Recommend me a TV on DVD series (plus: "Farscape vs. Babylon 5")

[malephoenix]

I recently joined Netflix and I'm enjoying it a lot so far. I've been using their ridiculous library to catch some of the more obscure DVDs out there. And since it doesn't cost four bucks a pop (ugh --> Blockbuster), I've really gotten to enjoy the various television series out there.

Recommend some good series to me. (And please let me know the amount of sex/cursing/etc. I'm not into that, so stuff like Oz just isn't for me. I understand if you don't know exactly or want to take the time to type details out, but at least a rough description.)

Also, I'm not sure where to go for my next sci-fi genre hook-up; Farscape, or Babylon 5. I saw pretty much nothing from either series, so weigh in and tell me which you thought was better.

Appreciated.

[marshal99]

You can try "Carnivale" , there's some nudity and stuff but it's like reading a Stephen King novel of good and evil like The Stand, very well written series . :D

[Chiasm]

I've never seen Babylon 5 but Farscape is my favorite show of all time.

But my recommendation on Farscape comes with a big asterik. Most of the first 2/3 of season I of Farscape sucks. There is no nice way to put it. The characters were still being developed and early on several of them, especially D'Argo who intially was a Worf clone, are nothing like they later became. There comes a point though towards the last 1/3 of season I where things get really good really fast. Two of the main characters in the whole series, Chianna and Scorpius, arrive and the show also finds the plotline that will pretty much drive it throughout all four seasons. Season I ends well and season II is even better as I think it was overall its best season.

To be completely honest I doubt I would have stuck with Farscape had I started watching it from the beginning given how it started. But I came to it late and by the time I got to go back and see those early episodes I was beyond hooked on the show.

If you want what I'd do is start watching it in the first episode that Chianna is in - I forget the name but if your going to be renting it should be fairly easy to figure out - it comes around episodes 14-17 somewhere if I recall right. All you need to know up to that point is pretty much told in the opening credits - John Crichton was an astronaut who was shot through a wormhole to distant galaxy where he was taken in by a ship of escaped prisoners. Now they are all fleeing from what amounts to the military, called Peacekeepers. They also have a renegade Peacekeeper on the ship with them named Aeryn and she and Crichton are attracted to one another.

Or just do this - find the season II disc that has the episode "Crackers Don't Matter" on it. That is a stand alone episode and its a very good one. If it doesn't interest you then probably won't like the show.

[hshaukat]

Netflix rules! My recommendations are Alias (seasons 1, 2, and the first 1/2 of 3), Firefly, Buffy, Battlestar Galactica (the latest incarnation), and Arrested Development. Oh, and if you've never seen Futurama, get that too.

Alias is one of my favorite shows of all time. It's about a super-spy, her life in the spy world, and her home life. It's one of the best shows EVER, so check it out. If the pilot doesn't get you hooked, then I don't know what. Midway through season 3 they lose all focus and the show quality fades, but it's still ok after that.

The rest of the shows I listed are awesome too. Firefly and BSG are both sci-fi with good stories and excellent characters. Buffy The Vampire Slayer is a total guilty pleasure. If you like Joss Whedon's stuff, definitely check it out. Futurama is a good animated show for people who like The Simpsons and Family Guy fans.

Arrested Development is one of the finest, if not THE finest, comedies ever made. PERIOD. It's too bad it was cancelled. I don't think we'll ever see it's like again.

[StoneGold]

Having seen both B5 and Farscape, most of B5 is superior. No goofy deus ex machina generic sci fi plots (and when deus ex machina happens in B5, it usually actually is literally the god from the machine), a far deeper running plotline, better spaceship battles, even most of the aliens look better. Not that Farscape is bad, just that if you took the scifi elements out, it'd be rather generic television. Take the SF out of B5, and it's still a pretty engaging political drama. Although the first season is a lot better having already seen the last four. I just rewatched it, and knowing what is yet to come makes it so much better.

[Chiasm]

Alias is one of my favorite shows of all time. It's about a super-spy, her life in the spy world, and her home life. It's one of the best shows EVER, so check it out. If the pilot doesn't get you hooked, then I don't know what. Midway through season 3 they lose all focus and the show quality fades, but it's still ok after that.


Totally agree. If you aren't completely hooked after the 1st episode, you won't like it at all. And its totally insane how much plot development they squeeze into the 1st episode. It would take a show like Lost half a season to do as much as Alias does in 1st episode yet it doesn't feel forced or rushed.

[Buzz Dixon]

FUTURAMA is the show that was meant for DVD.

[dougputhoff]

Go for "The Honeymooners 39 Classic Episodes." Best sitcom every made.

[Zero Hunter]

I would definetly go for Farscape. Rent the first disc of season 1 so you can get the begining. I will agree that alot of season 1 is a bit akward in places, but it is still worth seeing. The series really started to shine in season 2, and really came into its peak in season 3. Not to say that season 4 was bad by any means it just that 3 was just that good. The whole series is one of my all time favorites. Farscape has this real gift of mixing action, drama, and comedy all together in a package that works. Plus it is really fun just to see John Chriton acting and talking like alot of normal people would in his shows with all the goofy pop culture references and such.

B5 is probably my second favorite scifi series ever though. The only problem with B5 is that seasons 1 and 5 are pretty weak. Seasons 2-4 kick ass and are very worth watching though.

Another good quirky show: Wonderfalls.

[Ilash]

Recommendations: Any of Joss Whedon's shows, Scrubs, Arrested Development, SPACED (I'm not sure if you can get this in America but along with Scrubs and Seinfeld, it's my favourite TV comedy ever. Pure genius), Futurama, Dead Like Me.

As for B5 vs Farscape, well, I only saw the first season of Farscape (they never showed the remaining three seasons here) but I think the main difference is that Farscape is the one to go with if you like your SF WEIRD because otherwise you may well utterly hate it. Babylon 5 is my second favourite space-opera type scifi show ever (Firefly being my easy number one) because of the incredibly ambitious story as well as some damn strong characters (G'kar and Londo in particular) but just to warn you, some of the stand alone episodes aren't all that great and the acting and dialogue could be pretty iffy at times.

[Deathstroke]

You can try "Carnivale" , there's some nudity and stuff but it's like reading a Stephen King novel of good and evil like The Stand, very well written series . :D

The first season is great, the second season is just horrific.

[Deathstroke]

Non scifi - The Wire Season 1.

Sci-fi - Go with Babylon 5 first, then Farscape.

[Gilda Dent]

After hearing so much about the quality of Babylon 5, I rented the first season discs, and was very disappointed. It may, as I've been told, set up things that happen later on, but the individual episodes up front are sometimes almost painfully dull, so much so that I skipped the rest after disc one.

I know nothing about Farscape.

I liked Roswell a lot. There are only two seasons, as it was cancelled, but it does have a pretty decent finale that actually ties things up instead of an anti-climactic non-ending like a certain fantasy show about supernatural FBI agents.

Gilda

[Ontir]

Go back and watch the rest of Season One! The first season is indeed set-up. There's one of what JMS called the "Gotcha" episodes in the first season, which is the first real hint of what the series is actually about, but as the show progresses, you'll see that the stuff you thought was a one-off, was actually part of what's going on in seasons 3 and 4, especially.

I love Farscape, but watching it on DVD is a major pain in the tookas! 2 eps/disk is just criminal! I've heard there are "Starburst Editions" which contain multiple episodes, but I've not found them for rent anywhere - yet!

Beyond that, the entire run of Six Feet Under is just brilliant!

Huff is great.

