In the fictional universe of Babylon 5, spoo is a valuable and highly desired food product. Made from the alien worm-like creatures of the same name, spoo is considered to be the most delicious food in the galaxy, regardless of which species is asked. Although it is a universally loved foodstuff and an actively traded commodity, the creature itself is regarded with contempt by the races that consume it.

Since its introduction on the Babylon 5 television series, spoo has remained popular among fans of the science fiction saga, spawning everything from attempts to cook their own version of spoo, to fan fiction related to the creatures. "Spoo" is also used variously outside the Babylon 5 universe and fan community as a nonsense word.

Origins in Babylon 5

Spoo appeared in the first episode of the science fiction television series Babylon 5, when it was briefly mentioned by the Narn Ambassador, G'Kar.^[1] J. Michael Straczynski, the show's creator, executive producer, and writer of the episode in question, was soon deluged by questions from fans from the various internet message boards on which he frequently participated.^[2] At first, Straczynski's responses were intentionally vague and terse: "Spoo is."^[3] He eventually noted that the taste of spoo was that of "Meat Jello. Served chilled."^[4] After several years of speculation from Babylon 5 fandom, Straczynski finally explained the mysteries of spoo, in what has become regarded as a classic and hilarious element of the Babylon 5 mythology.^[5] The question of what spoo is made it into the major Babylon 5 FAQ^[6] and the term comes up regularly on the Usenet group devoted to discussions of Straczynski's work.^[7]

The Babylon 5 episodes in which spoo appears or is mentioned are "Midnight on the Firing Line," "The Geometry of Shadows," "Point of No Return", "A View from the Gallery," "A Tragedy of Telepaths," and "Meditations on the Abyss." Spoo also appears in the "Over There" segment of the episode "."

Explanation of Spoo

After several years of cryptic answers, Straczynski finally made a post explaining what Spoo was. His answer stated that spoo were tiny, pasty, mealworm-like creatures that were regarded with contempt by most of the sentient species that have encountered it. According to Straczynski, spoo "are the only creatures of which the Interstellar Animal Rights Protection League says, simply, 'Kill 'em.'"^[5]

The process of raising spoo was described by Straczynski in comical detail. The creatures are raised on ranches on planets with moist and chilly climates, not because the creatures thrive in such environs, but because it produces the best level of paleness in the creatures' skin. Starting a spoo ranch is relatively easy: the only requirement is to place 200 spoo in the middle of the ranch and wait. Within a short period of time, they have reproduced in sufficient numbers and harvesting can commence, with the preferred method being a simple whack with a stick. Little physical effort is required to cull the herds—spoo are incapable of moving more than six inches (15 cm) in a year, tend to stay propped up against one another "ostensibly for mutual protection," with attempts at movement usually ending up in the creatures toppling over. The primary difficulty in spoo ranching is in the only sound the creatures make: loud, continuous sighing. The only protection against the sighing is the use of earmuffs, which eventually cannot block the sheer volume of sighs as the harvest progresses—when whacked, a spoo simply sighs more loudly. The sighing often triggers bouts of major depression, with some ranchers even going mad from the incessant sighs.^[5]

Spoo in the series

As befitting a fan-favorite reference, Spoo made a number of appearances in the series, most recently in the DVD release , where it was described by President Sheridan at one point jokes that the product is "Spoo: The other gray meat." ^[8]

Although mostly relegated to a background role, spoo was once involved in a significant way in a plot. In the season 5 episode A Tragedy of Telepaths, the fact that Narn prefer fresh spoo while the Centauri prefer it aged was the reason that G'Kar was able to figure out that there was another Narn in the Centauri Royal Palace. ^[9]

Commodity

As a widely consumed food product, like coffee or beef, spoo is a traded commodity, where the price of the product at the consumer level is dictated by the price on common exchanges. During one episode the price of a spoo sandwich is stated as ten credits an ounce; at the end of the same episode it is stated as fifteen credits.^[10] While this could be a simple mistake by Straczynski, a bit of fanon assumes that it is an intentional reference to spoo's exorbitantly ridiculous volatility in the market.^[11]

Unlike other products, not only is spoo a tradable commodity, but spoo ranches themselves, like large corporations, sell shares.^[12] It is not known if this is facilitated by spoo's immense popularity or because the ranches' value is exacerbated by their rarity (due to the difficulty of, and disproportionately high suicide rate in, spoo ranching).

Real-world spoo

In 1998, Boxtree UK published a Babylon 5 cookbook, officially licensed from Warner Bros.^[13] Presented as if written around the year 2260, the time when most of the Babylon 5 series takes place, the book contains many recipes for the various foods mentioned and seen throughout the series. Included were recipes for Narn-style spoo and Centauri-style spoo, both using currently available ingredients, with sea scallops taking the place of spoo.

Many fans have attempted to make "spoo" on their own. One common method is the use of tofu, itself a rather versatile and nondescript food with a pale color. And there have been times when Straczynski has been eating at a restaurant or event, and a fan will send over a plate of food, christened "spoo."^[14]

Real-world etymology of the word

Straczynski was not the first person to use the word spoo - uses can be found in popular culture since the 1970s, sometimes as a replacement for stuff, as was the case with its first recorded use on USENET in 1989,^[15] and later as a misspelling of spew. The earliest known print usage was as an exclamation in a 1971 Beetle Bailey comic strip, as a play on the reverse spelling of "oops."^[16] In 1979 Barnes & Barnes recorded the song "Three Drunk Newts" which begins with what has been interpreted as the two of them yelling "Spoo!". According to Slang and Euphemism, spoo is a slang term for ejaculate, etymologically derived from spew, and cited by linguist Pamela Munro in a paper on 1980s collegiate slang at UCLA.^[17] One blogger claims to have had spoo attached to him as a nickname in the mid-1980s on various message boards, rejecting Straczynski's popularization of the term, although Straczynski's first use of the word predates his.^[18] Frank Zappa used the word as a euphemism for semen in the song "What Kind of Girl?", which appears on the 1988 live album Broadway the Hard Way. He claimed in The Real Frank Zappa Book to have learned the word from guitarist Ike Willis, and also used spoo to mean self-indulgent "musical masturbation," in which musicians play an extended solo primarily for their own enjoyment rather than to enhance the musical experience of the audience.^[19]



Straczynski's own usage of the word predates Babylon 5. Straczynski was a writer in the 1985 cartoon series She-Ra Princess of Power. After a fan recalled a possible spoo reference from that show, Straczynski replied, "[Yes], I slipped some spoo in there once. A couple of real cute—as in wanna-drop-a-truck-on-them cute—elf-types offer Skeletor a bowl of Spoo."^[20] Skeletor declines, saying he dislikes this food, and then adds he does not know what it is.^[21] One of Straczynski's earliest responses to the spoo question also revealed how he created the word: "Spoo is Oops spelled backward."^[22]

Current usage

Since its advent and popularization in Babylon 5, some people in the science fiction community have used the term "spoo space" on online message boards instead of spoiler space.^[23] Spoo is spoofed in the first Babylon Park parody short, Spoohunter.^[24]

See also

• List of Babylon 5 articles
• Shmoo, a fictional edible species from the comic strip Li'l Abner.

References

External links

• The Temple of Spoo: Spoo resources, recipes, humor, and fan fiction.
• Concise archive of JMS "Spoo" posts
• The Lurker's Guide to Babylon 5: The definitive Babylon 5 resource.
• JMSNews: The J. Michael Straczynski message archive.