DS9's growing popularity

[Temis the Vorta]

DS9 doesn't have pop culture awareness and I don't see that changing too much in the future.

However, because space opera can't survive on broadcast anymore, the next series will have to be on cable or straming only services like Netflix, where the old episodic format for drama is completely passe. Even DS9s mixed serialized/episodic format is questionable. The days of episodic Star Trek may very well be over for good.

Ditto for tone. These days, something like Falling Skies is the most wholesome you get for cable drama (other than maybe those quirky cop shows on USA). That tone is pretty comparable to DS9, so the next series will be no lighter than that and perhaps much darker/sexier/more violent, depending on where it ends up.

I don't know about growing popularity but I have found that it is easier to turn non Trek fans onto this series than any other I have tried.

That's not surprising given the way TV has been trending. Everyone I know watches nothing but cable dramas now, since broadcast is so sanitized and boring. DS9 is the only Star Trek series that looks even like the more vanilla type of cable drama.

 

[BillJ]

Deep Space Nine is on nowhere here in the States and every time it pops up, it is quickly shunted to late night before being pulled back off the air.

It did well in the ratings in its' original run, but like most serialized dramas it has no legs in the post-first run markets.

 

[MacLeod]

^Maybe, Maybe not. If it is aired less frequently and at less social times it'll never do well during re-runs.

 

[BillJ]

^Maybe, Maybe not. If it is aired less frequently and at less social times it'll never do well during re-runs.

Most serialized dramas are pushed off to the wee hours here in syndication.

 

[MacLeod]

Which is why they don't do well, and because they don't do well. Stations are less likely to air them at a more favourable time.

 

[wissaboo]

with word of mouth on the internet and dvrs in every home I don't know how much difference it makes when anything airs anymore.

 

[BillJ]

Which is why they don't do well, and because they don't do well. Stations are less likely to air them at a more favourable time.

They don't do well because people on this side of the pond usually prefer something they can jump in and out of as their schedules dictate. It's the reason sitcoms, reality TV and game shows do well in those early evening slots.

 

[BillJ]

with word of mouth on the internet and dvrs in every home I don't know how much difference it makes when anything airs anymore.

Sure it matters. Time slot drives the amount of money a station can charge for commercial time.

 

[flemm]

DS9 and B5 weren't even blips on the pop culture radar.

That's true, I think. For something like DS9, it's not so much that it influenced anything in a general way (probably in certain specific cases, when people working on it moved on to new projects), but rather that the writers and producers could sense which way the wind was blowing and were willing to try different things.

 

[Diogenes5]

To be fair at all the people who are making statments about ratings; while it is extremely hard for serialized shows to make money in syndication, they proved to be extremely profitable when DVD's came out.

JMS always talks about how Babylon 5 made several hundred million dollars for WB (Pretty damned good considering they spent little to make the show). I could never find sales stats for the Trek DVD's but I'm sure they made in that ballpark too as they were all released right around the height of DVD's popularity and were all way more popular than Babylon 5 in terms of live ratings.

Serialized shows continue to do well relative to their more popular episodic cousins when it comes to DVD sales. For example, CSI dominates top 10 rankings for network TV but it has middling DVD sales. Serialized Fair like "Lost" did very well on DVD.

Also, we have seen some megahits come out with very serialized plots. Lost as I already mentioned, Heroes its first few seasons, and a few others. These were all top 10 shows at one point. Cable ratings have a lot of dramas that are extremely serialized and successful; Justified, Mad Men, Sons of Anarchy, Breaking Bad.

So while yes, tv is dominated by reality tv and procedurals, there have been way more successful serialized shows in the last decade than there were in say the 80's and 90's, and DS9 (along with B5) help set the path. I would say that DS9 set the path even more (and I am a fan of both) only because JMS basically wrote all of B5 by himself (and hasn't done much tv since) whereas most of the writing staff of DS9 has been very influential: Ira Behr produced the 4400 and is currently working on Alphas. Ron Moore did Battlestar Galactica. A lot of the other writers are on successful shows as well.

So for the few people that know what DS9 is, there is a newfound appreciation for its character and plot development arc over several seasons. I wish it were enough to make a movie for the show but alas that will never happen. Hopefully, it will be enough to allow for a blu-ray remastering.


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[F. King Daniel]

Supoosedly Babylon 5 cost as much to make an entire season as Voyager spent per episode. So I imagine they have a higher profit margin on DVDs compared to Trek.

Although I'd guess Trek shifts a LOT more DVDs than B5 ever did.

 

[MacLeod]

B5 maybe cost half as much as DSN per episode.

 

[ichab]

I'm one of those Trek fans who discovered DS9 through the DVDs. Never saw it when it was on and after I went thru the TNG DVDs decided to give Season 1 a shot. Have been a fan ever since. TOS, TNG and DS9 are my favorite Star Treks. Sometimes I get into a marathon mood and watch all three in order. Might decide to do that again at some point because it's been awhile.

 

[Kegg]

I think Trekkies are the only ones who even remember DS9 at this point.

Well, Trekkies and other geeks. In the context of geek TV culture the series still is a blip on the radar (particularly, as noted, for its serial elements) if not pop culture generally.

 

[dahj]

My question is, had DS9 come on the air a decade or more later than it did, do you think it would have achieved a higher degree of success?

Looking at recent television trends, had they pitched it today it would have never been made at all...

 

[Spock/Uhura Fan]

Which is why they don't do well, and because they don't do well. Stations are less likely to air them at a more favourable time.

They don't do well because people on this side of the pond usually prefer something they can jump in and out of as their schedules dictate. It's the reason sitcoms, reality TV and game shows do well in those early evening slots.

With things like DVR and season passes on iTunes, I don't think that's true anymore, but it probably used to be. Shows that are very serialized, like Game of Thrones and Mad Men are quite popular.

I like letting episodes pile up, and then sitting down and watching them when I have the time. And with iTunes and online streaming, you can watch new episodes of some shows anytime on your laptop. It's great for lunch breaks.

 

[Spock/Uhura Fan]

My question is, had DS9 come on the air a decade or more later than it did, do you think it would have achieved a higher degree of success?

Looking at recent television trends, had they pitched it today it would have never been made at all...

I only agree with this in the case of network television and because it was a 7 season series with 26 episodes for every season but the first. The concept, however, would be worth pursuing today by some cable networks, I think. I'd go for HBO or AMC, which shouldn't be surprising.

 

[TenLubak]

Star Trek Deep Space Nine used to come every Wednesday at 8 on WNUV TV 54 where your vote counts!

So it was popular when it was on here or else they wouldn't have left it at such a grand time. Later on however, it was moved to Friday night at 9 in the last 2 seasons i believe and therefore, was not something I watched anymore growing up because i was out and about on Fridays. I mean the only people that would be home on a Friday night at 9 would be older people or dorks. So it really lost its appeal to many about this time, so i think most people, if they bothered to go back and re watch it, most likely saw the end of the series later in its run. At least thats how it went with my chums that enjoyed the program.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhCy1wGjkAI&feature=relmfu
Oh here is the promo

 

[Spock/Uhura Fan]

A person can still go out at 10pm on a Friday night. A lot of clubs don't get hopping until 11pm or later anyway. Just saying.

 

[MacLeod]

^Depends on where you live.