It wasn't until B5 came on the scene that I even knew that decent SF was possible in the TV medium, I found myself actually thinking about the story line, characters, setting, tech.... and to my stunned amazement, the whole lot _didn't_ collapse into a pile of techobabble explanations.

What I'm trying to get at (somewhat longwindedly) that B5 showed up a lot of the problems with ST, and only then did I realise the true nature of the latter, and hence complain & whinge about it. The scary thing is, without B5, ST would still be good.... but since B5 is here to stay, ST should either grow up, or Rest In Peace.

(To me it appears that DS9 is growing up, albeit somewhat slowly, so as not to appear to be copying as much from B5 as it really is, and Voyager should just fall over and die.)

To my dismay I have witnessed some people engaging in the tired old practise of trek/b5 comparisons. I had honestly thought the world was big enough for everybody to enjoy the t.v. series they liked to watch.

I always believed that the average B5er was more "worldly" if you like, and enjoyed B5 not only because of it's special effects, and the fact it is sci-fi but because they could relate to the stories and absorb the messages and themes of the different episodes.

It is very easy to criticise. It is very easy to put people and things down and be negative. We are all guilty of doing this at some stage or another. We all have differing opinions about events and issues. That is what makes us diverse and interesting. It is okay to disagree but it is more important to respect other peoples views and appreciate them.

How would you like it if you were discussing B5 with your friends and some person came up and kept interrupting you saying how bad the show was .. and how it was just copying another show. You wouldn't. But that is exactly what some individuals are doing in other newsgroups or advocating doing. Delibrately trolling may be entertaining for some individuals but it just shows a lack of imagination and maturity.

Sure you may think Star Trek is bollocks. Great, that's your opinion. But there are others that think it is really good and that B5 is a copy of DS9 .. fine that is their opinion, however wrong I may think it is I still have to appreciate their point-of-view. What I shouldn't be doing is jumping into a specific forum dedicated to discussing the ST show and troll. Just think how much it would annoy you if someone did it in this newsgroup.

One of the themes that has stuck in my mind about B5 is tolerance. Like Sinclair once said, the more obsessed with the enemy you are, the more like them you will become. I think a few people have fallen into this trap.

Personally I have become disillusioned with Star Trek, so much so I hardly watch it anymore. I watch B5 because I find it more entertaining and less predictable. One of my hopes is that more people come to watch it and realise that it has much more depth to it than you might expect at first.

However by painting Star Trek/B5 in such black and white terms as some people have lately you are missing the point. Each has its own audience and some people enjoy both. The mark of a true fan is to acknowledge there is room for enjoyment of both series.

Anyway enough of my ramblings ... I hope some may find them of interest and go away and think about what I have said .. rather than fall into old and very dull habits ....

Babylon 5 is an excellent program. It has many positive attributes, but IMO, its greatest is the way that there is continuity from episode to episode. It indicates a thoughtfulness on the part of its creators, a desire to do more than just pump out episode after episode like a sausage machine.

Babylon 5 is set in a real, tainted and imperfect world. There are many petty squabbles, much as there are in today's world.

One of those petty squabbles which has much at stake is that between the Centauri and the Narns. Both sides are caught up in a self destructive and self perpetuating cycle of hatred. It echoes the many ethnic battles we have in the world today, where we seem unable to do anything more than shake our heads.

Anthropologically, this is a known state of affairs. When large numbers of people interact, they often lapse into a state of ongoing tribal warfare, much as we had in Papua New Guinea and New Zealand. It has happened quite frequently in world history. But recent technological advances have meant that the warfare becomes much more lethal.

If there is one lesson to be learnt from B5, it is that "petty squabbles are still just petty, no matter what is at stake". It is a lesson which cannot be lost on any true B5 fan. And any true B5 fan would not partake in a petty squabble.

But the tension between Trekkers and B5 fans seems to be a microcosm of the ethnic tensions in Europe, the Arab states and Africa; and indeed the tensions between the Narn and Centauri. If we have learnt the lesson of B5, it is to avoid squabbles with the Trekkers.

Sure, we know B5 is the superior program. But to wade in and insist this, amongst a group of people who have a great personal stake in the integrity of that program .... is merely inflammatory.

A much better approach would be to politely state your opinion, and if theirs differs, accept their right (everyone's right !) to their own opinion. If they will never be convinced of the merits of B5, then so be it. We can only accept the world as it is.

"You can lead a horse to water .....".

For the record, let me state my opinions of TOS and TNG. TOS was a ground breaking series, but it seems to me constrained by the production requirements of the time. TNG was much less constrained by production requirements. However, it nevertheless seemed to suffer from a hectic production schedule with too little thought put into scripts and ideas. "My gosh. We gotta make another episode ! What can we do with this one ?". While technobabble is useful as we might add spice to a meal, it became * the * meal. No restaurant would get very far doing this.

TNG suffered from too little thought put into making the program * good *, as compared to making another episode. It had more potential. But there was the odd * good * episode, few and far between as they were.

As far as the TNG offshoots .... well, to comment on them here would be to go too far out of the scope of this document. Such comment would not have much bearing on the B5/Trek conflict, which I have tried to consider in a different light here.