Some general thoughts and reactions. I can't really address the
issues you raise vis a vis TNG, because frankly, I just don't watch it,
or DS9. So all I can do is discuss those issues in relation to B5.

1) Conflict. There is a difference between being crabby, and having
genuine conflict over something that MEANS something. In the worst of
mainstream TV shows (and some films), you have the characters bitching and
crabbing at each other over things that really don't matter, doesn't end
up changing anything at the end, and once the episode is over, no longer
matters. (Or is too easily resolved.) It's the difference between just
arguing, and a lead-in to a pivotal moment. Sort of like crabbing about
whether or not you want nuts with your chocolate sundae.

When we have conflict in B5, we try to make it about something that
MEANS something. We try not to use it for punctuation. Conflict is
desperately important in television...but you have to be careful when you
use it, lest you trivialize it in the process. And once the conflict
becomes trivial, or simply redundent, you're dead.

2) Torturing characters. The basic problem here is that this is one
of the very easiest things you can do to a character; a cheap way to get
sympathy for a character, and create danger. You can take the notion of
"Someone kidnaps Character A and terrorizes/abuses him/her, making the
character confront something in his or her life, but the character comes
through at the end" and drop it on *any* TV series. And it'll work. It's
what's called a "moveable piece" in television jargon.

As with conflict, if done to excess, it becomes trivial. We're doing
one episode, "And The Sky Full of Stars," which puts one of our characters
through real hell, partly physical, partly mental. But we're ONLY doing
that one, and it's not for something that'll be forgotten next week. This
episode, and what he encounters, will have significant consequences down
the road. It's not a throwaway, it's a major plot element.

3) Continuity. Again, B5 is in essence a novel for TV, thus it has
to have continuity. And it will, and it does.

4) Characterizations and capacities. This intersects with your
concern about continuity. One must keep continuity in what your
characters are and aren't capable of doing, and who they are. This we
are also doing. We are, however, also showing the various *sides* to our
characters. It doesn't change who they are, or what their skills are, it
just showcases a different side of their personality.

5) Merchandising. This is something I don't have major control
over. I'm consulted on deals once they're made, to make sure that the
resultant product is up to B5 standards, but that's it. I just don't see
B5 ever being big enough to have that problem in any event. It's not a
25 year franchise.

jms