DS9 on blu ray?

[Dick_Valentine]

Picard never punched Q.

(Which I was confused about when they made such a big deal of at the time. Even Q reacts with shock. Well Q you did set up a boxing match and then hit sisko 5 or so times first, what did you expect?)

 

[STEPhon IT]

If one reads the DS9 format documents, one gets the picture of it being a series much more broadly defined than the one we got. What we saw in the bible were the basics: Starfleet officers on a remote outpost, the Wormhole providing the traditional aliens-of-the-week, Bajor and Cardassia as a backdrop to provide further story fodder. Season 1 is defined by this lack of cohesion, seeming to throw elements of all of the above at the wall to see what sticks and what doesn't. By the end of the season, and certainly into Season 2, I'd say that they had a very clear idea of where they wanted Deep Space Nine to be. The three part storyline beginning with "The Homecoming" basically set out where they intended to go from here.

From memory alpha:

At the end of season one, Michael Piller directed the writing staff to concentrate on the show's uniqueness for season two and to let go of the links to the universe of The Next Generation. As such, for the season's first episode, the writers chose to do a show which couldn't be done on TNG, a show which was completely unique to the world of DS9. (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion)

It was a very conscious "line in the sand".

And what the series COULD HAVE been if Ira and the gang stuck with that direction. Starting with the fourth season I saw more and more same ol same ol aliens from TNG were around. The Klingons were all over the show and I was never a fan of the bloated WAR ARC starting with the them and later with the Dominion.

Mining the wormhole was a huge abandonment for me because I knew at that point I would never see a Gamma Quadrant story again. It would just be about the never ending War and more death and violence and stupid actions. I was appalled at the end of the war; all Odo had to do to stop the killing and the war was simply link with the Mother changling. The writers forgot that they did this many times before during their version of DS9, and begs the question why Odo couldn't simply do that before before all of the needless death through out the quadrant???

 

[Grant]

Good old blu-rays--not coming because DS9 turned into a stupid war show.

 

[STEPhon IT]

LOL! When DS9 does come to blu ray I'll buy the first three seasons.

 

[Eric Cheung]

...all Odo had to do to stop the killing and the war was simply link with the Mother changling. The writers forgot that they did this many times before during their version of DS9, and begs the question why Odo couldn't simply do that before before all of the needless death through out the quadrant???

It's not that simple.

First, it wasn't just that he had to join the Great Link, he had to join it while transmitting the cure for the Changeling disease. They didn't have that cure until the third to last episode, and didn't know that the disease even existed until the war was half over.

Secondly, even if he had to do it of his own volition in order for it to end the war. If he was forced to do so, the Federation wouldn't, nor couldn't, end the war because it would be a step away from coexistence and a step toward being conquered by the Dominion.

During the Dominion occupation of the station, he was being coerced to link with the Female Changeling, seduced by the desire to return to his people. It was part of the Dominion's long game, even if it was motivated by a genuine desire to bring him back home.

Yes, the wormhole was mined, meaning we saw fewer exploration stories. But presumably after the war, relations were normalized and exploration could continue in the Gamma Quadrant.

 

[STEPhon IT]

Sigh, if only there was an 8th season.

 

[Wolfspaw]

I respect your viewpoint about how the series might have been different but having watched DS9 since episode 1 was first broadcast and having watched the series being discussed over the years, Seasons 4-7 of DS9 are I think the favorite of a large majority of people.

I have always thought that seasons 2 and 3 of the series are pretty good while season 1 was like most shows early on was still finding it's footing. But there is no way no how that TNG would have or even could have done some of the best episodes from the later seasons of DS9 let alone the war arc.

The wormhole was good but sending the Defiant through there every week to meet a new world would not have been that different from TNG. I think Voyager's premise kind of allowed for that "meet new aliens every week". The Klingons were great characters for the show!

Anyway I wish DS9 could live on in HD.

