'Babylon 5' Episodes Start Appearing (Free) on YouTube (cordcuttersnews.com)
- Reference: 0180797028
- News link: https://entertainment.slashdot.org/story/26/02/15/196244/babylon-5-episodes-start-appearing-free-on-youtube
- Source link: https://cordcuttersnews.com/babylon-5-is-now-free-to-watch-on-youtube/?
> In a move that has delighted fans of classic science fiction, Warner Bros. Discovery has begun [2]uploading [3]full [4]episodes of the iconic series Babylon 5 to YouTube, providing free access to the show just as it departs from the ad-supported streaming platform Tubi... Viewers noticed notifications on Tubi indicating that all five seasons would no longer be available after February 10, 2026, effectively removing one of the most accessible free streaming options for the space opera. With this shift, Warner Bros. Discovery appears to be steering the property toward its own digital ecosystem, leveraging YouTube's vast audience to reintroduce the show to both longtime enthusiasts and a new generation.
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> The uploads started with the pilot episode, "The Gathering," which serves as the entry point to the series' intricate universe. This was followed by subsequent episodes such as "Midnight on the Firing Line" and "Soul Hunter," released in sequence to build narrative momentum. [Though episodes 2 and 3 are mis-labeled as #3 and #4...] The strategy involves posting one episode each week, allowing audiences to experience the story at a paced rhythm that mirrors the original broadcast schedule...
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> For Warner Bros. Discovery, this initiative could signal plans to expand the franchise's visibility, especially amid ongoing interest in reboots and spin-offs that have been rumored in recent years.
Babylon 5 creator J. Michael Straczynski [5]answered questions from Slashdot's readers in 2014.
Long-time Slashdot reader [6]sandbagger offers this summary of the show "for those not in the know... In the mid-23rd century, the Earth Alliance space station Babylon Five, located in neutral territory, is a major focal point for political intrigue, racial tensions, and a major war as Earth descends into fascism and cuts off relations with its allies."
[1] https://cordcuttersnews.com/babylon-5-is-now-free-to-watch-on-youtube/
[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y235YEQstLo
[3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXvPwBzkipM
[4] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hdz5TFT5rSE
[5] https://features.slashdot.org/story/14/04/02/1310250/interviews-j-michael-straczynski-answers-your-questions
[6] https://www.slashdot.org/~sandbagger
Lost Media (Score:5, Informative)
A sci-fi fan Youtuber posted a video a few months ago about how the streaming version of Babylon 5 are pretty bad. Apparently, most of them have been upscaled to HD, and stretched to make them widescreen, which the originals were not. The only original 4:3 versions are the DVDs, which were mediocre transfers.
So your options are tracking down an old DVD copy and putting up with the soft desaturated transfer, or watching it on Blu-Ray or streaming, poorly upscaled and artificially stretched to a widescreen aspect ratio. The live shots are passable, but the CGI shots now look terrible.
Re: (Score:2)
I got the DVDs thinking they'd be better quality. I was disappointed that my PAL VHS copies were the best quality until the latest transfer Amazon streamed.
Re:Lost Media (Score:5, Insightful)
The DVD version was the 16:9 transfer.
The original was shot on Super35 film, with framing for 4:3 and 16:9, but the CGI was only rendered for 4:3 (and 480i), since even that was pushing the technology available in the day. The belief was that eventually the CGI could be re-rendered at 16:9 (and potentially higher resolution), but then Warner Brothers lost the files and the composite scene source elements. So for the 16:9 transfer, live-action only scenes were re-framed (as originally intended so look okay), but pure-CGI and composite live+CGI scenes were cropped and zoomed to fill the screen, looking blurry at best (and in some composite scenes, very badly framed).
Also, WB didn't take good care of the original film, so some was scratched and dirty, leaving some scenes (especially early in season 1) looking snowy.
With some renewed B5 interest, there was a Blu-Ray release a couple of years ago. It's the 4:3 original, with cleanup of the quality. It's much better than the DVD release. What I see on Youtube appears to be the Blu-Ray edition, with 4:3 content at 1080p, except for the pilot "The Gathering", which is the TNT "special edition" (in addition to getting the 16:9 treatment, it also has a few story edits, which is why that's generally the "preferred" edition even with quality issues).
Re:Lost Media (Score:5, Interesting)
No. The new transfer done by HBO (and also released on Blu-Ray) two years ago is good quality - the film has been rescanned. The CGI sequences that were pre-rendered in NTSC (480p, 30 fps) have been upscaled. The film transfers are probably intentionally soft to make it clash less with the upscaled CGI sequences.
Note that the Gathering (Pilot) and other TV movies (Thirdspace, In The Beginning, Call to Arms, etc) as well as the sequel series Crusade have *not* been updated.
Re: (Score:1)
its in 4:3 on "the Roku channel" (for now at least) the quality there is pretty good but i watched it few years ago
Re: (Score:2)
It was a while back, but wasn't it HBO who remastered Babylon 5? The episodes I did see from that effort were indeed an improvement over the originals (when watched on a modern screen).
