I do think it's fair to say that DS9 isn't any smarter than the other Treks though. It has perhaps a more interesting message and a truer view of human nature, but it's still in the category of 'smart scifi fun' just like the other Treks.
The Enterprise is the Flagship of Starfleet and one of it's main jobs is to interact with Ambassadors of other planets for diplomatic reasons. Voyager and it's crew before or after the Maquis was not a ship for diplomatic interaction. What you're seeing is the difference in crew are professionals trained in diplomatic interaction with government officials vs. one that isn't. They're stuffy cause they're taking their jobs seriously and professional. Most of Voyager's crew are now people that could barely handle being discipline in their personal lives much less professionally.
I am presently on my first watch through of VOY and I'm about to start the fifth season. Thinking back to very early episodes of TNG and early episodes of VOY i will concede VOY had better crew interactions and they were much friendlier towards one another. That might be partially do to TNG being a relaunch of a TV series cancelled 18 years ago, while VOY was launched during Trek's height of popularity with familiar production and writing staff. However mostly i think it comes from the VOY crew being acquainted with one another prior to forming the "one crew" we see at the end of Caretaker. Chakotay is BFF with B'Elanna Janeway is BFF's with Tuvok Harry and Tom became friends fast after meeting Kes had Neelix and was kind to the Doctor before he developed a personality Janeway had broken Tom out prison and was friendly enough with him that by the third episode he was volunteering to help her on things he wasn't qualified for. Tom and Chakotay had a history in the Maqui. What can we say about TNG? Picard was and old friend of the family to Beverly and Wesley. Riker and Troi used to date. Had TNG started with Data and Geordi being BFF's Worf and Riker being BFF's and willing to kill for one another Troi and Beverly being close friends like they were in later seasons Or even Picard being a closer mentor to Tasha. We could've seen something as similar to VOY in the early days of TNG. Keep in mind DS9 wasn't a well jelled crew either at the start. I could list them out but won't. Outside of that when you start to peel back the onion of each crew. You find the TNG characters to be more likable and believable.
TNG started with the entire crew needing pregnancy tests, including Data. However you want to explain the stuffiness in the pilot, no one was getting over that impromptu orgy in The Naked Now until the command staff had recycled 95 percent of the rest of the crew off ship. Of course a repeat of all that mating lust in Genesis just meant that they had to start their three card Monty shuffle with quarterly crew evaluations all over again.
Oh!! of course Voyager is better than TNG... Voyager was an original Story,exploring space,new worlds,yet it still had amazing characters like Seven of Nine and her quest to be Human,the Doctor had some of the most unorthodox and loved episodes in Trek history,Janeway,B'elana...not to mention TNG was sexist,females are like robots,at least in Voyager you see emotions in the crew,you had some good action,amazing CGI and the Borg!!! In TNG you had boring episodes,people talking and talking and talking,Holodeck drama,frigid girls,barely any action,not epic at all,spiritual beings and space monsters...the only good thing about TNG was the sexy Will Riker and Data and the fact that they introduced the Borg/Cardassians/Ferengi/Maquis etc...we thank TNG for that,it helped make VOY and DS9 awesome. I think TNG would have been a lot better if it was like the movies and movies are more like Voyager so TNG would be great if it was more like Voyager .
Except TNG broke records and made TV history. Many of Voy. stories mimic TOS. There would be no DS9 or Voy. had it not been for TNG.
And for that I am grateful. I listed that as TNG's strong point in the Gen thread, that it led to other Trek. It's very much my least favorite series though, and I started with TOS reruns a long time ago.
I think one of the stand out moments in TNG for me is, for 7 years Picard insulted Q by thinking he was better and knew more than him. In the last episode they turned the tables by finding out Q was right the whole time and Picard's knowledge and attitude is very limited.
i already said i am thankful for those things but you need to realize TNG had large amount of viewers because there was nothing competing with it on TV at that time. Voyager and Ds9 were going against each other as well many other Scifi series in 1995 and later.
Original as in: Space the Final Frontier these are the voyages of the starships Enterprise it's five year mission ...... Original as in: Space the Final Frontier these are the voyages of the starships Enterprise it's continuing mission... I could go on. And just because a show lacks action doesn't detract from it, Voyager was hardly epic the closest thing Trek ever did to epic was DSN. VOY had the potnetial to be epic if they had dared to take risks but more often or not they played it safe. Poor SFX can be overlooked for a great story, but the best SFX in the world can't make up for a lack of a great story. That being said the best thing about VOY was Robert Picardo as the EMH, and Voyager did have it's moments.
So you expect people to believe that TNG was a hit because there was nothing else on TV completing against it, not only nation wide but internationally as well? I guess cable TV doesn't exist either and only station is the Dumont Network. That's not only impossible but improbable as well. No, I know for a fact TNG had a large amount of viewers because it was a well written show.
I hung in for the first year because I wanted to see Data and Yar hook up again. Then in the second year I prayed that Pulaski would fall down another elevator shaft (LA Law.) before she hooked up with Picard. Third year, I came to my senses and realized that no one was going to hook up. Not Shelby and Riker Not leah Brhams and Geordie. Not Lefler and Wesley Not... Hey The Chief is getting married to a complete hottie! Where the hell did that come from? Good lord look at Gates dance! I laughed my ass off when Data said "Perhaps we should proceed to the final lesson" as I considered that that was what he also probably said while learning the sex with Tasha.
Damn... you're right. I forgot that from 1987-1994 there was only one TV station here in the States and folks were forced to watch TNG or nothing. Many of the shows that you complain had to compete against each other got on the air because TNG proved that adult sci-fi was a marketable commodity. And as far as I know, DS9 and Voyager never had to compete head-to-head for viewers. One aired mostly on the weekends in syndication while the other was on a network (UPN), Wednesday nights at 8pm. DS9 and Voyager simply didn't engage mainstream audiences the way TNG did. TNG didn't suffer a ratings decline while it and DS9 were on the air together.
I prefer VOY to TNG. Despite all of its flaws and missed potential I just find it more enjoyable, as a whole. With VOY, I only dislike a couple characters. With TNG, I only like a couple.
It did here in New York. DS9 and Voy. ran at the same day and time for a few years. Eventual they switched Voy. to a new night.
i dunno if anyone recalls that the first 2 seasons of DS9 had horrible rating like really bad...also i meant that TNG had no competition as nothing interesting in the Scifi department ,while against Voyager and DS9 you had stuff like Andromeda,Stargate,Farscape...etc scifi also became more common after 1995,people would see 10 headed alien and will be like we already seen that, before that Science fiction was a lot more new