Babylon 5

this is how to write and air a tv show. JMS knows how to write and direct a story. that he wrote a four season arc with a heart-wrenching but beautiful and appropriate is something he should be praised for. In many ways, it's a shame that the fifth season had to be written and tacked on. however, it neither took away from the series nor added anything to it. Sleeping in the Light will always be the best episode of anything i've ever seen on television. i've been a fan of B5 since the first movies and the pilot aired. it's perfect as is. and i thank JMS for giving us this amazing gift.

Nothing compares to this series. It holds up brilliantly in rewatch value and the Story is fantasticly woven. Pull one thread of plot and it would all unravel. Even in the last two seasons that were uncertain of renewal. SyFy has destroyed all space series. We need Joe back.... With the right people, at the right place, at the right time. All alone in the night.

Back in the mid-90's when episodic television was king, along came Babylon 5 and creator J. Michael Straczynski's idea to tell a novel on television. Framed as a full story, with a clear beginning, middle, and end, JMS was able to tell a sprawling story that showed that the Star Trek mentality of a perfect-society and reset buttons aplenty did not have to define science fiction television (disclaimer: I love Star Trek, up until Voyager, but too many shows followed the Star Trek formula, which was becoming cliched). Shows such as the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica, where the problems the characters faced one episode continued to affect them for many episodes/seasons, had Babylon 5 to thank for setting the bar. Yes, the graphics seem dated, but that's true of many sci-fi shows, as they all rely on special effects, a field in which breakthroughs are occurring very quickly. And, yes, JMS' dialogue does veer into cheesy/boring territory. And, yes, the fight choreography is questionable. I prefer to view all of these as quirks which add to my love of the show!