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Computer generated, yet very cool, special effects, space scenes and ships. Aliens who were sort of, you know, alien, some very alien, some not so. A story line that encompassed all of "known" space and four years of television - the fifth season was as much cleaning up of loose ends as anything else. Characters, major and minor, developed to the point where they weren't just characters, but could nearly pass for people. Well written, well conceived, interesting sub plots. An interesting premise. Good guys and bad guys, but which were which, really? Man, many shades of grey. A detailed, intricate backdrop.
You can come up with a lot of good things to say about B5, especially after the end of first season cast adjustments were made - Bruce Boxleightner made a far better station commander and leader than Commander 2 by 4 by virtue of being a far better actor.
In my mind, B5 is unquestionably the best SF TV show of the last decade or so. Was it as influential as Star Trek? Well, no, but then no one has really tried to do what B5 tried and succeeded so well at: to tell one big honking story that would keep us interested for five years. I'd love for someone else to try, I really would. But Hollywood doesn't really like to try something risky like hiring good writers, good production staff, good special effects teams, etc, all at the same time. Projects like that are way too expensive, you know, and what if it doesn't work?
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Page last updated: 13 Apr 2003.