Queer as Folk is good, although season 3 sort of lost its way.
The original British series is great. QAF II starts off well, but is one of the most daft/horrible conclusions I've ever seen. It's ALMOST as bad as the last Seinfeld!

the L Word was fantastic season one. Season two sort of meandered, but the whole Jenny Schecter storyline was great.

Ontourage is great, and hysterical. Moreso if you live in LA, but not so inside that the rest of the world won't get it.

The Dark Shadows re-make series was pretty good, albeit a bit rushed.

Battlestar Galactica from the mini, to the first season, and on... this is what sci-fi wants to be when it grows up! As much as I love "B5" and "Farscape," "BSG" is the only sci-fi show to eclipse "Trek."

[Karl J. Barnes]

FUTURAMA is the show that was meant for DVD.

I saw on Adult Swim, where there will be four direct to DVD movies.

[Chiasm]

I love Farscape, but watching it on DVD is a major pain in the tookas! 2 eps/disk is just criminal! I've heard there are "Starburst Editions" which contain multiple episodes, but I've not found them for rent anywhere - yet!


The Starburst editions are double sided DVD's so its still only 2 or 3 episodes per side but at least one disc holds more than it used to. They are only into season 3 though on the releases of the Starburst editions.

[malephoenix]

You can try "Carnivale" , there's some nudity and stuff but it's like reading a Stephen King novel of good and evil like The Stand, very well written series .


How weird. I just wrote this within the last week:
http://www.xanga.com/private/yourhome.aspx

I've never seen Babylon 5 but Farscape is my favorite show of all time.


Thanks for the recommendation, Chiasm - especially the extra part about how it might be best to watch it not from the first episode.

Netflix rules! My recommendations are Alias (seasons 1, 2, and the first 1/2 of 3), Firefly, Buffy, Battlestar Galactica (the latest incarnation), and Arrested Development. Oh, and if you've never seen Futurama, get that too.

Yes indeed it does. And: Really like Alias, Firefly is incredible, Buffy was okay up until the college years (like a lot of shows, unfortunately…), and I literally started Netflix for Battlestar Galactica Season 2.0. (Why in the WORLD did they release these discs separately from the rest of the series? What a bad idea…) Oh yeah, and Arrested Development made me want to blind myself with acid. It’s so weird, because the comedy in it is a lot like the stupidity of utterly pointless lives in Napoleon Dynamite, which I like just fine. To each his own, though. And Futurama’s alright. (But wow, do I get tired of hearing God’s name taken in vain so often in that show…) Thanks for the recommendations. If I hadn’t seen most of them already, I’d be eternally thankful to you; everyone else should listen to what this cat says to check out.*


Battlestar Galactica from the mini, to the first season, and on... this is what sci-fi wants to be when it grows up! As much as I love "B5" and "Farscape," "BSG" is the only sci-fi show to eclipse "Trek."


If by "BSG" your mean "Firefly," and by “Trek” you mean “anything else,” then the answer is yes.:D

Also, I thought about something watching the extras from Season 1 of this re-envisioned BSG; the creators talk about it like it’s something new. Literally saying things like how it’s an inventive direction and the first of its kind and hopefully will usher in a “new age of sci-fi."

What???:confused:

Did these guys not get to see Firefly? And they have some good points about the Trek universe just being too neat and pretty to believe people really live on the starships there, but they miss the boat by thinking that they are the first sci-fi series to actually be a drama that happens to occur in a sci-fi environment. Deep Space Nine (I know – you either hated it or loved it) did this wonderfully. I don’t like any of the other Trek series (Voyager make my ears bleed) but the character interactions in this series kept me coming back. It was the only thing; as clearly the other Treks have the same technology and special effects, etc. So it had to be something else. And everything from Sisko’s relationship with his son, to Odo and the Major’s ongoing “will they get together?”, to even the characterization of pretty much any Cardassian character…this show is only eclipsed in this concept by the aforementioned best: Firefly.







Thanks for all the input, everyone. Keep it coming.

Please!



*Except Arrested Development

[NDHorse]

I concur with Firefly, Buffy, and Arrested Development.

Check out MI-5. Its this British show about the UK's domestic spy agency. Think of it like a realistic Alias but they stick around the UK mostly. THey deal with plots to assinate leaders, biological attacks, and suicide bombers. Can't more highly recommend it. Netflix has the first 3 seasons right now and I have given all of them 5 stars.

If you want a Star Trek, I would go with Deep Space Nine. Its my favorite, but that only my opinion.

Curb Your Enthusiasm is very funny if you liked Seinfeld. Scrubs is good humor that you can jump into at any time. For politics, I love the West Wing.

Freaks and Geeks is the ultimate teen angst TV show. It deals with two groups of kids, the Freaks and the Geeks. The Freaks do drugs, skip class, and generally goof off. The Geeks love Star Trek, Twilight Zone, and D&D. It is set in suburban Detroit in 1980. It only lasted one season. One of the alltime screw ups by America for not watching this show.

The Office:UK and US Versions. If you have ever worked in an office, you will laughing your ass off. It has the boss who tries WAY too hard to be your friend. Can not go wrong at all.

Hope that helps. I just got all of this from checking my own ratings in Netflix. I am a Netflix junkie.

[rondre sleazde]

I reccomend these shows

The Shield
Roswell
Angel
Buffy
24
American Gothic
Nip/Tuck

[PerfectBrak]

24 is awesome to watch on DVD. You'll want to watch every episode in one sitting.

[ragnarok_2012]

Check out MI-5. Its this British show about the UK's domestic spy agency. Think of it like a realistic Alias but they stick around the UK mostly. THey deal with plots to assinate leaders, biological attacks, and suicide bombers. Can't more highly recommend it. Netflix has the first 3 seasons right now and I have given all of them 5 stars.


MI-5 (called Spooks in Britain) is awesome. I think the first two seasons are probably the best. In season 3 they dump the cast for new people. There's a lot of ethical dilemmas in the first 2 seasons in the context of a fairly realistic, well-written spy show.

Plus, season 1 has Hugh Laurie as an MI-6 agent. He plays a thoroughly fun bastard.

[ragnarok_2012]

Cowboy Bebop is a wonderful anime. It's set in the future. Teh main charactes are "cowboys"-jargon for bounty hunters in that time period. Just incredibly good.

[Ontir]

If by "BSG" your mean "Firefly," and by “Trek” you mean “anything else,” then the answer is yes.:D

"BSG" refers to Battlestar Galactica. "BSG" is part of the show's logo, and while I love Firefly/Serenity, they didn't eclipse Trek - at least not yet. Galactica has also altered the look and language of sci-fi shows. "Anything else" hasn't done that. The creators of the current Galactica are right in the assertion that they're doing something new and saving for sci-fi (the genre, not the channel), because it's the most grown-up sci-fi ever. It's the only sci-fi show I'd put on the same level as Six Feet Under, which is the benchmark for quality!

They may not have gotten to see Firelfy, most people didn't. Fox didn't air all of the episodes that were shot, and there were only what - 12? The "BSG" guys did a highly successful mini, followed by a successful second season, and going into the third, have gotten a spin-off. I actually liked DS9. It had its problems, but I enjoyed it. Part of what made it good, is the guy who's now at the helm of Galactica. It's true, he didn't invent the "living on a space-ship" model, but he's really altered it, and set a benchmark for others to reach for.

[boondoggle]

A lot of the people (http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/index.php?category=0&id=34061) working on BSG worked on Firefly.

[bert]

After hearing so much about the quality of Babylon 5, I rented the first season discs, and was very disappointed. It may, as I've been told, set up things that happen later on, but the individual episodes up front are sometimes almost painfully dull, so much so that I skipped the rest after disc one.

