Why is it that everytime there is a discussion about the merits of B5 it turns into Trek bashing??? I've said it here before, if there were no Trek, there would be no B5. That has nothing to do with the quality of B5 or the writing. It has to do with the fact that Trek opened doors and when Paramount started making $$$ others realized that science fiction viewers weren't all crazy loner geeks with nothing better to do with themselves but act out role playing games & discuss "stupid" topics that no one in the main stream cared about.
The best thing about Roddenbery's baby is that people who wouldn't have admitted to watching sci-fi if their very lives depended on it openly quote Spock and can tell you what a dillithium crystal is. (though I obviously can't spell it) /ubbthreads/images/icons/smile.gif Say whatever you want, but the fan base for Trek is over 30 years old and gets stronger every day. And it was TNG that made it possible for an hour long sci-fi show to make a successful weekly showing during prime time. Why can't we ever give ourselves a reality check? Don't like Wesley Crusher? Well, you wouldn't know who he was if you hadn't watched the show!
Back to the topic, and off my mad rant. I was drawn to B5 for the same reasons that I settled into DS9. At some point I realized that there was an over-all story being told and I wanted to find out what it was. Don't get me wrong, prior to both shows I watched TNG and was happy for high quality graphics and interesting story lines. --Buck Rodgers in the 25th Century (or whenever) it wasn't.--
I'm the first one to admit that I'm one big ole science fiction geek. But, I have my standards and don't like just anything. I only read two sci-fi serials, B5 & Trek. (and I'm pretty particular about my Trek so not just anyone--though I reluctantly admit to having bought 2 Voyager books but I was desperate for something sci fi to read & they didn't kill me)
B5 caught me by accident. I didn't know what it was & had never heard of it. But, the local network did something interesting. It showed new episodes of DS9 at 8:00, squeezed B5 in at 9:00, then put TNG on at 10:00 and a 1st or 2nd season DS9 rerun on at 11:00. If they hadn't done that, I wouldn't have caught B5. And, if it hadn't been for my 1) love of sci-fi 2) serious interest in the developing story of DS9 and 3) the stations formatting, I wouldn't have watched the show. ---Granted, I think they were just dumping all the sci-fi on at one time, but it filled up my Friday nights 'cause that was no longer 'date night' in my house!
Aside from it being a serial, or perhaps because it was, I think B5 was great because it not only told a big story with side stories but we got to really know the characters. They had personality and it was like a soap opera. I know B5ers who talk about Ivanova like she was Daytime's biggest diva, Erica Kane (aka Susan Lucci).
Finally, one thing that is unique to science fiction story telling is that it incorporates a significant amount of mysticism and religious symbolism. B5 did that and even had atheists living and dying for the one out here in viewer land. Bits and pieces of that are found in other sci-fi shows and even the over-all Trek universe but it is most noted in B5 & DS9. Many don't like that and those are the folks who didn't like either of these shows. There is something different in the viewers and lovers of these two sci-fi genres (yes, they get to be a genre) which sets the fans apart from others. It does not make us "better", "smarter", more "deep" or "intellectual". It makes us different and that is why we think B5 is so great. The show brought something to us that we felt was missing from other shows, it captured our attention and held us for 5 (or 7) years. Obviously, the bulk of sci-fi viewers didn't feel the same way or the same thing for either of these two shows because we didn't break ratings records.
Oh, and I will be buying the complete DVD sets of both B5 and DS9 when they become available.
