The Babylon Podcast

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SF Signal Genre TV Smackdown: DS9 vs B5

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Our good friends over at SF Signal have weighed in on one of the Great Debates: TV Genre Show Smackdown: DS9 vs. Babylon 5

My personal experiences with both shows is amusing and sad. Deep Space Nine aired Saturdays on the local CBS affiliate (The Next Generation aired Sundays on the local independent station that became a FOX affiliate later). It was often preempted by sports, had its time slot moved around without notice or warning and would, at times, be joined ‘already in progress’. This meant that it was very difficult for me to get into the show with any sort of consistency. Calls and complaints to the station fell on deaf ears.

Babylon 5 aired on that independent station that became FOX, but was just as wildly erratic in its time slot. Sometimes it would be on as normal, sometimes it would be listed but not on. I would later find it airing at 3 am or some weird crap. The battle that I linked above? When they aired it originally, Sheridan told everyone on the station that the battle was acomin’, then they cut to commercial and when they returned, Sheridan had a bandage on his head and the battle was over – THEY’D COMPLETELY CUT THE BATTLE SCENE!! When I called to complain, they said there was a mixup, they were really sorry, and had absolutely no plans to reair the show anytime soon – have a nice day.

Sigh.

Feel free to add your opinions at your leisure, and play nice!

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  3. This is probably not the best website to get an honest opinion on the debate. It just dawned on me that Lyta having a piece of Kosh in her was similar to the trill. Did the homage/theft ever end?

  4. For me personally, it’s all about writing (well, at least primarily about writing). While DS9 had a handful of very well-written episodes (I’m looking at you, “In the Pale Moonlight”), B5 had not a handful, not a smattering, but a huge bucketload. It was an embarrassment of riches. “The Coming of Shadows”. “In the Shadow of Z’ha’dum”. “Severed Dreams”. “And the Sky Full of Stars”. “The Face of the Enemy”. “The Fall of Centauri Prime”. The list goes on.

    DS9’s episodes could never hope to be as consistently good as B5 at its peak. Seasons 3 and 4 of B5’s worst episodes are still above average, or darn near.

    And if there’s any doubt left, B5 had Peter Jurasik… and Andreas Katsulas. Enough said.