Gilda

as Ontir said, force yourself to watch the rest of season 1.

BIG changes happen in the very first ep of season II, and then all the things you thought were dull/filler start to make sense.

Seasons II-IV are absolutely brilliant, although season IV is a bit "rushed" as JMS thought he wouldn't get a fifth season, so he tried to resolve all his massive plot threads.

when he got a fifth season, he pushed the last ep of season IV (the series finale) to the end of season V, and added a new conflict for the new season.

Season V is extremely weak, despite a few standout episodes (season V includes two Peter David written eps, and the fantastic Neil Gaiman episode).

but I highly recommend Bablyon 5. What you THINK the show is about, is NOT what it's about. . that all becomes clear by the end of the second season.

[Gilda Dent]

but I highly recommend Bablyon 5. What you THINK the show is about, is NOT what it's about. . that all becomes clear by the end of the second season.

Well, it seems to be generic episodic space opera, a couple of steps below the weakest of the Star Trek series, Voyager, but obviously I'm not qualified to judge the whole based on those three episodes.

I don't dispute what you say here regarding the rest of the show, but I really can't see myself sitting through some 20 hours of setup to get to the good stuff.

IMHO, a good television series needs to have individual episodes that are rewarding in themselves, and the three I sat through before giving up were worse than badly made, they were dull.

You can spend the first fifth of, say, a long novel setting things up, but a tv series is more like a series of interconnected short stories. This isn't to say that you can't have an overall arc that lasts a season or even the entire run of the series, of course that can work. Asimov's Robots/Foundation books work that way--there's a grand arc going on, and each story adds to it, but each story also works by itself. The payoffs you get when you get to the Robots and Empire and Robots and Earth books are awesome, but the stories that lead up to them are worth reading even without them.

Perhaps I'm just the wrong audience for this. I loved the X-files, but much preferred the monster-of-the-week stories to the big series-long arc. Maybe that's because I'm just not smart enough to figure it out.

I know it had to do with a potential alien invasion, either real or staged for nefarious purposes, and a conspiracy that was somehow connected to it, either to cooperate with it or combat it or use it to hide their activities and discredit conspiracy theorists. I saw nearly every episode in production and then again on DVD, and still have little idea what was actually happening.

Gilda

[Dr. Banner]

A lot of the people (http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/index.php?category=0&id=34061) working on BSG worked on Firefly.

That's for effects. The juice of the show (behind the scenes, at least), is the developer/writer/producer Ronald D. Moore.

And he's born of Star Trek.

[marshal99]

How weird. I just wrote this within the last week:
http://www.xanga.com/private/yourhome.aspx


What did you write ? I can't view it. :)

The first season is great, the second season is just horrific.

I disagree with that , i thought it was excellent , building up to the finale where the healer and the preacher finally met. It had a real twist at the end too , would have set up a interesting 3rd season if it wasn't cancelled.

[Deathstroke]

I disagree with that , i thought it was excellent , building up to the finale where the healer and the preacher finally met. It had a real twist at the end too , would have set up a interesting 3rd season if it wasn't cancelled.

About the only thing that interested me was the scene when Ben had that guy making the mask on his face. Just the overall creepiness of the scene, and the scene when the head circus hand had sex with the blonde girl and she tells him to bang her in the ass. I just laughed at the way she told him to do it.

[StoneGold]

Well, it seems to be generic episodic space opera, a couple of steps below the weakest of the Star Trek series, Voyager, but obviously I'm not qualified to judge the whole based on those three episodes.

I don't dispute what you say here regarding the rest of the show, but I really can't see myself sitting through some 20 hours of setup to get to the good stuff.

IMHO, a good television series needs to have individual episodes that are rewarding in themselves, and the three I sat through before giving up were worse than badly made, they were dull.

You have to remember, B5 came out just as episodic genre series were starting to come out. DS9 was a couple seasons away from being anything close to remotely interesting. X-Files had just premiered. B5 was really in uncharted territories at the time. It started off by giving the networks what it thought it wanted, which was a Star Trek ripoff, all while quietly building up the mythology to create the mother of all cosmic battles. Believe me, when the first episodes were aired, they didn't seem as sub-par as they do now, just because that's how all genre television was done back then. B5 was one of the shows that changed that.

[Corrina]

Hill Street Blues.

Best cop show ever, beating Homicide, which often tried to be too artsy and angsty for its own good, much as I loved it.

Amazing ensemble cast, terrific writing, great dialogue and there's so much going on in each episode. The one thing I love about it while it's full of darkness at times, it's also full of the ridiculous. Belker the detective who bites people, Renko, who thinks he's a modern cowboy, J.D. always running a scam.....the smart & together Sgt. Esterhaus who's engaged to a high school 'graduating senior.'

I just watched the pilot the other day. It really holds up. I don't think there's been anything like in on television since. Some have come close, like Homicide and ER.

[Adaptoid]

One of my favorites is "Crime Story". One of the great cop shows of all time and now so many cops shows and movies have copied it and derived ideas from it. Great writing, acting, music, imagery, cars, location - from top to bottom near perfect.

It was on NBC in 1984 and was advertised as a cop shop from an era before you had the right to remain silent. Takes place in 1963 Chicago and Las Vegas. Just can't heap on the superlatives enough.

One of the earliest shows with a mytharc format where episodes build upon the history of the past shows. Easy to get hooked.

[Gilda Dent]

Hill Street Blues.

Best cop show ever, beating Homicide, which often tried to be too artsy and angsty for its own good, much as I loved it.

Amazing ensemble cast, terrific writing, great dialogue and there's so much going on in each episode. The one thing I love about it while it's full of darkness at times, it's also full of the ridiculous. Belker the detective who bites people, Renko, who thinks he's a modern cowboy, J.D. always running a scam.....the smart & together Sgt. Esterhaus who's engaged to a high school 'graduating senior.'

I just watched the pilot the other day. It really holds up. I don't think there's been anything like in on television since. Some have come close, like Homicide and ER.

Agreed. Hill Street Blues is one that I loved on one of the Nick channels, Nick at night, I think.

I'd say St. Elsewhere is the closest in quality, though. I like the idea of playing drama for tragedy as often as to show triumph over adversity.

Gilda

[ghostrider666]

Go with B5. Best..tv show...ever.
Also, if you havent seen it, rent Firefly. Awesome show.

[Wild Card]

Alien Nation - One season - ends in a cliffhanger that never relly got resolve (well the made for TV movie that came out years later was supose to wrap up lose ends but it more or less rewrote the final esipode. none of the TV movies are yet on DVD.)
new BSG - 2 seasons and counting

As for Farscape and B5 both are good. Farscape is simple becuse all you have is the esipodes. With B5 you have movies to figue out where to fit in the series. Also if want to watch Crusade you may want to watch it before the final esipode becuse Sleeping in the Light has a sort of spoiler for Crusade.

[Jared]

Well, it seems to be generic episodic space opera, a couple of steps below the weakest of the Star Trek series, Voyager, but obviously I'm not qualified to judge the whole based on those three episodes.

I don't dispute what you say here regarding the rest of the show, but I really can't see myself sitting through some 20 hours of setup to get to the good stuff.


I don't blame you. I'd suggest skipping most of season 1 except for the episode where they find the Great Machine on the planet below, the episode where Babylon 4 reappears, the episode where Majel Roddenberry guest stars as a psychic, and the season finale. There's a prequel telemovie, "In the Beginning", that explains alot, and is quite good on its own. But it does also spoil quite a bit of the show. If you don't know much about it now, I would hold off on watching that until maybe after the (edit) third season.


