Babylon 5 showed television audiences that science fiction did not have to emulate episodic cops-and-courtroom drama in order to succeed. The show experimented with new teleplay concepts, introduced some previously forbidden topics, and zoomed in on the character-driven stories that make good science fiction great.
In some ways, Babylon 5 created new stereotypes that are now being exploited by less inventive movies and television shows. But the mythic qualities of the Babylon 5 universe, the continuous battle between "good" and "evil", "light" and "darkness", or "order" and "chaos", is drawn from our own ancient mythic values. Babylon 5 looks ahead and says, "What if we find we are not alone in the universe, but rather that we have been manipulated with many other races?"
The unquestioning loyalty of the crew of Babylon 5 to its commander is typical of starship teledrama, but the self-challenging flaws of the characters who make up the station's crew continually re-emerge to undermine their success, if only to help them grow even more.
The show may have ended production, but it lives on in the imaginations it touched.
DUE TO LACK OF PARTICIPATION, OUR BABYLON-5 FORUM HAS BEEN MERGED WITH OUR GENERAL SCIFI-TV FORUM. YOU MAY STILL FIND THE OLD B-5 DISCUSSIONS THERE.
Babylon 5 Forum
Babylon 5: Fringe: Anna Torv in Esquire
Babylon 5: Eliza Dushku on the end of Dollhouse
Babylon 5: 'Terminator' franchise to be auctioned off
Babylon 5: Firefly to live on in new book of short stories
Babylon 5: Dollhouse fan working to save the show
Babylon 5: Gerry Anderson's "UFO"
Babylon 5: Dollhouse finale bumped to Fr. 1/29 at 8 PM
Babylon 5: Bones homages The X-Files on Th. 1/14 @ 8 PM on Fox
Babylon 5: Genre shows top list of most time-shifted shows (i.e. recorded for later viewing)
Babylon 5: G.I joe the cartoons vs the series
Babylon 5: Jeff Wayne's musical version of War of the Worlds
Babylon 5: TV Guide's 25 Sexiest Women of Sci-Fi
Babylon 5: Fringe: L.A. Times looks "Inside Massive Dynamic"
Babylon 5: Fox giving Fringe a 7 week break
Babylon 5: Fringe: John Noble talks weird science