Re: (Score:2)
AFAIK, the aspect ratio of Babylon 5 is complicated.
The live action parts were shot at 16:9 with the plans to later release a widescreen version. However, some of the CGI parts (or was it the parts where CGI and live action was combined) were done in 4:3, since it would be possible to re-do them later in widescreen. They lost the files needed for the CGI, so it was not possible to re-do it though.
A 4:3 version crops some of the live action image (not a big deal since it was filmed with the intent of showing
Best Scifi from that Era (Score:4, Insightful)
Unlike star trek etc, this had a start, a middle and an end.
So many TV series are just a "milk it for as much as we can" with no clearly defined path in the story
There was a clear link to past and future episode so it had flow, just like a Novel does.
And so many TV series just start getting a following and they get cancelled.
The Expanse is also another excellent series
But Babylon 5 remains a firm favourite of mine,
Re: (Score:3)
Yeah, specifically the evolution of G'Kar and Londo, their journey affected everyone around them. The chemistry they had was something else. And most of all, neither could be seen as strictly good or evil, they were both patriots, misguided at times and both had to learn painful lessons on their way to redemption.
"Some must be sacrificed, if all are to be saved" was one hell of a piece of writing.
And the other absolutely chilling thing was the confrontation of Kosh by Sheridan. The idea that as powerful as
Re: (Score:2)
Kosh or Ulkesh?
Fantastic (Score:2)
Build up the fan base!
B5 is a great series! (Score:2)
B5 is a must watch,
Where's Midnight on the Firing Line ? (Score:3)
I've already watched Soul Hunters on youtube, introducing my daughter to B5. We'll watch The Gathering after season 1, simply because it's important for the story - but a bit crap compared to the series itself.
The Gathering is there, s01e01 (Midnight on the Firing Line) is missing, s01e02 and s01e03 are there (although they're calling The Gathering episode 1, instead of episode 0, on youtube, for some reason, and all the other ones is shifted by one too).
Hope they ensure that Midnight on the Firing Line re-appears.
My favorite work of fiction, full stop. (Score:2)
Babylon 5 is my favorite work of fiction. I've watched it many times throughout my life, and it has taken on different meanings for different seasons of my life. It is a remarkable show.
If you haven't ever watched it, give it a try. The first season takes a little while to get going, but the overall story is just incredible. It was a lot of firsts: the first television show to use CGI. The first US show to be filmed for 16x9, knowing that DVD and HD were coming (although that didn't quite work out, as noted
Finally, a show all about me. (Score:3, Funny)
It took decades.
Re: Finally, a show all about me. (Score:2)
Were you there?
Some of the best television writing ever (Score:2)
B5's character development, story arc(s), and dialogue stand up very well when compared to (let's say) The Wire, The West Wing, (the original) Twilight Zone, The Prisoner, and MASH. Because it was planned to be five seasons, and not to run indefinitely, the story doesn't exhaust its possibilities. Andreas Katsulas (G'Kar) and Peter Jurasik (Londo Mollari), Claudia Christian (Susan Ivanona) and Mira Furlan (Delenn) are all superb in their roles. There are also numerous much shorter roles that are played b
Prime (Score:2)
I purchased all 5 seasons, and the movies from Amazon Prime Video a while back.
Wow, that sounds familiar (Score:3, Insightful)
Just replace Earth with USA. 'Earth descends into fascism and cuts off relations with its allies'
Re: Wow, that sounds familiar (Score:2)
Iirc it almost ended in a scorched earth, with the president intentionally targeting the earth with all of its defensive weapons...
Re: (Score:2)
SPOILER ALERT (although it was 28 years ago):
The President's suicide note on the desk said "THE ASCENSION OF THE ORDINARY MAN" repeated, line after line, with the letters circled to say, "SCORCHED EARTH."
Does anyone doubt for a second that Trump would nuke the country if he was promised godhood by an advanced alien race?
Re: (Score:2)
> Does anyone doubt for a second that Trump would nuke the country if he was promised godhood by an advanced alien race?
Greenland would've been it, because doing so would fracture NATO. Section 5 has only been used once in NATO's entire history (i.e., come to the defence of a NATO ally) - by the USA, on 9/11.
That would be a minor war, but it may be te war that starts a precursor to WWIII because Russia would probably take advantage of a distracted Europe to cause some chaos along their borders, China sees the
Re: Wow, that sounds familiar (Score:3)
The parallels are striking.
"Any action you take in support of illegal orders makes you an accomplice."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPvuMrq6KBA
Re: Wow, that sounds familiar (Score:2)
Weird. Linkify! [1]https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPvuMrq6KBA
Re: Wow, that sounds familiar (Score:4, Insightful)
I wish people who served in WW 2 were still around. They could verify first hand what is happening.