Yes. Great show. Seasons 2-4 are some of the best scifi I’ve ever seen. The characters are rich and complex. The very clear heroes and villains steadily become less clear and often switch roles. Season 5 is a bit flat because the network screwed up production, but it’s still enjoyable.
The effects aren’t “crappy”, per se, but they’re definitely dated. Sort of like a really good video game in 1992. 
The acting and special effects ain’t the greatest, but the story is still what makes this series so great. I also recommend Farscape if you haven’t seen it. On the other thread I posted a list of episodes to speed run through the first weaker season. I could do the same for B5 if you want, but really, I recommend watching it all in chronological order, and though some might disagree with me, watch the prequel movie first. I did, and it really helped me get into the first season of B5.
We definitely should do a Babylon 5 re-watch.
A word of caution to all netflix-ers - check wikipedia first for the order of dvds - season 1 does not have the pilot episode. Whatever movie is listed as first on wikipedia (last time i checked anyway) is the pilot episode. Guess who didn’t watch the pilot until after the last season…
oh wow, how did i miss this one.
I suggest you watch “In the beginning” after the 1st season. Then watch “The Gathering”, the other movies are mostly one off shows. But “In the Beginning” is a MUST WATCH.
I’ll say why i suggested to watch the gathering after season 1 and “in the beginning”… because I am afraid it might scare people off =_=
There’s a movie first, but you don’t really have to see it if you can’t find it. You’re probably ok with starting with Season One - and STICKING with it. It all pays off gorgeously in Season 4, trust me.
That’s one thing B5 was really good at–payoff. Every season finale felt like it hit all the targets you were waiting for it to hit. Questions got answered, tensions blew up, relationships flipped. Something was always happening.
I don’t know if there’s time or stamina in the GWC crew and community to re-watch an entire series, but maybe if some die-hard B5ers put together a highlights list? We could watch the best handful of episodes from each season, and maybe our call-ins to the show could be recaps of the story to date. (I’m thinking of Seamus in Micro-Machine-Man Mode here. ;))
My personal favorite episodes are the ones between Lando and G’Kar.
GR: The first thing that aired was the pilot movie “The Gathering”. Most fans, myself included don’t find it all that good, so I would say you can skip it. There isn’t really anything of consequence that happens that isn’t mentioned later. The first episode of the first season “Midnight on the Firing Line” is a pretty good introduction to the series as well, so you can just start with that.
Based on other stuff you have recommended on the forum, I would say you will really like Babylon 5.
oh yeah, definitely. Those two stole the show. It’s weird because G’Kar turned out nothing like the G’Kar from The Gathering.
talking about a list… If people do watch Season 1… below is a list…
Season 1
E1 “Midnight on the Firing Line” - gives you an idea about Londo and G’Kar.
E5 “The Parliament of Dreams” - good back ground on most of the races involved.
E6 “Mind War” - not really important… but it’s the first Chekov … i mean Bester appearance.
E8 “And the Sky Full of Stars” - absolutely critical episode. Beginning of Sinclair’s discovery.
E12 “By Any Means Necessary” - Londo G’Kar feud.
E13 “Signs and Portents” - First Mr. Morden appearance. First time someone asked “What do you want?” Crucial episodes in the overall arch.
E16 “Eyes” - Why is this one on the list? One word, Weyoun.
E17 “Legacies” - Sinclair gets more answers on how the Earth Minbari war came to end.
E20 “Babylon Squared” - Important to how season 1 ends.
E21 “The Quality of Mercy” - Maybe not a must watch, but I like this episode.
E22 “Chrysalis” - Season 1 Finale.
“In the Beginning” - Some say watch this later… but maybe this is like the Star War Prequel thing. If you watch it first, you might get a different appreciation of the show as a whole. But I recommend watch this after the 1st season.
That’s 1/2 of the 1st season…
Fav Londo/G’Kar moment in Season 1- in Signs and Potents where they are waiting for an elevator with a guy in between them- they argue, he legs it into the elevator and they reply, “Look what you made me do”.
There are so many great Londo/G’Kar moments I don’t think I can pick just one as my favorite.
I am so glad Iw as able to see Andreas Katsulas before he died. He was at the only Dragoncon I have been to so far, several years ago. He was funny, gracious & just a great panelist.
I think G’Kar for me, as a character, came to be something like Tigh. At first I though he was just a selfish jerk feeding his own ambition. By the end of the series he was easily one of the most tragic & my favorite character out of all of them. With the noted exception of Ivanova, she is among my top 3 favorite female characters in sci-fi.
edit woo hoo! 500 posts! Half way to OG! I’m coming for you GR!
Babylon 5 is a great series. Well worth watching ALL of it.
I have several times.
I just love Londo.
At first, I so disliked him, then I found him very funny (great lines, wonderful deliveries), then felt a grudging affection for him, then I was so moved and choked up by his tragic sacrifice for his people.
One of so many great scenes, is between Londo & Vir in the corridor, singing, exchanging favorite arias from Centauri operas. May sound boring if you haven’t yet immersed yourself in B5, but by that scene, so much has happened and so much darkness is looming, that this moment is precious for it’s simple joy.
It’s so satisfying to have a complete story arc that spans 5 yrs. And so right that the creator/writer J. Michael Straczynski is the one who turns off the lights to the station in the last scene. Must admit my eyes welled up.
I think I just talked myself into re-watching the series again.
ok i was gonna suggest this and i see a four page thread discussing it, I’m a jms nut i even considered basing my first podcast upon him, but , given his engagement in the community i asked him first, I reproduce, for reference, his reply note this includes my original post and his reply, it’s quite long
so yeah, he said no, but he said no in a frakking essay
respect the dude
also, do a b5 ark with highlights
Phaze
on the “with all due copyrights to jmsnews.com the b5 newsgroup and jms himself” ID
a few us did a couple of frak parties on this…was awesome. And I agree…a podcast arc for this (and DS9) would be great