Anyway, 24 is the ideal show for DVD. Start with season 1, but dont' read any reviews, don't ask any friends about it, try like hell to avoid spoilers. It can get pretty violent for network TV, but it is still network TV after all, so not much gore, just some surprising brutality from time to time.

[Ontir]

...but I really can't see myself sitting through some 20 hours of setup to get to the good stuff.

OK Gilda, here's the cheat:

Watch Signs & Portents, then go on to Season 2!

[Corrina]

One of my favorites is "Crime Story". One of the great cop shows of all time and now so many cops shows and movies have copied it and derived ideas from it. Great writing, acting, music, imagery, cars, location - from top to bottom near perfect.


Great choice. I think several of the Hill Street writer/directors went on to be involved with Crime Story. Didn't Michael Mann (Miami Vice) also have something to do with Crime Story?

My one problem with Crime Story is that it lost something when they moved to Vegas. Love Dennis Farina still, though. If anyone thinks his Falcone is interesting on "Law & Order," his character on Crime Story is ten times better.

[Vesper]

Veronica Mars, season one.

If you liked early Alias and Buffy, you won't regret it.

(But give it a few eps, as it starts a bit slow.)

edit: Oh, and Murder One, season one. It's great except for a slightly deux ex machina finale. (It has Stanley Tucci. How can it not be great?)

[StoneGold]

the episode where Majel Roddenberry guest stars as a psychic,
You are misremembering. "Point of No Return," the episode with Majel as the wife of the dead emperor (no end to the parallels there...) was a Season 3 episode.

[Jared]

You are misremembering. "Point of No Return," the episode with Majel as the wife of the dead emperor (no end to the parallels there...) was a Season 3 episode.

Whoops. It also occurs to me, that "In the Beginning" could probably be watched after Season 3 without spoiling anything, because the the gist of what we see of the future there is already layed out when Sheridan (or was it Deleen) see glimpses of the future.

[FanboyStranger]

Definitely The Wire. There are so many characters that it can be tough to follow from week to week until you start putting names to faces, so it is perfect for viewing on Dvd. Season Two is even better than Season One, which is remarkable since it was already the best show on television. Not for people with ADD, though.

The Shield is probably my second favorite show, and it plays better on Dvd simply because you don't have to wait through any damn commercials. Four seasons are out on dvd, and I highly recommend starting from the beginning and working your way straight through.

Rescue Me is another show I love, and season two just came out on dvd. Most people I know either love or hate Denis Leary, but even those that hate him have fallen in love with this show. Sean Garrity is probably the best comic relief currently on TV, and the Lew steals the show in every sceen.

Arrested Development plays better on Dvd because you can follow all the reoccuring jokes as they develop. For example, the foreshadowing concerning Buster's hand starts with the first episode of Season two, and by the end of season two, you learn that every member of the Bluth family except Michael has their own individual "chicken dance".

I also love the BBC Office series. The NBC series is funny, but it doesn't hold a candle to Ricky Gervais' masterpiece.

[StoneGold]

Whoops. It also occurs to me, that "In the Beginning" could probably be watched after Season 3 without spoiling anything, because the the gist of what we see of the future there is already layed out when Sheridan (or was it Deleen) see glimpses of the future.
Except for the Londo narration segments. Although IIRC, although it was basically a season 5 movie, it was a spoiler for something that would happen in S5.

[Greg Hatcher]

Hm. Of the various season-set DVDs we have around here, ranked in order, the ones we have enjoyed the MOST are...

Firefly
24
Veronica Mars - thank you Vesper!!
Alias
Wonderfalls
Dark Angel
The Six Million Dollar Man
Birds of Prey
The Incredible Hulk
Planet of the Apes - movie collection + documentary + TV series
Lois & Clark
Remington Steele

Julie and I watch these together and it's a cheap date night for us, so you kind of have to figure that into it; we're old, so there's a certain nostalgia value for us watching, say, the old Planet of the Apes show and remembering what a GREAT! BIG! DEAL! that was when we were twelve. Your mileage may vary. And some of those are not commercially available, like Birds of Prey, that we got from friends or at shows. But I counted them anyway.

Right now I am prowling eBay for a nice set of the A&E Nero Wolfe series. I suspect that will probably rank fifth or sixth if we can get hold of it.

[Tobias March]

Arrested Development, Cowboy Bebop and American Gothic are must-sees..

But also check out Ultraviolet. It's a great British police procedural/vampire hybrid. Unfortunately came out at the tail-end of the nineties, long before the current climate of sf love had landed. Spaced carried the torch of nerddom, before Dr Who landed and now look what's happening. Sf shows being commissioned left/right/centre.

This Life was a drama series by the writers of Ultraviolet and should also be checked out.

[malephoenix]

Wow... Just watched the first disc of Babylon 5, Season I. What bad acting/storylines/and especially special effects.

So, does anyone know how I can tell what order to watch all the Babylon 5 stuff in, so as not to spoil anything? Shouldn't there be a website for that? I can't find one like that.

[StoneGold]

Wow... Just watched the first disc of Babylon 5, Season I. What bad acting/storylines/and especially special effects.

So, does anyone know how I can tell what order to watch all the Babylon 5 stuff in, so as not to spoil anything? Shouldn't there be a website for that? I can't find one like that.
Just watch them in order. And the special effects were state of the art when it originally aired.

[malephoenix]

Just watch them in order. And the special effects were state of the art when it originally aired.

I know they were. I had simply been under the impression that the time they originally aired was the very late 90s.

But what I'm asking is, which order? Others have pointed out the made for tv movies, but I simply started with season 1, disc 1. Was there a miniseries before that? And how many movies were there, and when do I watch them?

[StoneGold]

I know they were. I had simply been under the impression that the time they originally aired was the very late 90s.

But what I'm asking is, which order? Others have pointed out the made for tv movies, but I simply started with season 1, disc 1. Was there a miniseries before that? And how many movies were there, and when do I watch them?
Did the S1D1 have the two hour pilot movie? Because that should have come first. If you really want to, you can watch In the Beginning first, but it really doesn't have nearly as much impact until after you've gotten to know the characters, and spoils a couple things for later in the series. None of the minis ran until after the fourth season ended. I think ITB ran right before S5 started on TNT. So basically, watch the TV eps through season 4.

But if you have any B5 questions, this would be the source.
http://babylon5.cybersite.com.au/lurk/lurker.html

[bodie_3_7_ci5]

Millennium - Frank Black (Lance Henriksen) had a special ability to see into the minds of serial killers. He also worked for a mysterious organization called the Millennium Group which seemed to take a special interest in serial killers and end of the world prophecy. I loved all the conspiracy theories, which encompassed the entire show.

American Gothic - "Someones at the door!". Only lasted 1 season. The rural community of Trinity, South Carolina, a postcard-pretty enclave of antebellum houses and manicured lawns, is a town tormented and seduced by the ominous presence of one man, Sheriff Lucas Buck.

Blakes 7 - This was and still is my favourite of all sci fi shows (even better than Doctor Who). Blakes 7 is a Science Fiction television series created by Terry Nation and shown by the BBC. It started in 1978 and ran until 1981 giving us four series and a very memorable finale - which to this day is still the topic of conversation between fans of the series. The story at a very basic level, is that of Blake - a freedom fighter who was captured and brainwashed by the Federation (a facist government in charge of the Earth and a number of other planets). He discovers his identity once more, but is placed on a Federation prison ship bound for the prison planet - Cygnus Alpha. With the help of fellow criminals, they escape the Federation by capturing a remarkable starship - The Liberator. With the chance of a new start, Blake gathers together a small band of outlaws, who begin to search for a way to stop the Federation. The destruction of which means their freedom and the freedom of the galaxy.

