Posted on 07/30/2016 11:31:19 PM PDT by Paul R.
Damn! One of the good guys!
B5 was great.
Also, it was pitched before DS9 came out. I believe JMS has briefly talked about it and how he feels DS9 borrowed from his potch to Warner Brothers.
From IMDB:
There was a level of friction between fans of Babylon 5 (1994) and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Babylon 5 fans felt that writers for Deep Space Nine had stolen many aspects of Babylon 5’s premise (occurring recently after a war/occupation, episodes taking place on a space station not located in Earth territory, the cast discovering an ancient malevolent race that would become a major threat, the overall story of the show being less reliant on story-of-the-week episodes and more of an overarching story arc, etc.), asserting that Paramount had rejected J. Michael Straczynski’s proposal of Babylon 5 to them in the late 80’s, but used certain details of the pitch by inserting them into the story/premise of Deep Space Nine. There was a concerted effort to bury the hatchet, especially by having Majel Barrett (widow of Gene Roddenberry) appear on Babylon 5 as an alien prophetess who spoke on behalf on her recently deceased husband (an obvious nod to Roddenberry who had passed away a few short years before her appearance).
Personally, I liked Bab5 better than DS9.
Wife & I loved Babylon 5.
It was a great story told to us by great actors & great writing. While I liked some of DS9 I always thought Babylon 5 was better because of the complete story. Paramount passed on Babylon 5 in 1989 but may have incorporated some of the ideas there into DS9 according to some.
Gag.....
What was good about it? Where was the space travel. A bunch of diplomats and their intrigues. Yes there was some space travel...a minor amount. But really. So you have revisionist history between B5 and DS9....big deal, ds9 was the second worse ST just above Voyager which, except for Jeri Ryan was unwatchable ( and she did cause Obama to be elected so she is on my $h!tlist too).
I tried numerous times to watch B5. Never got through more than 20 minutes. Boring and poorly written.
Of the main cast, we have lost Richard Biggs, Michael O’Hare, Andreas Katsulas, Jeff Conaway, and now Jerry Doyle, and I’m goddamned tired of it.
So dear sweet universe, if you are paying attention in the vastness of interstellar space, take a moment from plotting the trajectory of comets and designing new DNA in farflung cosmos, and spare a thought for those who you have plucked so untimely from our ranks...and knock it off for a while.
Because this isn’t fair.
And Jerry Doyle would be the first person to tell you that. Right before he put a fist in your face. Which is what I imagine he’s doing right now, on the other side of the veil.
J. Michael Straczynski
Executive Producer
Babylon 5
I feel sorry for any grown man who could write the above. There is enough self delusion in it to satisfy anyone. And, depending upon the source of Doyles’ conservatisim, a mighty misapprehension of his good friends motives aND inclinations.
Babylon 5 Seasons 3 and 4 were masterpieces—imho the best science fiction in a video format ever.
But the series got off to a slow start in the early seasons.
Just try Season 3 and see what you think—it is truly creative edge of the chair stuff.
And—the Vorlons were totally amazing—once you figured out what they were about...
Me and the spousal unit always loved B5.
DS9 got better eventually and out of the ST later stuff liked it best.
JMS wrote a good book about screen-writing. I’ve got a copy around here. I’m sure I’d have my problems with JMS but he strikes me as at least fair and someone I could work with.
Seasons 3 and 4? What took them so long. You have to grab the audience attention up front....then you can have a respite of dialog, then you need to have a big finish with multiple( hopefully) climaxes.
I watched B5 numerous times season 1. Nothing happened. Nothing!
If you drop a hammer on your foot and are in pain, you learn not to keep dropping it on your foot.
There were some stinker episodes, and it sounds to me like you found them all. There were quite a few epic space battles.
The one thing I will give you is that the last season was a stinker. It was supposed to be a five year story, and they finished it in four because they were worried it would be cancelled. Then when they got the fifth season JMS had no idea what to do with it and it shows.
I promise you Seasons 3 and 4 are a total adrenaline rush—The Shield on steroids.
I liked B5. IMHO DS9 and Voyager were affirmative action sops.
Jerry must have had a terrific sense of humor.
Near the beginning of his radio show he played an audio that was really laugh out loud hilarious. Wish I had a link or something.
It was about a fellow driving in his car and observing a car that cut off another car piled up with old ladies. Three or four of the ladies wound up getting out and severely chastising that driver. The observer telling the story could not believe how hilarious it all was, and kept giggling. That laughter still rings in my memory as it was very infectious. One of the old ladies wound up literally whopping the offending driver over the head with a thick King James Bible!!
The purpose of Season 1 is to set the universe up. The only important things that happen are the question “What do you want?”, and the events of the season finale. From that simple question, trillions will die.
Seasons 2, 3, and 4 are simply some of the best television storytelling ever produced.
He was 60, which as the boob toob tells us is the new 40.
Voyager very much so. It had potential but PC ruined it. DS9 was a bit better.
Remember that the Vorlons existed in a unique dichotomy with the Shadows, that does not quite parallel other dichotomies that we’re familiar with.
Both were trying to achieve similar ends, the evolution of other species. And both were ruthless about achieving this, over the course of many thousands of years.
Philosophically, it could be said that the Vorlons were believers in the evolutionary theory of “punctuated equilibrium”, the idea that intelligent species are generally stable in their environment until something, in this case, the Vorlons, causes “Cladogenesis”, an orderly split into two species, caused by the introduction of, in this case, new ideas and technologies in a species separated by a distance.
So, they were in favor of “order”.
The Shadows, on the other hand, were firm believers in Natural Selection, that two intelligent species should be brought into conflict, so the better of the two would evolve, and the lesser of the two die out.
And since intelligent species cannot be counted on to naturally conflict with each other, the Shadows set themselves up to be the “nemesis”, at intervals, creating both animosity and alliances.
That is what made the series. That whole dichotomy and how it relates to reality. And perhaps some age old shadow societies on this planet. Actually did occasional work at the studio that did the Babylon 5 computer graphics, which was too notch back then. Had no idea what the show was about. Shame. They had some intelligent people working on it. Could of had some interesting conversations, no doubt.
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