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What does Babylon 5 mean to you ?

If anything ? I know it is just a tv show but is there a meaning as to why you post to this board to watch a show.Many have seen numerous times. I know it may seem like a rambling post but it is a question I have been meaning to ask.
 
The key thing for me has to what it has done to my understanding of how a story works. I liked watching an episode and then going to read what JMS had to say about it. It gave me a new insight into television and writing.

Babylon 5 was the first show I watched with an arc that lasted more then a few episodes. Often, I'm not satisfied with a series that is entirely standalone episodes.

I can also say that B5 is the biggest story I've ever seen.

A few good sayings like: "wouldn't it be much worse if life were fair, and all the terrible things that happen to us come because we actually deserve them? "

or

"Never start a fight. But always finish it."



Good Question /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif
 
During its 5-year run Babylon 5 had a profound effect on me because it set the standard by which I judged all other
television shows. There is nothing quite like it, mainstream or scifi. It broke new ground in so many ways -- the 5-year arc, the philosophical questions that were presented to us not only by the whole story but also in individual episodes. The high standards of writing and acting were worthy of Oscar consideration even though it was completly overlooked.

I have to admit I haven't really been satisfied with any tv show since then. I have put my tapes away for the present
but one day soon I am going to go through it again, episode by episode, not too fast so that I can absorb it all over
again.
 
It means a lot , It means something to look forward to at the end of everyday, something to strike up an interesting conversation with about, It means something to confuse your friends about with. It means something to laugh about in teh far future. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
For me B5 was a tv show that was written with a purpose. I'd never heard of such a thing before. He had a beginning, middle, and even end worked out? /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif This is not your typical American tv sci-fi here. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

The stories were great, so I'd also say B5 meant to me a great show to watch every single week. Then go back and see the repeats of Season 1 that I had missed.

Now that I've broken down and ordered a DVD player, I do look forward to the DVD's coming. I won't watch the sci-fi channel ever again, probably, once I get all of B5 on DVD. /forums/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif

Well, maybe once or twice for a miniseries, if I manage to hear when they are going to be aired. Once you stop watching a channel, it's remarkably easy to miss their specials. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
Good question. I guess for me it's pretty much the show that brought me back to TV watching, and back to science fiction (I was into scifi as a kid but kind of lost interest for many years).

And it meant I got a new obsession. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif In the shape of a certain Narn ambassador, that is. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif
 
For me, it started basically as a good escape from real life issues. I started watching it when it went to TNT, I was hooked. It was odd watching season 5 and 1-4 simultaneously, and I sure understood things and learned to appreciate it more the 2nd,3rd and 4th time through the series. But it is easily my favorite series of all time, and I cannot wait til christmas when I hope my parents get me the DVD set! /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
Man, this is a huge question.

Personally, I find the philosophies so big and so significant that I often apply B5 stuff to daily life. Also (as I'm a bit of a pessimist) I often see the world's problems looming much as the Shadows loomed, and I find in B5 an example to follow for meeting the coming crises. G'Kar is such a shining example of a good person (after "Dust to Dust" that is) and Sheridan is such a classic good guy that I sometimes wish that they were real and here to help us. But thinking about it I realize that one of the messages of B5 is that ordinary people can become extraordinary heroes. In other words, B5's had a profound influence on my life.

I also periodically find myself wishing I had a fighting pike.
 
Bastards! All of you! You already took the words right out of my mouth /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif
 
First of all, it's an absolutely storming story. That is primarily what jms set out to do and he succeeded in spades.

Secondly, B5 has given me so much over the last nine years. Because of that station, I have gained;

Two good friends,
The inspiration to finish writing my book after ten years,
An introduction to fan fiction,
A greater understanding of life through jms' writing in the show,
Using the above, some comfort during a couple of low periods in my life in the last seven years,
An escape from the daily grind once a week, or when I watch the vids,
A whole new community of people as wacky as me, through conventions and the internet.

No other show has affected my life so completely before. I doubt there will be another.
 
you mean you actually have RL friends who like B5? Thats so awesome. If I get the DVD set I want to try to get my dad into it, but I doubt I'll be able to convert any of my friends. hehe.

TJ
 
I first saw B5 (TNT reruns) during a turbulent time in my life where I was faced with indecisions about my life's direction. At the time, it served as fresh escapism and a sort of grounding for where stray thoughts would go. I'm not saying it "changed my life" or anything like that, but it was briefly the primary cultural, or pop cultural, influence on me.

Odd that I'm going through a similar phase in my life personally now that B5 is out on DVD and back in my life.
 
GKarsEye, thats what happened to me when I started watchin.

Although luckily I'm not going through that again at this point in time:D
 
Lessons learnt from B5:

1. The power of a single voice.
2. Faith manages.
3. Be careful how many heads you step on, on the way up; you may need their help on the way back down.
4. Respect of others beliefs/traditions.
5. Not everything in the universe can be explained.
6. Not every problem has an easy answer.
7. Not every solution has without consequence.
8. True bravery is demonstrated when the odds are stacked against you.
9. It is easy to find a cause to die for, but not so easy to find something to live for.
10. Some favours come with too high a price.
11. Be careful what you wish for, you may get it.
12. No good deed goes unpunished.
13. Everyone has skeletons.
14. The right decisions are often the hardest.
15. True sacrifice is not for glory, respect, honour or high regard, but the willingness to do it all alone in the dark where no-one will know.
16. A utopian universe does not exist.
17. Everything has an achilles heal.
18. Half a truth is worse than a lie.
19. Don't start a fight but always finish it.
20. Watch out for shadows, they move when you are not watching them.
 
Hmm.. It means a lot to me. It's nice to "escape" reality for a couple of minutes with it. It's good to know that there are others like me. Heh, I remember when I saw The Gathering on finnish television years and years ago... I was hooked because of CGI, I mean Vorlons.. wow.. and jump points.. It was so different to any other Sci-Fi back then (and it's now also) that it became.. well.. something to live for /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif. Dramatically said.

I was always in Sci-Fi. And I had always my own world... Babylon 5 kinda maked it all real..
 
Forgot this the last time I posted. Sheridan's last words have turned every sunrise into a near-religious experience for me. (Does that count as a spoiler?)
 
I enjoy sharing communications and opinions with people who have a great appreciation of a sadly underrated program of which I also have a great appreciation.

There is an odd facet to my personality in that I love genre shows more than mainstream shows, specifically sci fi. I love West Wing, watch every episode and believe that Aaron Sorkin is a brilliant, amazingly talented writer, but if asked which I would rather see last another season, West Wing or Firefly, the truth is I would choose Firefly. Well done sci fi brings out my fannish qualities in a big way. For the record, despite it's odd 'cowboys in space' theme, Firefly is quite well done. And since B5 is the best sci fi tv show ever, I have little choice but to re-watch eopisodes and involve myself in bboard discussions. I only wish I got into computers and the internet years earlier.
 

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