Okay. Gotta defend my Babylon 5 because, without B5, there would be no BSG. And without Blake 7, there would have been no B5.
Story arc TV shows were not popular in the U.S. B5 was the first to start to gather interest. Until then, they never worked out. They were popular in the U.K. Blake 7 helped paved the way for these types of shows, esp. where sci-fi was involved. B5 is meant to be viewed as a kind of novel.
The cost of an episode on BSG is over $1 million. The cost of B5 ranged between $700,000 to 800,000. The whole series of 110 episode cost about $90 million to produce. And it was a non-union show, unlike BSG. In fact, because season 5 was nearly not made until TNT stepped in, all of the actors during season 5 took a pay cut and lost their residual rights.
Also, the advancements made by B5 in CGI made possible for the extensive CGI to be done on BSG and to do it cheaply. Until B5, that much detailed CGI hadn't been done on a sci-fi show.
Season 1 of B5 is slow. Season 2 picks up. Season 3 is intense and season 4 brings it ALL together. But everything you see in season 1 & 2 will come back around full circle and will be relevant and important.
To me, blocking or camera movement isn't nearly as important in B5 as it is in BSG. With regards to B5, the storyline is what is important. Personally, while BSG has been extraordinary, it still can't compare to the depth B5 went into or how much was accomplished on a little show with sparse budget, syndicated, & filmed in a small studio near an airport with mostly no named actors.
It's apples and oranges to me. I just know how much B5 changed my life...as silly as that sounds.
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timeasmymeasure
Defending my show
Date: 2009-03-02 02:21 am (UTC)Story arc TV shows were not popular in the U.S. B5 was the first to start to gather interest. Until then, they never worked out. They were popular in the U.K. Blake 7 helped paved the way for these types of shows, esp. where sci-fi was involved. B5 is meant to be viewed as a kind of novel.
The cost of an episode on BSG is over $1 million. The cost of B5 ranged between $700,000 to 800,000. The whole series of 110 episode cost about $90 million to produce. And it was a non-union show, unlike BSG. In fact, because season 5 was nearly not made until TNT stepped in, all of the actors during season 5 took a pay cut and lost their residual rights.
Also, the advancements made by B5 in CGI made possible for the extensive CGI to be done on BSG and to do it cheaply. Until B5, that much detailed CGI hadn't been done on a sci-fi show.
Season 1 of B5 is slow. Season 2 picks up. Season 3 is intense and season 4 brings it ALL together. But everything you see in season 1 & 2 will come back around full circle and will be relevant and important.
To me, blocking or camera movement isn't nearly as important in B5 as it is in BSG. With regards to B5, the storyline is what is important. Personally, while BSG has been extraordinary, it still can't compare to the depth B5 went into or how much was accomplished on a little show with sparse budget, syndicated, & filmed in a small studio near an airport with mostly no named actors.
It's apples and oranges to me. I just know how much B5 changed my life...as silly as that sounds.