 

[ChristopherPike]

I so wanted this series on Blu ray too. TNG's remastering and extras being very impressive.

 

[DragonQ]

The wormhole was good but sending the Defiant through there every week to meet a new world would not have been that different from TNG. I think Voyager's premise kind of allowed for that "meet new aliens every week". The Klingons were great characters for the show!

Anyway I wish DS9 could live on in HD.

Yeah it seems to me that each show had a different focus, with Voyager introducing lots of new aliens and dealing with the "alone" arc and DS9 dealing with the whole "all out war" thing, which we had never seen with TOS, TNG, or any of the films.

 

[Lance]

Picard never punched Q.

(Which I was confused about when they made such a big deal of at the time. Even Q reacts with shock. Well Q you did set up a boxing match and then hit sisko 5 or so times first, what did you expect?)

It's clear from the context of the scene that he was goading Sisko. He expected The Sisko to punch him ("I'm not Picard." "No... you're easier to provoke!" ).

 

[Salinga]

Seasons 4-7 of DS9 are I think the favorite of a large majority of people.

Maybe only of those who express their opinion publically on the internets. The ratings speak a different language: The viewers left the show during the war seasons (and these are the numbers that count):

I agree: DS9 became less attractive for me because of the war stories. If I want to watch war, I switch on the news, not Star Trek.

 

[Skywalker]

That doesn't tell me that the ratings fell off a cliff once the war became more prominent. It looks like a natural ratings decline that happens to most TV shows.

 

[STEPhon IT]

I respect your viewpoint about how the series might have been different but having watched DS9 since episode 1 was first broadcast and having watched the series being discussed over the years, Seasons 4-7 of DS9 are I think the favorite of a large majority of people.

I have always thought that seasons 2 and 3 of the series are pretty good while season 1 was like most shows early on was still finding it's footing. But there is no way no how that TNG would have or even could have done some of the best episodes from the later seasons of DS9 let alone the war arc.

The wormhole was good but sending the Defiant through there every week to meet a new world would not have been that different from TNG. I think Voyager's premise kind of allowed for that "meet new aliens every week". The Klingons were great characters for the show!

Anyway I wish DS9 could live on in HD.

Have we all forgotten the TITLE of the Series, and it's original premise? It's called STAR TREK for a reason not STAR WARS. It's the reason why I had trouble with it and I'm sure there are some who believe this as well. Understanding a culture and learning to work out differences is what Star Trek is all about. Just imagine these writers handling the situation with Talos IV??? They would kill the race or plague them. If the writers decide to do something different then go write for Battlestar Galactica, LOL, at least I don't have to bother to tune in.

The Commanding officer has to have a moral code for the viewer, it is necessary in the embodiment of Star Trek, to break it - would only destroy the viewers' trust and would steer it to cult status. Without it's abiding principles that version of the series will become null and void. Look at the later seasons of Voyager and then Star Trek Nemesis. DS9 series finale had Worf doing Ambassador stuff, but in Nemesis it's NOT even acknowledged. What you leave behind INDEED.

 

[STEPhon IT]

That doesn't tell me that the ratings fell off a cliff once the war became more prominent. It looks like a natural ratings decline that happens to most TV shows.

Well it wasn't attracting me to watch and I'm sure there are a lot of people who agreed that the show lost it's identity and became the anti-Trek show. All you have to do is remember the premise. By season 4 it tossed it in the trash and the disciplines were all gone. The Defiant started cloaking in and out of Federation space forgetting doing such a cowardice act is an ACT OF WAR.

Breaking all of the rules and stories that were developed in the past, but lacked any consequences. This is bad writing to the core of Star Trek, and shitting on the source material. Writers doing whatever they want because the producers are ignorant doesn't make it good, it's desperately trying to call attention to oneself. As it proved it didn't boost ratings but made it worse.

 

[The Transformed Man]

Seasons 4-7 of DS9 are I think the favorite of a large majority of people.

