Pay very close attention to which episodes were actually written by the lead writer, and which were not. The ones that were not are the worst, most propaganda driven episodes in the whole show.
I'm almost done with season 2 on a first time watch. Once I realised who the subversives were (and reading their bios lead you to the worst episodes of trek, and how those episodes could have been even worse if the author had gotten away with it) I started ignoring anything not written by Straczynski.
I think it's a damn good show so far, but those "filler" eps were absolutely hardcore propaganda. It was the one where "parental rights are a bad thing!" that got me looking into who was actually writing this trash, and why was it so clearly bad in every way compared to the episode before it.
For what it's worth, B5 S1 has always been notoriously terrible even leaving the propaganda aside. It quickly gets better in S2, although it's been some time since I've seen the show in its entirety.
Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide,
Nothing worth doing that I haven't tried.
There ain't no living on planet-side,
Come on with me, baby, on a rocket ride.
How many cities crumble into dust
At the first atomic attack?
How many self-aware, wise, and just
Computers will we have to hack?
How many supercars will turn to rust
'Cause we don't have a spare or a jack?
Give me technology we can trust,
And give it fins like a Cadillac.
I want a shining tower of glass and steel,
A rubber jumpsuit and a freeze-dried meal,
The will to survive, the need to explore,
The love of adventure, who could ask for more?
I want you, baby, right by my side,
Help me get out before my brain is fried.
The stars are waiting, so big and wide,
Come on with me, baby, on a rocket ride.
Come on with me, baby, on a rocket ride.
How many demons out in cyberspace
Will possess every hacker's will?
How many members of a master race
Will come closing in for the kill?
How many xenomorphs will change their face,
And then hunt us down for a thrill?
Give me a villain with style and grace,
And a little bit of fencing skill.
They used to be angular, sneering and bald,
If someone got killed even they were appalled,
They tried to marry the heroine, no thought of rape,
And they sure as hell knew how to wear a cape.
They never tortured, they never lied,
They'd honor a promise if it meant they died.
Let's find a villain with professional pride,
Come on with me, baby, on a rocket ride.
Come on with me, baby, on a rocket ride.
Terminators, Life Force, Robot Jox, Predators,
Lots of things that know how to flense,
Defenestrate 'em out the doors, gimme gimme Star Wars,
Bring back the Children of the Lens.
Puppet Master, Child's Play, Fright Night, Judgment Day,
Jason, Freddy, Michael, and Stripe,
Let Frankenstein, Ardeth Bey, and Kong chase them all away,
The Movie Snatchers' pods are overripe.
I want more than action and special effects,
To think about what might happen next,
A hero, not a weapons shop with pecs,
A heroine, not an excuse for sex.
I want a bubble helmet matting down my hair,
The ground giving way to the open air,
The joy and wonder as I head out there,
And I know I can have it, if I only dare.
How many bodybuilding macho jerks
Will blow everything full of holes?
How many imitation Captain Kirks
Will spill beer on the ship's controls?
How many stupid personality quirks
Will we see instead of souls?
Give me my baby and a ship that works,
And give us the starring roles.
I want to cruise the galaxy at FTL,
Pursuing Heaven and defying Hell,
I want to do everything that a man can do,
And I want to do it all out there with you.
Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide,
Nothing worth doing that I haven't tried.
There ain't no living on planet-side,
Come on with me, baby, on a rocket ride.
Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide,
Nothing worth doing that I haven't tried.
There ain't no living on planet-side,
Come on with me, baby, on a rocket ride.
Come on with me, baby, on a rocket ride.
Come on with me, baby, on a rocket ride.
Come on with me, baby, on a rocket ride.
S2-S4 in particular are what make it a glorious ride.
It's kind of funny how part of the reason for the faster and more dramatic pacing is because at one juncture they really thought they were going to get cancelled soon, so Straczynski really wanted to advance the story and get it going.
B5 is unique because the majority of the show was written by one man. Other shows have whole teams of writers, and even the "creator" of the show might only write 5% of the episodes. Straczynski wrote like 95% of the episodes, so yeah, skip the filler and get a decent show.
The preachy/propaganda stuff is pretty much gone after season 1, and the show gets a lot better. Still, there's some great content in season 1. Season 5 isn't as good as 2, 3, and 4, but it's because of studio interference, causing the creator to condense 2 seasons into 1 (resulting in a very fast paced season 4), and season 5 being quite anti climatic, and taking a while to find its feet, since the JMS had to conjure a whole new story for season 5, since the studio said they were cancelling the show at the end of season 4, and then renewing it for season 5 after JMS had told the story he wanted to tell.
Even though it's a scifi show, it has amazing characters and arcs, arguably the best in any show I've seen, like Garibaldi, Londo, and G'kar.
Just be sure to watch the show and movies in proper viewing order. Most of the movies are "meh", but In The Beginning is incredible.
While Straczynski wrote like... 90% of the episodes iirc, I think he hired some weird, VERY lefty sci-fi writers who ended up being too lazy to write as many scripts as he'd expected them to. I think one was a mega feminist if I remember correctly.
That was part of an attempted attack on Jehovah's Witnesses that the media staged in the 1990s.
It kinda backfired, because people hate JWs, and don't give a shit what happens to their fucking kids, if they don't grow up to knock on doors, great. So they dropped it.
Pay very close attention to which episodes were actually written by the lead writer, and which were not. The ones that were not are the worst, most propaganda driven episodes in the whole show.
I'm almost done with season 2 on a first time watch. Once I realised who the subversives were (and reading their bios lead you to the worst episodes of trek, and how those episodes could have been even worse if the author had gotten away with it) I started ignoring anything not written by Straczynski.
