Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993–1999)

Orbiting the liberated planet of Bajor, a Federation space station guards the opening of a stable wormhole to the far side of the Galaxy.

Creators:

Rick Berman, Michael Piller

Stars:

Avery Brooks, Rene Auberjonois, Cirroc Lofton

Won 4 Primetime Emmys. Another 10 wins & 49 nominations.

Cast

Complete series cast summary:
Avery Brooks	...	Captain Sisko (173 episodes, 1993-1999)
Rene Auberjonois	...	Odo (173 episodes, 1993-1999)
Cirroc Lofton	...	Jake Sisko (173 episodes, 1993-1999)
Alexander Siddig	...	Doctor Bashir (173 episodes, 1993-1999)
Colm Meaney	...	Chief O'Brien (173 episodes, 1993-1999)
Armin Shimerman	...	Quark (173 episodes, 1993-1999)
Nana Visitor	...	Major Kira (173 episodes, 1993-1999)
Terry Farrell	...	Lt. Commander Jadzia Dax (148 episodes, 1993-1998)
Michael Dorn	...	Lt. Commander Worf (102 episodes, 1995-1999)

Storyline

The stable wormhole discovered by the Deep Space Nine crew is known to the Bajoran people as the Celestial Temple of their Prophets. Sisko, as discoverer of the wormhole and its inhabitants, is therefore the Emissary of Bajoran prophesy. The wormhole's other end is in the Gamma Quadrant, halfway around the galaxy from Bajor. That section of space is dominated by the malevolent Dominion. The Dominion is led by the Changelings, the race of shapeshifters to which Odo belongs. As of the beginning of the sixth season, Cardassia has joined the Dominion, and together they are waging war on the Federation and their Klingon allies. The war is quickly becoming the most costly war ever for the Federation, and the Deep Space Nine crew must fight to protect their way of life.

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Plot Keywords:

wormhole | prophet | space station | emissary | changeling | 

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Drama | Sci-Fi

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Details

Official Sites:

Star Trek Offical Web Site

Country:

USA

Language:

English Klingon

Also Known As:

DS9

Filming Locations:

Donald C. Tillman Water Reclamation Plant - 6100 Woodley Avenue, Van Nuys, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

45 min 45 min (176 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

According to numerous episodes, time on the Deep Space Nine space station is based on the length of a standard Bajoran day, which is 26 hours.

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Goofs

In various episodes throughout the show's 6th and 7th seasons, there are several mentions of "good years" for blood wine, with vintages given in Earth years. Why would the Klingons measure the vintages of blood wine in Earth years, instead of Kronos years or Stardates?

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Quotes

Damar: You don't have anything to hide, do you?
[Looks at Leeta as she walks past]
Damar: You certainly don't.

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Crazy Credits

The opening credits for "Emissary" lacked the wormhole opening that all future episodes featured. Starting with Season 4, the opening credits included additional spacecraft and activity around the station, including the Defiant flying into the wormhole.

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Connections

Referenced in Face Off: Make It Reign (2013)

User Reviews

"Star Trek is capable of doing way better than this...and that quality is in DS9!

A few months back, after my growing dissatisfaction with the way TNG ended in Nemesis (it might have been 5-6 months ago)...and I had to just slap myself and say "Star Trek is capable of doing way better than this...and that quality is in DS9!" Right there and then, I knew that I was a Niner!

I always knew, especially after the airing of "Improbable Cause/The Die is Cast," that DS9 was capable of pushing the envelope, and create the kind cutting-edge episodes that TNG (and especially its sister series, VOY..) tended to avoid due to its formulaic, PC-nature.

Although I am an open-minded individual, I myself grew pretty tired of PC by the summer of 1993, and currently realize that my world views reflect more closely to that of DS9, rather than the sterile, stuffy world of TNG. There are a lot of grey areas that we encounter in our daily lives, and not everything tends to be black and white. Only DS9 understood that fully out of all 5 Star Trek series. I also appreciated the fact that mankind was still fallible, and capable of making decisions based on emotions, rather than logic, like the TNG crew.

I still have a soft spot for the TNG crew, such as my appreciation for the 1st Season Commander William T. Riker, but I have to concede that DS9 showcased more fully-realized characters through its superior writing between the 2 series.

The only thing that TNG trumps DS9 on is that they have a more charismatic actor in the form of Patrick Stewart. Not to knock Avery Brooks, but whereas when TNG's writing was lacking, Stewart madeup for it with his supreme screen presence and screen performance, I feel that when it was Brooks who was lacking (especially in the earlier seasons, and even up to mid-Season 3..), it was DS9's superior writing that made the show the quality series that we acknowledge and love today.

So, I had to ask myself, which should I choose:

1.) TNG = a charismatic actor (Stewart) who makes the material appear considerably better than it actually is due to his sheer brilliant presence and talent.

2.) DS9 = a reluctant male lead (Brooks), who is a good actor but not the best of the ensemble (nor the supporting cast, for that matter..), but is part of a well-written and well-executed series that blows the 4 other live-action Star Trek series out of the water!

A few months after the dysmal performance of Nemesis, and my admiration for Patrick Stewart's Captain Picard had waned (Let's face it, the screenplay, the choppy editing, and the poor direction simply sucked..), my admiration for DS9 grew more and more, always knowing since mid-1995 that DS9 was the more quality series compared to that of its sister series TNG.

I took the Stewart and Brooks comparisons aside (Where I believe that Stewart is a more charismatic actor, but that Brook's DS9 is the more superior show in terms of writing and overall execution..), and then decided to look at TNG and DS9 side-by-side. Except for the category of the most charismatic captain, DS9 was the clear-cut winner across the board in virtually all the categories!

That's when I knew...That is when I simply knew. :)