First, so there's no error, I appreciate your effort here. But I
still do disagree with your premise that "ST paved the way for B5." You
can "stand by" your feeling as much as you want, but I was the one in the
room with the network and studio execs telling me (and just about everyone
else pitching SF space shows) that there was NO room in the marketplace
for anything along these lines other than ST. Even when PTEN was launching
B5, that was a concern stated by them over and over. There's what one
feels SHOULD be correct, and there's what IS correct. This is the point
where those two conflict.

ST did not "legitimize SF drama for TV." Star Trek legitimizes and
leads to more Star Trek. If people in Hollywood *really* felt the way you
say, why has it taken *25 years* for another serious show like this to get
made (again, leaving out Buck Rogers, which wasn't serious and frankly, to
my mind, was only barely SF).

We had to fight tooth and nail to get this show on the air, to
overcome the ST shadow. We were told, specifically and repeatedly, that
there IS no substantive interest in SF, and that ST isn't SF; ST is ST,
and an interest in ST doesn't generally guarantee any kind of interest in
another SF show. And certainly Paramount has done nothing but throw road
blocks in front of us at every conceivable step of the way.

I understand your feelings, and why you want to believe that your
theory is true. But it simply isn't.

jms