Because of the dearth of decent stuff on TV these days in between runs of Doctor Who and True Blood, I've been watching sci fi series from yesteryear on DVD. So far I've done Blake's Seven, Red Dwarf, and Adam Adamant Lives!, but at the moment I've run out.

I am a big fan of Star Trek, especially DS9, and I was wondering if those of you who watched Babylon 5 would recommend it to a DS9 fan? I know some B5 fans say DS9 is the poor ripoff of B5, in which case, B5 should be even better, but I was wondering what you guys think.

Yup/// Seasons 1-4 Don't fogret eerrrerer to watch some of the movies.... at leasst the first onw.

I liked Babylon 5 it was a unique show, I think some of the issues in that show went to make Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (Religious moments and icons, a strong alien government oppressing a lesser peaceful culture, a Space Station bread basket, wormholes). If you can find a DVD box set of B5 I'd buy it.

I'm a DS9 fan, and I enjoyed Babylon 5.
I didn't see it as a ripoff at all. I prefer the older B5, Sinclair> Sheridan.
I found DS9 to be the better of the two in terms of writing, and reality. In DS9, main characters die, they aren't magically resurrected, and there are long lasting emotional and social adjustments made because of those deaths. Deep Space Nine dealt very well with the concept of death and failure, while Babylon 5 was strong in irony and hope.
Loved the Lando/Jkar storylines, and how that love-hate relationship played out. Not so much a fan of Sheridan, too...zealous.


I will say this, pay attention to details, things crop up in episodes later that are very important.

YES!
B5 is AWESOME. Right up there with Firefly. Except for Season 5, that one doesn't count because it svcked.

Things start to get really good in Season 2. Ooh, and make sure to watch the pilot episode, it is sort of important.

Are you a LOTR fan? Then you'd definitely like B5, as it incorporates many LOTR elements, just in a futuristic world.
One of the things that I really like about B5 is that it's one story, not a bunch of little stories thrown together; sub-plots from the first episode play into plots in later episodes.

DS9 started around the same time as B5, but one's not a 'rip-off' of the other. I never really got into DS9 though. :shrug:


:dead:

OK, that's all good then. I've heard it's a bit more hard sci fi than other stuff, is that the case?

Ive watched series 1 on the sci fi channel. To quote Sheldon Cooper "It fails as drama, science fiction and its hopelessly derivative". Mind you I didn't like DS9 either I'm more of a TNG and Voyager person.

Each to their own I suppose.

I personally am a great fan of Babylon 5, counting it among my favorite shows ever. As others have said, seasons 1-4 are fantastic, while season 5 drops a bit in quality and interest. And I personally didnt find it to be particularly more "hard si fi" than say, Stargate.

I'm guessing you've seen Battlestar Galactica already?

Man that was a good show.

Babylon 5 also shamelessly used Khazadum and Lorien as names for places and beings in the show.
I also disliked season 5, Robbio, there were no grey areas, Either Sheridan viewed you as an enemy, or not. While DS9 approached oppostion by giving you a viewpoint of the other race. You understood their reasons for rebellion or agression, In Babylon 5, it was either you allied with the Shadows, or you allied with the Vorlons. Sheridians petulant stand against aging cosmic superpowers came to late to salvavge it for me.
But man, B5 seasons 1 through 4 kicked some ass.

I haven't seen it in a while, but from what I remembered I really liked it. And that's something coming from me. I hate shows like Star Trek.

Harder than Star Trek, that's for sure. Soft stuff (planets of hats and sound in space, mostly) is usually just for viewer convenience. I'd put it somewhere in the middle on a scale from hard to soft science-fiction.

I reccomed Farscape, it's fantastic.

I watched Farscape when it was on TV, I never really got into it, though it did look good. Seemed like something you had to be in from the start. But Farscape DVDs are five times the price of B5 DVDs, so its not much of a choice.

Babylon Five and Deep Space Nine also share that concept of continuation. You have to be there from the begining to get what is going on, you can't just jump in and things make sense. Nowdays most sci-fi is like that, but before, in the days of Star Trek TNG, there was no sense of relevance to order of the show.
Farscape is my absolute favorite Sci-fi series of them all.

B5 isn't as bad as Battlestar Galactica (the reboot by "SyFy") in the continuation thing. The majority of the episodes has its own self-contained story, but there are parts that weave into the tapestry of the overarching story. It makes B5 really accessible and also full of variety; you aren't bogged down with the same plot and motives for dozens of episodes on end.

B5, and for that matter, DS9 were the Vanilla Skys of Sci Fi in their day. Things would come up in the third season that referenced thirty seconds of the first season episodes, and you would go "D'oh!". You could also rewatch them and see something relevant to later incidents, from a slightly different point of view.
Nowdays no one wastes a minute on a program, scence make it to broadcast for a specific reason. Everything is relevant. In fact, I found Battlestar Galactica to be horribly predictable, and lost intrest.


Also, as a nod to Farscape's use of "Dren" I lolled heartily when playing Morrowind. I wonder if any Bethesda employees were fans of the show. Going to assume they are, Orvas being the individual he is.

Haha, I watched Heroes from the beginning, then I missed six episodes of season 3 and none of it made any sense any more.

I agree. Dirk Benedict is still one of my favorite actors, just because he's, y'know, Star Buck.

I also third Farscape. Excellent, excellent show.

I liked Babylon 5, however I didn't really get into it much as Hulu pulled the episodes. Maybe they're back up now? Anyway, Stargate SG-1 is one of my Favorite shows ever. I can not recommend it enough. If you do want to watch SG-1 may I suggest that you watch Window of Opportunity over, and over, and over again... I love you, Jack. :hugs:

And 200 is good, too.

I used to watch Stargate, personally I preferred Atlantis to SG1.

Eh, I liked Atlantis as well (McKay was great).

Gah. Now I'm making myself want to watch it...

To be fair, Sheridan had a reason to hate the shadows....the death of his wife. It wasn't until it was revealed to him

Oh, I knew his wife had supposedly died , but IIRC, he was involved romantically with Delenn. So that IMO, makes his attitude of "with me or against me" moot.
He's reactionary instead of proactive for most of the series, and face it, by this time I was accustomed to the calm, collected, and willing to see things from an opposing point of view of DS9'sBenjamin Sisko, who incidentally, lost his wife to an enemy attack as well.

Never been a fan of Boxleitner either.
If it came down to it, I'd buy DS9 over B5. I'd buy Farscape over both.