At 02:45 09/02/2002 +0000, you wrote:
Part of me loves B7 because it was part of my youth. I didn't have to
make
excuses for the dodgy sets and less-than-special effects - I had grown up watching 'Doctor Who', and it was just the normal thing. Newer fans must have tougher time of it, used to the glories of Babylon 5, Farscape and ST:TNG. They have to work a great deal harder to suspend their disbelief, something which we pretty much took for granted.
I saw B7 for the first time in 1998, having been just too young to see it the first time around. I started watching it, oddly enough, because there was an informal "So, did you see Babylon 5 last night?" discussion group that happened during morning coffee at work. Someone mentioned that there was an old BBC series that was just as good, and lent me her tapes.
Perhaps years of Doctor Who inured me to dodgy sets, but I think that B7 still stands on its own merits, in competition with SF series made today. It's a character-driven show, and (as I was thinking only the other day while watching 'Enterprise') Really Shiney FX don't provide character.
Mel
love Anna