DS9: Right show for the wrong decade?

[Shikarnov]

When Deep Space Nine first aired, I remember finding it a little dull -- at least until things started heating up with the Dominion (watching the Odyssey get trashed so quickly is one of my Top 10 "Wow" moments in Trek)...

Well, I've been re-watching the show since it appeared on Netflix, and I have to say that I find the first two seasons to be quite compelling, offering both affirmations and challenges to many of the problems we're facing today. The Bajorans and the Maquis are interesting foils of each other. The politics of the Provisional Government and religious orders are strangely contemporary.

I've found so much to enjoy in the first two seasons, and now, knowing where the show is going next, I can't help but feel a bit sad. For myself, that the future of Trek from this point on is mostly junk, and for the writing team that was forced to abandon some very thoughtful story-lines in favor of action and violence.

And now I wonder: had DS9 not aired in 1993, but instead in 2013, do you think it might have had a better reception?

 

[MacLeod]

Short answer, No.

Long answer perhaps like B5 it aired a few years too early before serialised shows became popular. i.e Lost

So it might have faired better starting say in 1996.

Let it run for 7 years by itslef before moving onto Voyager.

 

[Anwar]

There's no way Paramount would have made DS9 now, what-with Kira being referred to as a former terrorist and her helping the Cardies set up Terrorist Cells, etc.

 

[Finn]

There's no way Paramount would have made DS9 now, what-with Kira being referred to as a former terrorist and her helping the Cardies set up Terrorist Cells, etc.

This.

If DS9 was made today, it would be very different.

 

[Navaros]

If DS9 aired now then they it would be accused of stealing stories from the news, and I'm not sure if people would wanna see the news rehashed in a fictional entertainment show.

I've seen some posters on this site say that they do not like DS9 because it reminds them too much of the news.

The ironic part is that the reason that DS9 seems contemporary is because all the contemporary-seeming stuff in it was taken from real-life news anyway, just not from 90's.

I used to think that the writers were visionaries in regards to how relevant DS9 was in the 2000's, but then I learned more about history, and realized that the terrorists of today are just rehashing age-old tactics that terrorists in the past used, which is no doubt how the DS9 writers knew about those tactics. The DS9 writers didn't invent those things out of their imaginations.

I also agree with Anwar. If DS9 was written today, they wouldn't have written stories about Kira being a terrorist, or Jemmy suicide bombers or any such thing.

 

[Greylock Crescent]

DS9 had the "luxury" of exploring its complex themes without the baggage we've acquired in the 21st century (and when I say "we" I mean, in general terms, Americans). If DS9 aired now, its characters would be viewed (and probably written) through the War on Terror lens, the Liberal-Conservative Lens, just to name a few. In short, DS9 wouldn't have had such a free hand to explore multiple sides of an issue - let alone be able to acknowledge legitimacy from each of those sides. The result would have been a watered-down approach (in terms of complexity) and the action and violence would have been ratcheted up to compensate.

 

[RoJoHen]

I think DS9 was made for a specific age group. When it originally aired, I think I was too young to get a solid grasp of the ideas that it was presenting. I just rewatched it recently, myself, and I was blown away at how much I loved those early seasons.

 

[Tina Lawton]

I agree that if DS9 were in production today, it would most likely become an allegory for liberal philosophy concerning the war on terror (as on topic). There would certainly be an episode featuring some alien as Bush metaphor. As an example of this one only has to look at what Law and Order has become.

 

[Nerys Ghemor]

^
For that reason, I am so glad DS9 aired when it did. Things are just too nasty these days when shows go into topics like that; they just end up lambasting part of the potential audience until it's no fun anymore.

 

[Seven of Five]

I've always thought that the show was a bit ahead of its time. I enjoyed the show enough first time around when I was younger, but when I came to rewatch it in later years with , cynical eyes, I loved it even more.

I agree that Paramount wouldn't make the show today, with Kira openly being a former terrorist. The things she did were certainly eye-opening, and TPTB would probably be scared off with such notions. So it's definitely good that it got made when it did, even if it was a bit early.

In an ideal world, Paramount didn't make DS9 until after VOY. VOY was a bit of a nightmare, so DS9 would be Star Trek's answer to a bleaker world, and to a declining interest in the Star Trek story. It would have revitilised the franchise, and then the series after could have been an offshoot of the outcome of DS9.

I think the last paragraph only works with the caffeine rush I'm on.

 

[Sindatur]

DS9 (And Babylon 5, as well as TNG) wouldn't have survived if made today. Today's audience has no patience for "slow boil" Universe building through Season 1 (And Season 2). They were able to survive because of the Syndication model they were distributed through, which no longer exists today.

Additionally, as has been stated by several posters, the whole Terrorism angle would either be Taboo or so cliched it would make folks want to vomit.

