Originally published at: http://boingboing.net/2017/05/02/babylon-5-now-available-to-str.html
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Straczynski’s first name is Joe, BTW - usually just credited as J. Michael Straczynski, or JMS…
Also, Go90 does not include the original pilot film, or any of the later spin-off films - it’s just the 110 regular series episodes…
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Fixed! Thanks! I should probably give back my B5 Superfan card for that slip up 
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In the US
Damn it.
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It’s doubly frustrating because us Canadian fans had it even worse trying to watch the series when it first aired. It changed not only days and timeslots (including the wonderful 11:30PM on Friday nights), but TNT, which was where the fifth season aired, was pay TV up here at the time…
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The dude with the flying mullet is awesome.
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At least Space re-broadcasted a few cycles of it in the late 90s. IIRC, it was on every weekday night, which was the best, and they also played the viewer voted faves in marathons on Boxing day.
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J. Michael Straczynski was, IIRC, the first showrunner to talk to fans on the internets. The Lurker’s Guide to Babylon 5 (a fansite as venerable as the show itself) has masses of quotations in the “jms speaks” section of each episode profile.
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Welp I know what I am doing for the next few weeks…
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G’Kar can for give…you.
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Hurr…
…rrrrrats.
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This is probably a blessing for to those new to the series. While the pilot does introduce some important plot things, it is very rough to watch. IMO, new folks should start with season 1 and if they can hang with that, then go back and watch the pilot.
Aside from one or two standouts, the movies range from “decent if you’re already a fan” to “great maker, why does this exist?” I’ve rewatched the series multiple times, but I have not felt the need to see any of the movies more than once.
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“In the beginning” was excellent and is the one movie I wish was included. A better pilot than the pilot, in many ways.
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And here’s a good viewing order, if you’re mixing in the films: http://www.b5tv.com/showpost.php?p=349849&postcount=3 This show had been recommended to me repeatedly over the years… I finally started watching it recently, and it has been very worthwhile.
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I don’t need to stream it because I’ve got the series on DVD, but It works in the UK (so I assume other countries as well) with Opera’s free built in VPN. Just install Opera, turn the VPN on & set country to USA.
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Missing the films is indeed no loss… and the “spin of” series Crusade was pretty disappointing (almost unwatchable).
The actual series is so very good though – not only because of the large story arc, but so many episodes are just so enjoyable. As far as I know it’s the only science fiction show to tackle labor negotiations in a serious way.
We rewatched it yet again with our son who loved it (although we quit at the end of season 4 since the 5th season is so uneven, and we hated Lockley…). Just make sure that you start at the beginning and watch the episodes in order (and avoid spoilers).
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At least you could get it non-dubbed. The German version is in-famous, especially for the Pebbles quote.
I am sure I have mentioned this a-many a-times. I will do it again: the Pebbles Incident drove me a) to illegally download stuff from the internet, b) brought me truly to THE INTERNET (as opposed to BBS), c) caused a massive improvement of my English and d) made me a total snob regarding watching any dubbed material.
And now, B5 is trying to educate me about VPN?
Well, I know about it already, but I haven’t got the money, and I’d rather not use the access to UCSD I got from my former PI…
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Yep, that’s one of the good ones.
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Yeah, season 5 isn’t great, but there are a few episodes that are worth it, if only because they give Londo & J’Kar some closure.
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