Reaction videos

[Springer]

Has anyone else tried Babylon 5 For the First Time?


Basically two Star Trek podcasters watching B5 for the first time ever and viewing it through the lens of the show they love. It's pretty good, especially when they come across an episode with a direct Trek connection like Mind War or The War Prayer. It's a review video rather than a reaction video though.

Thanks for the recommendation, I've just subscribed to their channel! Looking forward to hearing their thoughts when they get to some of the really big arc episodes - they're going to be blown away!

 

[Looney]

Ugggggh this is killing me! I've tried to get my friend to do something with Babylon 5 on our YouTube channel for years and all he does is give me excuses. Now it seems like EVERYONE else is doing it! :brickwall::brickwall::brickwall::brickwall:

 

[Karajorma]

That just shows that the market is there.

 

[LateArrival]

That just shows that the market is there.

Would the market be there:
A) Excellent writing keeps it current.
B) Recent re-mastering-ish streaming availability.
C) People discovering it due to news of the potential reboot.
D) Recommendations of others.
E) Need for Good SF is always there.
F) Solely to annoy a certain someone :brickwall: who is on the fence about creating similar videos.


Read that the real benefit of it being available on a service such as HBOMax is that new viewers can Sample it, whereas on other platforms (Amazon, etc) the only option is an outright purchase. Potential viewers would want to get a taste of the series first before committing to spend $$$$, and if they can watch it At No Extra Charge, so much the better!

On the topic of streaming, was looking at MC's videos, and am assuming that since the picture-in-picture is 16x9 that she is watching the DVDs rather than the 2021 re-releases?

 

[Looney]

Of course, I just want to do it to do it. He is the one demanding views if we are going to do so many episodes. I'm more interested in creating a decent product. If people watch it and like that is great, but the point for me is making something decent and if it reaches a handful of people I'll be happy. Which is good because our subscription base is only a handful of people. :guffaw:

You know MC took too long posting between her last two videos and I haven't watched the most recent one yet. That is another thing that worries me. We put so much time and effort into our videos that we've only managed to release 7 to 10 a year. So yes we need a more streamlined approach, which is the opposite of my vision for B5 videos. But she just took a couple weeks between B5 videos and it is like I lost interest. What a world!

I am soooooooo glad I subscribed to HBO Max, but I already owned them all on Amazon so that is just a bonus.

 

[LateArrival]

You know MC took too long posting between her last two videos and I haven't watched the most recent one yet. That is another thing that worries me. We put so much time and effort into our videos that we've only managed to release 7 to 10 a year. So yes we need a more streamlined approach, which is the opposite of my vision for B5 videos. But she just took a couple weeks between B5 videos and it is like I lost interest. What a world!

She is also posting Stargate videos. On the Patreon side, she is now at S01E07.

 

[Looney]

She is also posting Stargate videos. On the Patreon side, she is now at S01E07.

Okay I did get caught up on the B5 side.....

I have such a troubled relationship with Stargate. I both love and dislike it. (Hate was way too strong a term.) If it weren't form my LOVE of the cast Stargate SG-1 is one of the biggest shows be lobbying for a proper reboot where the story is told by better storytellers.

Biggest issues....
- Never should have gone near ascension and definitely should have never doubled down on it.
- Too much concern for one-upmanship.
- Failure to recognize their own strengths and regularly focus on them.

These three things led to soooo man other issues, like what ruined the Replicators for me. Replicators were such great villains, but the need to focus on one-upsmanship ruined them for me.

 

[KoshFan]

So after a kerfuffle with WB, Medusa is back to posting B5 recaps. She just did "The Face of the Enemy" and was appropriately furious in, like, five different directions.

I'm quite looking forward to her reaction to "Intersections in Real Time," although "The Deconstruction of Falling Stars" is another head-trip favorite of mine...

 

[LateArrival]

So after a kerfuffle with WB, Medusa is back to posting B5 recaps. She just did "The Face of the Enemy" and was appropriately furious in, like, five different directions.

I'm quite looking forward to her reaction to "Intersections in Real Time," although "The Deconstruction of Falling Stars" is another head-trip favorite of mine...

On the Patreon side, she just posted "A View From the Gallery". Great as always, but only eighteen to go for the series.

 

[Karajorma]

On the Patreon side, she just posted "A View From the Gallery". Great as always, but only eighteen to go for the series.

Damn it! I was going to go to bed then I noticed that Mega Reacts just did In The Shadow of Z'ha'dum and I had to watch that (he's putting B5 in his top 3 sci-fi shows of all time already. I think it might take his top spot when he gets to S3 and S4).



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCmbIhjfOQQ


And meanwhile B5 for the first time is an episode away from Chrysalis so I was going to watch the Quality of Mercy reaction vid (I've already seen the analysis one) and maybe get a late bedtime but I've been waiting for A View From the Gallery since MC started S5 so I guess it will have to wait.



As problems go, too much B5 discussions with new fans is not the worst one I've ever had.

 

[Springer]

And meanwhile B5 for the first time is an episode away from Chrysalis

I have to admit, I had to stop watching them. I think the last one of theirs that I watched was Signs and Portents. Are they still doing their 'would it make a good Star Trek episode?' schtick? It just felt to me that they didn't really 'get' B5 - their favourite episodes are the most Star Trek-like ones and they measure everything in terms of how it compares to Trek.

And I got a bit tired of them criticising Michael O'Hare. I asked in the YouTube comments if they could hold judgement at least until the beginning of season 2, and received a fairly blunt reply that no they're going to continue saying how they think he damages the show. It just felt a bit dismissive.

I realised I was watching certain reaction videos, such as theirs, to try and find justification for how I feel about the show, which I guess stems from some failing of my own. So I stopped watching.

