Did you enjoy DS9 the first time you watched?

[Navaros]

No, I didn't enjoy DS9 the first time I watched it. That is because I watched the pilot episode when it first aired and it was really bad then... and it is still really bad now IMO (Dukat is the only good/interesting/entertaining thing about it). After that, I stopped watching.

Years later, I happened to stumble on DS9 by chance when flipping channels, and at first I didn't even realize it was DS9 that I was watching, because the later episodes are (thankfully!) nothing like the earlier ones.

So for me, not enjoying DS9 the first time I watched it points to problems inherent within the early episodes of the show itself, not with me "not getting it" or whatnot.

 

[lurok]

Voyager was the first Trek series I religiously watched. TNG largely bored me, and DS9 pilot didn't grip me. I only watched it in entirety a few years ago, and glad I did because I now think it's the best-written/evolved of all the series.

 

[arch101]

I watched Emissary with skepticism but loved it. DS9 was the last Trek series I watched from beginning to end first-run. (Grew tired of Voy half way through and quit Ent in the middle of season two- but later watched seasons 3 and 4 and wish I had stuck with it)
I was constantly on The Great Link looking for spoilers about upcoming DS9 eps and was pretty sorry to see it go. The last 3 seasons, during the war, were must-see and must-not-miss TV.

 

[Terok Nor]

It seems Emissary put a lot of people off DS9. I think I was lucky to miss that episode and the entire first season with that in mind. I really liked The Homecoming which was the first episode I saw. I didn't ever have any major problems with DS9. Seeing the first season after I'd seen Season 2 and some of Season 3 probably made it easier for me to enjoy since I was already familiar with the characters and the world. Being a TNG fanboy I jumped for joy at all the crossovers in Season 1.

 

[Sybok Was Wrong]

I Followed DS9, up to its premiere, through "Entertainment Weekly", "Star Trek Communicator" & "TV Guide".

I Really enjoyed it more than TNG, from "Emissary", until early in the 3rd season...

Then something happened. Little things, like jerking around the audience, with bits like Odo confessing his love to Kira, who's stuck in rock, only for it not to really be Kira---the predictable Trek clichés, and writing was getting tired and formulaic. I burned out on Trek. "Voyager" seemed "tired" too, right out of the gate.

That was 1995. In the past 2 years I have bought the Complete sets of "DS9" & "Voyager"--because of a hunger for new Trek. I found "DS9" the most consistently well-written show to date, but truly dislike many of the cast & still find the made-up Bajoran religious nonsense a goofy waste of time. In viewing it now, it's very obvious why DS9 didn't attract a big following or is remembered fondly today. I much prefer "Babylon 5", no contest-- the little show that could. "Voyager" benefited in my viewing by watching singularily and not coming off the heels of the TNG/DS9 assembly line. It stands as a fun, intelligent well produced show with a likeable cast and maybe my favorite of the Berman Trek. TNG's "highs" were "higher", and it had Patrick Stewart, but "Voyager" is my favorite TNG spinoff.

 

[Greg Cox]

I'm actually surprised to hear that people didn't like "Emissary." Some of the stuff with Wormhole Prophets dragged a little back, but I remember thinking that it was a much better crafted and less awkwardly-constructed pilot than "Encounter at Farpoint." It did a fairly good job of introducing the characters and situation over the course of a brisk, well-paced story, which left you wanting to see what happened next.

Which is what you want a pilot to do.

 

[DonIago]

I liked the prologue of "Emissary" and didn't mind the rest of the episode, but didn't quite find it compelling...i.e. I figured the show could go either way from there, and I would argue that in some ways it did.

Moments of greatness such as "Duet" notwithstanding, I think I truly fell in love with the show at "Crossover" and "The Jem'hadar".

 

[ihno]

No, I didn't like it at first - for on about the first 40 episodes. Then I fell in love with it. Same with TNG but I liked VOY and hated ETP right from the start.

I watched the early DS9 only out of loyalty.

And why? Well, the first episodes seemed to be some kind of rehearsals to me. I also didn't like Miles O'Brien from TNG (boring familiy stuff and unforgivable war-themes-singer) and that HE was the one who went from one show to the other, didn't help much. Only with DS9 I began to like good old Miles even though I still find it a little unplausible that an technical expert like O'Brien (DS9) was just standing in the transporterroom all the time (TNG).

 

[JirinPanthosa]

I wasn't a fan of DS9 when it first aired because at the time I was young and felt it was reversing TNG principles.

I didn't like it until it was airing on Spike.

 

[hux]

As soon as I heard the premise, I decided not to bother as I didn't think a non-exploring space station would interest me a great deal.

Few years later, I gave it a chance and was not impressed (partly due to my not wanting to like it based on the premise and partly because the first few seasons just weren't very good).

