1993’s Babylon 5 delivered an epic space drama that told a complete story over its five seasons and that stands as one of the great achievements in sci fi TV.
What Is It?
This show takes place on the massive space station Babylon 5 which acts as a neutral meeting place for the various races and nations in the known galaxy. The five major races in the known galaxy are humans, Minbari, Centauri, Narn, and Vorlon, and there are several minor races as well. Commander Sinclair (and later Captain Sheridon) commands the station and also interacts with the various races along with his crew. An ancient race referred to as the Shadows makes its presence known and that leads to a galaxy-wide conflict with Babylon 5 finding itself caught in the middle.
Cast: Bruce Boxleitner, Claudia Christian, Jerry Doyle, Mira Furlan, Peter Jurasik, Andreas Katsulas, Richard Biggs, Patricia Tallman, Michael O’Hare
Crew: J. Michael Straczynski (Creator/Writer/Executive Producer), Douglas Netter (Executive Producer)
Aired: PTEN & TNT, 1993-98, 5 Seasons Totaling 110 Episodes + 6 TV Movies
Legacy
This ambitious series arrived in the early 90s offering an epic sci fi tale that spanned across five seasons and that had a beginning, middle, and end. The CGI may not hold up as well today, and the overall production does have its moments of cheesiness, but the show transcends its flaws and delivers what should be considered one of the greatest science fiction television entries of all time.
A Closer Look
The 1990s was a good decade for sci fi and fantasy television as long as you were willing to venture beyond the Big Three broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, NBC) which had pretty much shunned the genre. Star Trek: The Next Generation was hitting its stride as the decade began and DS9 would arrive a few years later. The X-Files received support from the fledgling FOX network despite low ratings in its first season, and fantasy fans had Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and Xena: Warrior Princess airing in syndication. Amidst all of this, emerging network PTEN added Babylon 5 to its slate, and the show would go on to deliver a grand sci fi tale that is now counted as a genre classic. It did get off to a slow start, but by its second season B5 was picking up steam and became appointment TV for sci fi fans (there were no DVRs or On-Demand viewing at that time and who’s going to trust the timer on a VCR?).
With Babylon 5, J. Michael Straczynski set out to tell a complete story with a beginning, middle, and end over five seasons, and against all odds, he managed to do just that. The story unfolded across each season and it became more and more intricate as he employed a serialized story-arc (as opposed to the much more common episodic approach), setting the gold standard for that format on television. What made this work so well was that Straczynski himself wrote the vast majority of the episodes, meaning that he had a great deal of creative control over how the story progressed. He also masterfully engineered his tale, setting up “trap doors” to deal with the departures of main actors as well as other unexpected changes. And unlike some later “story-arc” genre shows of the 21st century (no names mentioned), he was not just making it up as he went along.
What makes this show really register is the drama at its core which impacts the characters on a very personal level. Science fiction has often been able to deliver grand tales, but many times the drama is missing. JMS successfully worked that into the story-telling of Babylon 5, and the audience related to the struggles of the characters, both human and alien. And while the CGI was impressive for its time, the show did not go overboard with sfx like so many of the big-budget TV shows of the 2010s and 2020s do. The visuals were nice (especially for a 90s entry), but the story is what engaged the viewers and has kept the show relevant in the years since it ended.
Of course, we must give credit to the cast as well who delivered such iconic characters as G-Kar and Mollari and Mr. Garibaldi and Ivanova and Delenn and many, many more. It’s true that the acting could be wooden at times, especially amongst the human characters, and the dialog often sounded stiff, but I blame that more on the stilted directing that was the result of hurried production to keep costs down. The warts are there when you break the show down to its component parts, but those are far outweighed by the scope of the series and the greater story that it told (as well as some of its excellent stand-alone episodes). Babylon 5 delivered the grand space epic that sci fi fans crave, and while it may have suffered some with age (just like the original Star Trek and Twilight Zone and even TNG), it still counts as must-watch sci fi TV and stands out as a game-changing entry for the genre on television.
Cancelled Too Soon?
Almost. The PTEN network was struggling as the show was heading into its fourth season and J. Michael Straczynski was concerned that B5 might not make it to its fifth year. He therefore crammed as much of the main story as possible into the fourth season which included the series finale. When TNT rescued the show at the last minute, he shifted the finale episode to end of the fifth season (it takes place twenty years in the future, so that worked quite well). He then used the fifth season to explore some of the storylines that were pushed aside in the fourth-year rush to wrap up the major arcs.
The Story Continues
The sequel series Crusade began the year after Babylon 5 wrapped up its final season, but creative differences between JMS and TNT led to that one ending after only thirteen episodes. Later, the Sci Fi Channel aired the pilot Legend of the Rangers, but the network did not promote it well and it did not continue to series (more on that at this link). The DVD-only movie Lost Tales was supposed to start off a series of mostly stand-alone stories, but no further releases resulted from that venture. Several novels have been written that take place in the original universe, and DC put out a B5 comic book series in the 90s. With much of the original cast having passed away, it seemed unlikely that a revival could happen, but JMS has found a way with the animated movie Babylon 5: The Road Home which is set to premiere in August 2023.
Should It Be Rebooted?
No, but it could be happening anyway. I would argue that it is a bad idea, but JMS himself is spearheading it at The CW (more on that at this link), so maybe it has potential. A continuation in the same universe along the lines of Crusade or Legend of the Rangers seems to make more sense. But JMS believes it is “better to go the way of Westworld or Battlestar Galactica where you take the original elements that are evergreens and put them in a blender with a ton of new, challenging ideas, to create something fresh yet familiar”. The reboot plans began before The CW changed ownership and he was receiving a good amount of leeway on the project. It has not been officially axed by the new owners, but it is unclear where things stand, so it may end up not going forward. If it does not happen, perhaps JMS will focus on more animated movies in the original universe (maybe producing a couple of films to wrap up the Crusade story?).
Interesting Facts
Babylon 5 aired on PTEN (The Prime Time Entertainment Network) which was originally envisioned as a fifth broadcast network that would air across the syndicated channels. B5 was one of its flagship shows along with Kung Fu: The Legend Continues (which lasted for four seasons) and Time Trax (which survived for two). From its ashes came UPN (which would air Star Trek: Voyager) and The WB (which would give us Buffy, the Vampire Slayer and Angel), and those two would eventually merge together as The CW (which could end up giving us a complete reboot of the show).
J. Michael Straczynski wrote 92 of the show’s 110 episodes including all of the eps for Season 3 and 4, something that was never before accomplished in American television. Other known writers that contributed to the series were Neil Gaiman, D.C. Fontana, and David Gerrold. Harlan Ellison was onboard as creative consultant for the show.
Where Can You Watch It?
The entire series is widely available on DVD and economically priced, and it finally received the Blu-ray treatment in late 2023. Warner Bros. also did a fully remastered version for streaming that was on HBO Max for a while but has since shifted to Tubi TV.
Read More About the Show:
Wikipedia
IMDb.com
Babylon 5 Encyclopedia
A Dream Given Form: The Unofficial Guide to the Universe of Babylon 5
