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What Is It? Deep Space Nine is a former Cardassian space station orbiting the planet Bajor which is now administered jointly by the United Federation of Planets and the Bajoran government. It was once used as a base of operations for the Cardassians when they occupied Bajoran space, but now it is a place of interstellar commerce and diplomacy and it is also used to monitor a stable wormhole nearby that provides a gateway to the Gamma quadrant. Captain Benjamin Sisko heads up a crew dedicated to keeping the peace and exploring this new section of the galaxy while also dealing with the tensions between the many races present on the station.

Aired: Syndication, 1993-99, 7 Seasons Totaling 176 Episodes

Starring: Avery Brooks, René Auberjonois, Terry Farrell, Cirroc Lofton, Colm Meaney, Armin Shimerman

Created By: Rick Berman, Michael Piller

Is It Must-Watch Sci Fi? Yes. This is one of the top Star Trek series (some would argue it is the best), and while it has its fair share of dispensable episodes just like Star Trek: The Next Generation, when DS9 is hitting on all cylinders it delivers top-notch sci fi televison.

The Skinny: By 1993, Star Trek: The Next Generation was drawing top viewership in syndication but it was also heading toward the end of its seven-year run. Paramount wanted to keep the franchise alive on television and devised a spin-off that offered a twist on the Trek formula. Instead of a starship traveling through space, this series was based on a space station which would host any of a number of visitors, human and alien. And not to throw space exploration completely away, the wormhole that the station monitored offered a whole new section of the galaxy to explore. Another change to the Trek formula was the darker, grittier feel of the show. No longer emphasizing the brighter future presented by TOS and TNG, DS9 had more in the way of inter-personal conflict and edgier stories.

When the show started off, it was somewhat hit-and-miss, much like TNG in its first season. But it slowly started to find its footing and its voice and by the final three seasons it was in top form with the Dominion War story arc (TNG also saw notable improvement in its later seasons). The cast was essential to the show with Avery Brooks leading up the show as Captain Benjamin Sisko and Colm Meaney jumping onboard from TNG. The show also gave us two of the strongest female leads of a Trek franchise with Nana Visitor as the Bajoran Kira Nerys and Terry Farrel as the symbiot Jadzia Dax. René Auberjonois provided the Spock-like alien presence as the Changling Odo and Michael Dorn proved a welcome addition to the crew when he brought his Worf character over from TNG starting in the fourth season.

Where DS9 ranks among the other Star Trek shows is a source of intense debate, but trying to compare them all is a very subjective undertaking. Each of the shows offers their part to the legacy of the franchise and DS9 definitely accomplished much while adding more than its fair share of essential episodes. At 176 eps total, it is a daunting task to tackle the show if you have never seen it. But there are plenty of best-of lists on the internet that provide a good starting point and you can work your way further into the show from there.

Cancelled Too Soon? No. As with Star Trek: The Next Generation, DS9 ran for seven seasons and had the chance to end on a high note after a successful run.

Should It Be Rebooted? No. This series is very much about the characters and the actors that played them. Trying a reboot with new actors (even if they tried to justify it as part of the alternate “Kelvin” timeline from the new movies) would do a serious injustice to the original. A DS9 movie or a Star Trek Picard-like revival might work, but only if they could get the principals involved with it.

Interesting Fact: In 1993, another space station-based show arrived on television, and it may not have been a coincidence that the two debuted around the same time. J. Michael Straczynski had pitched Babylon 5 to Paramount back in 1989, but they passed on the project. When Warner Bros picked up B5, Paramount announced plans for Deep Space Nine shortly after. Straczynski believed that studio execs used the series bible and scripts he provided to them as a starting point for the Trek spin-off series. However, no legal action was ever filed against Paramount because Straczynski felt that would hurt both shows.

Where Can You Watch It? Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is widely available across multiple streaming services as are the other Trek shows. It is available on Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu as well as the CBS All Access streaming service. The entire series has been released on DVD as well, though curiously it has not received the Blu ray treatment yet.

Read More About the Show: Wikipedia | IMDb.com

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