Babylon 5

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I'm a huge big bang theory fan. the show (babylon 5) keeps getting mocked by one of the main characters (sheldon). My question is: to those who have seen the show, is it any good? Is it bad?

One of my all time favorite shows. But that says, it certainly has some major flaws. First, the first season can be a bit dull to get through - it laid the groundwork for the remainder of the show terrifically, and the things it sets up pay off big time later on, but its the type of thing where someone might be tempted to give up before making it through that first season. Second, the special effects were quite good for their time but might look a little dated now (then again, the original Star Trek's effects look dated now too and yet there's plenty of things to still like about it). Finally, the acting and quality of the dialog can vary quite a bit. B5 features some of the best actors I've ever seen on TV, like Andreas Kastulas (i.e. the one armed man from The Fugitive) and Mira Furlan (i.e. the "french woman" from Lost), but also there were some actors especially in season 1 that were a bit wooden. And while B5's writing is terrific in terms of themes and stories, sometimes the show's dialogue seemed poorly written to me (other times very well written, though).

But enough about the negatives. The strengths of the show are its themes (order vs. chaos, light vs. dark, choices & consequences, and others), the way the major elements of the plot were planned out from the get-go, which is why things that happened in season 1 paid off as late as season 5, and the overall story. The show's unanswered questions and mysteries tended to be quite layered and revealed slowly over time.

Would I recommend it? Absolutely.

In my opinion, "Babylon 5" was the best science fiction show ever, because it was planned out from the beginning, because it was very complex in terms of the alien races portrayed, because it was realistic (often uncomfortably so) from a political and psychological standpoint, because it was full of dramatic twists, moral ambiguity and great characters, and because it subtly channeled, without plagiarizing it, another one of my favorite fictions, "The Lord of the Rings". My only complaint would be that it sometimes leaned a bit too heavily towards religious and mystical themes.

I watched it when it was being shown in daily reruns several years ago. It's good.

The exchange when Kosh's replacement gets introduced cracks me up.

One of the best Sci-Fi shows ever. But you have to start at the beginning. It's a 5 year story arc, so if you jump in say, the middle of season 2, you won't know what's going on. While there are a few episodes that are sort of hokey, there are many more that are quite amazing. Season three's 2-part 'War Without End' is one of the best, but it makes no sense if you haven't followed the show leading up to it. Also, season four's finale, 'The Deconstruction of Falling Stars,' is as good as Sci-Fi can get.

You can often get the season box sets for $10 at Sam's Club in the USA.

B5 is a sci-fi classic, equal to any star trek.
Best watched on DVD , all seasons as a marathon.

Babylon 5 was a great show. I use the same 3D program for animation they used in the show.

Just ordered the first season and the movies, will get back with my opinion.

By the way, I'd suggest starting with the pilot movie, then seasons 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, and only then watching the other movies. The movies (especially "In The Beginning") give away too much, that's better revealed in the course of watching the actual episodes. The only thing I'm not sure about is which version of the pilot movie they distribute on DVD - years after the pilot was originally broadcast they made a new version with a slight editing change that gives away a big piece of information, again which I think is best discovered by watching the actual episodes.

Just finished watching the series (haven't watched all of the movies yet), quite good. The last episode was exceptional.

I'm with Sheldon on that one. B5 always felt somewhat artificial and contrived. I didn't find the characters interesting and couldn't identify with anyone.
I did appreciate the long story arc though.