For some reason, I've seen more and more people recycling the claim that Deep Space Nine was plagiarized from or otherwise "ripped off" Babylon 5. I'm glad that people are taking more of an interest in B5, and it had more than a few good episodes and should be credited for challenging the look of space combat in science fiction. However, I feel that there needs to be some sort of comprehensive critique of the conspiracy theory.
- Much seems to hinge on the fact that J Michael Straczynski pitched B5 to Paramount in 1988 or1989. This is not in itself proof of anything: many scripts and pitches are shopped around Hollywood. However, the suggestion seems to be that because JMS had conceived of the narrative of the entire story of B5, that Paramount had it available to them at all times. This is not true. Not all the stories were written, let alone all the scripts. More importantly, JMS admits to hiding and lying about details in the story that he suspected might scare off studio executives. For instance, the series bible said that there were rumors of a coming war that would never happen. It literally says that there would be no war in Babylon 5.
- JMS borrowed heavily from science fiction and fantasy literature, making it difficult to claim that specific creations were uniquely his. The most glaring examples are the heavy borrowings from Tolkien, which include large narrative threads, character developments, and even names. The number of analogs between B5 and LOTR are extensive, and would clearly overwhelm any commonalities between B5 and DS9. Moreover, it seems absurd to claim that JMS would have some exclusive right to borrow from literature, but then insist that DS9 could not.
- To that point, many of the so-called similarities are scènes à faire, the generic elements of science fiction that could not on their own be claimed as being unique. Some so-called similarities are really trivial, like fictional names.
- Many commonalities were things that actually appeared in DS9 first, then Babylon 5, probably inserted by JMS into the stories in order to rile up his supporters. Case in point: Dukhat, a character that appears late in B5's run.
- The conspiracy theorists ignore how Deep Space Nine was still Star Trek: narrative threads were picked up from the previous series and developed, production and writing interests were carried over from TNG to DS9. The Borg and the Bajoran-Cardassian matter were already established: they were not invented for the backstory of DS9. Sisko being a widow was something organic to Star Trek. Moreover, the relationship between Bajor and Cardassia only resembled the Narn and Centauri in that they were occupations. The fact that DS9 embraced some serialization, mostly late in the series, could not be seen as something taken from the B5 bible. It grew out of the frustration of the TNG writers who became DS9 writers over the limitations on character development over more than one episode.
- Conspiracy theorists ignore how many of the same people worked on or influenced the direction of both shows, potentialy influencing the look and execution of both. Case and point: Jeri Taylor did a lot to convince both JMS and Michael Piller to put women more at the center of stories. At the time, TNG was proudly being held up as a guiding light of equality and aspirational politics. Even before DS9 aired, there were conversations about when women would be showed more in prominent positions of authority. Hence Kira and Takashima.
- Supporters ignore the extensive documentation and interviews that have been made about the making of Star Trek as a whole, not just DS9. Star Trek was such a big enterprise (pardon the pun) that it consumed much of the science fiction world of the 1990s that it overwhelmed genre specific magazines and made many appearances on mainstream magazines. There were numerous interviews of producers and writers describing the development of Star Trek, including DS9.
- Supporters make it seem as if Berman and Piller were complete amateurs when it came to making television, or that they were completely duped by the studio. There were already responsible for many hours of TNG, had experience with creating locations and situations and races, but they needed to borrow from the Babylon 5 bible (assuming they had it) in order to get DS9 started? I still find that there are more significant similarities between DS9 than the Rifleman, especially in the relationships between Sisko and Jake as well as between Sisko and Quark. JMS claimed that he didn't think Piller and Berman did anything, but that they were influenced by the "studio executives." I think it strains credibility to say that Berman and Piller had that much "guidance."
- There are too many mentions of legal filings and a settlement that never happened and for which there is no reporting. There is a video of Patricia Talmann, wherein she claims that there was a lawsuit that ended up in a settlement, proving that somehow Paramount implicitly admitted to plagiarism or was afraid to have the claim examined in public. There are no records of any legal action from WB or PTEN against Paramount. JMS says that Warner was unwilling to pursue a lawsuit. The video is an outright lie, which is shocking given that Talmann was an executive for JMS's production company for a while.
- JMS clearly resented Star Trek, finding that it frustrated his ability to bring B5 to television. I understand how it must have felt not being able to get the series produced because executives felt that they could not compete with Star Trek, or having to share actors and production facilities with Star Trek. Being the alternative to Star Trek, though, became a rallying cry. He wanted his fans to reject DS9, not just watch his show.
- Even in the beginning, the two shows were not that similar. DS9 did the TNG thing in its first season before become more character focused. The writing tended to build on what had been accomplished in previous episodes rather than establish a grand narrative. Babylon 5 was very insistent on being a grand narrative, sometimes sacrificing character development in the process. B5 told a more comprehensive story, DS9 presented more comprehensive characters. The things that the two series shared were not important beyond superficial looks.
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