Avery Brooks and his character Captain Benjamin Sisko have always been in my mind the most direct successor to William Shatner and his character of Captain James T. Kirk. Both actors are trained stage performers who used exaggerated emotional responses to bring life to sometimes bland and standard writing concepts. Their characters are both bold, confident and unapologetic men who's expectations of other officers is only superceeded by the expectations the characters place on themselves as leaders. Although I like Picard as a captain, the styles of Sisko and Kirk are just more exciting, relatable and down to earth. The funny thing is that both actors get the same criticism of overacting, hammyness, egoism and general cringe in their Trek roles. It really comes down to a lot of quiet, introspective scifi fans having a general issue with classical male confidence and feel the need to run it down in favor of calculating, cerebral logic in every situation. It's a classic clash of archetypes within the fandom.
As Tarantino once said, there are "Beatles" people and there are "Elvis" people. Both can like each artist but at the end of the day a clear preference can always be established, as the stylistic differences are too stark to be honestly held in balance. In Trek this exists as the classic Kirk/Picard comparison and the same dichotomy exists with Sisko/Picard, best shown in the opening scene of the pilot on the Enterprise D conference room. There are two primary types of Star Trek fans, Kirk/Sisko types and Picard/Archer types, each can appreciate the other version of leadership but will always pick a side at the end of the day.