I still watch Medusa Cascade though, just for the honest emotions, though I think she hit her peak in season 3. She feels a bit more reserved in her season 4 vids!

 

[Karajorma]

I find them very critical of the show, but they clearly like it so it's not a bad thing. I tend to find that when it comes to O'Hare people tend to either love or hate him the first time they watch.



I tend to think it's fair for them to react to the shows as they watch them. Someone did make them aware of O'Hare's mental health issues and they did ease off on him after that.

 

[Moonface]

And meanwhile B5 for the first time is an episode away from Chrysalis

I have to admit, I had to stop watching them. I think the last one of theirs that I watched was Signs and Portents. Are they still doing their 'would it make a good Star Trek episode?' schtick? It just felt to me that they didn't really 'get' B5 - their favourite episodes are the most Star Trek-like ones and they measure everything in terms of how it compares to Trek.

And I got a bit tired of them criticising Michael O'Hare. I asked in the YouTube comments if they could hold judgement at least until the beginning of season 2, and received a fairly blunt reply that no they're going to continue saying how they think he damages the show. It just felt a bit dismissive.

I realised I was watching certain reaction videos, such as theirs, to try and find justification for how I feel about the show, which I guess stems from some failing of my own. So I stopped watching.

I still watch Medusa Cascade though, just for the honest emotions, though I think she hit her peak in season 3. She feels a bit more reserved in her season 4 vids!

I still like to watch them. They are very thorough and most of their criticism I find really fair. And I really like that they are obviously paying attention. They are picking up on a lot of "breadcrumbs" and they do hit the bullseye with some of their theories about future events just based on that.

In the meantime they did find out for themselves that their scoring system is lacking as they keep running into the "problem" that they give the episode 0 deltas, yet liked it very much. I think in the aftermath of the chrysalis episode they asked their viewers to suggest a symbol they can use to grade how much they actually liked the episode itself, without having to resort only to their original idea of rating how much of a "hope for the future" quality this episode has.

So I guess we'll keep seeing them grading future episodes with X amount of deltas and Y amount of starfuries (or whatever) und when B5 get's really going I guess there will be longer phases in which they will grade very low on the delta scale but quite high in the starfury scale...

 

[vacantlook]

Aside from Medusa Cascade, who for me is the current top tier standard of B5 reactions, I've lately gotten into the "Grey 17 Babylon 5 Podcast," which is on YouTube in addition to podcast-specific sites. They have a larger number of participants than I expected when I first pressed play, and they are an even mix of those well acquainted with the show and newcomers. Their most recent was for the episode "Eyes."

 

[Looney]

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh I'm so annoyed!!!!! Five years ago I tried to get the guy I have a YouTube Channel with to do a Babylon 5 show and he has fought it ever since. Now EVERYONE is doing one and and we'll never find an audience!!!!! Plus he is now insisting he wants to do it as a Podcast because it will be easier to edit.

EVERYONE PLEASE START SENDING ME SUGGESTIONS ON WHAT YOU WOULD LOVE TO SEE IN BABYLON 5 RELATED VIDEOS AND/OR PODCASTS DONE BY A NEWBIE WHO IS A SCIENCE FICTION FAN AND YOUR'S TRULY.


I need to get him going on this, but he keeps stalling. In fairness it doesn't look like it, but what we do takes a lot of work and we are both very busy people.

HMMMMM should I start a thread with this question? . . . . . .

 

[hypatia]

Do you ever do an episode on your own? It’s too bad, that would have been fun to watch. I’ve seen a You Tube video or two on a possible B5 revival, but not a bunch of them.

 

[Looney]

Do you ever do an episode on your own?

No I am strictly behind the scenes producing, writing, and directing. He has all of the equipment, ability to edit, and desire to see himself on the screen. I did one myself from start to finish, but it took forever using the equipment I have all to get about a minute worth of video. And if you saw me on camera you would likely stop watching. :guffaw:

It’s too bad, that would have been fun to watch. I’ve seen a You Tube video or two on a possible B5 revival, but not a bunch of them.

I have seen five or so talking about revivals and several reaction videos.

 

[LateArrival]

EVERYONE PLEASE START SENDING ME SUGGESTIONS ON WHAT YOU WOULD LOVE TO SEE IN BABYLON 5 RELATED VIDEOS AND/OR PODCASTS DONE BY A NEWBIE WHO IS A SCIENCE FICTION FAN AND YOUR'S TRULY.

Maybe something that hasn't been done before, but besides subscribing to MC, have only sampled a few others so wouldn't know what has/hasn't been tried. Has anyone covered only the Arc shows/scenes and what the consequences are later (or earlier ) in the series? The Babylon File was a two book series that - along with some funny errors - had a section after each episode summary that discussed Arc points.


...and if memory serves, the author wrote that Garibaldi and Delenn left together for Mars at the end of Objects at Rest.

 

[hypatia]

Do you ever do an episode on your own?

No I am strictly behind the scenes producing, writing, and directing. He has all of the equipment, ability to edit, and desire to see himself on the screen. I did one myself from start to finish, but it took forever using the equipment I have all to get about a minute worth of video. And if you saw me on camera you would likely stop watching. :guffaw:

It’s too bad, that would have been fun to watch. I’ve seen a You Tube video or two on a possible B5 revival, but not a bunch of them.

I have seen five or so talking about revivals and several reaction videos.

That's really interesting. Nothing wrong with being behind the camera.

 

[vacantlook]

Found another reactor on YouTube that I've been enjoying (I haven't watched all of her videos for B5 yet though).

Shelley's Babylon 5 reaction playlist.

.