ALL SCI-FI

Zackuth · Posted: Sun Oct 25, 2015 10:11 pm Post subject: Babylon 5 (1994 - 1998)

I watched this during its run and thought it was the best show I'd ever watched. I thought it was better than any Star Trek series. It was smartly written, had wonderful actors and actresses, and very good characters. What I liked the best about the series was the characters changed as events happened and grew as life happened to them. I'm going to have to dig the series out and watch it again.

Custer · Posted: Mon Oct 26, 2015 9:04 am Post subject:

Definitely a great show... and some of the tie-in novels, particularly the ones set after the end of the show's run, were excellent.

Personally, I don't collect/follow magazines about tv shows... but I made an exception for B5! And while I have the dvd sets, I can't bring myself to throw away the VHS copies...

Pow · Posted: Mon Oct 26, 2015 1:23 pm Post subject:

Currently reading Marc Cushman's "These Are The Voyages..." books. # books, each one covers one of the seasons of Star Trek(TOS).

It was quite a nightmare regarding getting good scripts for the show. Roddenberry did massive amounts of re-writes on the scripts submitted by various writers.

Conflicts between Gene & his story editors and writers.
Lots of politics, stress, pressures, even some nervous breakdowns along the way.

So it amazes me, astounds me, how JMS was able to write 99% of Babylon 5 & not keel over dead in the process.

orzel-w · Galactic Ambassador Joined: 19 Sep 2014 Posts: 1865

One aspect that appealed to me right away was the depiction of the Starfuries' flight. They looked like they were actually maneuvering weightless in a vacuum rather than flying in an atmosphere under gravity.
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Zackuth · Posted: Mon Oct 26, 2015 9:05 pm Post subject:

Bud Brewster · Posted: Mon Oct 26, 2015 10:15 pm Post subject:

Agreed, that was a wonderful way to show that they weren't just copying Star Wars by making the fighters "fly" like conventional aircraft.

And the designs of the ships were excellent.
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Krel · Guest

I was at a con, where one of the Foundation people was the guest. About the Starfury, he said that they knew it couldn't work. With those large engines out on the end of the pylons, it just wouldn't be able to maneuver, there was just too much mass, too far out. For it to really work, the engines would have to be as close to the center of gravity as possible. But the Starfury just looked too good with the engines out there. It was a case of what looked good, over what was actually practical.

Using the spin of the station to launch the fighters was a great visual idea, although they realized that the Starfuries would have used a lot of fuel correcting for the momentum.

JMS wrote most of the show, but he wasn't very good at writing humor. The only good joke was the interstellar court, where the great grandson of an Earth abductee was suing the great grandson of the Alien abductor. The Alien when questioned, communicated with drawings of crop circles!

One thing I will always admire JMS for was covering for Michael O'Hare. He took a lot of heat for MO'H leaving, but kept Mr. O'Hare's secret. Following MO'H's death, he released the story at Mr. O'Hare's request.

One thing I am sorry about B5 is that Harlan Ellison never got to write the episode where Robert Culp appears as Trent from "Demon With A Glass Hand".

David.

Robert (Butch) Day · Posted: Tue Oct 27, 2015 4:13 am Post subject:

Pow · Posted: Tue Oct 27, 2015 12:50 pm Post subject:

Butch, that did give JMS ample time to write a year's worth of scripts. However,I'd never refer to it as "simple."

And then there's his writing each season's script as the series is running.

An incredible feat any way you slice it.

And one we will not see by anyone else for a long, long time.

Pow · Posted: Tue Oct 27, 2015 12:56 pm Post subject:

My understanding regarding JMS doing a sequel on Babylon 5 of Harlan Ellison's Outer Limits episode "Demon With A Glass Hand"is that its a joke.

JMS & Harlan are good friends.
At a convention that both were in attendance,JMS told the audience(or someone at any rate)that he wanted to do this sequel & call it "Demon On The Run."
Knowing that Ellison loathes doing sequels of any of his works or likes seeing it done by others,JMS knew he's get a rise out of Harlan.

JMS said that as he was talking about this episode for B5 he could see Harlan's jaw drop & face go into total shock.

Custer · Posted: Tue Oct 27, 2015 1:05 pm Post subject:

Wow, I never knew why Michael O'Hare left - Wikipedia has just told me:

Brigz · Posted: Wed Oct 28, 2015 12:08 pm Post subject: Re: Babylon 5

Bud Brewster · Posted: Fri Dec 11, 2015 2:35 pm Post subject: Re: Babylon 5

Krel · Guest

Randy · Space Ranger Joined: 14 Dec 2013 Posts: 126 Location: Ohio

During Babylon 5's original run, I felt that this was by far the very best sci-fi television series that I had ever seen. It still remains near the top of my list even today!