B5 Was a true ongoing story, with a distinct timeline and universe.
Yes. And it worked because JMS wrote nearly every episode himself. Had he farmed out more episodes, Babylon 5 would have looked very different (as many of the farmed out episodes do look different).
You can catch nearly any episode of ST without seeing any other episode and would have little or no impact.
In some ways, that was bad. In others, it was good. The good thing is that the episodes were about something different each week, not a development or revisitation of a previously established idea.
B5 was a true Sci Fi epic, not merely a show, which is what ST clearly was. (Yes I know ST orig had a timeline, but they made sure at the end of every episode, everything was pretty much the same as it was before the show began...)
And the Epic was done, which is my point. How do you follow up the original arc with something interesting? You can't, really, without starting all over or changing the show. What happened in the 5th season was that it started to become episodic. You seem to be saying that's not what you want and I'm saying that's what would have happened to Babylon 5 if it kept goind. And if they brought it back, it would be either episodic (like the two spin-offs that failed) or they'd have to try to outdo th original arc with something new, and I doubt they'd get JMS to create it or write every episode. The thought of that just makes me shudder.
I agree the 5th season nearly didn't get made, because of problems etc. But as a whole, I honestly thing B5 was the greatest work (series) ever to get onto TV in the sci fi genre.
It was certainly a great achievement. But you can't keep an epic with a story arc going forever. You can't replace an epic with episodes. And you can't try to top and epic like Babylon 5 with something even bigger and more important. They saved the universe once. Any repeat would cover the same ground. It was great. It ended. Like a war hero that has passed on, you can't dig them up for a second go and shouldn't try.
I agree the original TZ is fabu as well... but I guess I never really put it in the sci fi genre in my mind.
It firmly belongs there.