I’ve begun to appreciate BSG and Babylon 5 more over the past few months. I can’t fathom how hard it must be to pull together a series over the course of several years and maintain the continuity, progress the storyline, and keep it good. As I watch shows like Dexter, et al, I wonder if it can be done all that well.
What all of these successful shows have is this sense of continuity. Despite the fact that writers may change (a problem that plagues shows and video games of this manner), the key plot remains strong. BSG and B5 both had clear endings that were hinted at from the first episode and developed throughout. This often was not apparent until the last season. Now shows like Lost, which had a clear ending but no sense of how long the show would last. Those factors contributed to a show that slowed along the way and, on occasion, became desperately confusing and strayed far off the storyline. The same could be said of Buffy or Fringe, the latter of which is ending this season without pursuing huge parts of the plot.
In short, it is tough to tell a story. It is even tougher to tell a story in pieces that stretch across the years. I tip my hat to those who pull it off.