History Series / BabylonFive

->''The Babylon Project was our last, best hope for peace. [[WarWasBeginning It failed]]. But, in the Year of the Shadow War, it became something greater: our last, best hope for'' victory.
-->-- '''Season 3 Opening'''

''Babylon 5'', a [[TheNineties Nineties]] SpaceOpera created by Creator/JMichaelStraczynski, ran from 1994-1998 (a two-hour pilot, "The Gathering", had aired in 1993). It was syndicated as a part of the {{PTEN}} network package for its first four seasons, and was shown on TNT in its fifth.

The story takes place on the titular Babylon 5, a giant [[http://www.nss.org/settlement/space/oneillcylinder.htm O'Neill cylinder]] and sort of [[TheFederation United Nations in space]]. It's not all roses, however, as Earth's military is woefully outmatched by those of the other delegates, resulting in what can be generously described as a tentative peace. It's up to Cdr. Jeffrey Sinclair -- and later Captain John Sheridan -- to throw cold water on old rivalries and keep these various factions from devouring one another; a task made difficult by [[VichyEarth an increasingly-reactionary and despotic Earth command]].

-->-- ''Season 3 Opening''

* ''[[Recap/LegendOfTheRangersS01E00 The Legend of the Rangers: To Live and Die in Starlight]]'' -- 2002 MadeForTVMovie telling the story of a Ranger ship. This was actually intended to lead into a third B5 series, but it didn't pan out due to the movie airing at the same time as the [=NFL=] Divisional Championship.

While the series is often given as an early example of a [[MohsScaleOfSciFiHardness hard science fiction]] show, it does have HumanoidAliens and RubberForeheadAliens (with human-like {{Fantasy Counterpart Culture}}s) making up the majority of its non-human cast, aliens and machines with [[SufficientlyAdvancedAliens powers verging on magic]], and humans with PsychicPowers. Still, [[HollywoodScience by TV standards]], it's fairly crispy sci-fi. Likewise, while the show is often seen as being more toward the cynical end of the SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism, at times almost edging into BlackAndGrayMorality, it also has some shining moments of idealism as well. One could say that the overarching {{Aesop}} of the series is "the [[IDidWhatIHadToDo pragmatic]] survive, and the [[TheDeterminator determined]] thrive, but [[EarnYourHappyEnding Faith Manages]]."

The story takes place on the titular Babylon 5, a giant O'Neill cylinder and sort of [[TheFederation United Nations in space]]. It's not all roses, however, as Earth's military is woefully outmatched by those of the other delegates, resulting in what can be generously described as a tentative peace. It's up to Cdr. Jeffrey Sinclair -- and later Captain John Sheridan -- to throw cold water on old rivalries and keep these various factions from devouring one another; a task made difficult by [[VichyEarth an increasingly-reactionary and despotic Earth command]].

The story takes place on the titular Babylon 5, a giant O'Neill cylinder and sort of [[TheFederation United Nations in space]]. It's not all roses, however, as Earth's military is woefully outmatched by those of the other delegates, resulting in what can be generously described as a tentative peace. It's up to Cdr. Jeffrey Sinclair -- and later Cdr. John Sheridan -- to throw cold water on old rivalries and keep these various factions from devouring one another; a task made difficult by [[VichyEarth an increasingly-reactionary and despotic Earth command]].

While the series is often given as an early example of a [[MohsScaleOfSciFiHardness hard science fiction]] show, it does have HumanoidAliens and RubberForeheadAliens (with human-like {{Fantasy Counterpart Culture}}s) making up the majority of the cast, aliens and machines with [[SufficientlyAdvancedAliens powers verging on magic]], and humans with PsychicPowers. Still, [[HollywoodScience by TV standards]], it's fairly crispy sci-fi. Likewise, while the show is often seen as being more toward the cynical end of the SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism, at times almost edging into BlackAndGrayMorality, it also has some shining moments of idealism as well. One could say that the overarching {{Aesop}} of the series is "the [[IDidWhatIHadToDo pragmatic]] survive, and the [[TheDeterminator determined]] thrive, but [[EarnYourHappyEnding Faith Manages]]."

While the series is often given as an early example of a [[MohsScaleOfSciFiHardness hard science fiction]] show, it does have HumanoidAliens and RubberForeheadAliens making up the majority of the cast, aliens and machines with [[SufficientlyAdvancedAliens powers verging on magic]], and humans with PsychicPowers. Still, [[HollywoodScience by TV standards]], it's fairly crispy sci-fi. Likewise, while the show is often seen as being more toward the cynical end of the SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism, at times almost edging into BlackAndGrayMorality, it also has some shining moments of idealism as well. One could say that the overarching {{Aesop}} of the series is "the [[IDidWhatIHadToDo pragmatic]] survive, and the [[TheDeterminator determined]] thrive, but [[EarnYourHappyEnding Faith Manages]]."

