However, 1991 was also the year that things got rolling for Deep Space Nine. However, I’ve not been able to find any independent confirmation of this.) were working on a network together around the time both shows were being developed. (Note: In 2013 a commenter alleged that Paramount and Warner Bros. This was announced formally in 1991 November. with the project and they were the ones to eventually pick it up for their new Prime Time Entertainment Network (PTEN). Among those was Paramount, which JMS approached sometime in the summer of 1989. JMS viewed it as a novel in television format and wrote it accordingly.īy 1988 he was pitching the show to various networks.

It was going to be a more realistic science fiction series that would feature a single overarching plot that would be told over multiple seasons. The idea for the show was straightforward. JMS, frustrated with shows running over budget and a long-time fan of science fiction sagas, began work on a treatment and a “Bible” for Babylon 5. The story of the shows actually begins in the mid-1980s. So what happened and why do so many science fiction fans believe Deep Space Nine was a plagiarism of Babylon 5? The answer is a long, winding story that actually starts nearly a decade before either show made it to air. Though those differences appear to be resolved between the shows themselves, it’s an issue that has divided science fiction fandom and remains a sore spot for many nearly 30 years later.

Michael Straczynski (often referred to as JMS).īut while the two series would both go on to become beloved sci-fi classics, their beginnings were much more tumultuous with allegations of plagiarism causing a rift between the two shows that led to more than a few heated exchanges. The second, Babylon 5, a brand new universe and IP by J. The first, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, a continuation of the long-running Star Trek franchise. Not one but two prominent series got their start that year. 1993 was a banner year for fans of space station-based science fiction.

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