I think you really hit on something when you spoke about the relevant issues. I agree with you. DS9 feels like a show that could be made today. It was a show ahead of its time in many respects, and I have to wonder if that was one of the reasons for its declining ratings. I've long felt that DS9 was the true inheritor to TOS due to its approaching to draping late 20th century issues in 24th century trappings.
I grew up watching reruns of TNG during it's first run with my older brother, so it will always be special to me. It's one of the few things we still share and and have in common. That being said, I credit DS9 with making me the Star Trek fan I am today. While I thoroughly enjoyed TNG and respect what they accomplished not only from the standpoint of a sci-fi show running in syndication, but also laying down the ground work which DS9 was built on, TNG was still just a show I watched. It wasn't until DS9 came along that I started caring about the universe in depth and trying to find things beyond what was merely shown on screen in those weekly episodes. I needed to know the details of the world and DS9 was the framework which provided the desire to begin that deeper investigation. It's a bit ironic though, because at the time DS9 began, I can remember not being interested in it at all. I can remember some of those early commercials that would air while TNG was running and just wrote it off as something I didn't care about. That went on until TNG finally ended and DS9 was in it's third season. I happened to see an episode by chance. I had been watching something else and left the TV on while I was drawing...the episode was Heart of Stone. With that one episode, I was hooked. That story between Odo and Kira pulled me all the way in. I saw Defiant and The Search in the weeks that followed and quickly realized that DS9 was not anything like TNG. Even in those season three episodes, they were doing things that were setting the show apart from TNG. I had to learn more and began a quest to find out everything I could about what I had seen in those few episodes. I think I had missed the TNG episode where Thomas Riker was shown, so I had no idea what was going on there. Who were these shapeshifters and why was this Odo guy some sort of outcast or refugee. Obviously he cared for Kira deeply and that was part of it, but there was also obviously more. And what was up with this ship, the Defiant, that had little to nothing to do with exploring, and everything to do with kicking ass. For a while, it was difficult to answer these questions because I didn't have the Internet back then. I watched as much DS9 as I could, and soon discovered that there were in fact Star Trek magazines that I had no idea had existed. That also started my interest in moving beyond weekly TV installments of the other sci-fi shows I was interested in. Sci-fi magazines catered to a variety of sci-fi shows, many of which I was already watching. I read everything I could get my hands on, from cast interviews, episode synposis I hadn't even seen yet, and even the TV Guide which used to do a pretty good job of covering Star Trek. I can remember that by the time season 4 of DS9 aired, I had a pretty good handle of what was going on. TV guide had run a special with Worf on the cover, since he was making the move from TNG and it covered some of the background I think. So unlike most of my friends, who might have had jobs, or were obsessed with bands or whatever they happened to be into, I spent the later years of my teens, obsessed with DS9, Star Trek, and sci-fi as a whole. This provided a sort of new appreciation for TNG and TOS as well. Because now, they weren't just shows and movies, they were integral parts of this larger world. The things that TNG had done, introducing the Caucasians and the Bajorans (easily my two favorite races in Trek) mattered in DS9. Without the world TNG had forged, DS9 never happens, or at the very least happens in a much different way. So while I love DS9 (of course I'm not saying it was perfect by any means) and I may at times criticize certain aspects of TNG (such as poorly developed female characters) I have nothing but respect for the TNG and the work done there. TNG is a classic in every sense of the word. Science fiction on TV, would not be what it is today, had TNG not paved the way. We all owe everyone that was a part of TNG a debt of gratitude for the work they did.
Putting it simply DS9 was a 10, TNG 8, Voyager scraped a 5 and Enterprise averaged 5 - mainly due to season 4, which was a 7. TOS was just something of its time and cannot be compared...
If DS9's a 10, then TNG is a 9.9 for me. TOS - First couple of seasons were great, the third meh. That being said, I still love the show too. Voyager - 5 Enterprise - 5 Voyager had some brilliant individual episodes, Enterprise had some really great arcs in the later seasons. Neither are anywhere near the other three shows though.
Love both shows and only would only just rank DS9 ahead of TNG... mainly because of the inconsistent first 2 seasons of TNG. Both shows just have far too many classic episodes and moments to dismiss and I thoroughly enjoy watching both sets of characters. Though I must admit, TNG has a more nostalgic feel to me since I grew up on it and ToS while DS9 was harder to see when it first aired for me. I didn't get to fully enjoy it until the DVD release. Kinda sad that it doesn't have the same childhood Sunday marathon feel that I always get when watching ToS and TNG.
First 2 series of TNG are almost unmatchable. My cat could have written and directed it better. But then the first 1 and a half series of DS9 were pretty meh. Thing is both displayed different sides of the federation. One you got the shiny new flag ship and the other you got a run of the mill outpost at the edge of federation space with everyday officers. Both were original and good. Voyager was under welming and could have been so much more. Enterprise? Well if it had started off as strong as it was in series 4 it would most likely be my favourite! But alas they didn't. I still dunno why they put the Xindi crap in? I mean if they wanted a war they had Romulans!!!!!!
I voted option 2, but it's more like I "love" TNG and like DS9 better. I'm not saying DS9 is better, and I'm not saying I'm better, I'm just saying I personally rank DS9 higher which I fully acknowledge is subjective. I have a feeling most Niners would say they feel the same.
If I get what you're saying correctly, I'm sort of similar. I think DS9 is far better TV on average. But I grew up on TNG and there's an emotional connection there that can't be duplicated.