Babylon 5 or Star Trek Deep Space 9?

[Deja Q]

Poll question: Babylon 5 or Star Trek Deep Space 9?

:shrug:

[Chovexani]

1. I like them both equally

And, as much as I'd like to give B5 the edge because it had God on it (aka Ivanova), I have to tip it to DS9 'cause of those awful movies.

[JitterbugPerfume]

3. DS9 is excellent but

Babylon 5 is the best of the best

my current favorite is Stargate

[Chovexani]

8. Stargate is a really good show

I'm a bit more lukewarm on this season, though. I'm not really liking Jack as the Guy in Charge, it's kinda weird not seeing him ship out with the rest of the team. Teal'C with hair is also weird. I guess I'll just have to get used to it. It's still appointment TV for me in spite of that stuff. I was really happy when they got Daniel back, he's my favorite character.

My favorite episode was when they went back in time to 1969. The outfits alone made it all worthwhile: Sam the proto-women's libber, Teal'C the black power dude, Jack the rebel biker, and Daniel the sensitive liberal professor. :D The hippie couple that ended up helping them were pretty cool too.

[Cassandra]

2. Babylon 5 was way better!

but DS9 did have some good episodes. I always like time-shifting stories.
Nightwatch = Republicans.

[Mobius]

4. which one sucks more?

id have to say bab 5

[Placebo]

5. Babylon 5 was the worst TV show of all time.

It was painful to look at let alone watch.

[Hong Kong Cavalier]

11. Them's fightin' words, boy! (Not really, but...)

Besides, there are much, much more painful shows than Babylon 5.
B5 was quite unique in that when it was bad, it was very bad, but when it was good, it blew the doors off the house.
You probably missed all the good stuff, like the civil war with Earth and anything involving the Shadows.

[Lone_Wolf_Moderate]

24. You're being sarcastic, right?

If not, do me a favor, and never speak on sci-fi matters again, you misguided fool.

[nicolemrw]

6. none of the star treks after the original was worth spit

b-5 rules!

[Deja Q]

7. Agreed!!! Also, B5 was conceived in 1987...

DS9 was thought of much later.

Both came out at the same time.

DS9 is preachy.

B5 tells stories with a continual story arc.

Indeed, DS9 season 7 (the Dominion War) clearly proved somebody behind the scenes had watched B5 and wanted to do a B5-lite. (and even then they still did really crap episodes like the DS9ers vs Vulcans baseball game... yuck!)

DS9, overall, stunk royally.

[Kellanved]

9. in theory B5 is better

But the budget was limited and it shows. Also the five-seasons-condensed-to-four-then-extended-again-to-five thing hurts the series a lot.
My vote for "better" is still B5; DS9 is better acted and has better SFX, but the overall story does not even attempt to deny being a B5 copycat.

[C_eh_N_eh_D_eh]

10. Both of them were pretty lousy, in my opinion.

[Hong Kong Cavalier]

12. Babylon 5 did something really good for American sci-fi...

It encouraged the multi-episode story arc. JMS used story arcs that spanned whole seasons, but could keep the new viewers interested. The only successful sci-fi on American television up to that point was the two previous Star Trek series, and neither of them really carried stories from episode to episode, unless it was a two-parter. Sometimes a character would come back and make an appearance in a new episode, but the appearance of that character didn't signify anything earthshaking was going to happen. ("Oh, look, What's-her-face Troi is back for more mayhem on the Enterprise...")

Carrying important elements of the story from character to character makes the viewers watch closely for those hints, (I likened it to an easter egg hunt at times...it was a totally geeky thrill to watch previous episodes for hints to a plotline that was being revealed in the current episode.) Other series picked that up, such as Deep Space Nine, and DS9 became a much tighter, stronger, and better series for it. I like longer stories that make me want to watch more than a single episode at a time. (Oddly enough, I didn't really get into this year's season of Enterprise, which was one big story arc. Mainly I knew they'd screw it up...they did that by ending the whole thing with a frelling time travel conundrum.)

