Ack! Don’t do that - you need to watch Babylon Squared! And you need to understand who Sinclair was - and Epsilon 3. And Chrysalis!
My recommendation is to avoid Infection, TKO, and power through - the character development and initial weaving of the other threads is important to the story as a whole.
Also, Believers is probably the best example of a TNG episode TNG would never do 
Zathras made Neelix seem adorable.
One of the most interesting characters of the show, IMTNHO, is Susan Ivanova. A well-rounded character, strong but not invulnerable, talented but not without quirks and, supreme rarity for a female character, equipped with not one, not two, but at least three senses of humor: snarky, dark, and goofy (at a time when female characters rarely even had one).
And what’s more, it doesn’t show at first, she really starts manifesting her wit once she has come to terms with some personal issues, which is high quality writing.
What, don’t like feathered mutton-chops?
In all seriousness, Zathras is less annoying than Neelix only in that he is not ubiquitous.
The whole series is only 60 bucks. Just saying.
Watching B5 with my best friends in NYC was serious time for us. We’d gather at the apartment of the guy who had the best TV and really pay attention. Except when his girlfriend was around, she was the kind of person who couldnt follow plot or remember characters so she was constantly interrupting to ask who is this? or why are they doing that?. Friend was so in love that it was really hard for us to ask him not to have her around on B5 night…
Whenever I re-watch B5, I’m in part transported back to that time and place and during really dramatic scenes, part of me still expects an interruption.
I did order the CNN disks off B5 Books but havent gotten to watching them yet.
Hah, I thought that was just me! I literally did exactly the same thing - when B5 was coming on, that was when we all settled down, turned up the volume, and banished the parents from the Living Room. 
The CNN interviews were fun. I have the blu-ray of the conventions to go through next.
The pilot is kinda weird since half the cast won’t return, it has a different composer, and the Vorlons are super out of character.
As for the movies, In the Beginning is really the only one worth watching, but only after you finished the series (or at least the Earth/Minbari war arc. Like Fire Walk With me, it would spoil a lot otherwise.
Seconded on Crusade. Despite the low budget, wonky episode order and weird soundtrack, it had a lot of promise. Gary Cole (and his apocalypse box!) was great as always, Peter Woodward is a wonderful kinda-Gandalf, and Tracy Scoggins finally seemed to find her role in the B5 universe. However, we all know how it went, and I remember from somewhere that JMS was at that time also seriously overworked.
So actually, if you watch the Gathering SE, it was rescored by Christopher Franke, and re-edited into four movements instead of the six it was edited into because the network wanted more commercials. It makes the pilot make a lot more sense.
As for in the beginning, I show it right after the pilot, because so much is thrown at you anyway in the series that the “spoilers” aren’t really spoilers until you are almost on top of the events. JMS says he prefers the foreboding to be at the beginning, to buid anticipation, and I think I agree (the two newbies I introduced using that method agreed, saying there was so much to take in they didn’t even realize the significance of the spoilers until “War without End”).
I haven’t seen the TNT pilot in a while, but didn’t they add a thing where Kosh, when meeting Sinclair for the first time, calls him Valen or something? That just stuck out to me as unnecessary. Also, people should watch the original because the CGI was done on friggin Amigas 
Also, if there are any podcast listeners here (which I highly suspect), I strongly recommend the original (I think) B5 podcast http://www.babylonpodcast.com/, which also has interviews with absolutely everyone, from the guy who sold snacks on the set to JMS himself (sadly not Franke, for some reason).
Currently, I’m following “The Audio Guide for Babylon 5” http://b5audioguide.com/, which neatly seperates a newcomer and expert section, and “Braving Babylon 5” http://bravingbabylon5.libsyn.com/, by a guy who’s never seen it before.
Uh, I think my fanboy underwear might be showing…
I have been watching The Expanse and it reminds me a lot of Babylon 5.
I am thinking fans (or haters) of one of these shows will probably also like (or dislike) the other one.
Yes, but not the way you think. It was a greeting used many times in the show.
My first real Sysadmin job was working for a Lightwave/Video Toaster/Amiga graphics house. We actually had copies of the Foundation Imaging models used for several of the ships. 
Those of us who love something, make fun of it.
Here’s my contribution: The Completely Useless Guide to Babylon 5
I agree that there was promise, but that’s one of the reasons why I don’t like it. It never got developed and you are left hanging.
I started in last night.
I remember back in the day being excited because the effects were done on an Amiga. This was back when I had hopes to be a 3D artist (no one taught it in my area).
Eh, they haven’t really aged well. That’s forgivable though. Neither has the synth track, but that too was standard back then.
Still super impressed with the quality and variety of the aliens. Still love the overall ship design. I am only 2.3 episodes in so it’s hard to see if I like the story as much as I remember, but I am enjoying the characters - even though some are a bit hammy.
Overall though, still great sci-fi from back in the day.
SF Debris http://www.sfdebris.com/ is slowly covering B5. He hit some of the high points, then went back and is doing season one in order, except when he gets tired of season one and he jumps to a really good episode from a later season. He’s a fun reviewer, but currently switching servers, so you can’t view his videos until that is complete. Mark Watches http://markwatches.net/reviews/ is going to start doing B5 but probably won’t start until late 2017 early 2018. He’s doing all of Star Trek in order is finishing up Voyager then will do Enterprise then moves to Alias, Yuri on Ice and then he’s going to tackle B5. He posts daily, so enterprise finishes in November.
The bulk of the series. Not exactly a lightweight.
I suppose, but it immediately reminded me of the scene from Amadeus where Mozart is trying to convince his majesty to let him do his version of Figaro.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OkrYf4qlLM
