have any new material on

i would guess they were faced with either shorter seasons and bigger sfx or the choice that they went with

personally, id always go for story of sfx. the american appetite for bright shiny things extends to tv/movies and has led, in part, to the rise on sales of bg ridiculous sized tv's.

i have said this before, but i know ppl who only bought there massive tv's JUST t owatch a movie with 'awesome effects' in it on that tv

the ppl i know of did this to watch the first abrams trek movie on blu ray. i dont get this near singular purpose buying motive. its shallow and stupid and indicates a near total lack of depth to these types of ppl

studios know this and, i think, it is another reason why we get so much "shiny shit" in the way of new sci fi these days. VALERIAN AND THE CITY OF.. is a prime example of this.

 

[Overmind One]

and they just may have gotten that if it had not been launched on a startup network

even though PTEN was owned by paramount (?) they never really seemed to invest a lot of money into anything on the network

when it launced, i was at ft bliss. PTEN was only on a few nights a week on a local FOX station. the nights they aired B5 and time trax and then the kung fu show. were nights that FOX didn't have any new material on

i would guess they were faced with either shorter seasons and bigger sfx or the choice that they went with

personally, id always go for story of sfx. the american appetite for bright shiny things extends to tv/movies and has led, in part, to the rise on sales of bg ridiculous sized tv's.

i have said this before, but i know ppl who only bought there massive tv's JUST t owatch a movie with 'awesome effects' in it on that tv

the ppl i know of did this to watch the first abrams trek movie on blu ray. i dont get this near singular purpose buying motive. its shallow and stupid and indicates a near total lack of depth to these types of ppl

studios know this and, i think, it is another reason why we get so much "shiny shit" in the way of new sci fi these days. VALERIAN AND THE CITY OF.. is a prime example of this.

Deep Space Nine came out a year before B5 and was already light years ahead in graphics, which (on the surface) made B5 look cheap. But the story behind B5 was far more engaging than DS9 and the only way anyone would know that is to watch the show. I was already hooked on DS9 by the time Babylon 5 aired.

I think B5 could be remade awesomely, but not if anyone changes the story significantly.

 

[Joelist]

DS9 may have been visually prettier but to me B5 was FAR better in writing and characterization.

 

[Overmind One]

DS9 may have been visually prettier but to me B5 was FAR better in writing and characterization.

I agree. And it was for more coherent in the overall arc. DS9 gave us a female Quark named Lumba, a cheesy Roswell episode with the Ferengi, and dumb romances and spy stories involving Doctor Bashir. Babylon 5 was too grown up for any of that. THAT is what made it compelling to watch, despite the graphics. Pretty much what you said.

 

[PussyGalore]

Deep Space Nine came out a year before B5 and was already light years ahead in graphics, which (on the surface) made B5 look cheap. But the story behind B5 was far more engaging than DS9 and the only way anyone would know that is to watch the show. I was already hooked on DS9 by the time Babylon 5 aired.

I think B5 could be remade awesomely, but not if anyone changes the story significantly.

That's funny, it's been so long that I just assumed B5 preceded DS9. My memory is shot so take my recollection worth a grain of salt. I also remember finding the graphics for B5 to be pretty cool, but I literally haven't seen the show since it first aired, so again, my memory is probably faulty on it.

I'm sure a lot of the problem with my recollection stems from the fact that I didn't care much for DS9. I found it slow and boring and somewhat cartoonish. Bashir and O'Brien were a snooze-fest whenever they appeared on screen. And the story lines featuring O'Brien's wife Kako and his too-precious daughter were God awful. My optic nerves competed with my auditory nerves to see which one could melt the fastest when those episodes aired, oy!

Oddly enough I found that I actually liked Quark a lot. Typically I would be turned off by a character such as him but he was actually pretty funny and interesting. Shimmerman did a good job of acting the role and the writers gave him some good dialogue and story lines at times. Same with the character of Garak, the Cardassian tailor/spy. He could easily have been an annoying character but the writers did a good job of sewing him into the story while keeping him interesting. (Pardon the tailor pun, ha ha.)

