Line #26 Series/BabylonFive


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7	->''"The Babylon Project was our last, best hope for peace. It failed.\
8	But in the year of the Shadow War, it became something greater: our last, best hope for victory."''
9	-->-- Season 3 {{opening narration}}
10
11	''Babylon 5'' is a [[TheNineties Nineties]] SpaceOpera created by Creator/JMichaelStraczynski. A two-hour {{pilot movie}}, "The Gathering", was aired in 1993, with the ongoing series running from 1994-1998. It was syndicated as a part of the Creator/{{PTEN}} network package for its first four seasons, and was [[{{Uncanceled}} hastily picked-up]] by Creator/{{TNT}} for its fifth.
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13	The story takes place on Babylon 5, [[RingWorldPlanet a giant cylindrical space station]] [[FictionalUnitedNations serving as a diplomatic and economic hub for the many species in the galaxy]]. Ten years before the series begins, [[TheWarJustBefore the Earth-Minbari war nearly saw the extinction of humanity]] and the Babylon Project was initiated in the hopes of preventing another such conflict. The station itself is operated by the Earth Alliance, which chairs the Babylon 5 Advisory Council, but the Earthforce military is on the lower end when it comes to military might in comparison to the older, more powerful alien species. Hoping to use diplomacy and trade to maintain the peace, it's up to the crew to throw cold water on old rivalries and keep these various factions from devouring one another.
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15	----
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17	B5 trailblazed primetime serialization: more than half of the episodes fit into a series-long MythArc involving the "Shadows" and their [[GalacticConqueror machinations on Earth and other planets.]] JMS plotted out much of the series before filming began, with plenty of {{Rewatch Bonus}}es, and occasionally referred to it as a five-year long MiniSeries or "one story told over five years" (He is in the Guinness Book of World Records for having written every episode of Seasons 3 and 4 single-handedly). Time and budget constraints relegated some of the story [[ConclusionInAnotherMedium to tie-in novels and comic books]], namely [[BewareTheSuperman a war fought between Telepaths and "Mundanes".]]
18
19	As a setting, B5 is a fairly standard SpaceOpera, with CasualInterstellarTravel and empires among the stars, and the story mainly revolves around politics and war, although the themes presented in the show are a lot more mature than in your average space opera. The majority of the non-human cast consist of RubberForeheadAliens with [[FantasyCounterpartCulture Fantasy Counterpart Cultures]]. The show also gained fame as being relatively hard sci-fi by TV standards due to its fairly accurate portrayal of spaceflight physics (outside of [[SubspaceOrHyperspace hyperspace travel]]). At the same time, B5 made heavy use of fantasy tropes, such as prophecies, [[ChosenOne Chosen Ones]], religious and mythological themes, and [[SufficientlyAdvancedAlien powers verging on magic]]. Although it leans toward the {{cyberpunk}} end of the genre, particularly its [[UrbanSegregation rejection of a post-scarcity future]], it has some shining moments of idealism, as well: the overarching message seems to be, "[[ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve Faith manages.]]" Most of the crew learn a hard lesson about reducing conflict by forming relationships and exchanging information with those who are different than you; not only was the Earth-Minbari War started [[PoorCommunicationKills over a misunderstanding]], but it only ended when the Minbari learned more about humans. Conversely, the Shadows are always seen plotting from the...[[EvilIsNotWellLit well, shadows]], manipulating events through bribery, threats, or mind-control--[[TheOmniscientCouncilOfVagueness always from a safe distance]]. Mind-readers, detective work, and old-fashioned talking solved many of the show's issues.
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21	B5's influence on English-language television and wider fiction is arguably [[MainstreamObscurity often-overlooked]], since it only reached niche success in its lifetime. It's one of the first genre shows to feature a Myth Arc, although it was overshadowed by the simultaneous airings of ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' and ''Series/TheXFiles'', the latter of which especially had a Myth Arc captured much more mainstream attention (but which also fell victim to [[TheChrisCarterEffect a total lack of any planned arc developments or conclusion]], which was definitely ''not'' the case with B5.) B5 was also one of the first shows to use CGI renders for all its special effects instead of practical models -- which unfortunately, given the limits of 90s CGI, tends to make it look extremely dated to modern viewers. Finally, it was also, along with ''The X-Files'', one of the first series to have an internet fandom. B5 and its [[DuelingWorks competitor]], ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'', were perhaps harbingers of the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Age_of_Television_(2000s%E2%80%93present) Second Golden Age of Television]]" ''i.e.'' big-budget serialized dramas (''Series/TheSopranos'', ''Series/MadMen'' and ''Series/BreakingBad'' being the crown jewel of the age).
