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A Techtite Review
Gosh, it's finally over, isn't
it...? How wonderful! Don't worry, kids; I'm not talking about
Babylon 5's demise per se, though rather
the demise of all the pre-pubsescent wars between this show's
"Babylers" and Star Trekkies. "You suck!"..."No,
you suck!"..."No, You!"..."You!"..."Youuuuu!"
That was befofe both shows, and their flawed spin
offs, were given notice of their (eventual) walking papers. Ah,
blissful silence again. All praise the nielsen rating.
However, I digress. As space
shows go, Babylon 5 was admirable. Yes, admirable...particularly
given the show's background. After all, prior to B5,
creator J. Michael Straczynski (JMS) was better known as writer
(or editor) for cartoons like He-Man, She-Ra,
and The Real Ghostbusters. His only prior hit as
(co)producer was Murder She Wrote; not exactly
sci fi. Regardless, in Babylon 5 he created a true
phenomenon for years. Yes, by the time the show was cancelled, many of
these "fans" left the show faster than you could say
"He-man" or "She-Ra." On the other hand, while the
show was on, the program had an excellent fan base that seemed to rival
even Star Wars or Star Trek. This was no easy feat. In sci-fi, this is borderline
impossible.
For
those who want a summary, I guess it's best to quote the Captain
of the station itself, in season 1 : "It was the dawn of
the third age of mankind, ten years after the Earth-Minbari War.
The Babylon Project was a dream given form. Its goal: to prevent
another war by creating a place where humans and aliens could
work out their differences peacefully. It's a port of call, home
away from home for diplomats, hustlers, entrepreneurs, and wanderers.
Humans and aliens wrapped in two million, five hundred thousand
tons of spinning metal, all alone in the night. It can be a dangerous
place, but it's our last, best hope for peace. This is the story
of the last of the Babylon stations. The year is 2258. The name
of the place is Babylon 5." In short, a unique plotline
concept.
If only other aspects of the
show were as unique; its driving elements in special FX, subplots,
and appearance, were not. The most major aliens, other than humans,
 have half-bald heads,
including the women; an idea already done in the underdog film
classic, The Last Starfighter. Also like Starfighter,
computer-generated spaceships look like something right out of
a video game; in many cases, the flight sim Wing Commander
had better FX. One or two subplots were taken from obscure sci-fi
TV that B5 writers apparently felt were long forgotten,
such as Space 1999, Battlestar Galactica
and Buck Rogers. The series is set in the mid-to-late
23rd century, after a major war; a timeline not unlike the original Star Trek series. No sooner did
X-Files
become a hit, then there were subplots involving ancient alien
ruins, conspiracies, and government cover-ups. Even the idea
of a sci-fi serial was not unique, and was at best a salute to
the classic Japanese anime series, Space Cruiser Yamoto
(aka Star Blazers to US audiences). No biggie;
originality is not as important as quality, right?
JMS' biggest problem was getting
good ratings for his show. Babylon 5 was
threatened with the syndication axe on every season!
By the end of season 4, Turner Network
Television (TNT) made a bold move of buying the rights to airing B5; both old and new episodes. This was a good
thing only to those who never tuned into TNT; a network more
interested in Gilligan's Island re-runs than sci-fi.
Don't argue; the "best" sci-fi on TNT, prior to B5,
were re-runs of that '70s show based on the film Logan's
Run. What other sci-fi did they ever show? To the best of my
knowledge, none. This was hardly the best "home" for B5...
B5's producers could've cared less; they were too busy
looking at the dollar-signs a Ted Turner station offered. No sooner did a main
star get cold feet on the deal, then they let her go...no matter how
crucial to the show she was.
The character played by Claudia "Ivanova" Christian
was second in command of Babylon 5, yet wasn't to return!
This to many B5 fans was akin to saying there would be a 4th
Star Trek season in 1969, without Spock. JMS' merry band
felt they could merely replace Christian with some other
pretty face (in this case, direct-to-video B-movie veteran, Tracy
Scoggins), and the series would still fly. It didn't; the final
new episode aired November 25th, 1998. The spin-off, which also
featured Scoggins, was given the axe soon after that.
Not to digress, but it's the
spin-off that always amused me. Hmmm; the series "always
intended from the beginning" to be a single,
five-year story, suddenly needs a spin-off ? Only in Hollywood!
To make matters worse, the spin-off was (at best) a blatant rip-off
of Star Blazers, involving a potentially devastating
alien doomsday threat which will destroy all of Earth unless
one, lone ship finds a solution in time...Yep; Star Blazers, redux! The least they could have done is allow that low-voiced
singer to return, to sing a rewrite of the classic song lines
: "If we don't, in just five yeeeeeears, mother Earth will
dissssaaaapeeeeear!" I'll settle for tapes of the anime
classic, thank you.
In the end, what rating does
this show deserve? I can hardly say I loved the series, and yet
I didn't loathe it, and liked it's messages, at least, leading to...a solid thumbs-up. What
more could you possibly want, kids? Disagreements can, unless
there already is one, be submitted as a counterpoint review on
this very web site (see Techtite's Submissions
Guidelines page). Just make sure you're civil, and not a
flaming fanboy. After all, fanboys suck. No, you suck! No, you!
You! Youuuuu!
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