Danger Man - British spy series which debuted in September 1960. It centred on John Drake (Patrick McGoohan), a rather unique secret agent who never kissed a woman or carried a gun in the course of his adventures.

The Prisoner - This was one of the most original science fiction dramas ever aired on television. Brainchild of producer and star Patrick McGoohan, the series portrays a top-secret government agent who resigns his position only to be immediately abducted and whisked away to an enigmatic, isolated seaside community known only as "The Village." Confined in his resort-like, yet sinister town, Number 6 (the new "identity" given to him by his captors) soon learns that no one can be trusted, and that those in charge (whose governmental and political affiliations are unknown) will take extreme measures to break him and learn the reasons behind his resignation.

Ultraviolet - Ultraviolet delivered a blend of vampire myth with a modern slant. It is notable that the programme never once mentions the word 'Vampire', instead referring to the antagonists as 'leeches' or a 'code five infection'. Ultraviolet charted the exploits of an investigative government unit, armed with the latest weaponry, whose aim is to track down and exterminate Code 5 infected subjects whilst attempting to work out their agenda. It starred Jack Davenport.

This Life - I'm sure alot of people remember the exploits of Miles, Anna, Milly, Egg and Warren.

Homocide: Life on the Street - This was a superior police drama which starred Yaphet Kotto. It focussed on a homicide unit which investigated violent crimes in Baltimore. I remember channel 7 treating this show like crap and screening it late at night.

Freaks and Geeks - was only on for one season in 1999 but a very cool show. Starring James Franco

V - A very big alien mothership appear in Earth's orbit. The aliens adress humanity and they promises that they come in peace. They tell that their planet is in danger and need help. In return they will share their advanced technology and knowledge with humanity. After a while some people become suspicious and begin a resistance movement. Soon they find out that the visitors are not so friendly after all. The series started with a miniseries in 1983 and ended with a regular series in 1984.

Sliders - When student Quinn Mallory experiment with anti-gravity , he accidently opens a gateway to another dimension. He thinks he has returned to his cellar when he manages to set his device , but actually he is in another dimension. At first , he didn't notice , because everything looks the same as in his own world. But after a while he noticed some differences. From now on , he shifts from universe to universe , hoping that someday he will return to his own world.

Spooks - Take a trip into the world of deceipt and espionage that is Mi5. The scripts are edge of your seat stuff. The show takes a more realistic tone.

Hustle - From the makers of Spooks. Hustle follows the fortunes of a gang of five expert con artists let loose on the streets of London. They are specialists in the way of the grifter and all are keen to liberate cash from the amoral and undeserving.

Hex - Set in a remote English school, Hex is the chilling story of one girl's exploration of the supernatural and her own sexual awakening. Cassie is a shy student who discovers she is cursed by terrifying links to the past. Longing to be popular, but only truly loved by her best friend, Cassie comes to realise she possesses dangerous powers. Stalked by Azazeal, the leader of the Nephilim, it will fall to Cassie to fight against the powerful forces that threaten her existence.

[Ontir]

I know they were. I had simply been under the impression that the time they originally aired was the very late 90s.

But what I'm asking is, which order? Others have pointed out the made for tv movies, but I simply started with season 1, disc 1. Was there a miniseries before that? And how many movies were there, and when do I watch them?

There was one TV movie, which served as a two hour pilot, that aired a year before the first season. It's available on DVD as (I believe) the Gathering. It's well-done, and informative, especially as there are plot-points that come back in subsequent seasons. The version on DVD is also re-edited and much tighter than what originally aired. There was also some fictional science that was dropped from the rest of the series, which has been edited out. Some of the make-up FX were substantially changed by the time they got to season one (for the better), so you'll notice changes in Londo, but especially in the Minbari.

When the pilot aired, the SFX were ground-breaking. No one had done what they were doing, and we were all blown away. Now, that early 90's CGI is pretty dated. What you'll notice as the series progresses, is that as processor speeds increase, and software improves, so does the CGI. There is an incredibly noticeable jump, IIRC, with season 3. At that point the SFX are far more comparable to what's being done today. It should also be noted that the company that did the CGI for the pilot movie and first three seasons, is Foundation Imaging, who went on to take over the CGI on DS9, Voyager, and I believe, Enterprise.

And a CGI aside for those who've seen Signs & Portents
The glistening skin on the Shadow vessels was created by an animator taking an up-close photo of his dog's black nose, which was then expanded, wrapped over the 3D model, and made to slide rapidly around it.

[ragnarok_2012]

Wow... Just watched the first disc of Babylon 5, Season I. What bad acting/storylines/and especially special effects.

So, does anyone know how I can tell what order to watch all the Babylon 5 stuff in, so as not to spoil anything? Shouldn't there be a website for that? I can't find one like that.

I loved all of Babylon 5, including the first season. There is a lot more action from season 2 forward, but if you're disliking season 1 so much maybe you should try something else.

Do you usually like sci-fi? 'Cause Babylon 5 is one of the best sci-fi tv shows I've ever seen.

[ChrisIII]

You might want to give "Doctor Who" a try-at least the new series (Which comes out on US DVD in July). It's basically about the adventures of an eccentric time and space-travelling alien who has the ability to transform into a new body when near death (Hence the ten actors who've played him on TV). The series takes some getting used too-especially the old show which had poor production values-but it can get addicting as well. The old series is mainly composed of mini-arcs, or "Serials" which are available individually on DVD, although the new series has a more American-stlye format with 45-minute episodes (Although there are three two-parters).


The show is pretty much Britain's Star Trek-it's lasted for some 40-something years (Although there was a 15 year gap between 1989 and 2005).

[Jared]

Wow... Just watched the first disc of Babylon 5, Season I. What bad acting/storylines/and especially special effects.

So, does anyone know how I can tell what order to watch all the Babylon 5 stuff in, so as not to spoil anything? Shouldn't there be a website for that? I can't find one like that.


Just skip to the season finale. The cg effects get better as the series goes along. Some of the actors don't, but the main story, if you can get into it, makes that forgivable.

Although In The Beginning does spoil some things, it's mostly stuff that gets heavily forshadowed before it occurs in the series anyway. If you still want to give B5 a try, I'd suggest just watching that, then Signs and Portents. You'll have a pretty good idea of what the show is like at its best, and if you're not hungry to see more after that, don't bother with the other discs.

[Jared]

Some of the make-up FX were substantially changed by the time they got to season one (for the better), so you'll notice changes in Londo, but especially in the Minbari.


And a CGI aside for those who've seen Signs & Portents
The glistening skin on the Shadow vessels was created by an animator taking an up-close photo of his dog's black nose, which was then expanded, wrapped over the 3D model, and made to slide rapidly around it.

Also, the way the Vorlons are dealth with in The Gathering doesn't quite fit with what happens over the course of the series.

Cool tidbit about the FX.

[Ontir]

Yeah, it actually does. When you get through season 4, as much as we need to know about them is revealed, and all the stuff from the Gathering makes more sense.

On the subject of the Vorlons: There's that great section, I believe it's in season 2 or 3, where Kosh shows Sheridan one moment of perfection, in the dark. That was a really cool moment in the show, and revealed more about the Vorlons, without making them any less enigmatic.

[StoneGold]

Also, the way the Vorlons are dealth with in The Gathering doesn't quite fit with what happens over the course of the series.

Yeah, but they dealt with that later in the series.

[hoffmandu]

I'm surprised that no-one's mentioned Deadwood, yet. Old West story, damn good too. Very family oriented, no swearing or nudes.