American Sci-fi still has a long way to go to be respected; sci-fi shows don't really survive on the major networks (except for Quantum Leap and Sliders...I suppose you could include the Trek series, but TNG and DS9 were in syndication, and only Voyager and Enterprise were on a major network, if you can call UPN a major network.)

Holy crap, I'm a geek.

[miss_kitty]

21. you know it's scary making the 'geek' realisation

i was visiting a friend who had this star trek stuff and she had been to conventions. hey! i like the stories, but I'm not buying the gear or dressing up as a character. what slayed me was i knew MORE, way more about star trek than she did, a self-described 'Trekkie' Gack!

[Hong Kong Cavalier]

23. Geeks are not Trekkies are not Nerds.

I'm not sure what the difference is, but as far as I know, Geeks don't dress up like their favorite sci-fi characters. Except for Halloween. On November 1st, they know it's time to PUT THE COSTUME BACK IN THE CLOSET.

I'm a big sci-fi Geek, but I'm not snooty about it. I will find the good in any sci-fi show and enjoy it (except for Lexx: that was god-awful).

Geeks of the world unite, or something. (Hey, I just realized I'm almost out of the 700 club!(

[miss_kitty]

25. well, see i was saying i am a geek not a trekkie

i don't have a fave sci-fi character i would dress like-prolly not even on halloween-i realised i was a geek about certain sci-fi stuff, when i realised i knew more than a die-hard fan about tng...

[Hong Kong Cavalier]

27. My apologies...I didn't mean to imply anything bad.

But I think being a geek is cool. Not as cool as other things, but cool. In truth, I've been planning out a sci-fi website for a while, and been trying out different talking points and articles here in the lounge for a while.
Again, I'm sorry if I offended you.

[miss_kitty]

35. oh no not at all-no offense taken

i kept reading your comment and i thought " Oh no! DemXCGI thinks i said i was a Trekkie, when i was explaining my "I'm a GEEK!" epiphany! no offense taken...we're just chatting about fiction here, and sometimes i think i am not clear-think fast, type sloooooow!

sometimes it is hard to determine the tone in which the comment is intended...i try to remember the smilies... :)

and i think 'geek' is cool-i think 'trekkie' though is OTT-too much devotion to something outside oneself!
:)

[Hong Kong Cavalier]

36. Cool!

I'm trying to nail down the specific differences between "geek", "Trekkie", "fanboy", etc... and write an article about it; sort of a humorous guide to science ficiton.
And I have the exact same problem: think fast, type slow.

:)

[miss_kitty]

38. you just left the 700 club my friend!

i'm a 'Milestones' geek! :)

[Hong Kong Cavalier]

39. And it's all your fault!

I can feel my soul once again turning to eeeeeeevil.
I'm losing the purity I once had for a hundred glorious posts!
Nooooooo!!!!!!!!

*ahem*

Okay, I feel much better. Thank you!

[VelmaD]

13. B5...because I'm shallow...

and B5 had Jason Carter as Marcus Cole. Gawd he was a babe. *sigh*

[SarahB]

14. Babylon 5

More sex.
Plus, DS9 was the only Star Trek series I never even remotely got into (until Enterprise which seems to be, well, not so good). I'm hardly a "Trekkie", but TNG and Voyager weren't so bad.

[Book Lover]

15. B5 any day of the week

A true example of great story occasionally overcoming poor execution; run-of-the-mill lighting, staging, and acting (mostly) only slightly hobbled the shining ideas, like for instance, the story of Sinclair was great, but could the man act?

[baldguy]

16. B5

'cause the Shadows could kick Borg ass all day long.

[miss_kitty]

20. the borg never fucked with ds9

that was "the Founders" or "the dominion"

[brainshrub]

40. Exactly.

[BuddhaGirl]

17. B5 is way better than Star Trek IMHO

it got waaayyy better after the first couple of seasons.

Hubby and I have B5 on DVD and are currently re-watching the first season :-)

[IronLionZion]

18. which one is worse?

:shrug:

[miss_kitty]

19. i never watched B5

wasn't 'will robinson' (Billy 'wish it in to the cornfield' Mumy) on it (to lazy to check imDb)?
i made my inner nerd stop at the star treks. i am watching everyone's least fave star trek right now.

