Was Babylon 5 any good?
The only evidence I have to go on is the line in Spaced ("Babylon 5's a big pile of shit!") and the sheer mind-numbing awfulness of the soundtrack, composed by ex Tangerine Dream hero Chris Franke.
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fred zeppelin (Taylor's version), Fri 5 May 2023, 8:38,
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Eh, bits of it were. I loved it at the time, but in retrospect season 1 was a slog, but necessary for the back story. Seasons 2 to 4 were good. Season 5 and all the TV movies were not. Even then the episode quality varied wildly within the series.
The spinoff series Crusade was a fucking dumpster fire that should have been canned far earlier than it was.
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evil_andy Stick stick stick stick sticky sticky stick stick, Fri 5 May 2023, 11:07,
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It was a weirdly fascinating series
A lot of the acting was excruciating, but there were some real superb performances. Jakar and Molari being the obvious choices. It starts slowly but the the big story unfolded into something awesome.
I've watched the whole series 3 times now =) It's a kind of cosy friendship.
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simbosan is too tired, Fri 5 May 2023, 12:28,
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Sat down and ploughed through all five seasons again a few years back
In general it stood up OK. The story was strong enough to carry the wobbly sets and early CGI.
I'll agree with you about the acting, but would say that some of the actors were let down by having to deliver some pretty hammy dialogue.
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wheresthefish Partly filled with wrong, Fri 5 May 2023, 14:48,
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JMS does great plots but clunky dialogue.
The actor who played Ivanova was terrible, and everyone's hair was always too clean. Those rogue telepaths living down below, for example, should have been stinking, grubby, unkempt, but apparently there's a load of free showers, shampoo and conditioner down there.
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brb Monkhouse Stampede, Fri 5 May 2023, 15:20,
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It was an example of how to do arcs well.
JMS apparently laid out the plot from beginning to end first, rather than seemingly making it up as he went as writers often do these days.
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jonbob loves you, Fri 5 May 2023, 13:12,
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It was excellent for the time and budget. One of the best science fiction series ever.
The incidental music is mostly unobtrusive... It's marmite, I've never been enthusiastic about it, but I've met fans who absolutely love it and seek out every CD. I never paid much attention to it at the time. The main theme is fine, the establishing shot stings are good, the rest is quite unmemorable.
As others have said, S1 is slow (and a bit stiff in a militaristic way), 2, 3 and 4 are great, 5 is not so good (the network cancelled season 5 forcing the writer to compress everything into season 4, then they were so impressed with season 4 that they uncancelled season 5, but there were only subplots left to tie up by that point).
The aborted 'Excalibur' spinoff is not quite as bad as Lexx. It's interesting to watch as you can practically see the executive interference ruining the show in real time. The various straight to video movies are okay, but not essential viewing.
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brb Monkhouse Stampede, Fri 5 May 2023, 15:13,
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Worth watching just for Bester, G’Kar and Londo.
But I’m obviously preaching to the choir here.
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jonbob loves you, Fri 5 May 2023, 22:18,
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Damn right.
Have you ever read The Demolished Man?
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brb Monkhouse Stampede, Fri 5 May 2023, 22:23,
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No, but would like to.
I doubt I could get a decent kindle version though, what with the way telepathy is represented.
Isn't that the one that calls earworms "pepsi's"?
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jonbob loves you, Fri 5 May 2023, 23:12,
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I don't recall, soz.
2nd hand paperback is only a few quid!
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brb Monkhouse Stampede, Fri 5 May 2023, 23:35,
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