Most reviews I have heard agreed with you. I have heard nothing but praise for the show. But after watching the first 2 or 3 episodes several years ago the best word I can think of to describe it is "unwatchable."
As amazing as Season 4 was, I can only begin to imagine the levels of awesome it would've reached if they hadn't had to wrap up all the open storylines out of concern that they wouldn't get renewed for the fifth season.
If they'd gotten renewed in time, the Season 4 finale would have been Intersections in Real Time.
Yeah, for a new watcher, I'd really only recommend a handful of episodes from season 1 (And the Sky Full of Stars, Signs and Portents, A Voice in the Wilderness, Babylon Squared, Chrysalis). Then maybe about half of season 2, then all of seasons 3 and 4.
I swear there used to be a page on the Lurker's Guide[1] that had arc-plot-heavy episodes in bold or something, but I can't find it at the moment.
Unfortunately, I don't think I'll ever endure an unenjoyable series for that long, at least until I run out of series that I enjoy from the first episode.
You're missing out a lot then. B5 is one of the best television series made, be it scifi or not. I would say just skip the first season completely and start from the second one, you're not gonna miss much.
I could see myself skipping the first season completely, but regardless of downvotes I will never endure an admittedly bad season just to get to the good stuff. That simply doesn't make any sense as long there are still other series out there that have tolerable first seasons.
The problem is that the first season is really good at setting up the universe an start the story. A lot of groundstones are layed there that you will definitely enjoy later on. Its just that some of the episodes feel like they were still trying to find their way of storytelling. And the production values suck, but hey - we still watch 1940s cinema today.
Also, it has some really outstanding episodes, e.g. the introduction of the agent of the enemy.
I would suggest skipping the first season, aside from the handful of episodes people named above, at least the first time you watch. Once you fall in love with the story, going back to some of the first season episodes is fun.
The pilot is particularly long and tedious, though. I often skip it even when I'm watching the entire rest of the show.
The first season is not good. Of course, the first season of ST:TNG is equally as bad. I had the good fortune to start watching at the beginning of season 2.