[Lone_Wolf_Moderate]

22. DS9 is good, but B5 is the best.

I think B5 and DS9 have a lot of similarities, and DS9 is the best of the Star Trek series (I'll don my flame suit now), but B5 is superior in every way.

[Endangered Specie]

26. People who say B5 will BURN IN HELL!!

Heathens, Blasphemers, Fools! Hellfire awaits you!

[Dem_Loyalist]

28. While Ive always been a Star Trek fan....

DS9 was the least fav of all their series. I thought Babylon 5 was MUCH better. Ive also always been a Harlan Ellison fan, who created the B5 universe.

Now as far as Star Trek series go Voyager was my fav for a long time. Now though Im really starting to like "Enterprise".

[monster618]

29. DS9

I was a fan of both, but I'm going to have to go with DS9. I have been a Trekker for awhile, so I guess I'm just voting "along party lines."

Some quick thoughts on B5:
-I loved B5 because of the continuing story arc. It was a bit annoying, though for someone who started watching during the third or fourth season. I convinced my girlfriend to start watching when "In the Beginning" came out. I found myself having to explain so many back-stories that it stopped being fun for her. I DO plan to get the DVDs and I'm going to sit her down and we're going to watch them from beginning to end (she is now my wife).

-J. Michael Stracynski is a workaholic maniac! I think he wrote 95% of B5's episodes.

-JMS could not write romance! Remember that line about the "Brightly-colored, fast moving object"? UUGGHH!!!

-The last scene between Sheridan and Delenn was extremely touching. And when I think about the last scene, with Delenn watching the sun rise, and Sheridan is sitting there, watching with her, I still get goose bumps.


Now, some thoughts on DS9:
-People did not give this show a chance! They thought the fact that it was based on a station would mean that it would be boring. far from it.

-An imperfect characters, far from "squeaky-clean.". Remember the episode "In the Pale Moonlight," where Captain Sisko unwittingly conspires to assassinate the Romulan senator? That is major risk-taking on the part of the writers. I wish they had taken more risks with Voyager. On the other hand...

-...they take TOO many risks with Enterprise. And why the hell do they get naked at the drop of a hat?

-Some people claim that DS9 is the best Star Trek series ever. I disagree. It was really good, but my heart will always be with The Next Generation. I grew up watching it, and I was a senior in high school when it ended. I had never been affected by a series finale in that way before, and I have not been since. I get goose bumps (again) when I remember the last scene; Captain Picard sitting at the poker table with his crew, his friends, and he looks at each one of them in the eye.

Now that I have thoroughly shown everyone what a Trek and sci-fi nerd I am, I'll depart. Qa'pla! (Klingon goodbye; literally means "success!")

[Kid_Niki]

30. B5 rocked, but DS9 was the BEST ev4!!!!

[petronius]

31. DS9, absolutely!

B5 never clicked for me, although I gave it a chance. I actually remember two tiny little things in some of the first shows I watched that really turned me off: one was a gratuitous Clinton reference (I hate forced references to modernity in SF works - it's one thing to develop a history for the show but it better not be contrived), and the other was when I saw a bunch of doors on the station opening upwards (why in the hell would doors open up?!).

DS9 hooked me at the beginning, and it kept getting better. I really loved the episode where the whole show was actually a SciFi series being written in the 50s/60s...

[Deja Q]

32. Kick! B5 fans, come on out and support the better show!

:kick:

[mosin]

33. B5...

was the all-time best sci-fi TV series.

Some of the last few DS9 seasons were exceptional, though.

[Gothic Sponge]

34. DS9

[LanternWaste]

37. Doggonnit! Must... not... reply!

Doggonnit! Must... not... reply!

Can't help myself so I suppose I'll have to advertise this bit of geekdom I've suppressed from friends and family over the years. You've ripped it out of my cold, dead hands; here I come out the Geek Closet (do I get a party?)

I've always thought B5 was one of the best TV shows to ever hit the small screen. Many, many reasons why I've thought this-- way too many to go into here, but the A-plot story-arc is one of the main reasons (also, it was kinda of cool to see females in combat *not* wearing high-heels for once :think: )