10 Mind-Blowing Facts You Didn't Know About Babylon 5

Most people today are used to shows with plots that span multiple seasons and may take years to resolve. It's a far cry from the episodic, week-to-week plots of years past. But Babylon 5 was the first to do an overarching, multi-year plot on such a massive scale.

J. Michael Straczynski envisioned Babylon 5 as a "novel for television", and he planned the story arcs accordingly. All five seasons were mapped out from the beginning, giving the show a definitive beginning, middle, and end. Although there were a few modifications along the way, such as when Michael O'Hare left the show after one season or Claudia Christian's departure before the final season, the show mostly adhered to that outline. The result was a tight-knit, cohesive story line that inspired other television writers to do the same for their own shows.