Babylon 5

The anti Star Trek, with its grim depiction of conflict and war. Politics and betrayal were common, even among former allies and stories popped back up sometimes seasons after their initial introduction. It was severely limited by budget, and that can be a turn off for many, but story wise, its possibly the greatest science fiction show and one of the better written shows of any genre.

Season 3 and 4 were great, but the bad parts are really bad.

Ahead of its time in more ways than one. The civil war storyline almost fells purposely written as direct commentary on Trump. The serialized format can sag between long stretches of episodes where not much happens, but when B5 is good, it's really good. Season 4 ranks among my Top 10 favourite seasons of any serialized drama. Excited for the upcoming reboot. If ever there was a show that deserved a higher budget, it was this one.

Brilliant SF that wishes it was as good as DS9, but it isn't quite.

Deducting 5 points because of the meandering and somewhat boring final season. One of the best Science Fiction shows ever made.

Conceptually this was crazy cool. Not sure how well it holds up against time, but man, there are still elements of this crazy dream universe that I lie awake imagining at night. Deadpan humour as far as the eye can see. Probably trends a little militaristic & conservative, versus TNG, for instance…like a more mature, dramatic version of DS9. But as another reviewer observed - when it’s good, it’s really damned good.

great series

Once you get used to the smoke filled aesthetic of the station and get passed the budget limitations you realize that Babylon 5 has the most cohesive long thought out story of any other sci-fi, probably of any other show. While many shows try to avoid politics, Babylon 5 revels in it. The show understands the struggle it takes to fight for and maintain peace. Babylon 5 was topical for its time and it will be topical forever.