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23	The entire series has been released on DVD, and is also available for streaming on various internet platforms. Unfortunately the DVD picture quality suffered from significant transfer errors as part of the special effects conversion to Widescreen format (See the Trivia tab for details.) The series received a HD remaster in 2020 which restored the 4:3 aspect ratio of the original airing, and is available on [=iTunes=], Amazon Prime, Tubi, and Blu-ray disc.
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25	Has an [[Recap/BabylonFive in-progress Recap page]]. [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/crowner.php/BestEpisode/BabylonFive Vote here for the Best Episode.]]
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27	!!SpinOff[=s=] and TV movies:
28	[[index]]
29	* ''Series/{{Crusade}}'', which ran for an [[CutShort abbreviated]] 13 episodes in 1999, shifts focus to the starship ''Excalibur'' and the search for a counteragent to a slow-acting bio-weapon which was set loose on Earth. Superficial resemblance to the plot of ''Anime/StarBlazers'' was cited, and JMS raged against the flurry of network notes (Said notes were attacked more than once in the scripts themselves). Opinions on the quality of the show is divided: To some, the series showed promise before its premature death; to others, markedly less.
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31	There were also several associated B5 MadeForTVMovie''''''s:
32	* ''[[Recap/BabylonFiveS01E00TheGathering The Gathering]]'' -- 1993 PilotMovie, which differs from the series proper in several minor ways. After the series was picked up by TNT for season five, ''The Gathering'' was re-edited and re-aired as a "SpecialEdition" to introduce the new audience to the series.
33	* ''[[Film/BabylonFiveInTheBeginning In the Beginning]]'' -- 1998, a {{prequel}} to the series proper.
34	* ''[[Film/BabylonFiveThirdspace Thirdspace]]'' -- 1998, taking place during Season 4.
35	* ''[[Film/BabylonFiveTheRiverOfSouls The River of Souls]]'' -- 1998, takes place shortly after the end of series (excluding its DistantFinale). Features Creator/MartinSheen.
36	* ''[[Film/BabylonFiveACallToArms A Call to Arms]]'' -- 1999, takes place about five years after the end of the series (excluding ithe DistantFinale). It serves as a lead-in to ''Crusade''.
37	* ''[[Film/BabylonFiveTheLegendOfTheRangersToLiveAndDieInStarlight The Legend of the Rangers: To Live and Die in Starlight]]'' -- 2002 MadeForTVMovie focusing on a crew of "Rangers", a patchwork of human and Minbari [[SpacePolice space cops]]. It was actually intended to lead into a third series, but it was thwarted due to airing at the same time as the [=NFL=] Divisional Championship.
38	* ''[[Film/BabylonFiveTheLostTalesVoicesInTheDark The Lost Tales: Voices in the Dark]]'' -- 2007 direct-to-DVD {{interquel}} which was intended to be the first of a series of side-stories. Despite some degree of commercial success, this was the only volume.
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40	----
41
42	On September 27, 2021, Straczynski and Creator/TheCW announced that [[https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/babylon-5-reboot-the-cw-j-michael-straczynski-1235075236/ they would produce]] a "from-the-ground-up reboot" of ''Babylon 5'' with JMS as executive producer, who described it as an "evolution" of the setup and characters rather than actually doing a straight remake of his original five-year plan. Originally intended to be launched in 2022, the launch date was later pushed back to late 2023. Following the chaos of the Warner Bros./Discovery merger and the sale of The CW's majority interest to Nexstar, rumors swirled that the project was dead, but Straczynski [[https://comicbook.com/tv-shows/news/babylon-5-creator-offers-first-reboot-update-of-2023/ has said the new series is still in active development]].
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44	On May 3rd, 2023, [[https://www.empireonline.com/movies/news/babylon-5-animated-movie-on-the-way/ JMS announced that an animated movie from]] Creator/WarnerBrosAnimation was coming, using what remained of the original cast, and was 100% finished. JMS also revealed he had been given total creative freedom on this project -- ''[[WesternAnimation/BabylonFiveTheRoadHome Babylon 5: The Road Home]]'' was released on August 15, 2023 on Blu-Ray, Google Play, Apple TV and Amazon Prime Video.
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46
47	----
48	!!''Babylon 5'' subpages:
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50
51	* BabylonFive/TropesAToH
52	* BabylonFive/TropesIToP
53	* BabylonFive/TropesQToZ
54	[[/index]]

Context Series / BabylonFive