They really said this about Babylon 5 and Stargate?

Added: 2026-06-04

[00:00:00]Okay, so Looper has released some astonishingly bad lists in the past. But this takes the cake. It's it's so astonishingly bad, so shockingly bad that it actually claims that Babylon 5 and Stargate SG-1 are now unwatchable.

[00:00:19]Are they mental or just morons or both?

[00:00:23]Welcome to the Tech and Pulse podcast, your place for sci-fi news, rumor, and debate.

[00:00:29]>> I take you on pulses but unable to completely penetrate the anomaly.

[00:00:36]>> So, there is a link in the description to the article where you can read it in full. And I will be honest, they've got I think it's 10 of the most now unwatchable sci-fi in history. Now, some of that unwatchable sci-fi is fair enough, but some of it is just mental. It's insane and um I'm actually thinking about boycotting Looper in the future because of it. But look, let's look at the ones that I think they might have a point or maybe not. Look, the first one on the list is Andromeda.

[00:01:12]It's dated. I'll give you that. Um but actually there's some brilliant moments in it and I've actually um interviewed the guy that looked like a rat. I can't remember his name. He's awesome guy, he's really funny. But anyway, this show starred Kevin Sorbo. Um It it it is dated. The CGI is very, very dated. Um But look, they he say actually here, "Science fiction fans love the series."

[00:01:38]Highlighting how strong the writing particularly for the early seasons was.

[00:01:44]Original executive producer was Robert Hewitt Wolfe, but he was removed as a creative team because the network wanted the series to be more episodic, which is a shame.

[00:01:53]Um this occurred while filming was already underway for of 2. It was taken over and it dipped after that.

[00:02:01]They've put this on a list of unwatchable, but then said actually that science fiction fans love it. Morons.

[00:02:07]Um the next on the list though is astonishing because it's Babylon 5.

[00:02:14]If you're a science fiction fan and you find Babylon 5 unwatchable, then I can't help you. But the special effects on Babylon 5 also make it unwatchable today. When series released in the 90s, it was at the forefront of technology, but it wasn't considered as visually impactful as Star Trek. In the decade since, the special effects only continue to look worse when combined with a poor last season, it makes Babylon 5 unwatchable. They actually says that season 5 felt like a a filler a season.

[00:02:45]That they were just doing it to like run through the motions because it was picked up on TNT.

[00:02:49]It's not. Look, the end of the Shadow War, fair enough, that is some of the most exciting, impactful sci-fi ever on our screens.

[00:03:01]And yes, some of the CGI isn't great.

[00:03:05]It's it it has dated because it was very early in when, you know, like CGI was becoming more and more popular. But for the budget, they put more dollars on the screen than any other TV show I've ever seen. And even though Star Trek was visually better, they didn't have the battle sequences and stuff like that that Babylon 5 managed to do. JMS wrote this very, very well and he managed the show so brilliantly. As I say, he got every dollar on the screen.

[00:03:35]But the storyline was phenomenal. We had moments from Babylon 5 that would still give me chills today.

[00:03:44]For them to say it's unwatchable is moronic. And look, if you've got a kid that's a sci-fi fan, if you've got a kid that's watching new Trek now, you sit them down, you explain to them what Babylon 5 is, and you order them to watch it. I promise you they will come back and go, "Well, Dad, I struggled with the first season, but after that my fragile little mind was just exploded into euphoria. My god, what a storyline.

[00:04:08]New Trek is rubbish." Uh Life on Mars, never really watched it, won't watch it, don't care. Logan's Run. Now, this is the movie, obviously, and they're again saying this is unwatchable. And they've got a couple of other shows on the list here that are the same, like the original Lost in Space. To be honest, you could Oh, Primeval's on there. It's not a show I particularly liked. It was a British show with like done dinosaurs and the stuff. I thought it was a bit silly, but there are people that absolutely love that show. Space: 1999 is on this list, and that will offend some of our older sci-fi fans.

[00:04:40]But, the point I'm going to make with those shows, and it's things like Land of the Giants, The Prisoner, which is a sci-fi show from the UK. Um there's there's a bunch of these sort of TV shows over the years that they will argue probably for the same reasons that are now unwatchable. They They point to the special effects. They They point to, you know, some dodgy dialogue and things.

