will be buying these the day they get released, just like I did with the B5 boxed set.

I just want them to finish it.

The second half of S5, from "Day of the Dead" onwards, was frickin' awesome. That's 12 of the 22 episodes right there, plus "Very Long Night" is 13 solid episodes.

* Since these photos are from the private collection of J. Michael Straczynski, we kindly request that none of these photos be reproduced, downloaded or posted anywhere else, including non-commercial & fan websites. Thank you for understanding."

I would, however, love to see Peter David's Centauri Prime trilogy adapted and CRUSADE given an ending. Why CRUSADE wasn't handled first, I have no idea. Was Daniel Dae Kim too busy sitting around and doing nothing while all those Jack/Sawyer/Kate episodes were being filmed for this season of LOST?

But then I heard from a friend how B5 actually had become amazing! It had a storyline than it remembered (unlike Trek), it dealt with an epic theme (unlike Trek, well except perhaps DS9), it asked questions such as who are we as humans, what do we want, where are we going, and what will we wear. Yes! B5 showed there is a future where men don't have to wear neck-ties to look respectable (after 12 years of school where I had to, this means a lot to me).

Most of all, B5 cared about its characters. It knew when to use them to best effect, when to let them go, and other than the love story between Sheridan & Delen (which I never bought - but it's a small gripe) it was all good stuff. The characters drove the story as much as the story drove them to take the actions they did.

I for one am glad I watched it. It's my favorite sci-fi show ever (BSG just isn't going to beat it I'm afraid) and even with season 5, Crusade, Thirdspace, The Soul Movie, and LOTR (Rangers, not Rings) - the first 4 seasons of B5 show what a sci-fi TV show can do even with a rushed ending (it's TV after all). Now to go back and answer some of the unanswered questions (like can I have a Great Machine from Epsilon 3 please. actually, I'll take two)

I'll be renting this for sure.

Here's his quote on his notes being thrown out (www.JMSNews.com): "(And on top of all that, my detailed notes on the first half of the season were tossed out by the hotel staff that moved my stuff from one room to another in Blackpool without checking with me. I had to recreate stuff on the one hand and angle it all off in a different direction on the other, both at the same time.)"

B5 had some filler, but very very little, especially in seasons 2, 3, and 4...and most filler episodes had important moments that couldn't be skipped.

I hope that answers questions asked above. Can you tell I'm a bit of a maniacal fan? :-)

Finally, you can get the complete B5 series for $220 at Amazon ($45 per season)...still a bit high compared to other DVDs, but better than the $100 per season it started at.

That was a once in a lifetime offer, we'll never see it on the big screen now. I'm not saying it would have been good, but I would love to see a shadow ship soar across an IMAX screen. The made-for-tv movies kind of sucked ('cept Minbari war), but I'll buy this DVD. It's been long enough that I'd shell out the $20 out of curiosity, if nothing else.

I wasn't a huge fan of season 5, it's the only season I didn't buy, but it did have some good episodes. I like where Garibaldi ended up. As for the first couple seasons, they were necessary for the story. People talk about Lost and how you need to be patient, but we all know it won't be as smooth as B5 when all is said in done. In B5, a season 1 filler episode might throw in a line that produces an ah-hah moment in season 4. And looking back, you can tell it was intentional placed from the beginning. And even the filler episodes were a breath of fresh air compared to Trek. That's why I got into it to begin with. Only after seeing "Signs and Portents" and "Chrysalis" did I get a taste of what I was signing on for. Season 3 is probably the best season of TV ever, of any show, and it's worth plodding through the earlier eps to get to it.

The Clark storyline does bear an eerie resemblance to Bush's post 9/11 world. How could you not have been reminded of the nightwatch when homeland security was first proposed? In fact, didn't the nightwatch evolve out of the homeguard? Either way, I picture Bush circling the letters "scorched earth" in "the ascension of the ordinary man", during the waning days of his administration. And the mood of the public in the show during that time so perfectly matches the mood of people now. I even read the other day that five high-level generals are planning on resigning when Bush invades Iran. Maybe they were inspired by this show. :)

I never saw any of the movies, so I can't comment on them.

It's cool to read the new B5 movies are being filmed right next to the Battlestar Galactica studios. I'm sure JMS has watched Galactica closely, so it's cool to think some cross-pollination might occur. I hope so. Ron Moore and JMS are both geeks, but they're hard-nosed geeks who know how to write and produce. I'll probably buy the new B5 DVDs just to see.