Almost everybody is better than I am at keeping characters straight, so you'll probably be fine. In one sense, Hyperion is kind of Canterbury Tales for sci-fi, a bunch of pilgrims and their stories, but that's only part of it.
Babylon 5 occurred at a time when I wasn't watching TV much, so I missed it, don't know anything about Ellison's part in it. But in re Ellison's ability, I do have a book of a screenplay, written jointly by Ellison and Isaac Asimov, for I, Robot. It's very good, taking the original, a loosely connected collection of short stories, and fusing it into a good story. When I read the screenplay, it struck me as impossible to produce because of the special effects needed, but it would probably be easy enough now.