I wonder, why does DS9 have the ”comedy” episodes like 'Ferengi Love Songs' and 'The Magnificent Ferengi'? Does someone really like them? I'm on my rewatch of DS9's later seasons and I just skip those episodes, they have nothing to do with anything. All that money and time could have been used for something interesting about the, I don't know, the WAR that is going on... Yes, for example TNG had its own silly episodes, for example when Lwaxana came around, but TNG didn't have an ongoing storyline that needed fast continuation. In DS9's case, viewers had to wait one week for a new episode and then another week for an episode that would actually focus on the main story. When there were two of these ”comedy” episodes in a row, it's close to a month after a new episode comes along with the main story. These days it doesn't make much difference when you have access to all episodes anytime, but instead of 'Who Mourns For Morn?' and 'Profit and Lace', wouldn't it be much more interesting to see stories about the situation with the war than Quark in drag?
Not all the comedy eps work, but I love some of them. "Little Green Men" and "House of Quark" are two of my favorite DS9 episodes. (In general, I think the Ferengi are funniest when they're clashing with another culture. When it's just Ferengi yelling at each other, that can get tiresome.) Comedy has been part of STAR TREK since the original series. The occasional comedy ep makes a nice change of pace and keeps things from getting too formulaic. (And let's note that the whale movie was far and away the most popular of the original TREK movies, doing the best at the box office.)
I enjoy the comedy episodes, and they do a great job creating a tableau of life on the station. Part of the intention of the series was to get the focus on people who were less obviously heroic, more normal, to see how they worked in the same environment as typical Star Trek characters. My favorites: House of Quark Family Business Little Green Men Bar Association Looking for Par'Mach Trials and Tribble-ations The Ascent In the Cards You Are Cordially Invited Magnificent Ferengi
I'm doing a rewatch right now. I find that these lighter episodes make the war much more real. Life is happening during this horrific war. To ignore that would be to minimize what they are fighting for, thereby diminishing the importance of the fight.
I prefer bits of humor mixed in more naturally, like Discovery seems to be doing so far, than whole break-for-comedy episodes like DS9 did. The exception being "Trials and Tribble-ations", but I didn't really consider that a "comedy" episode. To me it was a "fan service" episode, and I usually love those as long as there aren't too many of them.
This. Also, let's not forget that in a lot of ways, DS9 was the darkest series of the franchise during that era, so to help balance that, these episodes were made. And it works.
I do. "The Magnificent Ferengi" and "Who Mourns for Morn" are two of my favorite episodes of DS9, and they're a big part of why season 6 is my favorite (along with episodes like "Rocks and Shoals", "In the Pale Moonlight" and "His Way"). One of the big criticisms of DS9 I remember from way back when was the lack of exploration, due to the static nature of the location. Many DS9 proponents, including myself, argued that DS9 explored the human condition, which is what Star Trek was always really about at its best. Humor is an important part of the human condition, and we often find moments of humor in the darkest parts of our lives. I think if we had not had those episodes and the focus had been solely on the war, DS9 would have been a far less interesting series. I think the war storyline unfortunately overshadows the full breadth of stories the show had to offer, when the series is discussed in retrospect. For example, the ongoing Dominion plotline has little relevance to episodes like "The Visitor" or "Far Beyond the Stars", two of the best episodes of DS9. I'm glad they didn't pigeon-hole themselves into the idea that the show could only follow one storyline. And with 26 episodes a year, there was plenty of time to explore a lot of different avenues. The fact that they did is what makes the show so exceptional, IMO.
I really liked a lot of the comedy episodes. I really hated a lot of them too, but there were some gems in there. My favourites were: Bar Association, You Are Cordially Invited..., The Magnificent Ferengi and Badda-Bing, Badda-Bang.
Some of the comedy episodes are terrible (profit and lace), but I really like The Magnificient Ferengi. It's fun. The House of Quark, too.
Generally, I tend to like the "fun" episodes ("House of Quark," "In the Cards," "Badda-Bing Badda-Bang," etc.) and dislike the "funny" episodes ("Body Parts," "Ferengi Love Songs," "Profit and Lace," etc.). It's not because I wanted more war stories or object to comedy per se. Like others have said, I appreciated the variety in the series. I just was never personally amused by the things that were supposed to be funny in Generation era Star Trek, Deep Space Nine included. The Grand Nagus, Q, especially Lwaxana. I dislike all these ostensibly funny characters. To some degree, just chalk it up to everyone's different, personal sense of humor. I don't tend to laugh at wacky, exaggerated characters and slapstick antics. I prefer verbal wit. But I think another problem, at least for me, is the lack of consequence in the Deep Space Nine comedy episodes (and the Next Generation comedy episodes, as well). To a degree, I sympathize with the original poster. Unlike that poster, I wouldn't want more of the stories to have been about the war, but the problem with the comedy episodes for me is that they're not about much of anything at all. By contrast, the comedic installments of the original series and the original-cast films mix humor and situations with real stakes for the characters that are really felt by the audience. The Voyage Home may be a fun outing, but it's also about saving the world, and the characters face peril to do so.
How good some of these funny characters are depends on a great deal. Q was great in TNG and awful in VOY. Lwaxana was great in DS9 and terrible in TNG.
"Trials and Tribble-ations" was a fantastic episode. Loved the way they were able to blend the two series and keep the humor. Also, the model work in that episode was a dream!
The main thing that the quality of the funny characters depends on is personal sense of humor. I couldn't stand Q on The Next Generation. On Voyager, he was sometimes bearable. And the only Lwaxana episode I ever enjoyed is a Next Generation episode ("Half a Life").
House of Quark Our Man Bashir Little Green Men Trials and Tribbleations Any Q story I generally don't care for the more outlandish comedic episodes and am also in the camp of "let the humor occur naturally and not be aimed at the 4th wall", but those from that list did a lot for me and I don't recall much 4th wall breaking from them.
I consider 'In the Cards' to be a comedy episode. I love that episode so much, it's generally my go to if I'm feeling down.
Without the comedy episodes DS9 would have felt like a stick in the mud. "The Magnificent Ferengi" is just a hoot for me.