I'm horribly weak for sci-fi series, but I've never been able to sit through B5. That's especially frustrating to me because the setting/story is very interesting and the show was a total wunderkind in its day when it came to spaceship shots (IIRC, they were the first show to really work with how different zero-g 3D is from 3D in a gravity well. Plus, they respected the silence of space.)

But B5 also has an awful, awful concentration of mediocre dialog writing and mediocre acting. I admit part of my problem was my loathing for Bruce Boxleitner, but even without him too many scenes left me wondering if the actors had just gotten the script that morning or if the makeup folks were early Botox adopters.

I'm hoping that in another decade or so, the B5 storyline will find its own version of David Eick and Ronald Moore who can do the show right the second time.

Personally i like B5 more than DS9. But be warned if you watch the show because it will be hard not to watch the next episode. Especially season 3 is almost one story splitted in 22.

Scoutdog I agree that especially the final seasons of DS9 are great. 

Gabberkooij, I like that, so I dont mind. It was the same with BSG (which is also great btw)

They made 13 episodes of B5 Crusade, in order to find the cure for Earth.

That's exactly why I kept trying to get in a groove with the show (well, that and the groundbreaking space visuals).

If ubiquitous weak acting and clunky dialog don't give you problems, B5 will surely be more fun than DS9 because it is a truly sweeping space opera. DS9 was edgy when compared with TNG, but it made many compromises in the name of protecting the Trek franchise and competing with 'normal' shows. In B5, many aliens are really alien, but the only Trek series to do that right was the animated one from the '70s (also available at Netflix).

B5. This is one of the first series that had a complex storyline written over several episodes with characters who had to make realistic choices (with consequences). The main storyline was told in every episode even if the focus was on a side plot (and from time to time there were some dumb side plots; but usually the main storyline saved these episodes a bit). Without B5 there probably wouldn't be series like BSG (or even Dexter) who focus on a larger plot and consequences.

DS9 on the other hand is too much Star Trek as we know it from NG. There are some good episodes, but most of them still are more like a soap opera in space. It's all about the main characters who most of the time will have adventures on the holo deck (even if theres a full blown war going on, viewers might get disturbed after 2 or 3 of the heavier episodes...), getting engaged in relations, saving the world single handedly and always choose the morally right thing to do (which always will work). In this regard I think Stargate is quite similar. Single episodes may be entertaining but I usually loose any immersion as especially decisions and consequences (when there are those few episodes with big decisions) seem to be just wrong a lot of times. In the end it's like the Disney of science fiction. Try anything to not offend your viewers.

In the end, DS9 is a show with a more positive outlook while B5 gives a rather negative outlook (I do think that usually the latter makes really good SciFi, but the former can be more entertaining depending on preferences).

Thanks again for all the interesting replies. I might buy B5 soon. It only costs about 60 British pounds for all the episodes, movies, etc. That's nothing if you calculate how much it is per hour watching.

Stargate was good. Different but good if you watch it with the right mindset.

Its first quality is that it happens right now, in our world. Not 300 years in the future or something, which means you can relate to it more easily. The military aspect, the corrupt politics and secret agencies, the limited / backwards way in which they deal with alien technology. It is humanity making its first steps in space travel and first contact situations, accelerated by the stargate device. All of that while being the underdog of the universe, a hostile situation where a group of individuals and (mostly) the right choices make all the difference. 

Sure it is not as outlandish and exotic as some other series, but that is exactly why I liked it, and exactly why it deserves its place in the big picture of scifi. It would be sad if all scifi series had the same flavor, diversity is good.

Stargate Atlantis was a step in the wrong direction... it became more "farscape-ish", the rainbow colored side of scifi... but still it was not so bad. Stargate Universe was another step back, they seem to try and give it a battlestar galactica-ish flavor with the struggle for survival and the focus on the interaction between characters... but the chemistry is all wrong (bad to horrible casting mostly, with too many bland/blah actors), and it is not exactly scifi in my book. They could as well be stranded on an island, it would not change much to the story. The selfish conspirator vs the naive vs the soldier, with a flock of sheep minded characters looking for leadership... Boring.

One other thing about stargate... It often reminds me of RPGs like mass effect or dragon age, where you have small team of 3-4 people with different backgrounds who go on adventuring, using their different skills to face any situation. Stargate SG1 is in the same spirit, you have 4 guys... a military veteran (tactics), a scientist, an archeologist (who serves as the moral compass and diplomat) and the alien who is somewhat familiar with the worlds they are visiting and doubles as a soldier / tank.

In fact I think a mass-effect inspired game based on Stargate would have much RPG potential. There is an MMO based on Stargate which is currently in the work (and that will be a major failure, I beta tested it) but really squad adventure is the only right formula for a game based on this series.

and you know who you have to thank for that? JMS and B5

If you're not in a rush and not a media collector, it looks like Netflix will be launching a service in the U.K. later this year. http://www.imdb.com/news/ni1485357/ . All of DS9 and B5 are available here, and I doubt they'd leave those our of their UK libraries.

It is now much cheaper though, about 15 pounds per season.