Did Babylon 5 force television to get better?

[Garovorkin]

Yes I meant B5 major typo, I corrected it

 

[vacantlook]

I don't know if we can definitively know if B5 actually caused a new era in storytelling (ie story arc use over the course of a whole show) or if B5 was just on the forefront of such a new wave in storytelling. I do very much think B5 helped to break scifi television open to more than just Star Trek shows. jms and the other executives producers have told multiple times that in their trying to sell B5 to studios, one of their biggest obstacles was studio execs thinking there wasn't enough of a market for scifi beyond Trek. So, B5 definitely had some effect on television writing and production, I just don't know if we can say it caused arc storytelling to become more common.

 

[Garovorkin]

I remember how hostile hardcore trekers were to B5, they resented the competition , at least thats how it seemed at the time.

 

[KoshFan]

I think you need to make the distinction between TV execs and TV creators. For TV execs B5 wasn't a force at all, and neither were shows like Veronica Mars, Firefly, Brimstone, etc.. For the TV exec all that matters are sales figures/ratings. However I would hope that sales figures/ratings really don't matter to anyone here, because truly sales figures/ratings are the worst indicator of how good a show is or the impact it has had on people. B5, and other shows, had a tremendous impact on fellow creators and on fans who then decided to become creators, writers, directors, and more. In that way, yes, it was a force that changed TV, and that distinction needs to be made.

Now that I'll get on board with.

 

[Jade Jaguar]

Me too.

 

[Garovorkin]

I wish I could have stated that way and that well and that accurately, Bravo Cell !