tv: Babylon 5

My b/f and I are netflick junkies. Recently we decided we'd watch all the Babylon 5 series from start to finish. OMG! The acting in the first season (especially the pilot episode) is sooooooooo bad. Like a cheap soap opera. It's almost painful to watch. I don't remember it being so bad. But, then I looked at the release date, 1993. I didn't have a television then so I guess I only caught the last few seasons. Hard to believe it's over 10 years old! Anyway, I eagerly anticipate the damn shadow war starting and Babylon 5 getting it's new commander. I don't know how many more of these early episodes I can stomach.

Anyone else have an opinon on this series?

I have to admit, I was a huge fan. Yes, the pilot movie and 99% of 1st season make you want to kill. But, by season 2 the effects budget and the actors seem to find their niche. This was one of the scifi shows that took cues from XFiles (one large, epic plot in addition to stand alone episodes) so I loved it. Seasons 2-4 is really very good, if you can suspend belief enough to enjoy low-budget Scif-Fi. I think in time, this might be remembered like Doctor Who (unlike Seaquest, which is about as forgetable as scifi gets).

Also, look out for the last season when they again, ad a new captain and lose a good cast member (Cmdr. Ivoniva[sp]). It's terrible and only aired on SciFi channel and TNT (who picked-up the show and made a few movies after the show ended). It's really bad and doesn't need to be watched.

Finally, DO NOT watch the spin-off series about the Rangers. It's godawful and doesn't get better. Ever.

/end dork rant

I agree with what GL said.

I was a big fan of the show. Especially the hate relationship between Mollari and G'Kar. I loved to watch those two snipe at each other.

The Shadow ships and wars were also one of the coolest things about the show.

I like B5 for the f/x and the underlying mythological story-line. But I have to agree the acting was very bad, as it mostly featured b-series actors. Too bad.

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