Well, I'm a young'un--I was nine years old when B5 first began airing, so looking back I think it's safe to say that B5 was literally the first real TV show I ever watched. I didn't view it when it originally aired, though--I can't remember what year I actually began watching, but it was my parents who got me hooked. They absolutely loved the show when it first aired, and had virtually every episode recorded on a huge collection of VHS tapes sitting in our basement. The quality was less than stellar, obviously, but I didn't care. I remember some days watching multiple episodes in a row because I just couldn't make myself stop.
B5 has had an enormous impact on the way I view all other TV shows, particularly because I watched it at a fairly young and impressionable age, and because it was the first show I ever watched outside of kids' shows. It's kind of weird, but in some ways I almost feel disadvantaged for having viewed B5 first thing in my TV/fandom life--because it's like I watched the very best thing first, and now nothing can live up to it--especially in the area of character development. I can't even count the number of times I've been watching some other show and exclaimed in frustration "Why can't they do this the way B5 did it?" or "If only they had JMS on their writing staff!" There have been a couple of shows that have come close, but nothing as of yet that can truly touch B5. Yeah, I've been spoiled. :p
As far as fandom goes, I've never actually been heavily involved in B5 fandom outside of a few LJ communities. Other shows that I watch (or watched) include Battlestar Galactica, Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis, Lost, Firefly, and (formerly) Heroes.
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B5 has had an enormous impact on the way I view all other TV shows, particularly because I watched it at a fairly young and impressionable age, and because it was the first show I ever watched outside of kids' shows. It's kind of weird, but in some ways I almost feel disadvantaged for having viewed B5 first thing in my TV/fandom life--because it's like I watched the very best thing first, and now nothing can live up to it--especially in the area of character development. I can't even count the number of times I've been watching some other show and exclaimed in frustration "Why can't they do this the way B5 did it?" or "If only they had JMS on their writing staff!" There have been a couple of shows that have come close, but nothing as of yet that can truly touch B5. Yeah, I've been spoiled. :p
As far as fandom goes, I've never actually been heavily involved in B5 fandom outside of a few LJ communities. Other shows that I watch (or watched) include Battlestar Galactica, Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis, Lost, Firefly, and (formerly) Heroes.