I'm probably going to kick myself, but

[JustKate]

...I have what is probably a dumb question with a really obvious answer, only...I can't figure out what it is! So it's apparently not quite obvious enough.

I just, finally, got the first two seasons of DS9 on DVD, yay, and I watched the first disk last night. My question is, what do those mysterious (and not always sequential) numbers mean beside the episodes? I'm not talking about the stardates - I'm talking about the three-digit numbers that precede each episode in the index. I don't have the set in front of me, but on the first disk, the numbers go like this:
721 Emissary (stardate whatever)
404 Past Prologue (stardate unknown)
403 Man Alone (stardate whatever)

They apparently don't have anything to do with the original air dates. I thought perhaps they were production numbers? But if that's the case, why did "Man Alone" (#403) air after "Past Prologue" (#404)? Does the number have something to do with the order in which they were produced? If so, why is Emissary the only one with a 700-number?

 

[Elias Vaughn]

Memory Alpha says that those three digit numbers are the last three of the production numbers.

Emissary - 40511-721
Past Prologue - 40511-404
A Man Alone - 40511-403

 

[Shazam!]

I want to know why my complete DS9 collection has a big 4 on the front of the box and why one of the discs has 4 episodes of Enterprise on it by mistake.

 

[JustKate]

That's a better question than mine, actually.

 

[Daneel]

Yeah, they're production numbers. They started in the 400s to distinguish DS9 from TNG (which started in the 100s to distinguish it from the original series).

As for why "Emissary" is listed as 721, that's the number that all the two-hour modern Trek pilots were assigned. I'm not sure why exactly, but apparently it had something to do with studio accounting.

 

[Navaros]

I want to know why my complete DS9 collection has a big 4 on the front of the box and why one of the discs has 4 episodes of Enterprise on it by mistake.

Sounds to me like you bought an illegal bootleg version rather than the version that was made by Paramount.

 

[Shazam!]

Meh. That's kinda what I figured but it was cheap as chips and plays (and looks) perfectly fine. Plus, the money I paid with is helping to fund terrorism which is always a bonus.

 

[Smiley]

To answer the other question, "A Man Alone" was put into production before "Past Prologue," but the intent was to air "Past Prologue" first because it was a bigger story with TNG guest stars. That's why the production numbers look out of sequence.

 

[JustKate]

Thanks - thanks to everybody, actually.