B5 does not hold up well in comparison to DS9. I watched both completely for the first time recently, back to back. It seems very clear that the B5 directors d

B5 does not hold up well in comparison to DS9. I watched both completely for the first time recently, back to back. It seems very clear that the B5 directors didn’t direct the actors, so they were left to their own devices. Clearly, the actors who played Londo and G’kar did not need direction — I’d put Girabaldi in this category, too. Most of the others needed a lot more than they got. Or maybe the directors told all the rest of them to move and talk as stiffly and unnaturally as possible, but that would be odd. The DS9 special effects were state of the art. The B5 special effects were done on some Amigas on the cheap. It probably didn’t show as much on the low-res TV’s of the day, but wow the difference is stark now. B5 also badly needed a dialogue coach. I’m sorry, but JMS’s dialogue was terrible. His story, his plotting wass brilliant. His screenwriting book is excellent, but his dialogue is stilted and boring in the examples there, too. I have to admit to some bafflement on this, because Harlan Ellison could surely have helped with this aspect of things. There’s more, but I think most of it comes from a very ambitious vision and complete lack of money to realize it.