What did you think of the Cardassians and Bajorans when they first appeared?

[Orphalesion]

Oh boy, one of the things I dislike most about this era is the repetitive forehead ridge aliens. only thing worse is the aliens looking exactly like humans. (looking at you, Betazoids! ugh). I'll say the Cardassians at least have more intricate designs and distinct coloring than many others

the trills are another one. I enjoy the race but their design is boring. But hey, you can't let that get in the way of sexism on this supposedly enlightened series!

Yeah it appears one of the main reasons for why the Betazoid, the Bajorans, and the Trill have such lame makeup is because the show runners stressed to the makeup artists that it was absolutely necessary to keep Marina Sirtis, Michelle Forbes, and Terry Farrel "pretty".
Because who would want an interesting female alien character if they aren't sexy enough, amirite?

I still think they could have been more creative even then. Why not give Troi purple irises eyes instead of solid black ones?(or purple hair if they forced her into those awful wigs anyway)
Or why not give one of them a cool, inhuman skin colour? I think Andromeda (as awful as it turned out thanks to Sorbo's ego) and Farscape showed that you can do a lot with unnatural coloured wigs and skin paint to make someone look more alien while keeping them "pretty"

As for my first impressions...sadly I have none. When I was watching Star Trek as a kid the first three Beer an Trek shows were already in reruns or possibly, in case of Voyager towards the end of their first run. And they were often shown together in a block so to me most aliens were already an established part of the world rather than "new". I didn t see the first Bajoran or Cardassian episodes until long after I had already seen much of DS9. And for a while I mistakenly called the Bajorans "Romulan" (no idea how I managed those confused) until I saw some of the Romulans episodes of TNG.

 

[MikHutch]

I am happy with the Cardassians playing a big and important role in DS9.
And I enjoyed them there, especially I am a big Kira fan.
But I don't see the need that they are so present in other Trek series.

They aren't really that present in other series though. If anything NuTrek goes too far into TOS nostalgia and mostly ignores the 80s/90s races. I don't need the Cardassians, Bajorans, Changelings, etc., to be main characters again but I'd like if they occassionally showed up more.

Yeah it appears one of the main reasons for why the Betazoid, the Bajorans, and the Trill have such lame makeup is because the show runners stressed to the makeup artists that it was absolutely necessary to keep Marina Sirtis, Michelle Forbes, and Terry Farrel "pretty".
Because who would want an interesting female alien character if they aren't sexy enough, amirite?

I still think they could have been more creative even then. Why not give Troi purple irises eyes instead of solid black ones?(or purple hair if they forced her into those awful wigs anyway)
Or why not give one of them a cool, inhuman skin colour? I think Andromeda (as awful as it turned out thanks to Sorbo's ego) and Farscape showed that you can do a lot with unnatural coloured wigs and skin paint to make someone look more alien while keeping them "pretty"

As for my first impressions...sadly I have none. When I was watching Star Trek as a kid the first three Beer an Trek shows were already in reruns or possibly, in case of Voyager towards the end of their first run. And they were often shown together in a block so to me most aliens were already an established part of the world rather than "new". I didn t see the first Bajoran or Cardassian episodes until long after I had already seen much of DS9. And for a while I mistakenly called the Bajorans "Romulan" (no idea how I managed those confused) until I saw some of the Romulans episodes of TNG.

Ikr. The Betazoids annoy me so much. They have a cool, underused ability (I like telepahty and think it has lots of potential) and it's wasted on Troi being useless, her mom being annoying and the others being meh, save for Lon Suder. I even like the idea of an empathic counselor (not on the bridge though) and think it's even more relevant today (Michael Burnham could've used one). the Betazoids either should've been either just to the Humans what the Aenar are to the Andorians, or actually a different color and design.

and honestly I don't want the female alien characters to be sexy. that annoys me too, and it's straight up sexist. I'd prefer they actually look like aliens. If any species are in need of Discovery-style redos, it's not the Klingons or the Andorians, but the Betazoids, the Trills & the Bajorans. Instead we got the Kwejians, who're really just Betazoid redos but not as annoying

i'm in the same boat as you: I watched DS9 after Ent ended, so I saw their first appearances many years after they showed up. it was before I knew how major they were to Star Trek despite not being as well known by casuals & pop culture

 

[Dukhat]

Yeah it appears one of the main reasons for why the Betazoid, the Bajorans, and the Trill have such lame makeup is because the show runners stressed to the makeup artists that it was absolutely necessary to keep Marina Sirtis, Michelle Forbes, and Terry Farrel "pretty".

Actually, they were going to use the original TNG Trill bumpy-head prosthetic for Dax, but they couldn't get it to look good without constantly shrinking it to the point where it was barely noticeable. So they then went with the TNG Kriosian spots despite it not being from the same alien.

 

[Maj. Dick]

The Bajorans were whatever for me because I was so distracted by how cool Ro was. The cardassian episode The Wounded is always been an all time favorite for me. I will say, I thought the Cardassians looked cool, but their ships still look weird to me.

 

[MikHutch]

Actually, they were going to use the original TNG Trill bumpy-head prosthetic for Dax, but they couldn't get it to look good without constantly shrinking it to the point where it was barely noticeable. So they then went with the TNG Kriosian spots despite it not being from the same alien.

I guess the Trill design was always going to be 'meh' in that case

The Bajorans were whatever for me because I was so distracted by how cool Ro was. The cardassian episode The Wounded is always been an all time favorite for me. I will say, I thought the Cardassians looked cool, but their ships still look weird to me.