Also, by Babylon 5 being a direct competition to Deep Space 9 (Though not in my house, in my house, they aired back to back on the station that became UPN as a Wednesday Night SciFi extravaganza ) I believe they fed off each other and both became better shows for the competition between them (Nope, I'm not venturing into who stole from who or when, just saying their competition, I believe helped both shows become what they became)

 

[Nerys Ghemor]

One thing I do think you'd see more of, if the terrorism angle were played--and this would be a good thing, in my book--would be more of a focus on the "collateral damage" done by the Bajorans. You'd have more of a look at cruelties they inflicted on other Bajorans, and on noncombatant Cardassians (and I do believe some Cardassians were indeed on Bajor against their will, such as servants like Silaran Prin, and children and spouses).

 

[Anwar]

Thing is, when DS9 proper actually DID do the "Collateral Damage" episode they still portrayed Kira as being in the right and unrepentant. I can see unrepentant but the typical Western viewer wouldn't tolerate her being in the right or other not calling her on it.

 

[Nerys Ghemor]

Yeah...there was so much wrong with that episode it's not even funny--all the way from Kira endangering the unborn child (who wasn't even hers, so she shouldn't have been the only one to have any say in whether she went!) to the fact that Silaran was a batshit crazy murderer evil Cardassian to where you didn't have to think. A modern version of DS9 would probably have had Silaran Prin be sane, not a criminal.

In modern times, I think we would also see where Bajorans tormented other Bajorans unfairly during the Occupation.

 

[Anwar]

In fact, they probably would explain the backstory a bit better:

The Cardassians annexed Bajor, they didn't conquer it. That means the legal Bajoran Government officially gave them the planet, it was totally "legal" (corruption/bribery/gun to the head dealings) which meant that the Bajoran Terrorists were primarily just folks who were always unhappy with the Cardassians being on Bajor and only later on did the common Bajorans join in.

They could even write in some of the common Bajorans blaming the rebels for making things bad enough that the Cardies were more brutal so the common Bajorans had to join the resistance, maybe even accusing them of doing this on purpose to "legitimize" their cause to the Interstellar Community for aid and recognition.

 

[Tina Lawton]

On the Babylon 5 angle as compared to DS-9. When these two shows were being aired I recall making the effort to watch a Babylon 5 episode just out of curiosity, to see what kind of show it was and all. Maybe it was just bad luck, but in the one I watched they talked. And then some other guys came in and they talked. Then they went somewhere else and talked. Then the main guy talked to a woman. Then they all got together and talked some more. Then one guy punched out another guy and then they talked.

So I wasn’t impressed.

 

[Seven of Five]

Talking isn't necessarily a bad thing.

I love Babylon 5 also, which also was a bit ahead of the game. But again, would anyone have taken a chance on Babylon 5 these days in such economic uncertainties? Again, we're lucky it wasmade when it was.

 

[ClayHefner]

If it were made today, the whole occupation thing would be more present.
the occupation would either still be going on, or we'd get extensive flashbacks of horrible things Kira and Garak and Odo were doing during the occupation, lots of torturing and bombing and mutilating & other gruesome stuff.

...and lots of shakycam and a completely serialized structure with 50% being pretentious talk-heavy filler that amounts to nothing.

 

[defiantfan]

Yeah...there was so much wrong with that episode it's not even funny--all the way from Kira endangering the unborn child (who wasn't even hers, so she shouldn't have been the only one to have any say in whether she went!)

I got mad at Kira when she did that, she acted all concerned one minute and then went in another direction the next.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

In 2013, DS9 would have to air on cable somewhere (not SyFy!) - HBO, FX, TNT - and it couldn't work as it did on UPN, not with all the corny Ferengi comedies and canned episode types (romance of the week, most of the Mirror Universe episodes).

The serialization would have to be stronger and tighter - they wouldn't be able to get away with doing an intense war episode one week and then forgetting about the war the next. Self-indulgent elements like all the Vic Fontaine Vegas stuff would have to have more of a point or be cut.

DS9 may seem groundbreaking in comparison with other Trek series, but it's still too "broadcast" for anyplace on cable except maybe TNT. It would have to be so different that it would make original DS9 look like VOY.

There's no way Paramount would have made DS9 now, what-with Kira being referred to as a former terrorist and her helping the Cardies set up Terrorist Cells, etc.

DS9 would be on cable, so that kind of moral ambiguity would be valued - a sci fi version of Homeland. Of course Paramount wouldn't be making it at all. It would CBS's baby.

Another big change: there would be lots more graphic sex. They'd probably rewrite the Trills so that Dax would have really bizarre sexual habits.

If it were made today, the whole occupation thing would be more present.
the occupation would either still be going on, or we'd get extensive flashbacks of horrible things Kira and Garak and Odo were doing during the occupation, lots of torturing and bombing and mutilating & other gruesome stuff.

...and lots of shakycam and a completely serialized structure with 50% being pretentious talk-heavy filler that amounts to nothing.

You're on the right track there.