I think it's a damn good show so far, but those "filler" eps were absolutely hardcore propaganda. It was the one where "parental rights are a bad thing!" that got me looking into who was actually writing this trash, and why was it so clearly bad in every way compared to the episode before it.
That's a good suggestion; I might just start doing that. I'm not interested in wasting any more time with propaganda masquerading as sci-fi.
For what it's worth, B5 S1 has always been notoriously terrible even leaving the propaganda aside. It quickly gets better in S2, although it's been some time since I've seen the show in its entirety.
I like terrible sci-fi.
Give me tar monsters and aliens made of painted bubble wrap. The more bad CGI the better. Just leave the goddamn political messaging out of it.
Fourth doctor vs 6th doctor basically.
https://tomsmith.bandcamp.com/track/rocket-ride
Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, Nothing worth doing that I haven't tried. There ain't no living on planet-side, Come on with me, baby, on a rocket ride.
How many cities crumble into dust At the first atomic attack? How many self-aware, wise, and just Computers will we have to hack?
How many supercars will turn to rust 'Cause we don't have a spare or a jack? Give me technology we can trust, And give it fins like a Cadillac.
I want a shining tower of glass and steel, A rubber jumpsuit and a freeze-dried meal, The will to survive, the need to explore, The love of adventure, who could ask for more?
I want you, baby, right by my side, Help me get out before my brain is fried. The stars are waiting, so big and wide, Come on with me, baby, on a rocket ride. Come on with me, baby, on a rocket ride.
How many demons out in cyberspace Will possess every hacker's will? How many members of a master race Will come closing in for the kill?
How many xenomorphs will change their face, And then hunt us down for a thrill? Give me a villain with style and grace, And a little bit of fencing skill.
They used to be angular, sneering and bald, If someone got killed even they were appalled, They tried to marry the heroine, no thought of rape, And they sure as hell knew how to wear a cape.
They never tortured, they never lied, They'd honor a promise if it meant they died. Let's find a villain with professional pride, Come on with me, baby, on a rocket ride. Come on with me, baby, on a rocket ride.
Terminators, Life Force, Robot Jox, Predators, Lots of things that know how to flense, Defenestrate 'em out the doors, gimme gimme Star Wars, Bring back the Children of the Lens.
Puppet Master, Child's Play, Fright Night, Judgment Day, Jason, Freddy, Michael, and Stripe, Let Frankenstein, Ardeth Bey, and Kong chase them all away, The Movie Snatchers' pods are overripe.
I want more than action and special effects, To think about what might happen next, A hero, not a weapons shop with pecs, A heroine, not an excuse for sex.
I want a bubble helmet matting down my hair, The ground giving way to the open air, The joy and wonder as I head out there, And I know I can have it, if I only dare.
How many bodybuilding macho jerks Will blow everything full of holes? How many imitation Captain Kirks Will spill beer on the ship's controls?
How many stupid personality quirks Will we see instead of souls? Give me my baby and a ship that works, And give us the starring roles.
I want to cruise the galaxy at FTL, Pursuing Heaven and defying Hell, I want to do everything that a man can do, And I want to do it all out there with you.
Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, Nothing worth doing that I haven't tried. There ain't no living on planet-side, Come on with me, baby, on a rocket ride.
Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, Nothing worth doing that I haven't tried. There ain't no living on planet-side, Come on with me, baby, on a rocket ride. Come on with me, baby, on a rocket ride. Come on with me, baby, on a rocket ride. Come on with me, baby, on a rocket ride.
S2-S4 in particular are what make it a glorious ride.
It's kind of funny how part of the reason for the faster and more dramatic pacing is because at one juncture they really thought they were going to get cancelled soon, so Straczynski really wanted to advance the story and get it going.
B5 is unique because the majority of the show was written by one man. Other shows have whole teams of writers, and even the "creator" of the show might only write 5% of the episodes. Straczynski wrote like 95% of the episodes, so yeah, skip the filler and get a decent show.
That's also why the Syndicated Real Ghostbusters still Slaps with real Scary Shit and his Spider-Man is still top shelf.
The preachy/propaganda stuff is pretty much gone after season 1, and the show gets a lot better. Still, there's some great content in season 1. Season 5 isn't as good as 2, 3, and 4, but it's because of studio interference, causing the creator to condense 2 seasons into 1 (resulting in a very fast paced season 4), and season 5 being quite anti climatic, and taking a while to find its feet, since the JMS had to conjure a whole new story for season 5, since the studio said they were cancelling the show at the end of season 4, and then renewing it for season 5 after JMS had told the story he wanted to tell.
Even though it's a scifi show, it has amazing characters and arcs, arguably the best in any show I've seen, like Garibaldi, Londo, and G'kar.
Just be sure to watch the show and movies in proper viewing order. Most of the movies are "meh", but In The Beginning is incredible.
While Straczynski wrote like... 90% of the episodes iirc, I think he hired some weird, VERY lefty sci-fi writers who ended up being too lazy to write as many scripts as he'd expected them to. I think one was a mega feminist if I remember correctly.
Huh, literally only knew him from Amazing Spider-man comics.
Yeah I'm gonna read those comics eventually because his writing in B5 is so good.
Can't believe I slept on the show for so long.
That was part of an attempted attack on Jehovah's Witnesses that the media staged in the 1990s.
It kinda backfired, because people hate JWs, and don't give a shit what happens to their fucking kids, if they don't grow up to knock on doors, great. So they dropped it.
Have you run into the "this is how we should treat gays" episode or was that just 80s shows?