Gave it another chance a few years later and watched it all the way through. Found it much more enjoyable and recognised that I'd been to quick to judge. Especially improves after season four.

Watched it again a few years after that and realised that it is by far the most accomplished series in the franchise. A rich, diverse world of complex characters that follows myriad threads and explores a more mature and intelligent look at the Star Trek universe. The first show that really gave us a deeper investigation of the Trek universe and played with ideas that were far less formulaic than the other shows.

The jewel in the Trek crown.

But Voyager is still my favourite.

 

[dub]

As soon as I heard the premise, I decided not to bother as I didn't think a non-exploring space station would interest me a great deal.

Few years later, I gave it a chance and was not impressed (partly due to my not wanting to like it based on the premise and partly because the first few seasons just weren't very good).

Gave it another chance a few years later and watched it all the way through. Found it much more enjoyable and recognised that I'd been to quick to judge. Especially improves after season four.

Watched it again a few years after that and realised that it is by far the most accomplished series in the franchise. A rich, diverse world of complex characters that follows myriad threads and explores a more mature and intelligent look at the Star Trek universe. The first show that really gave us a deeper investigation of the Trek universe and played with ideas that were far less formulaic than the other shows.

The jewel in the Trek crown.

But Voyager is still my favourite.

^I was with you until that last line.

 

[Seven of Five]

I think my first episodes were the Circle trilogy, but I had no idea what was going on with the series. I kept watching odd episodes with my friend but I think it took me until Necessary Evil, Crossover, Blood Oath and then The Jem'Hadar to be hooked.

 

[Keith1701]

For me, I'd been enjoying TNG so it was inevitable that I'd tune in to check it out.

I quickly got hooked and it's probably my favourite of the series.

Same with me.....but I have always supported anything and everything that is STAR TREK!!!

 

[Marc Voorhees]

I never watched it from the beginning, however I started coming in and out around the end of season 5 when I was a 10 year old. I loved the large fleets, I loved the action scenes and I hated any episode that didn't contain that. As I have gotten older, DS9 has grown into my favorite show by far. The edgy writing kept me on the edge of my seat and I love how they address certain topics that other star treks simply avoided.

To answer the second question, at the end of A Call to Arms, when the Defiant joins the fleet, I ws absolutely hooked for the next season.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Yes, it's my favorite spin off.

I was hooked from the start.

 

[Paradise City]

DS9 was good at the beginning. They introduced the Dominion and for some reason it got a bit turgid in the middle and then the Dominion arc took off and the series signed off on an excellent note. Avery Brooks is a class act. In fact, the DS9 cast had no weak link, IMO. Rene A. was particular superb as Odo.

I liked the way at the beginning Bajoran politics was described in good detail and realistically too . There was no sense it was mickey-mouse local stuff. The Bajoran episode projected a genuine sense of urgency and they give an epic quality to them. It takes a bit of vision to start a new series like that.

The Maquis angle I had predicted when they where introduced first was going be contrived. However Eddington turned out to be a great addition and I enjoyed the Maquis. More of Hudson was needed perhaps but one can't have everything I suppose.

 

[mswood]

Watched it from the get go, and loved the pilot, i then think it had a rather weak/ boring first season, but with the last two episodes of the season Duet and I think even more so with In the Hands of the Prophets, cemented me as to what the show could really achieve.

Duet is a great episode of Trek, but its doesn't have broad ramifications for the show, its just a great character piece for Kira.

In the Hands of the prophets is almost as good, but it really for the first time brought religion to the forefront of the show not as a personal belief but as a political force (which had been very briefly touched upon in the Emissary). This episode gave us Winn, gave as the Circle trilogy and and pushed several episodes through out the first two years primarily, but also with elements spanning the length of the series.

 

[Trek Survivor]

Yes, absolutely loved it. Here in the UK, it came out on VHS before any TV broadcast - June 1993, and I rented "Emissary"... just brilliant. My brother and I were just amazed at how good it was.

I think the series is actually over-rated now - but those memories of when I first watched it remind me of what a great series it was.

 

[Keith1701]

Season one was a bit slow, except "Duet". From season two on it became better. Season three had a bad German dubbing (I should rewatch it in the original then).....

It took me a few episodes to really get into the show as well.

 

[Seven of Five]

I'm a bit glad I missed season one the first time round. I'm not sure I would have carried on watching. Since I started with season two, I think it wasn't until season four ended that the BBC started rerunning from the start. I was quite shocked at how boring some of them were. I think Emissary, Progress, Duet and In The Hands of the Prophets are excellent, but it's a rough ride otherwise. I think Odo and Quark really had a lot of the best dialogue early on too, which were often highlights in lackluster stories.