Honestly though, I couldn't give two craps about Bajor and the prophets and all that nonsense. God, that whole plot point was nothing but tedious nonsense. Where is the Death Star when you need it? That's what that Bajor crap had me wondering every week when the show aired.

B5 was definitely more adult in tone and style. There was a palpable sense of darkness and evil that was actually scary compared to what they gave us on DS9. Granted, I could be remembering this wrong but I do think I'm remembering the tone correctly at least. B5 was just more interesting overall. And even though both shows took place on a space station I didn't really see many similarities between them.

At any rate, here is a pic from one of my fave DS9 scenes:

 

[Lord Ba'al]

I agree. And it was for more coherent in the overall arc. DS9 gave us a female Quark named Lumba, a cheesy Roswell episode with the Ferengi, and dumb romances and spy stories involving Doctor Bashir. Babylon 5 was too grown up for any of that. THAT is what made it compelling to watch, despite the graphics. Pretty much what you said.

Well I happen to find those DS9 episodes entertaining.

 

[YJ02]

Well I happen to find those DS9 episodes entertaining.

'the roswell ep was defi entertaining!!

just wasn't really Trek though

what does it say when your fav characters in a show--DS9 are the bad guys? my favs were every cardassian character....

 

[Overmind One]

'the roswell ep was defi entertaining!!

just wasn't really Trek though

what does it say when your fav characters in a show--DS9 are the bad guys? my favs were every cardassian character....

For me, DS9 defined the Klingons in a way no other Trek show did.

 

[Lord Ba'al]

'the roswell ep was defi entertaining!!

just wasn't really Trek though

what does it say when your fav characters in a show--DS9 are the bad guys? my favs were every cardassian character....

Garak is definitely number one by far in DS9. I love his intrigue and conniving way of being a gentleman tailor and at the same time secretly one of the top assassins and spies fallen out of grace with the establishment. His banter with Bashir was awesome.

 

[Overmind One]

Don't get me wrong, DS9 to me was the best Star Trek show despite the drama that intruded occasionally. They had several awesome arcs, with the best one being the whole lead up and playing out of the Dominion war. I think the races were fleshed out very well between the Bajorans, Cardassians, Klingons and Romulans. And yeah, the Ferengi too. I did like those episodes I mentioned, but there was just not that sort of letting down of the hair going on in Babylon 5. There was definitely some lighthearted stuff going on in B5, but it was somehow more nuanced. Quark and Rom were some of my favorites, and Garak was one of a kind too. Loved the show.

 

[Gate_Boarder]

what channel did it air on first run in canada? was it PTEN there as well?

More importantly--did you get to see TIME TRAXX?!?! It aired the same night as B5 just before the B5 timeslot. only reason i knew about the show

With Stracynski showing his bible to Paramount in 1989; and with "The Gathering" being broadcast on February, 1993, while DS9 was first broadcast in January, 1993 I can see how anybody could be extremely suspicious of those adventualities.

Anyways, back to my recollections. I remember watching B5 on local station CHEK, which coincidentally rebroadcast the old Star Trek series around 1972. before it re-exploded in popularity. KVOS - TV broadcast the first four seasons of B5 from Bellingham, Washington, then they lost the rights for season 5 to TNT. On a different angle KVOS - TV also broadcast Dr. Who, movie-style on Saturday nights.

After examining the pedigree for the Prime Time, UPN, The WB, followed by the The CW networks you would have to hire a detective to figure out what was going on with the early days of B5, Supernatural, or B:TVS for that matter.

And as an after-thought, with Paramount adopting the Star Trek rights through their amalgamation with Desi-Lu I can see how they would throw more resources at DS9 instead of B5.

 

[YJ02]

For me, DS9 defined the Klingons in a way no other Trek show did.

for me, the klingon story was probably the only interesting part of ds9