Maybe only of those who express their opinion publically on the internets. The ratings speak a different language: The viewers left the show during the war seasons (and these are the numbers that count):

I agree: DS9 became less attractive for me because of the war stories. If I want to watch war, I switch on the news, not Star Trek.

The fall in DS9's ratings had nothing to do with the shift in the series. Star Trek had seen a steady decline in viewership since Season 6 of TNG. Season 6 dropped around 10-15% of its viewers from Season 5. There was a brief recovery in Season 7 as the series finale approached, but the drop in viewership had already begun and simply continued through DS9, then Voyager, and ultimately Enterprise.

The general public simply had more choices on TV by then, and were moving on to other properties. In syndication shows like Hercules and Xena became more attractive to viewers.

Yancy

 

[USS KG5]

The fall in DS9's ratings had nothing to do with the shift in the series. Star Trek had seen a steady decline in viewership since Season 6 of TNG. Season 6 dropped around 10-15% of its viewers from Season 5. There was a brief recovery in Season 7 as the series finale approached, but the drop in viewership had already begun and simply continued through DS9, then Voyager, and ultimately Enterprise.

The general public simply had more choices on TV by then, and were moving on to other properties. In syndication shows like Hercules and Xena became more attractive to viewers.

Yancy

All true of course - in the UK 7 million viewers for any show is now considered a massive success, before serious multi-channel TV it would be a massive failure for a prime time show.

I think it is excessively harsh to blame any of the Trek shows for the axe. When they stuck to formula it upset the fans, and when they tried things out of formula (like the Dominion War or the Xindi arc) it upset fans.

Trek was just too expensive to exist as a fringe show or an also ran, you coudln't justify the cost except as "premium" content. These days with cheap CGI more common, you could potentially kick it off again, but I'd still expect it to be out of the price range of Netflix or Amazon, so it would be on a cable or major network, and potentially wouldn't make a season in the current climate.

Back on topic, I suspect that if trek were a living breathing TV property at this point a DS9 remaster would be much more plausible, as it is probably only the people posting in this thread would punt for it!

 

[DragonQ]

That doesn't tell me that the ratings fell off a cliff once the war became more prominent. It looks like a natural ratings decline that happens to most TV shows.

Agreed.

That doesn't tell me that the ratings fell off a cliff once the war became more prominent. It looks like a natural ratings decline that happens to most TV shows.

Well it wasn't attracting me to watch and I'm sure there are a lot of people who agreed that the show lost it's identity and became the anti-Trek show. All you have to do is remember the premise. By season 4 it tossed it in the trash and the disciplines were all gone. The Defiant started cloaking in and out of Federation space forgetting doing such a cowardice act is an ACT OF WAR.

Breaking all of the rules and stories that were developed in the past, but lacked any consequences. This is bad writing to the core of Star Trek, and shitting on the source material. Writers doing whatever they want because the producers are ignorant doesn't make it good, it's desperately trying to call attention to oneself. As it proved it didn't boost ratings but made it worse.

I don't see the problem with this. It is perfectly conceivable that a war would break out within the Star Trek universe and that, with the wormhole where it is, DS9 would be vital in such a war. Do you think that, even in the enlightened Trek universe, war wouldn't be hell and that morals would be upheld no matter what?

 

[Computer Voice]

Agree with DragonQ above. It's all very well having high-sounding morals, but that doesn't necessarily make for great TV, especially after several seasons of a show. DS9 took those morals and examined them from a new angle, and put them under a "stress test". Examining those morals, and how they play out when under pressure, does make for both great TV and great Trek.

I've been lurking in this thread for a long time... was hoping for a surprise new year announcement from CBS about DS9-R...

 

[dub]

I love the source material. No battles to fight. No fists to fly. No breaking of the rules. No bad writing. No inconsistency. Yes, the source material is holy and clean. That's why I never watch Star Trek.

 

[Grant]

Maybe going forward they can eliminate the war stuff from DS9 and then it come to Blu-ray.