Babylon 5 Vs Star Trek

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Ever since Babylon 5 appeared on to the SF TV scene, it has sparked many comparisons with Star Trek. There are many Usenet newsgroups dedicated to proving the supremacy of one over the other, but why? Who knows, but I know many fans of one show that will go to any lengths to deride the other. The most obvious comparison between B5 and Trek is with DS9. Both shows are set on a space station - Babylon 5 and Deep Space 9; both shows have just been through (or are going through) a war - the Shadow war and the war with the Dominion; both shows introduced a new ship in later years - the White Star and the Defiant and many other parallels (including, some might argue, that both were crap in their first year)

Personally, I favour B5, but only within the last two years or so, as the famous B5 "arc" has got into full swing, has the show's true potential come through. Okay, some would argue that JMS is a crap writer and that his dialogue is awful - especially for Marcus, but I can't see it personally, I watch the show and let it all flow past me.
B5 has really come to the forefront of modern TV SF with it's innovative use of CGI and ground-breaking arc and I can't get enough of it. I've seen newsgroups in Usenet saying how crap that Endgame was (i.e. the episode where the White Star fleet finally reached Earth - see the Lurkers Guide to Babylon 5) but I thought that it was one of the best pieces of TV SF in recent years. It had stunning CGI effects, great space-battles, and was the awesome conclusion of more than two years of back story.

It is very difficult - if at all possible - to compare B5 to other incarnations of Trek, since they are so different, DS9 is now following an "arc" in a similar fashion to B5 (albeit not pre-planned) concerning the Dominion, while the other Trek series' were self-contained shows.
Another thing that I like about B5 is that it has managed to be "deep" while avoid becoming too dark, as I feel that DS9 has over the years - although there are many that approve of the change over DS9 over the years, so I suppose that it's a matter of personal choice really.

I suppose that it's a bit of a cop-out really, but I have to end this discussion by saying that both shows are good and it depends on one's personal choice which show one prefers, sorry

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