15 ‘Babylon 5’ Facts That Are Out of This World

7. Staying on Budget

Hitting the budget numbers was something of an obsession for Straczynski, who enforced some interesting rules for the show. Episodes were written six episodes in advance, and once production was started, no changes were allowed to be made to the script. Of course, as a result, the show never had an issue hitting the budgetary mark.

8. The Trap Door

As he worked to build the show, Straczynski was well aware that the real world may interfere with him telling his TV novel over the course of five, long seasons. So, as he was writing each character, he built a “trap door” into their background in order to facilitate the actor’s easy removal from the show. For example, when Andrea Thompson left the show, her trap door was activated in the version of the “sleeper agent” arc.

9. ‘Babylon 5’ Couldn’t Save Prime Time Entertainment Network

In spite of the fact the the series’ ratings continued to rise throughout its third and fourth seasons, Babylon 5 couldn’t save Prime Time Entertainment Network from going under. As a result of the channel’s collapse, Straczynski had to condense two seasons into a fourth season and two (nearly miraculous) TNT TV movies. Thanks to the ratings success of the films, TNT picked up Babylon 5 for a fifth season.