Was talked into watching B5, as I had not been interested back when... I now remember why... I don't think I have seen more "wooden" acting in my life. The stories are so much "been there, done that" Nothing new, and is so predictable.
Why have I watched 8 episodes? Hoping against hope I guess.Is I can be talked into or convinced why I should continue.. Incidentally. I love Sci-Fi, and wwatched the Original Star Trek every week as it aired. I am that old, lol.
Was talked into watching B5, as I had not been interested back when... I now remember why... I don't think I have seen more "wooden" acting in my life. The stories are so much "been there, done that" Nothing new, and is so predictable.
Why have I watched 8 episodes? Hoping against hope I guess.Is I can be talked into or convinced why I should continue.. Incidentally. I love Sci-Fi, and watched the Original Star Trek every week as it aired. I am that old, lol. - raventhom
I will try n finish Season 1, am a tad surprised that nothing has been said about Babylon 1-4... why they failed....Sinclair is not too bad, but Jerry Doyle is cardboard, the character Londo? falls in love with a dancer... nice but in a week or 2 later, he then doesn't believe in "love" fot the Dannica McKeller person...
Hoping to see what is the point? Having all people of all kinds all in one place? Is there a reason why anyone would "visit" this ship?
I will try n finish Season 1, am a tad surprised that nothing has been said about Babylon 1-4... why they failed.... - raventhom
the character Londo? falls in love with a dancer... nice but in a week or 2 later, he then doesn't believe in "love" fot the Dannica McKeller person...
Hoping to see what is the point? Having all people of all kinds all in one place? Is there a reason why anyone would "visit" this ship? - raventhom
It was the dawn of the third age of mankind, ten years after the Earth/Minbari war. The Babylon Project was a dream given form. Its goal, to prevent another war by creating a place where humans and aliens could work out their differences peacefully. 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. It can be a dangerous place, but it's our last best hope for peace. This is the story of the last of the Babylon stations. The year is 2258. The name of the place is Babylon 5. - Commander Sinclair
All this makes wonderful sence now, but wonders why anyone bothered watching it, first time round, and yes, I listen to the opening credits, still, why would I as an average earthman, want to visit B5? Just to "see aliens?"
Incidentally, I must say that both Claudia Christian (her especially) and Mira Furlan had some very nice ways of making their fans happy in other places...
yes, I listen to the opening credits, still, why would I as an average earthman, want to visit B5? Just to "see aliens?" - raventhom
At the time there wasn't much serious sci if out there. You had Star Trek TNG winding down, DS9 and Voyager coming into play. You're still a few years out from Stargate SG1. You had some short lived stuff (Time Trax, Tek Wars), but not much else, outside of some fantasy series (Xena, Hercules and the like).
This was the best stuff out there at the time. Season one was really choppy. Fortunately I was 15 at the time and wasn't too horribly picky about stuff. If the season finale doesn't make you want to see season two, then it probably isn't for you.
The acting was about on par with other genre shows of the time. Some of the early Star Trek TNG/DS9 guest stars are pretty weak. Most of the other genre shows have been forgotten (anyone remember Time Trax? Sliders? SeaQuest? VR.5? M.A.N.T.I.S.? TekWar? Earth Final Conflict?). One reason why Babylon 5 stands out is because of the show's lasting fan base after all these years. These other shows are hard to find and have very tiny fan bases, if any.
On top of that, some of the "acting" is actually from the odd writing style of JMS. Much like how some people don't like Joss Whedon dialogue, even when uttered by good actors - "let's add '-y' to the end of words so the actors seem relate-able and 'hip'." They might attribute it to the actor, but sometimes it's what you have to work with.
Regarding the episodes themselves... you've made it 8 episodes in, trudging through a few of the weakest episodes of the series ("Infection"). The season gets considerably stronger, with only a few weak links.
There are a few terrible episodes to come:
-"Believers" is unfortunately a very weak story about morality. Strong "B" story, but the main thread is bad.
-"Grail" - talk about bad acting... This episode has the single worst performance of the entire series.
By and large, the season does a pretty terrific job at world building. This season lays the foundation pretty strongly for what is to come.
No, not the mind probe!
I can totally understand; I almost walked away from the show. The first episode I liked; but, the subsequent ones left me pretty bored. Then, Mr Morden visited the station and I was intrigued. Next, Katherine Sakai ventures into space and encounters something beyond her understanding and is saved by G'Kar and the Narns. G'Kar was pretty much the straight out villain and seemed like a weak JR, when the series began. That episode gave him a different sde. I wondered where it was going. Those two episodes got me to hang on and the season finale made me want to come back.
