What about Emissary turned people off?

[GulBahana]

From what I've read the pilot episode had a very high rating and then it dropped off after that. What about that first episode made people not want to come back? From my experience at the time, it seemed people were connected to the TNG characters and didn't really care for the ones on DS9. I had a friend that was a TNG fan but didn't like DS9. He even said Quark was the only person on the show that he liked. What do you think?

 

[Shikarnov]

Just one man's subjective opinion: DS9 was set up as a kind of successor to TNG -- almost a continuance -- and in contrast to TNG (which was still on the air) DS9 felt very wooden and forced. I know it was a new show and the neither the actors nor the writers had found their stride, but it just lacked the same level of quality that I had become accustomed to.

 

[hux]

Emissary... and the following two seasons were pretty terrible. I avoided DS9 for years based on those early episodes but then they eventually pulled out all the stops and produced what is, almost certainly the best, most interesting show in the franchise.

 

[DonIago]

I think Trek just isn't great at pilot episodes, really.

TOS: only came into existence because of the second pilot.
TNG: nobody holds up EaF as a stellar episode...do they?
DS9: Emissary does open with a bang, and may be the strongest pilot episode, but I wouldn't argue with people who, particularly on first viewing, find the Sisko-with-the-Prophets stuff tedious and repetitive. It needed to be done, but maybe it didn't need to be done quite so much. Perhaps it actually works better as a two-parter, where people can get away from it for a bit?
VOY: Caretaker is alright, though Neelix immediately strikes a bad note with me (one that doesn't get much better throughout the run of the series). I can see Banjo Man being an annoyance as well, and the episode has some logistical issues that are problematic, though they may not be immediate considerations.
ENT: Broken Bow...well, I think I've only seen the entire episode once, so I'll leave that one for others to tackle. I don't remember it being either very good or very bad.

 

[Shikarnov]

Emissary... and the following two seasons were pretty terrible. I avoided DS9 for years based on those early episodes but then they eventually pulled out all the stops and produced what is, almost certainly the best, most interesting show in the franchise.

I concur. Whenever I re-watch DS9, I pretty much begin at The Jem'Hadar and end at Tears of the Prophets.

 

[GulBahana]

"Captive Pursuit" and "Duet" are some good first season episodes although the first season is the worst season of the 7.

 

[Crow T. Robot]

From what I've read the pilot episode had a very high rating and then it dropped off after that. What about that first episode made people not want to come back? From my experience at the time, it seemed people were connected to the TNG characters and didn't really care for the ones on DS9. I had a friend that was a TNG fan but didn't like DS9. He even said Quark was the only person on the show that he liked. What do you think?

A lot of people don't like religion in their sci-fi. Especially hokey religion that literally paints one of the character's as a living saint or Jesus figure.

I'd say that's the main reason.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

A lot of people I've talked to loved Emissary but then didn't like the following episodes.

Various quotes: "A bunch of Ferengi making a business deal, who cares?"

 

[Six of Twelve]

TNGs first season was mostly no great shakes, either.

Ad I recall from the time, some people didn't like DS9, because it didn't fit the "to boldly go" ideal; they didn't "go" but were at a stationary location. With the other shows, aboard ships, they'd solve a problem at one planet, then off they'd go to something and somewhere new. But that was part of DS9's strength: It was suited for long continuing story arcs. But I do wish they'd wrapped up the Dominion storyline and moved on to something else, instead of the last four seasons dominated by it. It was such that they could have renamed the show Star Trek: Dominion Wars.

 

[Bad Thoughts]

Sisko was not Picard. He did not represent the man of the age of materialism who could shunt everything aside for his career. He had a son and real emotions. It was too challenging for many TNG fans.

 

[stardream]

DS9 is a bit of an enigma. I remember the complaints. This isn't real 'Star Trek'. They are stuck on a station...bleah. Too dark. I was unspoiled when the show first aired but I do remember for some reason I thought it was going to be a Star Fleet station with a Star Fleet crew. When I tuned in it was all about Bajorians and weird wormhole aliens. It made me think of Babylon 5 which I liked but didn't know if I wanted to sit through something like that again. I did stay because something about Sisko made me want to keep watching and it was a contrast to Voyager (which I also liked). Voyager despite their circumstance was 'light' in contrast to DS9's darker tones. In some ways, I'm glad Voyager didn't go dark as some fans wanted. To have two 'dark' shows on at the same time would have been a bit too much for me personally.

Then the serialization/franchise fatigue or something caused falling ratings.

Now years later it's touted as one of the best if not the best series of them all. I like TNG and Voyager but have always thought DS9 was the better written of the shows. I suppose it was just ahead of its time.

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

The first season was pretty poor (compared to the rest of DS9), as the writers were still trying to figure out what stories to tell as they were still stuck in the planet/alien-of-the-week that had been the norm for so long, something that just doesn't work with a station. When they started to realise this and focus more on recurring plots and characters then they found what the shows strengths were.

I suspect that some fans were turned off from DS9 because it was a little rougher around the edges compared to the idyllic TNG, with a darker tone and grittier feel to the whole premise. Though for me that was what I loved about it, it made the whole show and characters far more interesting and diverse.

