Babylon 5 is an epic American science fiction television series created, produced, and largely written by J. Michael Straczynski. The show centers on the Babylon 5 space station, a focal point for politics, diplomacy, and wars in the late 2250s and early 2260s. The series is noted for its heavy reliance on pre-planned story arcs over its five-year run, sometimes being described as a "novel for television."[1][2] The pilot movie, The Gathering, aired on February 22, 1993, and the regular series initially aired from January 26, 1994 through November 25, 1998,[3] first in syndication on the short-lived Prime Time Entertainment Network, then on cable network TNT. Because the show was aired every week in the United Kingdom on Channel 4 without a break, the last four or five episodes of the e...more >>arly seasons were shown in the UK before the U.S.[4] The series won many awards, including two Hugos for Best Dramatic Presentation[5] and two Emmy awards - for makeup and visual effects.[6] A straight-to-DVD movie about selected characters from the series was released on July 31, 2007.