THE PHOENIX STILL RISING. HAPPY 20th BIRTHDAY, 'BABYLON 5'!

A bold new sci-fi universe. BABYLON 5 endures. Images: WARNER BROTHERS.

Belated Birthday wishes from KOOL TV to J. Michael Straczynski's epic sci-fi drama BABYLON 5 on reaching it's well-deserved Twentieth Anniversary on 22nd February. His personal mantra that "Faith Manages" certainly has proved itself with this show-his finest work for television so far, beautifully blending a huge scale story- very much a LORD OF THE RINGS meets STAR WARS in space- alongside the kind of intense and satisfying personal drama arcs that ensured it such devoted fandom and critical acclaim worldwide for years to come. It may not have had the glossy big budget look of that other major space franchise with the word TREK in it, but it never lacked ambition: season by season gaining superiority to many of that other shows later spin-offs, and, in many ways, far more depthful and innovative. In this dark and often cracked universe, with the emerging threat to the universe of a corrupting alien force known as The Shadows, there was no reset button at the end of each episode where our hereos were all hunkey dorey and ploughing happily on with their next mission. In the B5 universe, what happened next had consequences both good, bad and far-ranging, giving a talented cast lots to play with-bringing heroism, joy, loss and sadness in equal measure. Against this fine realm of drama, betrayal and good old-fashioned romance, the shows showcasing CGI effects were pioneering for their time, whilst the spaceships and space battles, weaponry and planetary empires created that rose and fell often during B5's expanding five year story arc proved awesome and iconic.

Babylon 5 Super Main Title - YouTube

Sci-fi TV for the future has a lot to learn and enjoy from the continuing presence of both J. Michael Straczynski and his landmark BABYLON 5- check out such incredible episodes such as And the Sky Full of Stars, The Coming of Shadows, War Without End, No Surrender, No Retreat, and All My Dreams Torn Asunder.


HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BABYLON 5! 


Check out our BABYLON 5 Twentieth Anniversary photo gallery on our FACEBOOK page, here:
BABYLON 5 -TWENTY YEARS

Check out another fine tribute to the series here: The Strange, Secret Evolution of Babylon 5

RANGER'S RETURN. WILL "BABYLON 5" BE COMING BACK?

A new future for our BABYLON 5 heroes? Image: WARNER BROTHERS.

Those dedicated news hounds over at IGN recently reported from the San Diego COMIC CON event that there's a strong possibility that J. Michael Straczynski's beloved epic sci-fi series BABYLON 5 may one day very soon return to television in an all-new type series. Whether that return will see any of the very popular original cast, or might be a "re-imagining" or continuance into the future with fresh people, is yet to be determined...

Whatever happens, it gives me the chance to use the above great cast shot from Season Four!

Head over to the news here: Comic-Con: You Want More Babylon 5? - IGN

In the UK, BABYLON 5 continues in repeats on the FX HD channel, and has also begun a re-run on WARNER BROTHERS online demand.

ONE GIANT STEP FOR SCI-FI! THE RETURN OF "BABYLON 5"

It takes all sorts to run a galaxy! Some of the great human and alien cast of Season One of BABYLON 5. Image: WARNER BROTHERS.

The UK's FX HD channel, knowing great TV when they see it, are going back to the beginning in their repeat run of J. Michael Straczynski's seminal, ground-breaking five season running sci-fi epic BABYLON 5 (showing every Sunday morning/early afternoon in quadruple bills), with the adventures of the last of the Babylon diplomatic stations (a sort of United Nations in space), located in neutral territory, under the command of Jeffrey Sinclair (the much under-rated Michael O'Hare, star lead in this first season only), in what will soon be the last refuge for the hopes and prosperity of both man and alien kind in the galaxy. And beware the coming of the Shadows!

If you've never seen the series before, and like the epic storytelling scope of THE LORD OF THE RINGS and STAR WARS, combined with the kind of very intimate drawn, flawed characters seen in the likes of HILL STREET BLUES and ST. ELSEWHERE (portrayed by some great actors, including Claudia Christian, Jerry Doyle and the late Richard Biggs as the co-starring human leads, and the tremendous Andreas Katsulas, LOST's Mira Furlan, and HILL STREET BLUES Peter Jurasik as the shows Ambassadorial aliens), I guarantee that you'll love BABYLON 5. And, by the mid to end of this first year, which sets up so much of the action and drama to come in subsequent seasons, you'll be thoroughly hooked, no doubt watching four or five episodes at a stretch to catch up and then wondering to yourself annoyingly why you never watched it when it was originally on!

Check out KOOL TV's previous articles on BABYLON 5 seasons in the below links (but beware of possible spoilers).

All five seasons of BABYLON 5 and its spin-offs are available on WARNER BROTHERS DVD.