 

[Paradise City]

It began with a cool high stakes battle with Picard decked out as locutus harking back to an era of great TNG. But the pace of the show was very different and people were wrongfooted a bit by that.

 

[Shikarnov]

The first season was pretty poor (compared to the rest of DS9), as the writers were still trying to figure out what stories to tell as they were still stuck in the planet/alien-of-the-week that had been the norm for so long, something that just doesn't work with a station. When they started to realise this and focus more on recurring plots and characters then they found what the shows strengths were.

The alien-of-the-week thing was definitely a huge problem on its own. But it was magnified by the fact that the DS9 crew were meeting traders and smugglers and pirates and treating them like honored dignitaries -- which seemed more than a little ridiculous.

I suspect that some fans were turned off from DS9 because it was a little rougher around the edges compared to the idyllic TNG, with a darker tone and grittier feel to the whole premise. Though for me that was what I loved about it, it made the whole show and characters far more interesting and diverse.

I didn't feel that it was darker or rougher around the edges until the end of the second season onward. Part of the problem was that it was supposed to be darker, but wasn't. Okay, they had some dark problems like the Circle and the Maquis, and Kira certainly had a massive chip on her shoulder, and the station was a wreck and looked like it. But the characters were all pretty bright and shiny. Even Quark, in his heart, was a good guy.

 

[Nebusj]

TNGs first season was mostly no great shakes, either.

``Tu quoque'' is really not a powerful reason to like a show that's putting up dull episodes.

Ad I recall from the time, some people didn't like DS9, because it didn't fit the "to boldly go" ideal; they didn't "go" but were at a stationary location.

That was something people didn't like, and it was a dumb, superficial reason, must be said. What's it matter if the guest star who needs to be safely brought to a peace conference is from a different planet or merely a different province from last week's guest star who needs to be safely brought to a peace conference?

The deeper problem is that the first season gave us episodes like ... can Doctor Chief Medical Officer overcome this weird space disease before disaster strikes? Can Science and Engineering Cast overcome this weird space effect before disaster strikes? Can the character who's like the second person named in the opening credits prove he's not actually guilty of MURDER!!!? ... it's not good when the first season feels like a bunch of filler.

 

[Zonker]

"Its not... linear..."

While the concept of teaching aliens outside of time, how time works is a cool one, I felt the episode was extremely tedious and repetitive. It gave me second thoughts about watching the show at all, I'm glad I stuck it through thought because now it's my favorite show of all time. Honestly if they could edit it to trim some time off of Sisko and the Prophets repeating each other and possibly gotten rid of some of the flashbacks I feel like it would be a much better episode.

 

[tomalak301]

Emissary came across as a really slow episode, especially when you have Sisko basically in a white light for the last half of it. There wasn't much to really sell the series. Still, I loved it and looked forward to DS9 every week simply because it was new Star Trek.

 

[MacLeod]

Emissary... and the following two seasons were pretty terrible. I avoided DS9 for years based on those early episodes but then they eventually pulled out all the stops and produced what is, almost certainly the best, most interesting show in the franchise.

Overall S1-2 of DSN were better than S1-2 of TNG.

 

[Lynx]

"Emissary" didn't turn me off but for some time, until I'd learned to know the characters better, DS9 looked as TNG:s "minor team" if I should mention it in sports terms. The only characters who did make an impression on me the first time I watched DS9 was Quark and Kira.

But I must state thatTNG:s "Farpoint" was not worse or better. My reaction on that episode was something like "is that all there is?". After watching a few TOS episodes on re-run and the movies as well, I had expected more of TNG.

However, both TNG and DS9 did grow on me during continued watching during which I started to like the characters.

Voyager is the exception. I really liked and still like "Caretaker" and I took an immediate liking to all the character during that episode. The only one I did have problems with in the beginning was The Doctor but it only took two episodes before he became a favorite as well.

I became dissapointed with Voyager later on, in season 4 but that has nothing to do with the topic here.

In retrospect I think that TNG was the best made show and it did become better and better during the seasons, Voyager still remains a personal favorite because of the strong first three seasons and despite later misgivings and DS9 is a bit different but very good and entertaining.

But I must point out that I haven't watched all of DS9 yet, due to stupid policy of the station in my area in Europe which only did air the first season and due to later problems with defect DVD:s sold by Paramount in Europe.
More of that here:
http://www.trekbbs.com/threads/what-the-is-wrong-with-my-ds9-dvd-s.262327/

I still have 4 DS9 seasons to watch when I've sorted out the mess with the DVD:s.

I didn't watch TOS in order when I started to watch it but I guess that "The Man Trap" would have made me like it. I like that episode!

As for ENT, I never got into that series. After watching TNG, DS9 and Voyager in a row of years topped with TOS episodes as well, ENT felt like having a glass of lukewarm water as dessert after a magnificent dinner.

 

[M'rk son of Mogh]

TNG fans obviously checked it out. So maybe having Sisko hate the TNG hero Picard for the majority of the episode (with his very angry Bajoran second in command helping to set a certain tone) wasn't the best idea right out of the gate?

Just spitballing here, I watched the whole show as it aired, but I know that was kind of off-putting to me at first. Kira especially. But she thankfully became quite awesome.