Babylon 5: How One Show Changed the Face of Sci-Fi

"It was the dawn of the third age of mankind – ten years after the Earth-Minbari War. The Babylon Project was a dream given form. Its goal: to prevent another war by creating a place where humans and aliens could work out their differences peacefully. It's a port of call – home away from home – for diplomats, hustlers, entrepreneurs, and wanderers. Humans and aliens wrapped in two million five hundred thousand tons of spinning metal… all alone in the night. It can be a dangerous place, but it's our last best hope for peace. This is the story of the last of the Babylon stations. The year is 2258. The name of the place is Babylon 5." 

-- Season 1 opening (Commander Jeffrey Sinclair)

I know I'm a bit late, but February 22nd marked the 20th anniversary of the revolutionary sci-fi series Babylon 5. Originally launched as a television movie (The Gathering) in 1993, the series premiered the following year, setting a higher stand for all future sci-fi programs.

For those of you unfamiliar, Babylon 5 was unique for many reasons. First off, it was the first mainstream TV show to feature series-long story arcs. Those arcs were designed to run for no more than five years (plus a few movies in between) and tell the complete story of the main characters and the station. Because of this, the show is often described as a 'novel written for television', especially in an era were TV was still very episodic in nature (ever wonder why practically every show on TV these days has story arcs?).

Babylon 5 was famous for its visual effects, which were created exclusively using CGI. In a time where CG was only used selectively and often in concert with traditional model effects, this was a huge leap forward. In fact, the first major film to use CG extensively was released the same year as The Gathering, proving computer-generated effects were both practical and could be realistic-looking on any budget. What was the film -- the special effects-heavy Jarassic Park (1993).


Even 20 years later, the visuals on Babylon 5 look quite good, if not a bit too 'CGI-ish' by modern standards.

It's also interesting to note that Babylon 5's creator J. Michael Straczynski was the first to use the Internet (then in its infancy) and what we would now call a blog to promote the show during its run. Now a very common practice, it was unheard of in the mid-'90's when the show went on the air. The 1996 moderated spinoff of Straczynski's original newsgroup (rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated) is still online today.

There have also been reports that the network execs for Paramount actually stole ideas from B5 and introduced them to the production team for Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Straczynski actually pitched Babylon 5 to Paramount initially; the network rejected the proposal, later picking up DS9 instead. When Babylon 5 later hit the airwaves on a different network, similarities apparently cropped up in both storyline and characters, making some wonder 'who stole from who'. Of course, for any true B5 or Star Trek fan, both programs eventually developed their own identities, so to speak, making the similarities irrelevant. And besides, I have no desire to start a debate on the legitimacy of this bit of information.

Babylon 5 is just one of those shows one must watch in its entirety to fully appreciate it. The show may be set in mid-23rd century, but many of the political and social problems could very well be happening today. Because of this, it holds up amazingly well 20 years after its inception. If you have some time (and I mean, some time), sit down and watch it from beginning to end (and in order). It's a lot of TV to work through, but like a good book, you don't want to stop once you start.

Also check out this well-written article from i09 revealing some little-known facts about the show's production.

The Strange, Secret Evolution of Babylon 5