[00:05:03]But, it's moronic. Now, don't get me wrong, you have to want to watch that sort of thing. You have to want the nostalgia.

[00:05:11]Yes, it's very technical, uh very very very limited special effects, particularly things like Lost in Space. There basically wasn't any. Um it's all physical effects and things.

[00:05:22]But, it was if if you are into that sort of thing, and you like the nostalgia, you like the almost like the innocence of it, then you're going to enjoy watching it again. If that is again from your childhood, you're going to watch it again. My age, I I watched Lost in Space and Land of the Giants things when I was a kid. I watch that now, and I just think it's glorious. So, you know, it's not something I watch very often, but it's not unwatchable.

[00:05:47]Stargate SG-1 is on this list.

[00:05:51]One of the things they say is that the special effects are dated. No, they're not.

[00:05:55]Um the first season, maybe two seasons, you could argue that yeah, okay. But by the 10th season, they're phenomenally good.

[00:06:06]Um you know, they stand up today no bother at all. You know, they're okay, they're not bloody Star Trek today or whatever for level of special effects, but they're astonishingly good for the time and they don't stand out as poor.

[00:06:21]Um there's there's nothing wrong with the special effects, particularly in the later seasons.

[00:06:26]Stargate SG-1 though is, as far as I'm concerned, the daddy of sci-fi. It's one of the most rewatchable series ever pig in made and I'm including Star Trek in that.

[00:06:40]I The only thing I would put up with it from a a live-action thing is like DS9 is incredibly rewatchable because of the battle sequences and things and I'm a sucker for a battle sequence. And episodes of Voyager. I do watch episodes of TNG or whatever, but I will watch DS9 and Voyager probably a little bit more if I'm honest. And certain episodes of Enterprise as well.

[00:07:04]But there is nothing more watchable or rewatchable than Stargate SG-1. And let's see who wrote this because genuinely I have to question their intelligence.

[00:07:16]Liz Young wrote this and it was um it came out on the 30th of May.

[00:07:21]Um uh just to to have this on this list.

[00:07:24]Okay, I can see the argument for, you know, Space: 1999 or whatever for a modern audience they would watch that and go, "What what is this? I don't get it." But that's you know, but that's cuz it was from the '60s. You could argue that for the original series of Star Trek. I I know why that's not on this list. If you're considering Stargate SG-1, why is not the original series of Star Trek on here? Because that is dated as hell. There are certain episodes that are iconic and will live forever, but a lot of those episodes are not good. You know, Spock's brain and things. A lot of them are very forgettable. There's some iconic episodes in there, obviously, but the special effects are really poor.

[00:08:03]Um, you know, some of the association of the storylines are a bit dodgy. Um, if you're going to argue that something like SG-1 is on this list, but you're not even going to think about Star Trek the original series?

[00:08:16]Hm.

[00:08:17]I would talk about something unwatchable. Let's just throw Discovery in there. Why not? The first season of Star Trek Discovery in particular is unwatchable. It's painful to watch. I would rather sandpaper certain parts of my body than watch that again.

[00:08:33]But Stargate SG-1 is on this list.

[00:08:37]I I don't know how to help this Liz Young.

[00:08:40]I don't know what can be done for her.

[00:08:42]Because if she's put SG-1 on this list, one of the most iconic sci-fi shows ever, and gaters adore this show and try to spread the word that it's amazing to everyone we can.

[00:08:55]I don't know. I don't know. There's nothing that can be done for Liz Young, I'm afraid.

[00:09:01]Poor thing.

[00:09:02]Maybe she needs a cuddle.

[00:09:04]And maybe she needs to watch Stargate SG-1 again.

[00:09:08]But guys, get into the comments, tell me what you think. There's a link in the description to the Looper article.

[00:09:12]Please go check it out. Tell me what you think about the list.

[00:09:16]I think hardcore sci-fi fans wouldn't put any of these shows on the list because we would say that look, depending on what you want from the show, these are all very watchable.

[00:09:27]Hm.

[00:09:28]Get into the comments, tell me what you think.

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[00:09:47]>> [music]