While the series is often given as an early example of a [[MohsScaleOfSciFiHardness hard science fiction]] show, it does have aliens with [[SufficientlyAdvancedAliens powers verging on magic]] and humans with PsychicPowers. Still, [[HollywoodScience by TV standards]], it's fairly crispy sci-fi. Likewise, while the show is often seen as being more toward the cynical end of the SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism, at times almost edging into BlackAndGrayMorality, it also has some shining moments of idealism as well. One could say that the overarching {{Aesop}} of the series is "the [[IDidWhatIHadToDo pragmatic]] survive, and the [[TheDeterminator determined]] thrive, but [[EarnYourHappyEnding Faith Manages]]."

->''The Babylon Project was our last, best hope for peace; [[WarWasBeginning It failed]]. But, in the Year of the Shadow War, it became something greater: our last, best hope for victory.''

''Babylon 5'', a [[TheNineties Nineties]] SpaceOpera created by Creator/JMichaelStraczynski, ran from 1994-1998 (a two-hour pilot, "The Gathering", had aired in 1993). It was syndicated as apart of the {{PTEN}} network package for its first four seasons, and was shown on TNT in its fifth.

The story takes place on the titular Babylon 5, a giant O'Neill cylinder and sort of [[TheFederation United Nations in space]]. It's not all roses, however, as Earth's military is woefully outmatched by those of the other delegates, resulting in what can be generously described as a tentative peace. It's up to Cdr. Jeffrey Sinclair -- and later Cdr. John Sheridan -- to throw cold water on old rivalries and keep these various factions from devouring one another; a task made difficult by [[VichyEarth an inceasingly-xenopohobic and reactionary Earth command]].

->''The Babylon Project was our last, best hope for peace; It failed. But, in the Year of the Shadow War, it became something greater: our last, best hope for victory.''

''Babylon 5'', a [[TheNineties Nineties]] SpaceOpera created by Creator/JMichaelStraczynski, ran from 1994-1998 (a two-hour pilot, "The Gathering", had aired in 1993). It was syndicated as apart of the {{PTEN}} network package for its first four seasons, and was shown on TNT in its fifth.

Giving a premise to the series is quite simple, as all one need is to quote the opening narration:

->''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 can 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 [[TitleDrop Babylon 5]].''

It spun off the short-lived series ''Series/{{Crusade}}'', which ran for 13 episodes in 1999, telling the story of the spaceship ''Excalibur'' and the search for a counteragent to/cure for a slow-acting biological weapon that had been successfully deployed against the Earth by agents of the Shadows. The series had serious trouble: superficial resemblance to the plot of ''[[UchuuSenkanYamato Star Blazers]]'' was cited, and creators commented on the ridiculous amounts of ExecutiveMeddling that they had to fight against. This trend for intervention was attacked more than once in the ''Crusade'' scripts themselves. Opinions on the quality of the episodes were divided: to some, the series showed considerable promise before its [[ScrewedByTheNetwork premature death]]; to others, markedly less.

It is available via Netflix, on disc only. [[http://www.thewb.com/shows/babylon-5 The WB]] has also put up Season 1 and the first few of season 2 for online watching. The first season does not include the tenth episode, "Believers."

It is available via Netflix, on disc only. [[http://www.thewb.com/shows/babylon-5 The WB]] has also put up Season 1 and the first few of season 2 for online watching.

!!TropeNamer for:

* AllLoveIsUnrequited: "Rising Star", courtesy of Ivanova (of course).
* NothingIsTheSameAnymore: "Chrysalis", in the final line of that Season.
* TravelingAtTheSpeedOfPlot
* TouchedByVorlons: "The Wheel of Fire"

!!TropeMaker for:
* WhamEpisode
** WhamLine

... and the ''[[RenamedTropes former]]'' Trope Namer for:

* InnocuouslyImportantEpisode: Renamed from MidnightOnTheFiringLine
* MutantDraftBoard: Renamed from TheCorpsIsMother
----

While the series is often given as an early example of a [[MohsScaleOfSciFiHardness hard science fiction]] show, it does have aliens with [[SufficientlyAdvancedAliens powers verging on magic]] and humans with PsychicPowers. Still, [[HollywoodScience by TV standards]], it's fairly crispy sci-fi. Likewise, while the show is often seen as being more toward the cynical end of the SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism, at times almost edging into BlackAndGreyMorality, it also has some shining moments of idealism as well. One could say that the overarching {{Aesop}} of the series is "the [[IDidWhatIHadToDo pragmatic]] survive, and the [[TheDeterminator determined]] thrive, but [[EarnYourHappyEnding Faith Manages]]."

* [[Babylon5TropesQToZ Tropes Q to Z]]

* [[Babylon5TropesIToP Tropes I to P]]

* [[Babylon5TropesAToH Tropes A to H]]

[[redirect:Series/{{Babylon 5}}]]

[[redirect:Series/Babylon5]]