UKH

All beer drunk but starting my fourth episode of Babylon 5 season 3. 

The year is 2018. The place, my living room.

Go for it! I absolutely love Babylon 5! The best sci-fi series ever, my all-time favourite TV show. 

They have just decided to fight...against Earth forces loyal to Trump, err...I mean Clark.

President Clark? 

Yes! 

All beers drunk...

Still watching. B5 has just ceded from Earth...

I called my cat Londo.

What a character!

I should call my next dog Vir.

For me the whole story revolves around Mollari. But yes, Vir was great. And if I ever have another cat I'll call it Delenn, love her character too. Anyway, enjoy, I'm away to bed. 

I missed this the first few times around but watching it now into season 3.. much better than I expected and not as dated as I imagined. Now where is that raisony biscuit to help secure the shadows of life are kept at bay?

I watched it right the way through when it first showed on terrestrial in the early 90s I think, excellent. As we’re on sci fi, I’m currently working my way through the Battlestar Galactica remake series which has been a revelation

Ahem <spaced> Babylon 5's a big pile of ****</spaced>

Compared to what else was on offer at the time, it was fantastic

Certainly a revelation compared to the utterly pants original series. One of my favorite shows from modern Sci Fi.   It gets slightly lost at the end (caught up in the writers strikes) but I won't get involved in spoliers 

Seen some of that and i liked it. Will watch more.

I loved Babylon 5 for its overarching storylines and very inventive aliens. Something Star Trek tried to replicate with Deep Space 9.

Favourite quotes;

Ivanova "They seem to understand our language, they're just not willing to speak to us in it."

Marcus "Who knew they were French."

also....

Ivanova "Who am I? I am Susan Ivanova, Commander. Daughter of Andre and Sophie Ivanov. I am the right hand of vengeance and the boot that is going to kick your sorry ass all the way back to Earth, sweetheart! I am death incarnate, and the last living thing that you will ever see. God sent me"

BSG re make was stunningly good but so traumatic with it, a few of the episodes left me feeling like I'd been punched in the gut.

I loved babylon 5.  Saw the one with the Drazzi and the green and purple.  Fun fact Ivanova did actually have a broken leg.

Cheers

Toby

Mollari and G'Kar.  What a double act!

Babylon 5 was weird - there has been a lot of truly dreadful sci-fi and some really excellent sci-fi, but I don't think any one thing has ever been *so* bad at times and *so* good at others.  I'm sure it was at times better than the best, and also worse than the worst thing the Star Trek franchise ever produced.

"I'd like to live just long enough to be there when they cut off your head and stick it on a pike, as a warning to the next ten generations that some favours come with too high a price. I want to look up into your lifeless eyes and wave, like this."

The single best moment in the whole thing is Vir's I think, the little smile and the wave when he gets his wish with Mr Morden. 
(Oops - sorry Flinticus, hope that's not a spoiler.)

Fixed that for you.

https://www.tor.com/2013/02/26/is-this-the-smoking-gun-proving-deep-space-n...

Interesting that the idea was pitched to Paramount before Warner Bros. took it up.

That was one of my favourite moments and I almost brought it up when the Op mentioned Vir. But I was avoiding spoilers.... 

Interesting.  The last paragraph particularly: "the casual and wanton theft of imagination by powers who don’t possess any imagination themselves" - that's how TV and film works isn't it?  Seems quite descriptive of a chunk of the music industry too.

I'm only on series 2, but brilliant so far. Mrs. P_i_Sheffield and I dont watch tv, only boxed sets, netflix etc. Battlestar Galactica is my viewing while I'm hanging off the Beastmaker.

We binge watched all of the Star Trek franchise which was (mostly) a joy. Unfortunately never made it out of the first series, and almost didn't make it past the (ridiculous) theme tune. Voyager has my vote for the most engaging characters and storyline. Janeway is a great starship captain.

However, there's only one series where we've repeat bingewatched a complete set of episodes (not including Seinfeld and Curb your Enthusiasm, but that's not really scifi), and that's Stargate SG1. Great characters and storyline, and a vast sweep of imagination. 

Paul

I thought BSG was one of the best things I've seen, period.  It's up there with The West Wing and Breaking Bad, series that I can easily imagine coming back to and rewatching again and again.  The ending is a bit marmite, but (with a few reservations about the role of theology in the storyline) I thought it was superb.

You know about slotting in the TV movie Razor at the appropriate point?  There's disagreement about exactly when to but I think as a bridge between seasons 3 and 4 is best.

Oh, and for reasons that will become obvious, make sure that when you watch the series 3 finale (Crossroads pt 2) you have the volume turned up.  There's a near the end scene where the interplay betwen the soundtrack and the visuals is just stunning.

