Index
Preview:
Dallas. TV Series, 1978-1991, from Warner Bros. DVD.
Babylon 5. TV Series, 1994-1998, DVD.
Conspirator by C.J. Cherryh. (DAW Hardcover, May, 2009.)
Riders of the Storm by Julie E. Czerneda. (DAW Hardcover, September, 2008.)
Rift in the Sky by Julie E. Czerneda. (DAW Hardcover, July, 2009.)
Crystal Healer by S.L. Viehl. (RoC Paperback, August, 2009.)
Remember the TV show Dallas, and the whole summer of “Who Shot JR?” Dallas was originally billed as prime time soap opera, and in a way it was. It was the first prime time success to use a long story-arc instead of the
“anthology” format used famously by Gene Roddenberry’s Star Trek [now also known as The Original Series]. Dallas’s “story-arc” structure was the main feature of the soap opera borrowed by the prime time drama, and the arc is what kept soap fans glued to the tube.
Star Trek Fans objected vehemently to the anthology format, so much so that they violated it blatantly and proudly in their fanzine stories. “Look how much better the stories are when you have enough room!”
Dallas aired April 2, 1978 to May 3, 1991 for 356 episodes, plus 3 movies.
The worthy Star Trek successor, Babylon 5, aired 1994
to 1998. Babylon 5 was the first SF show on TV to use the story-arc, and though B-5 didn’t explode to the top of the charts like Dallas, it had a major impact on how TV producers viewed SF and the SF audience.
Through the 1990s, online connections among fans and even with producers grew, and with that the online fan fiction universes grew.
TV series were always anthology from the inception of TV service. Television series were born from radio drama because of economics. Serials such as The Lone Ranger, and Dr. Who, were considered to lack mature themes, and only children had time to follow them. Adults couldn’t always be
