it’s interesting the ways they got more similar as they went on, too. there’s one particular plot point that B5 does later on, after realizing they had accidentally been foreshadowing it, that comes from the pilot of DS9. i’m not saying they copied it but they couldn’t exactly unwatch it either. the suits at Paramount definitely fucked over JMS when they stole the basic premise, but once both shows were on the air i think they both benefitted from the unintentional dialogue between them

and fun fact: Lyta’s actress was also an extra and stunt double on DS9. reportedly she got a lot of complements on B5 in very hushed tones on the Paramount lot