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Graham Kennedy wrote:One of the minor things I didn't like about the Big Bang Theory was Sheldon's disdain for Babylon 5. We all have our likes and dislikes, sure, but I recall he once said he didn't like it because "It fails as drama, science fiction and is hopelessly derivative."

But honestly, whilst B5 had its failings that is really as far as one could get from an objective opinion. In drama terms the show was streets ahead of most Star Trek (which Sheldon loves). As science fiction it was more rooted in science than most sci-fi is. And derivative? How? It went out of its way to be as unlike Trek as it could be. It was one of the pioneers of the "ongoing story arc," at least in sci-fi, and influenced most sci-fi that came after it in that respect. Nobody was doing season-long arcs, let alone multi-season arcs, until Babylon 5 did it.

I mean, if he'd said the production values were low, or that the CGI effects didn't match quality model work, he'd have a point. But then Babylon 5 was pioneering CGI for TV sci-fi at the time. You can also point to the acting, where the main cast were generally pretty good but outside that... well they got the actors they could afford. (Most B5 problems came down to budget, one way or another.)

I get that it's amusing for sci-fi fan Sheldon to have one series he hates. But why not pick an actual bad show? I nominate Sliders. It was awful, yet it somehow managed to keep getting new seasons regardless - five in all, just like Babylon 5. Honestly, having him hating on B5 just comes across like a writer who didn't know sci-fi well picked one out of a hat and made a bad choice.

AlexMcpherson79 wrote:Fails as Drama? ... Nope. Sinclair was AWESOME. Sheridan was, but not nearly as much.
Fails as Science Fiction? ... Hyperspace, aliens with actual alien cultures (no seriously, Narn music?! GAH!) ships and stations that only have gravity through spinning sections and, of course, Time Travel.
Fails as being hopelessly derivative? Well, all fiction is derivative. DS9 was derivative, especially given that they took three TNG characters at the start (Miles, Keiko and Molly) and another few later on (Worf, gowron), and basically built upon what came before, and of course had various derivative stories that was episodes from TOS remade (TNG even did that in its first season, The Naked Now! or Time? I forget which was TOS and which TNG)

I dont like TBBT for the simple fact that, if you watch it without the laugh track, it's... not actually funny. There's "Without the laugh track" edits on youtube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKS3MGriZcs
(how do I embed?)

RK_Striker_JK_5 wrote:Also, wow. Those are some unpleasant people. I'm glad I never watched the show.

Graham Kennedy wrote:

RK_Striker_JK_5 wrote:Also, wow. Those are some unpleasant people. I'm glad I never watched the show.

It's really quite amazing if you take out the laughs on BBT just how painfully unfunny it is. And there are articles I've posted pointing out how really nasty-minded it is in many ways. The male characters are kind of assholes, but their assholishness is never presented by the writers as something to condemn, but as something to excuse because it's not all that serious.

Like, there's an episode where they track down the location of a house full of gorgeous women that's part of some reality show. Not only do they subvert a satellite to do this, they then lie their way into the house to perv on the women. Which is a seriously creepy, morally crappy, stalkerish thing to do. In the real world it would land them with a restraining order, at the very least. Possibly jail. But it's okay, because it's all in fun. Just nerdy guys being nerdy guys, right?

Nutso wrote:

Graham Kennedy wrote:

RK_Striker_JK_5 wrote:Also, wow. Those are some unpleasant people. I'm glad I never watched the show.

It's really quite amazing if you take out the laughs on BBT just how painfully unfunny it is. And there are articles I've posted pointing out how really nasty-minded it is in many ways. The male characters are kind of assholes, but their assholishness is never presented by the writers as something to condemn, but as something to excuse because it's not all that serious.

Like, there's an episode where they track down the location of a house full of gorgeous women that's part of some reality show. Not only do they subvert a satellite to do this, they then lie their way into the house to perv on the women. Which is a seriously creepy, morally crappy, stalkerish thing to do. In the real world it would land them with a restraining order, at the very least. Possibly jail. But it's okay, because it's all in fun. Just nerdy guys being nerdy guys, right?

That was my experience with the show. The clips on youtube where funny, and they did a Bollywood style dance scene. So I thought this show was going to be funny and wacky. When I watched an episode, that was a shock to not laugh. Tried the next week, and the same. Plus it was becoming aware that these people are shitty friends to one another. They're not friends. Just people who spend time together. Then the hot girl next door is dumb because she isn't like some kind of physicist like them, and the nerds genuinely believed that. The white one with mental problems, and no attempt to help himself, is the most popular character. The pervert is the first to get married because he found a girl that was in love with him rather than him turning himself into a likeable, non-pervy person. The Indian one with mental problems needs serious medication/psychiatric help because in the real world, the sight of women rendering you involuntarily mute isn't a joke, it's a medical condition that needs isolation and diagnosis. I don't know what the other guy's problem is. I presume he is there to chase after the hot girl next door, be the "normal" one of the group.

Nutso wrote:

Graham Kennedy wrote:

RK_Striker_JK_5 wrote:Also, wow. Those are some unpleasant people. I'm glad I never watched the show.

It's really quite amazing if you take out the laughs on BBT just how painfully unfunny it is. And there are articles I've posted pointing out how really nasty-minded it is in many ways. The male characters are kind of assholes, but their assholishness is never presented by the writers as something to condemn, but as something to excuse because it's not all that serious.

Like, there's an episode where they track down the location of a house full of gorgeous women that's part of some reality show. Not only do they subvert a satellite to do this, they then lie their way into the house to perv on the women. Which is a seriously creepy, morally crappy, stalkerish thing to do. In the real world it would land them with a restraining order, at the very least. Possibly jail. But it's okay, because it's all in fun. Just nerdy guys being nerdy guys, right?

That was my experience with the show. The clips on youtube where funny, and they did a Bollywood style dance scene. So I thought this show was going to be funny and wacky. When I watched an episode, that was a shock to not laugh. Tried the next week, and the same. Plus it was becoming aware that these people are shitty friends to one another. They're not friends. Just people who spend time together. Then the hot girl next door is dumb because she isn't like some kind of physicist like them, and the nerds genuinely believed that. The white one with mental problems, and no attempt to help himself, is the most popular character. The pervert is the first to get married because he found a girl that was in love with him rather than him turning himself into a likeable, non-pervy person. The Indian one with mental problems needs serious medication/psychiatric help because in the real world, the sight of women rendering you involuntarily mute isn't a joke, it's a medical condition that needs isolation and diagnosis. I don't know what the other guy's problem is. I presume he is there to chase after the hot girl next door, be the "normal" one of the group.