[Jmacq1]

Deadwood is great. But yes, as the above poster so sardonically alluded to, it's a -very- "adult" series. Not "hardcore porn" adult, but plenty of sex, swearing and violence. You'll be amazed by how many times in an episode one particular character can use one particular uh....noun.

But I'm amazed no one's mentioned: Stargate SG-1! Sure, it's a little cheesy, and a little tongue-in-cheek at times, and the budget was definitely a touch on the low side in the first couple seasons, but to me, no genre show short of "Firefly" is as much good (mostly) clean fun. There's one instance of full-frontal nudity in the first episode (the show originally aired on Showtime) but that's really about it (and it's not in a sexual connotation). Plus, Richard Dean Anderson rocks...even when he's -not- MacGyver.

[LtMarvel]

Babylon 5---bad dialogue/bad acting. It is about equivilent to the Kes era of Voyager...

Homicide: Life on the Streets was incredible; it received multiple Peobodies; I'm not sure if any other drama can claim that.

[Dr. Banner]

When the pilot aired, the SFX were ground-breaking. No one had done what they were doing, and we were all blown away.[/spoil]

They weren't groundbreaking at all, this is rose-coloured glasses at their extreme. When the show first aired, no one had seen this before on TV for a reason. It looked horrible, and it was the first reason (2nd being the acting and characters) that I turned the show off.

"The Last Starfighter" showed that you could use only computers for space scenes in 1984.

B5, 10 years later, showed why television wasn't QUITE ready for it yet.

[Ontir]

the Last Starfighter showed the possibilities of CGI in feature films in 1984. The SFX of Babylon 5: the Gathering showed that it could be done far less expensively, and on a desktop computer, as opposed to the garage sized machine "Starfighter" relied upon, and when they did, it WAS groundbreaking, because it HADN'T been done before. Further, those SFX and CGI shots were amazing at the time, and they looked better than the static, re-used model shots that had become the mainstay of Star Trek" the Next Generation!

With each passing year, the tech improved, and eventually, Foundation Imaging priced themselves off the show. Maybe they did it so they could move over to "Trek," which is exactly what they did, but when they left Netter Digital was born, and they continued to do, and improve across the rest of the series, the movies, and Crusade.

[malephoenix]

There was one TV movie, which served as a two hour pilot, that aired a year before the first season. It's available on DVD as (I believe) the Gathering. It's well-done, and informative, especially as there are plot-points that come back in subsequent seasons. The version on DVD is also re-edited and much tighter than what originally aired. There was also some fictional science that was dropped from the rest of the series, which has been edited out. Some of the make-up FX were substantially changed by the time they got to season one (for the better), so you'll notice changes in Londo, but especially in the Minbari.


That's the kind of stuff I've been looking for. Thanks.

So, then I should be watching in this order:

"The Gathering"
Season 1
Season 2
Season 3
Season 4
"In the Beginning"
Season 5


Is that accurate? Aren't there other movies I need to fit in there in the middle of Season 3 or after the series finale or something?

[StoneGold]

Is that accurate? Aren't there other movies I need to fit in there in the middle of Season 3 or after the series finale or something?
There are other movies, but they tend not to be that great.

[Rabid Trekkie]

Many of the shows mentioned on here I plan to check out one day, especially B5 as I saw some of the first season before they moved it off of network. But since no one has mentioned my favorite series I'll suggest it:

Batman: The Animated Series. Don't let the fact that it was supposed to be a kids show stop you, I actually enjoy it more now at 20 than I did at 7.

[malephoenix]

Okay. There's apparently two versions of The Gathering? Which one is the DVD? Or are both on DVD?

[Ontir]

I don't believe the orinal on-air version of the pilot is available. When it was going to DVD, JMS had it re-edited, partially because there were certain gizmos, like "Invoking Privacy," which was essentially a digital "Cone of Silence," that was - quite correctly - never mentioned again; and partially because it needed to be tightened up. The original aired, director's cut lagged in spots. What's on DVD is better.

Thirdspace, which I found very interesting, sits IIRC, between seasons 2 & 3, but you don't need to watch it in any particular order, except that you should probably be in the Sheridan eps when you do see it.

River of Souls is also somewhere in there, but I don't recall when - also interesting.

In the Beginning is a prequel, and is probably best viewed after season 5.

"the Rangers" movie has its moments, and features "Deputy Doug" from Dawson's Creek.

Crusade was a very interesting series, that just never had a chance. There was so much of the B5-verse that we were meant to see, but got cheated out of... too bad!

[hoffmandu]

Deadwood is great. But yes, as the above poster so sardonically alluded to, it's a -very- "adult" series. Not "hardcore porn" adult, but plenty of sex, swearing and violence. You'll be amazed by how many times in an episode one particular character can use one particular uh....noun.

But I'm amazed no one's mentioned: Stargate SG-1! Sure, it's a little cheesy, and a little tongue-in-cheek at times, and the budget was definitely a touch on the low side in the first couple seasons, but to me, no genre show short of "Firefly" is as much good (mostly) clean fun. There's one instance of full-frontal nudity in the first episode (the show originally aired on Showtime) but that's really about it (and it's not in a sexual connotation). Plus, Richard Dean Anderson rocks...even when he's -not- MacGyver.

Why you gotta be like that? :evilsmile

[Jared]

Yeah, it actually does. When you get through season 4, as much as we need to know about them is revealed, and all the stuff from the Gathering makes more sense.



Not that I recall... "The Gathering" has Kosh near death because a Minbari poisons him, and Dr. Franklin is trying to treat him. IIRC, they even talk about the poision being in his blood. Of course, later in the show we learn that humans, and certainly Dr. Franklin included, know nothing about what Vorlons look like behind their encounter suits. And they're made of energy, so it seems unlikely that that they could simply be poisoned.

[Jared]

Yeah, it actually does. When you get through season 4, as much as we need to know about them is revealed, and all the stuff from the Gathering makes more sense.

On the subject of the Vorlons: There's that great section, I believe it's in season 2 or 3, where Kosh shows Sheridan one moment of perfection, in the dark. That was a really cool moment in the show, and revealed more about the Vorlons, without making them any less enigmatic.

Not that I recall... "The Gathering" has Kosh near death because a Minbari poisons him, and Dr. Franklin is trying to treat him. IIRC, they even talk about the poision being in his blood. Of course, later in the show we learn that humans, and certainly Dr. Franklin included, know nothing about what Vorlons look like behind their encounter suits. And they're made of energy, so it seems unlikely that that they could simply be poisoned.

[Jared]

[QUOTE=Ontir]
Thirdspace, which I found very interesting, sits IIRC, between seasons 2 & 3, but you don't need to watch it in any particular order, except that you should probably be in the Sheridan eps when you do see it.

>Thirdspace happens somehwere in the middle of Season 4. In-between the resolutions of the two major conflicts. What's cool about it is that it's basically a Lovecraft story with space battles.

River of Souls is also somewhere in there, but I don't recall when - also interesting.

>After Season 5, but before A Call To Arms, the movie that sets up Crusade.

[Ontir]

Jared,

You're close:
It wasn't Dr. Franklin who treated Kosh. That doctor, against the threats of war from the Vorlon fleet, opened Kosh's encounter suit, and saved his life. Lyta Alexander, the original teep, assisted. Afterward, both were re-called to Earth. The doctor was never heard from again, and Lyta was, as we learned later, nearly taken apart for whatever information she'd gained from the encounter. The Minbari DID poison Kosh upon his arrival. They're the only race outside the ancients who have technology signifigant to do so.