Ro did bring some edge to the edgeless TNG crew.

I do like Cardassian ships despite their oddness. Bajoran ships are kinda cool too but don't get as much recognition

 

[Yuri Nikolayev]

I always loved the Cardassians. I guess I like the Bajorans okay, too. I like how DS9 handled the Bajoran nose as opposed to the TNG take.

 

[Orphalesion]

Actually, they were going to use the original TNG Trill bumpy-head prosthetic for Dax, but they couldn't get it to look good without constantly shrinking it to the point where it was barely noticeable. So they then went with the TNG Kriosian spots despite it not being from the same alien.

And they were shrinking it/making it look more delicate in the first palce why....? That's right because Terry Farrel was going to be the, as Marina Sirtis put it in regards to her own role, the "va-va-va-voom girl" of DS9 and had to be kept "pretty" as a result.

Ikr. The Betazoids annoy me so much. They have a cool, underused ability (I like telepahty and think it has lots of potential) and it's wasted on Troi being useless, her mom being annoying and the others being meh, save for Lon Suder. I even like the idea of an empathic counselor (not on the bridge though) and think it's even more relevant today (Michael Burnham could've used one). the Betazoids either should've been either just to the Humans what the Aenar are to the Andorians, or actually a different color and design.

Right? Plus TOS already established that there were telepathic humans like Miranda Jones, so it would have been easy to just say Troi was another such human ESPer.

 

[tharpdevenport]

Romulans appear to be more adversarial in terms of underhanded and behind-the-scenes work, based on what little I remember. They only seem to go in attack when against real enemy races. Take Star Trek VI and what they tried there, or ST: TNG's "The Mind's Eye" where they tried to start another war with an assassination made to look like they were not part of.

And honestly, as much as people here are in agreeance with the bumpy-head aliens, I have a similar complaint in another aspect of the shows: the bad guys are always at war and firing weapons and ships. Romulans as they tried to portray them to some degree on ST: TNG as cunning and working under cover of cloak, is way more interesting a change of pace.

 

[at Quark's]

I am happy with the Cardassians playing a big and important role in DS9.
And I enjoyed them there, especially I am a big Kira fan.
But I don't see the need that they are so present in other Trek series.

I don't know about new Trek but I don't think it's out of proportion in TNG and VOY. In TNG we only meet them in a few episodes. The Maquis becoming part of the VOY crew was one of the core concepts of voyager, and I think it's likely that the Cardassians would send a spy to infiltrate.

 

[MikHutch]

I always loved the Cardassians. I guess I like the Bajorans okay, too. I like how DS9 handled the Bajoran nose as opposed to the TNG take.

I think the TNG one had an extra ridge, right?

And they were shrinking it/making it look more delicate in the first palce why....? That's right because Terry Farrel was going to be the, as Marina Sirtis put it in regards to her own role, the "va-va-va-voom girl" of DS9 and had to be kept "pretty" as a result.

Right? Plus TOS already established that there were telepathic humans like Miranda Jones, so it would have been easy to just say Troi was another such human ESPer.

Ugh, Berman era sexism strikes again!

And I agree: Troi should've just been a human ESPer. Nothing is alien about her except her weird accent even her fully Betazoid mother didn't have

Romulans appear to be more adversarial in terms of underhanded and behind-the-scenes work, based on what little I remember. They only seem to go in attack when against real enemy races. Take Star Trek VI and what they tried there, or ST: TNG's "The Mind's Eye" where they tried to start another war with an assassination made to look like they were not part of.

And honestly, as much as people here are in agreeance with the bumpy-head aliens, I have a similar complaint in another aspect of the shows: the bad guys are always at war and firing weapons and ships. Romulans as they tried to portray them to some degree on ST: TNG as cunning and working under cover of cloak, is way more interesting a change of pace.

I definitely agree except the Romulans rarely actually achieve anything. The sneaky cloak (pun intended) and dagger offense is at least, if not more, entertaining than just explosions and phaser combat. Tbh, that's why the Changelings are interesting earlier on: they use manipulation and subterfuge to pit different species against each. Romulans have that a bit but the best cloaking ever achieved was by the Klingons in ST:VI. That was invisibility at its scariest. Romulans are cool and their ships have cool designs (even if they're oversized imo) but it ultimately amounts to little

I don't know about new Trek but I don't think it's out of proportion in TNG and VOY. In TNG we only meet them in a few episodes. The Maquis becoming part of the VOY crew was one of the core concepts of voyager, and I think it's likely that the Cardassians would send a spy to infiltrate.

Cardassians and Bajorans are barely in new Trek outside of President Rillak

 

[tharpdevenport]

Actually, she had black eyes. All her race have black eyes. Yeah, I didn't notice either until I read it here a few short years ago and sure enough...

 

[publiusr]

I guess the Trill design was always going to be 'meh' in that case



Ro did bring some edge to the edgeless TNG crew.

I do like Cardassian ships despite their oddness. Bajoran ships are kinda cool too but don't get as much recognition

The Cardassian ships prove a teardrop shape can be menacing

 

[MikHutch]

Actually, she had black eyes. All her race have black eyes. Yeah, I didn't notice either until I read it here a few short years ago and sure enough...

You're right. That's pretty alien/s

All kidding aside, I didn't notice it for years either

The Cardassian ships prove a teardrop shape can be menacing

I hadn't considered that