[Centauri]

I love Babylon 5 (obviously), but there were a few areas in which it worked horribly. And I'm not sure of the cause exactly.

I think it was somewhat obvious that it was the first time Straczynski was completely in charge of a show, and that Whorener wasn't doing a lot of oversight; There were many ill-timed attempts at humor and at dramatic dialogue. And sometimes, well... the show did such a good job of building up to something that when it actually arrived, it left you wondering if it was worth the build up.

The most prominent example is the Shadow War. The build up was huge. But the war itself was disappointing. And I understand that some of that was unavoidable given that Straczynski was pretty much forced into condensing Season 4 and Season 5's story lines. But the Earth Civil War turned out to be much more fulfilling on many levels, but without anywhere near the same level of build-up beforehand.

I don't know. I absolutely love Babylon 5. But I worship Deep Space Nine.

I agree with a lot of your points on the Trek franchise during the 90's (though not all). But I think Deep Space Nine stood above the mediocrity in the rest of the franchise and really shined. The fact that it remains as popular as it has is really a testament to how well its characters, writing and special effects are holding up. I swear, I know of more people who have become fans of DS9 since it ended than I do who were fans all along. That says something.