[Basara]

Not that I recall... "The Gathering" has Kosh near death because a Minbari poisons him, and Dr. Franklin is trying to treat him. IIRC, they even talk about the poision being in his blood. Of course, later in the show we learn that humans, and certainly Dr. Franklin included, know nothing about what Vorlons look like behind their encounter suits. And they're made of energy, so it seems unlikely that that they could simply be poisoned.

Echoing Ontir, Dr. Franklin isn't the one who treated Kosh in the movie. His first appearance in the show was in the first episode of season 1, same as Ivanova and Talia.

The poisoning of Kosh has always been a mystery, even to the characters of the show. Sinclair himself wonders how Kosh had been poisoned with a poison patch that requires skin contact to work while in a full encounter suit.

I'm not sure where they were going with that plot, but I do know the Vorlons were manupulative bastards. Most of what they did didn't make a lick of sense, which I believe they did purposefully to keep the other races guessing at their true motives.

[Ontir]

I'm not sure if this bit remains in the DVD of "the Gathering," but in the original, we saw Sinclair shake a humanoid hand of Kosh. There are a number of possible explanations for this, which you'll see, as the show goes on.

[malephoenix]

I loved all of Babylon 5, including the first season. There is a lot more action from season 2 forward, but if you're disliking season 1 so much maybe you should try something else.

Do you usually like sci-fi? 'Cause Babylon 5 is one of the best sci-fi tv shows I've ever seen.

I'm definitely into sci-fi; but when I wrote that post, I'd only seen about the first five episodes, and man, were they lame. I'm sure by the middle of season III, I won't be able to get enough, but it's easy to see from those first episodes why I posted that. The entire first season, as many here have explained, was pretty much just set-up for future storylines.

I'm at the final disk now, of Season II. And I've gotta say that it's really pulled me in. My favorite two scenes of the entire series so far, have been: where the dying Centauri emporer delivers a message via Dr. Franklin that he wants to make a public apology to the Narns, and then G'Kar goes and buys Londo a drink, while the latter is just blown away because he's just caused the death of hundreds of G'Kar's people, and G'Kar doesn't know about it, yet.

The very best scene, though, is when Garibaldi is walking through the casino, and Londo takes him aside for a drink. Garibaldi doesn't want to stay, but Londo insists on him "being happy for me and me being happy for you." It was such good character development to see Londo so hungry for friendship. I felt for the guy...

[malephoenix]

There are other movies, but they tend not to be that great.

Okay, I'm having way too much trouble finding something online to tell me about these other movies that doesn't spoil something. I'm sick of spoilers, even the smallest ones. Can anyone PLEASE give me a list of what the other movies are and when to watch them? Do they all take place between seasons, or do some take place like "between episodes 18 and 19 of Season III?"

A final word on this would be greatly appreciated, if the information is even out there, anywhere.

[Wild Card]

Okay, I'm having way too much trouble finding something online to tell me about these other movies that doesn't spoil something. I'm sick of spoilers, even the smallest ones. Can anyone PLEASE give me a list of what the other movies are and when to watch them? Do they all take place between seasons, or do some take place like "between episodes 18 and 19 of Season III?"

A final word on this would be greatly appreciated, if the information is even out there, anywhere.
Here's a time line I found on DVD talk's TVtalk Forum. (http://forum.dvdtalk.com/showthread.php?t=445472)>>>> MOVIE: The Gathering

Season One ("Signs and Portents")

1-01 Midnight on the Firing Line
1-02 Soul Hunter
1-03 Born to the Purple
1-04 Infection
1-05 The Parliament of Dreams
1-06 Mind War
1-07 The War Prayer
1-08 And The Sky Full Of Stars
1-09 Deathwalker
1-10 Believers
1-11 Survivors
1-12 By Any Means Necessary
1-13 Signs and Portents
1-14 Grail
1-15 Eyes
1-16 A Voice in the Wilderness part 1
1-17 A Voice in the Wilderness part 2
1-18 Babylon Squared
1-19 The Quality of Mercy
1-20 TKO
1-21 Legacies
1-22 Chrysalis

Season Two ("The Coming Of Shadows")

2-01 Points of Departure
2-02 Revelations
2-03 The Geometry of Shadows
2-04 A Distant Star
2-05 The Long Dark
2-06 A Spider in the Web
2-07 A Race Through Dark Places
2-08 Soul Mates
2-09 The Coming of Shadows
2-10 GROPOS
2-11 All Alone in the Night
2-12 Acts of Sacrifice
2-13 Hunter, Prey
2-14 There All the Honor Lies
2-15 And Now For a Word
2-16 Knives
2-17 In the Shadow of Z'ha'dum
2-18 Confessions and Lamentations
2-19 Divided Loyalties
2-20 The Long, Twilight Struggle
2-21 Comes the Inquisitor
2-22 The Fall of Night

Season Three ("Point of No Return")

3-01 Matters of Honor
3-02 Convictions
3-03 A Day in the Strife
3-04 Passing Through Gethsemane
3-05 *Voices of Authority
3-06 Dust to Dust
3-07 Exogenesis
3-08 Messages from Earth
3-09 Point of No Return
3-10 Severed Dreams
3-11 Ceremonies of Light and Dark
3-12 A Late Delivery From Avalon
3-13 Sic Transit Vir
3-14 Ship of Tears
3-15 Interludes and Examinations
3-16 Walkabout
3-17 War Without End, Part One
3-18 War Without End, Part Two
3-19 Grey 17 Is Missing
3-20 And the Rock Cried Out, No Hiding Place
3-21 Shadow Dancing
3-22 Z'ha'dum

Season Four ("No Surrender, No Retreat")

4-01 The Hour of the Wolf
4-02 Whatever Happened to Mr. Garibaldi?
4-03 The Summoning
4-04 Falling Toward Apotheosis
4-05 The Long Night
4-06 Into the Fire
4-07 Epiphanies
4-08 The Illusion of Truth
>>>> MOVIE: Thirdspace
4-09 Atonement
4-10 Racing Mars
4-11 Lines of Communication
4-12 Conflicts of Interest
4-13 Rumors, Bargains and Lies
4-14 Moments of Transition
4-15 No Surrender, No Retreat
4-16 The Exercise of Vital Powers
4-17 The Face of the Enemy
4-18 Intersections in Real Time
4-19 Between the Darkness and the Light
4-20 Endgame
4-21 Rising Star
4-22 The Deconstruction of Falling Stars
>>>> MOVIE Babylon 5: In the Beginning

Season Five ("The Wheel of Fire")

5-01 No Compromises
5-02 The Very Long Night of Londo Mollari
5-03 The Paragon of Animals
5-04 A View from the Gallery
5-05 Learning Curve
5-06 Strange Relations
5-07 Secrets of the Soul
5-08 In the Kingdom of the Blind
5-09 A Tragedy of Telepaths
5-10 Phoenix Rising
5-11 The Ragged Edge
5-12 Day of the Dead
5-13 The Corps is Mother, The Corps is Father
5-14 Meditations on the Abyss
5-15 Darkness Ascending
5-16 And All My Dreams, Torn Asunder
5-17 Movements of Fire and Shadow
5-18 The Fall of Centauri Prime
5-19 Wheel of Fire
5-20 Objects in Motion
5-21 Objects at Rest
>>>> MOVIE: River of Souls
>>>> MOVIE: The Legend of the Rangers
5-22 Sleeping in Light

Crusade

>>>> MOVIE: A Call to Arms
C-01 **Racing the Night
C-02 The Needs of Earth
C-03 The Memory of War
C-04 The Long Road
C-05 Visitors from Down the Street
C-06 The Well of Forever
C-07 Each Night I Dream of Home
C-08 Patterns of the Soul
C-09 The Path of Sorrows
C-10 Ruling from the Tomb
C-11 The Rules of the Game
C-12 War Zone
C-13 Appearances and Other Deceits

* = Voices of Authority was originally meant to air before Passing Through Gethsemane, but since the events of this episode tie into the beginning of Dust to Dust and aren't mentioned at all in Gethsemane the initial airing order is actually an improvement.