I whole heartedly agree with this statement

I struggle to binge watch (lose concentration after a few consecutive episodes) and like to mix TV and film genres as much as possible. I wasn't initially convinced seeing the odd episode of the SG family but a good friend was a major fan and convinced me to stick with it and I ended up getting hooked and watched the whole lot ...which is a huge amount of TV.... apple pie Sci Fi. Still working through the various Star Trek series... the original had the biggest effect (maybe as I was a kid then)  but  now I'd say Voyager is the best of the bunch. I never really 'got' the adoration of Sienfeld or Curb your Enthusiasm...worthwhile and funny but never exceptional.. Fraiser was possibly my favorite of the big hitting US situation comedy shows but furter back MASh was better. Modern US drama probably tops the lot for me so much brilliant intelligent TV that sustains near the quality of the best films across tens or even hundreds of hours... Sopranos, West Wing, The Wire, 6 Feet Under, Breaking Bad, Fargo,  True Detective.. currently part way through Orange is the New Black.

At risk of being a bit "me too", I also agree wholeheartedly except that the ending wasn't so 'marmite' for me: I neither loved it nor hated it.  But I did really like the fact that it had a proper ending - after the pilot, the four series and 'Razor' somewhere in the middle, it concluded and stopped at exactly the right time.

It wasn't abruptly cancelled in spite of showing much promise right in the middle of a story-arc (like Firefly, the 'Sarah Connor' Terminator thing, or SG Universe), nor did it jump the shark and subsequently limp on for a season longer than it should have (like Babylon 5).

Oh.  And a 'heads up' for Paul-in-Sheff..
When you have eventually worked your way through BSG completely, on no account be tempted to watch the "Caprica" prequel.  It's rubbish!

I really enjoyed it. Effects a bit ropey, but some strong plotlines and a lot of LotR references.

I was going to mention LotR. Very similar overall plot. 4 species, rangers, dark side, journey, resurrection of a character. It's not LotR in space, but it's close.

Thanks for the heads up on Caprica.

cheers

toby

B5 was originally supposed to be 5 seasons but the studio changed their mind and JMS had to rewrite to finish up in 4. They then changed their mind again and gave him a 5th season where he used some of the storylines that he'd planned to include in his original planned 5 season story arc. 

Yeah, I've read that somewhere before and understand it wasn't JMS's fault really. 
But the result was the same - a cracking penultimate season building up to a big finish..  followed by a really weak, fragmented last one cobbled together at the last minute.

I am a big SG fan. Have seen most of it. Great humour.

I also watched SG Atlantis and Universe (I thought this was excellent and a great concept)

Well the original BSG was basically just a massive expensive bit of Mormon propaganda so with that constraint to adhere to, it was bound to be limited...

Never knew that but not sure I can raise enough interest in why crap stuff is crap. Why good stuff is good is more important to me: talented  people with enough artistic freedom, enough money and a quality writing team, beat big studio budgets and special effects for me any day. You do need to get into the US quality TV revolution, as stuff like The Wire is important art.

I thought BSG did really well with its soundtrack and audio generally. And I'd love to go re-watch the scene you mentioned, only Netflix seem to have inexplicably removed the whole series

So say we all.

As an aside, Bill Mumy, who played Lenier, was one half of "comedy rock" duo Barnes and Barnes. Their most well known song being a family favourite of ours, Fishheads. 

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/bill-paxton-fish-heads-video_us_58b45...

Danger, Will Robinson!

Is their a connection between Lost in Space, Babylon 5 and Barnes and Barnes? 

Take a guess

Is it something to do with lemongrass? 

I am not “not into” it, I am just some years behind. I saw S1 of Breaking Bad before people were posting about it on here , I’ve been overtaken of course. Seen S1 and S2 Deadwood but somehow never got into S3. S1 True Detective ticked and loved, still trying to get into S2. Seen and loved all of Community. Loved Twin Peaks S3. Didn’t get into Justified despite great credentials. Tried some others that turned out to be duffers eg The Following.

As for original BSG with Lorne Greene - there are several blatant references the best being where Adama, being questioned about some obsessive plan to fly through an asteroid belt or something, holds up a book and says “this book is the truth and the prophecy, I’ll follow what this book tells me to” or words to that effect.

http://www.information-literacy.net/2009/05/battlestar-galactica-and-mormon...

Worryingly ITN news has just reported from Munich that the Prime Minister has support from the Shadows ...

On the strength of this OP and gushing praise, I took a punt and watched the first ever episode with the intention of making my way through every single show.

I never watched this show when it first came onto our screens all those years back and all I can say is that it has not aged well.  Not well at all.

Sadly I shall not be progressing beyond the first episode.

I'm afraid now to watch back old episodes of Star Trek the next generation or Deep Space Nine for fear of having my nostalgic dreams crushed by the ravages of 80s and 90s perceptions of science fiction.

You really want to know what I want? You really want to know the truth? I want my people to take back control of their rightful place .... I want to see the British stretch forth their hand again, and command the seas.  I-I want a rebirth of glory, a renaissance of power. I want to stop running through my life like a man late for an appointment, afraid to- to look back, or to look forward. I want us to be what we used to BE! I want…I want it all back, the way that it was!

A RED WHITE AND BLUE BREXIT!

Does that answer your question?

first ep was pretty weak in almost every way and then it got better and better until the last season.

cheers

toby