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.

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.