Worth reading: Abigail Nussbaum on B5

[yendi]

Off to a meeting, but wanted to link to this first:

Abigail Nussbaum's take on Babylon 5 isn't exactly in line with mine (mine matches her imprinted memory of "a better-than-average show with a poor first season, an execrable fifth season, and three deeply flawed yet ultimately successful middle seasons.").

But whatever your thoughts on the show, it's an article worth reading, and if it's a bit too harsh and snarky (by which I mean, of course, that it reads not all that differently from my own occasional trips over the top when criticizing a beloved icon like China Mieville), there are more than a few good points here, even if I don't come to the same conclusion (and her footnoted slam on Season 5 is, if anything, not harsh enough). Certainly, JMS's post-B5 comics career has established that, at best, he's run out of gas, even if you think (as I do) that he still had some while writing B5.

Some interesting discussion after the post, as well.

Warning: The post is most definitely full of B5 spoilers.

(Ganked from Mumpsimus -- surely you're all reading Mumpsimus, right?)

Comments

[montykins.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I didn't watch B5 until it was all over, so I saw it in one-episode-per-day reruns. And it wasn't that great in that context. Things happened too quickly, and there wasn't a big community of people to whip up impatience for the next episode (which, instead of being months away, was always distressingly soon). The show is really oddly paced if you watch it like that, which I realize isn't anyone's fault.

I think its cultural importance outstrips its actual quality, frankly.

Also, I agree with her comments on the Lurker's Guide. I had to stop reading it because I wanted to stop rolling my eyes at JMS.

[yendi]

I also didn't start watching until TNT got the rights and started showing the first four seasons on weeknights. I think that for me, that ended up being the perfect pace. The weekends provided nice gaps, and it took months for the story to develop.

Then again, I didn't see Season 5 until significantly later, and the TV movies even further down the line. So I don't tend to associate them with the core series, which definitely improves things.

And that's a good point about the cultural significance. At least one of the commenters there noted that without B5, none of the current shows would likely be around. Although it's an exaggeration (X-Files was probably even more important, from a commercial-viability point of view), it's still valid.

I'm in agreement with you and her on the Lurker's Guide. Great information, as long as I stopped reading before the JMS comments section.

[mgrasso.livejournal.com]

I just didn't like it because every other geek at Harvard did. :) I'm contrary that way.

[yendi]

:-) That's one of the reasons I didn't get into it at first, myself.

[mister-wolf.livejournal.com]

I'm curently watching it on DVD, and I'm not done yet, so I shan't read the article. So far, I have nothing significant to complain about, though.

[averyslave.livejournal.com]

Watching the entire show as fast as possible on DVD definitely revealed the pacing problems. The Shadow War seemed to end before I was aware it had really gotten started. But still, I find myself apologizing for the weaknesses and pointing as hard as possible at the stregths. I have some love for it.

[yendi]

But still, I find myself apologizing for the weaknesses and pointing as hard as possible at the stregths.

That tends to be how I react, as well.