** = This ordering, which JMS specified, ignores the uniform change in favor of maintaining continuity of storyline.

Note: A Call To Arms is set in the B5 universe, but it serves to introduce us to the Crusade universe, ship, and several key characters from the new series. With the musical scoring by Evan Chen (vice Christopher Franke who scored all of the B5 episodes/movies), this movie feels more a part of the Crusade storyline than the B5 storyline, which is why I've listed it with the Crusade episodes.As for a final word I don't think there is really one.
Sleeping in Light is a 20 years later thing but I don't think it give anything about River of Souls (heck I think SiL gives more away about Crusade than it does about RoS). The Legend of the Rangers is a stand alone so it can be watch after the series with no worries.

[Ontir]

I'm really enjoying Wire in the Blood! Robson Green is great, the writing is smart, and the supporting cast is excellent. It's also shot around Newcastle Upon Tyne, so while intrinsically British, it has a much different look than the London based shows. I also get a kick out of the difference between American and British police forces. the U.K. had far less homicides a year, than most American cities. As a result, when one occurs, they can throw more resources at them, at least according to their TV shows, and some documentaries that I've seen. All told, good stuff!

[Bear]

Old Twilight Zones--best tv show ever.

[Karl J. Barnes]

I'm really enjoying Wire in the Blood! Robson Green is great, the writing is smart, and the supporting cast is excellent. It's also shot around Newcastle Upon Tyne, so while intrinsically British, it has a much different look than the London based shows. I also get a kick out of the difference between American and British police forces. the U.K. had far less homicides a year, than most American cities. As a result, when one occurs, they can throw more resources at them, at least according to their TV shows, and some documentaries that I've seen. All told, good stuff!

Yeah,Wire In The Blood is fantastic and I'm wondering if they will do more. If you enjoy Robson Green, then I suggest to you to check out Trust; which has him playing a coporate lawyer with a concious. Very entertaining show.

[EZMOHR]

I can concur with Buffy, Angel, 24, Freaks and Geeks, Arrested Development, Futurama, and American Gothic. So, here are some shows that I would further recommend.


Undeclared- It will always be the red-headed step child to Freaks and Geeks. In my opinion, it is the better of the two shows. This was a show about first year college kids in the dorm, and was created by Judd Apatow. The humor in Undeclared was funnier in my opinion, because it wasn't pulled down by some of the drama that felt at times forced in Freaks and Geeks. And most of the cast is spot on perfect. Charlie Hunnam was good as Lloyd, the good looking Brit that gets any chick he wants, is vain, but goes to bats for his brows. Loudon Wainwright was excellent as Hal, the dad of the main character, who is going through personal Hell and upheavel and regresses to a man-child. And Seth Rogen is funny as usual as Ron. Actually, it's just Seth Rogen playing Seth Rogen, but it is still funny as shit. But the two standouts are Jason Segel, as Eric, the main female character's very old ex-boyfriend/loser/stalker, who is always breaking up with her, but can't let go. This guy makes you feel sympathy for a stalker at one moment, and in the next, he is a raving psycho, that you are scared of. The other standout is Timm Sharp as Marshall Nesbit, the weird, dorky, gross punchline that we all know. He is the butt of most jokes, but he also is the best character on the show. Undeclared is the best Judd Apatow project ever, and it was a shame it was cancelled.

Rome- If you can make it through the first 30 minutes of the first episode...you are home free. In fact, I was about ready to turn the channel after the first 30 minutes, but thank god I didn't. This is a great show, and one that despite it's price tag, should stay around longer than it will. Essentially, the show is about Julius Cesar and the rise of the Roman Empire. It is told through the eyes of two soldiers, Lucius, played by Kevin McKidd and Pullo played by Ray Stevenson. They at first are advaseries, but through the season, become respectful of one another, friends, and finally, brothers, through the course of the season. Both actors do a good job, and end up being the reason Rome never becomes too bloated. Also of note in the show, are Ciaran Hinds as Julius Cesar. The man was criminally snubbed for a Best Supporting Emmy for his role as Cesar, and equally criminally snubbed as Best Supporting Actor for his role in Munich. He is a good actor, who will be missed on the second season of Rome (and if you don't know why he won't be on the second season, crack a history book.) Also of note is Max Pirkis (he was the little kid in Master and Commander that got his arm cut off.) He plays Octavian, the eventual first emperor of the Roman Empire. In Rome, he is under the care of Pullo, and he is a bad ass little shit on the show. If you can get past he horrible acting of James Purefoy as Marc Antony, the cocaine/opium addict Cleopatra, and Polly Walker as Atia, Rome is a damn good show.

So, those are my two shows to add to the conversation. Oh, and for the debate of Farscape vs. Babylon 5, I choose......turning off my TV and praying for the hour to be up.

[Ontir]

Yeah,Wire In The Blood is fantastic and I'm wondering if they will do more. If you enjoy Robson Green, then I suggest to you to check out Trust; which has him playing a coporate lawyer with a concious. Very entertaining show.


Have they run out of books? They seem (thankfully) to be pretty faithful to them, if they've gone through them all, they might just be waiting for the next edition. I certainly hope so.

[Magneto_X]

Due South

Buck Rogers In The 25th Century

Battlestar Galactica (new series)

Dr.Who

Weeds

Dead Like Me

Greg the Bunny

Northern Exposure

Buffy

Angel

Firefly

Veronica Mars

Bones (is this on dvd yet?)

Without A Trace

[Deathstroke]

Bones (is this on dvd yet?)


No, it's not on DVD yet.

[Slappy san]

The Dark Shadows re-make series was pretty good, albeit a bit rushed.


Wow, I didnt know this was on dvd. I would have rented it by now if they hadnt changed the title from THE NEW DARK SHADOWS.

[Scarlet Speedster]

For truly exceptional sketch comedy on DVD, I have to go with my Canadian brethren, The Kids in the Hall. One of my current favourites on DVD is a Canadian comedy series, Trailer Park Boys: silly, profane, but sweet and with a movie out this fall!

Other comedy: Strangers With Candy (looking forward to the film prequel, if it ever plays in Calgary), Arrested Development (if you're a Royal Tenenbaums fan, you'll enjoy this masterpiece!).

Kudos to the aforementioned Homicide: Life On the Street, Millennium, Freaks and Geeks and The Twilight Zone.

Now if only the original The Fugitive and Twitch City could be released on DVD!

[jwd]

Some shows I've enjoyed a lot watching on DVD.

Babylon 5 - 5 seasons

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - 7 Seasons

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 7 Seasons
Angel (This series started when Buffy was on Season 4) 5 Seasons

Shows still on the air -

Stargate SG-1 - 8 Seasons (9th is due Oct 3rd)
Stargate Atlantis - (Started when SG-1 was in its 8th Season) - 1Season - The 2nd one should be out soon if its not already.

Veronica Mars - 1 Season (2 is due sometime this month) - Try to avoid Spoilers if you can - mystery show)

24 - One of the best series for DVD viewing. (4 season - 5th one should be released later this year).

Those I'd say are at the top of my list of shows for DVD viewing.