Should I watch B5?

[Neroon]

But nuBSG took the name of an old show and tried to say it was basically the same, just "updated a little." Sorry, it's not. It's fake. It's like taking imitation vanilla extract and trying to pass it off as real vanilla extract, and then wondering why those who can tell the difference are offended.

Never seen old BSG, and I'm a huge fan of the new show. To be honest, from what I've read the old show seems quite different.

In short, the building blocks are all the same. 12 colonies, Starbuck, Apollo, Adama, Baltar, Tigh, Boomer, Vipers, the holocaust perpetrated by the Cylons, Baltar's betrayal of humanity, Baltar ends up on base ship, Baltar is re-captured and jailed, Baltar is released from jail.

But in execution, philosophy, and tone, the original Battlestar Galactica and the new Battlestar Galactica are diametrically opposed.

Pssst.... if Timewalker was advised to take BSG discussion to the BSG forum, that pretty much extends to everyone else, ja?

 

[MetalPants]

B5 is simply the best television show I have ever watched.

 

[Nedersong]

I'd recommend it.

Especially since DS9 was created to compete with B5.

But it has some great stuff in it.

Despite some of it's problems.

And it is ballsier than DS9.

Especially the dialogue between Londo and Vir while planning to kill the Emperor of the Centauri.

 

[BigFoot]

Another "hell yeah" from me.

 

[Harvey]

Never seen old BSG, and I'm a huge fan of the new show. To be honest, from what I've read the old show seems quite different.

In short, the building blocks are all the same. 12 colonies, Starbuck, Apollo, Adama, Baltar, Tigh, Boomer, Vipers, the holocaust perpetrated by the Cylons, Baltar's betrayal of humanity, Baltar ends up on base ship, Baltar is re-captured and jailed, Baltar is released from jail.

But in execution, philosophy, and tone, the original Battlestar Galactica and the new Battlestar Galactica are diametrically opposed.

Pssst.... if Timewalker was advised to take BSG discussion to the BSG forum, that pretty much extends to everyone else, ja?

Since Danoz was the OP, I didn't feel it was out of the purview of this thread, but I'll refrain from any more tangents. No worries.

 

[sidious618]

Just to add to what everyone else is saying: it's a great show, my personal favorite, and I think you'll enjoy it. I certainly did.

 

[Starfleet Engineer]

Yes. But don't decide you're going to try it out and see if you like it. Committ to watching all five seasons.

 

[Timewalker]

Especially the dialogue between Londo and Vir while planning to kill the Emperor of the Centauri.

I thought the Emperor was a hoot, since I was used to seeing him play a minister on my soap, One Life To Live (Rev. Andrew Carpenter).

 

[Timby]

I was first exposed to B5 when I rented the DVD of The Gathering / In the Beginning during my freshman year of college. After that, I began buying the DVD sets as soon as they were released.

While my Season 1 DVD set had a damaged disc from Day 1 (the disc that has "A Voice in the Wilderness" and "Babylon Squared" is severely scratched and now readable by only one of my DVD players -- oddly enough, the one that's nearly ten years old), my best friend in high school and college was immediately hooked, and we actually wound up watching the Season 3 and Season 4 sets in marathons, twelve hours a day. Back then, I adored the show.

I've just recently gotten my wife watching the show, and while I'm no longer as wildly enthusiastic about it, I still enjoy it a great deal. I have a rather unpopular opinion that it was greatly harmed by certain casting changes (not saying what, due to spoilers and all that), and some of the acting is just awful (Claudia Christian may be nice to look at, but she's utterly horrible as an actress, and Jerry Doyle is a poor man's Bruce Willis with pure charisma replacing the talent), and the fourth season suffers a lot for its compressed story ... but despite its flaws, it's probably one of the best programs I've ever watched, cover-to-cover.

 

[glindros]

While I wouldn't say it's changed my life, it certainly has made it better. B5 is one of the best scifi shows to appear. You do yourself an incredible disservice if you don't avail yourself of it.

 

[Angel4576]

Claudia Christian may be nice to look at, but she's utterly horrible as an actress.

I thought she was pretty hit and miss to be honest. I thought that she got better as the seasons rolled by, but I'd agree, one of the weaker performers for me.

Jerry Doyle is a poor man's Bruce Willis with pure charisma replacing the talent.

Worked for me though, Garibaldi was always one of my favourite characters from the show, and I thought Doyle's performances during the Seasons 4 & 5 plotlines were pretty good.

the fourth season suffers a lot for its compressed story.

I actually thought that the fifth season suffered more. If anything, the fourth season was better than it probably would have been otherwise.

 

[backstept]

I've just started watching it on Hulu . . . I think when B5 originally aired it was on at the same time as DS9 if I'm not mistaken, so my family watched DS9 and I never got into B5 . . .

one thing that annoys me about hulu is how they organize the episodes . . . they're in reverse chronological order with no obvious way to sort the list . . .

 

[Lindley]

I think when B5 originally aired it was on at the same time as DS9 if I'm not mistaken

Approximately. You can think of B5 season n as being concurrent with DS9 season n+1. Oh, and "The Gathering" takes place about a year before season 1.