I wrote a posta few years ago about why I love the women on the show, but basically what makes the show so good is that the female characters were generally treated exactly like the male characters.

Thank you for the links! That list of roles women take in b5 is pretty damn impressive. STILL. (I actually watched that Star Trek reboot in the theater a couple of years ago - and Uhura's main role is Spock's lover? And she's still the only major female character. THIS IS NOT PROGRESS, people!)

Also, J. Michael Straczynski, the guy who created the show (and wrote almost all the episodes) may not have Joss' reputation as a feminist, but he's still very vocal about equality, and unlike Joss, he's not afraid of calling out his fans when they're being sexist douchebags.

Good on him! Great quotes - and very much an I have no patience for this bs tone. we need more men like him in the world. (And frankly more women, when it comes to that.) To be fair, Joss has on occasion done so, like his "no bashing Marti" statement; or calling out fans for their homophobia when Willow started dating Tara; or his more recent answer to the question, why do you write strong women characters? "Because people still ask me questions like this." Great line but - then you look at his work and his hang-ups and priviledge are all over the place. He tries, but he increasingly reminds me of Xander to be honest: the geek who sees himself as a "nice guy" and doesn't have to question his own issues; and gets pissed if you call him out on his shit.

but it's still one of the first canon f/f relationships on TV.

Wait, what? How did I not know this? (Oh, right, because I've not been interested in sci-fi series generally. But then I knew about Tara and Willow - ONLY because it made mainstream news when she died. grrrr.....)