Season 2 really kicks things up a notch and smooths out the rough edges. Season 1 was plagued by various behind-the-scenes problems and having to do all the introduction. It also features other writers producing episodes, with varied success. The best episodes came from creator Joe Straczynski. He pretty much writes the series from the end of season 1 to the series finale, with a couple of exceptions (including an excellent episode created by Neil Gaiman), though season 2 still has other writers (the more successful ones from season 1, with Staczinski handling the majority). The series keeps getting better and better as it moves along. The first few episodes in season 2 are a little shaky, since they have to introduce Sheriden, while addressing events of the end of season 1.
There's a lot to look forward to. like I said, G'Kar is presented, at the beginning, as a villain like JR Ewing. he quickly develops shades of grey and grows beyond such simple characterization. Londo us a buffoon, who also grows beyond that initial impression. Jerry Doyle starts settling into his role, though he always had a tendency to deliver his lines at a fevered pitch. Ivanova gets softened a bit and gets better dialogue and some great one-liners. Delenn gets a makeover, we learn more about what happened during the Earth-Minbari war, what the Vorlons are up to, who Morden's mysterious benefactors are, why Babylon 4's disappearance is significant.
When the pilot came out, around the same time as Deep Space 9, I just thought B5 was a rip-off. i soon learned that Straczynski pitched the show to Paramount, who rejected it, then produced a new Star Trek show that presented the same set up and most of the same character types. However, B5 had an ending in mind from the beginning, while Deep Space 9 was standard episodic tv, for a good portion of its run, until they started to embrace story arcs. B5 was influenced by British tv, which used story arcs, especially the sci-fi series Blake's 7. In fact, the Drazi ships were an homage to the Liberator, Blake's ship, in the British series.
I recommend sticking it out; there is much better stuff to follow. Season 3 is where it gets really, really good (2's pretty darn good, in itslef) and has some really memorable moments, like Delenn getting to be scary and dangerous, when the station is under attack.
If you do stick it out, you may have to be patient with the final season. At first, it didn't look like it was going to happen; so season 4 had some stories truncated, slightly. A storyline was held back, with thoughts of maybe being able to do a movie or mini-series. The series got a late hour reprieve and had to tread water a little bit at the beginning of season 5; but, if you are patient, the rest of the season rewards you.
I do lament a few things that didn't happen. There was talk of having Patrick McGoohan, to do a tribute to the Prisoner; but, it never came about. Harlan Ellison was working on a script that would serve as a sort of sequel to his Outer Limits story, "Demon With a Glass Hand;" but, it was never realized (not sure if it even got written). The Neil Gaiman episode did occur. Straczynski was a fan of Gaiman's writing and an alien race, the Gaim, were introduced in the series as a tribute. The Gaim appear wearing breathing helmets, which look like the helmet that Dream wears, in Neil Gaiman's Sandman series of comics (which looks like a stylized gas mask, which was a tribute to DC Comics' original Sandman, who was a vigilante modeled after the Shadow and the Green Hornet and who wore a gas mask, to hide his face, and protect him from the sleep gas he used).
Fortunately, Ah keep mah feathers numbered for just such an emergency!
Willprobably try and muddle through season 1, as a break from Doctor Who, whom I am watching from classic season 1, and that I am much more into
shareJesus wept. It was made in the 1990's and was ground breaking due to the story arc covering 5 seasons and not episodic like star trek. Obviously the graphics weren't too good but it does get better and so does the story. Search the internet for Babylon 5 and you can see many explanations about the story ark if you are confused. There are independent episodes that are nothing to do with the story arc and can be boring. However there is a list of episode that you can watch bypassing independent episodes.
http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/reference/episodes.html
http://b5warsvault.wikidot.com/
I am muddling through season 1, as a break from Doctor Who, and although the story lines are not all that bad, after watching 9 episodes I can say, I am not shocked that most of the cast did not seem to make it big in films/tv in later years.
The endings seemed to be sprung all at once, like, oh *beep* times almost up.
Too bad, the idea's wern't all that bad, but hey? I loved the original Star Trek andonly got 3 seasons, y'all got 5 of this one.
Just keep paying close attention. Things you're seeing now will become key later on. B5 is not for those with a short attention span (this isn't directed at you, just in general) because it's setting up a saga.
“You are not entitled to your opinion. You are entitled to your informed opinion. -Harlan Ellison
I'd say the acting is not 'wooden' per se, but perhaps a bit dated? It's difficult to judge now after such shows as Battlestar Galactica, for example. It's all about realistic grittiness and subtleness these days. Which is good, and I would love to see B5 reboot done now. But original B5 still had superb main cast of actors, and they did have some really outstanding performances later in the seasons when their characters got more developed.
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