Best episode to convert newbies

in my opinion was that the Captain (Russ Tamblyn?) character just seemed a bit flat, wooden.

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You wouldn't say that about him if he were still a member of "The Jets" with a switchblade in his hand.

Anyway, who cares. He's a guest star. Not something a new viewer is going to use to judge a series. (Same with Jinxo.) The idea is to pick episodes to hook someone new without giving anything away, not to pick episodes that are flawless in every way.

Regards,

Joe

All right, now I feel a little silly. I recently saw that actor's face in the extra features for West Side Story, but only until this moment did I match the two faces together. Man. That's cool.

He was also in the movie 'Seven Brides for Seven Brothers'. Great dancer

You all forget three very good episodes

--"Severed Dreams"-All you need to know to understand the episode is two things (1) Earth is ruled by a bad man. (2) Big "evil" things called Shadows are doing big "evil" things. This episode is action packed but not without sacrificing the story.

--"Into the Fire"--End of the Shadow War. Also action packed but story driven. Completely easy to understand. A newbie may be confused at the start but points are explained in time.

--"Endgame"-Coolest battle sequences in the show. The final fight to free earth. Again all you really need to know is (1) Earth is ruled by bad man and (2) Shadows were big "evil" things who had done big "evil" things

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Bah, they are too CGI based episodes. I really don't care about "epic battles" that much, so for me these wouldn't work. Think about it, if you show Svered Dreams first, then the viewer will think that this whole show is about "ships firing at each other, and that's cool". Nono... If you really like B5, that's not because of CGI effects, it's because of story. Those three "story" episodes that you pointed out, were quite good.

Me, myself and I would choose The Gathering, the original edition. It hooked me.

Russ Tamblyn flat and wooden? He is known for being flamboyant, and over acting, at least a bit. I liked him in A Distant Star, and as the LSD Professor in Twin Peaks.

As to which ep to introduce newbies... well War Prayer was the ep that convinced me that this was no ordinary TV crapola. But for B5, I think you really need to see several eps back to back, from the first season, to really get into it.

*grin* I guess I missed those flamboyant performances. All I know is that I didn't like his acting/character and it affected my enjoyment of the ep.

I do sometimes judge an ep by the calibre of the guest stars, personal quirk of mine I guess. For example, I found the Long Dark an annoying episode (even though I generally like Dwight Schultz's acting and there were parts of the story that I found intriguing), because of the female lost scientist character - couldn't stand her. Same goes for the girl in Survivors (who was stiff and inscrutable to the point of being DULL)- though I LOVED Garibaldi's story in that episode and rewatch it for his development.

So for me guest stars did have an impact on first viewing.

I do sometimes judge an ep by the calibre of the guest stars, personal quirk of mine I guess.

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Well there's nothing wrong with judging an episode based on the guest star. As a rule a guest star is a big part of a given episode. So if you think the guest star stinks, the episode is going to be a loser for you.

What doesn't make sense is then using that episode to judge the series. And we were talking about episodes to hook a new fan on the series. If the first episode of a show is one with a guest star you hate - watch another episode before you write the series off.

Regards,

Joe

Oh I definitely agree on that! I would hope that if one is trying to persuade someone to give Bab5 a try, that newbie would be willing to watch more than one episode to get a good feel for the series.

I just remember I had to convince my sister to watch more than a few because she didn't like Michael O'Hare's acting at all. It was a bit problematic for me to find eps to hook her into the story. I mean Sinclair is very important to the arcs, especially in the first season. Guest stars that might put a viewer off are more easily avoided.

I stand by Parliament of Dreams as my first choice.

If you need something a little more dramatic, with a political focus and 'in the middle of things' and you don't mind skipping some arc stuff, I would pick Coming of the Shadows.

In the Beginning is great too, awesome mix of action, character and pathos, but I wouldn't show it to a newbie who likes to see stories unfold and mysteries to unravel themselves over time. Londo being the Centauri Emperor might be too much of a spoiler.

I recently started a friend of mine off on "Interludes and Examinations", knowing he'd love all the CGI battles and hoping that the loss of Kosh would have an impact on him.

His first reaction was "so he sacrificed himself to give them a victory!"

I think this guy is starting to realise the value of plotlines.

So ... how on earth do I still show

a) good space battles, aliens etc. (at least until he's hooked):
but with
b) heavy arc material?
And yet have plenty of surprises in store for further down the road?

My initial thought was Messages From Earth/Point of No Return/ and Severed Dreams, or maybe Chrysalis or The Long, Twilight Struggle.

Hmmm ... soo many good episodes to choose from!

I hate to repeat myself but there is two pieces of B5 designed to hook new viewers. One of them contains big space battles etc and both appear nicely on a single DVD.

While all that stuff about B5 being not a mystery et al is true, my parents and a friend happened to watch some of it (my parents were recording it for me) and they all told me they were bored out of their wits and didn't understand how I could like that stuff. Of course I love it and came to believe that it is best appreciated by a fan who is familiar with the characters, allowing In the Beginning to act as sort of a photo album.

And, yes, the spoiler thing. One of the great things about B5 is that you get the mystery aspect if you watch it without any previous knowledge going into it and watch it all in broadcast order, and the then the "we know what's going to happen but they don't" thing when you watch it again. By hitting the newbie with In the Beginning, you're denying them the pleasure of the first.

I feel the first few episodes are strong on their own and don't see any reason not to just watch it in broadcasting order. As long as they can get over the "bird man" (as one friend called Londo, who himself did not get over it) and trusts you that there is a lot of sweet arc stuff, it should be cool.

Then again, I've never successfully hooked anyone on the show. Meh.

PillowRock makes a good point about how different things will grab different people. Look at my avatar. The Cartagia stuff is the first B5 stuff I saw. I was dying to know how that nutjob became Emperor and what was the deal with the orange guy being such a bad-ass.

Years ago I tried to interest a friend by loaning her one video tape with about four episodes on it from the middle of year 2.
It didn't work. She hated it and never watched it again.
Of course ItB wasn't available then but if I had to do it over now I would go with ItB. I would watch it with him/her and be prepared to stop the tape and answer any questions as required.

The message must be getting out to some people other thand died-in-the-wool fans judging by the number of DVDs that have been sold.