Why are there so many references to Voyager in Streaming Trek, and so little to DS9 in comparison?

[Sci]

That's a fair point and true. But i was thinking more about character appearances. There are three characters from Voyager so far (Seven, Icheb Janeway), with the plan for a additional appearance of Tom Paris in Season 1 of Picard (that didn't happen), and not even one from DS9...

Well, I think you're over-stating the VOY characters thing just a little bit. They only brought Icheb back for a short scene in "Stardust City Rag," and that was to set up Seven's emotional arc. It's not like they spent a lot of time on him.

That leaves us with only Seven and Janeway. With Seven, it makes sense -- it gave them an opportunity to establish a new level of depth and complexity for the character, and it tied in nicely both with the Borg Artifact plot element and with the larger theme of societal decay PIC S1 was dealing with. It was also an opportunity to bring back an enormously popular character and have her interact with Picard for the first time.

As for why Janeway gets brought back but not Sisko, I think that issue is twofold: 1) DS9 ended with Sisko essentially as the space version of King Arthur going to the Isle of Avalon to return in Britain's (Bajor's) hour of greatest need; 2) Avery Brooks has made it clear he's not interested in reprising the role.

I can see why they might want to bring back Paris. He has a really interesting background premise, but VOY kind of emotionally neutered him by making him into a generic good guy Riker clone. If you're doing a story about former Voyager crew members whose lives fall apart the way Seven's did and then get involved in life in the lawless former border between the Federation and Romulan Star Empire, then Paris would be a good character to use for an arc like that.

I think a lot of other DS9 characters were also left in a state of emotional resolution that VOY didn't necessarily give to its main cast.

I wonder if it's generational? People who were kids or teens when Voyager was on make up a larger percentage of Netflix's audience?

I think that is at least part of it. One really prominent example is United States Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who has written about how Kate Mulgrew's portrayal of Capt. Janeway on VOY was a major source of inspiration for her as a child.

 

[XCV330]

I'm kind of glad DS9 isn't being mined for material too much right now. It will be. They can't help it. Even now there are writers feeling the itch, crawling up their sleeves. All that juicy unspoiled DS9 to swing their mental pickaxes at, so many gems to mar and shatter and squeeze until the DS9 juice blinds and stings their eyes like root beer from Quark's shiny tap. What about a broken down drug addicted Jake who gets murdered by jealous and self-hating Alexander after what should have been a love filled night on Risa goes all wrong while Worf spends seven episodes quietly dealing with his failings as a Klingon and a parent, deciding whether to protect his son from a vengeful Nog or do his duty, or go back to stalking Ezri? Instant new series.

 

[Richard S. Ta]

I think that's a little bit silly.

 

[StarMan]

Aside from the odd vacuous name drop like Stardust City Rag to make fans go "squee! They referenced something!", I doubt we'll see anything meaty relating to DS9 (thankfully).

 

[Deks]

Even though DS9 is the way more popular show (now) and a big part of the fandom either doesn't like Voyager nearly as much or has at least problems with aspects of it.

What makes you think DS9 was more popular than Voyager?
Some Trek fans might be more vocal about liking DS9 better, but that doesn't necessarily mean the majority of those who watch Trek prefer DS9.

From what I understand, Voyager actually had more viewers back when it was on air (compared to DS9).

To top it off, DS9 definitely wasn't my favorite Trek by FAR. It was watchable yes, but had more boring aspects than most TV series... religion hyped to the nth degree (this is what I don't like about American TV... if there's religion in it, you can be sure that even characters who are not religious will 'somehow come around' to it and manage to eschew the science for 'belief and faith' at some point)... plus the Founders... don't get me started on their 'unending' hatred for 'solids' just because they were persecuted by uneducated species who didn't tolerate differences in the past (though Trek as a whole seems to suffer from 'it happened in the past, so we'll hold a grudge for eternity' mentality on the part of the writers).

And it dumbed down the tech to a pretty low level than most other Trek (which are also responsible for doing this).

Dukat was also plain irritating most of the times. Sisko was ok, but meh as a character too (Janeway if you ask me was a stronger captain).

 

[NCC-73515]

All in all, VOY was better, but DS9 had very interesting characters and way more suspense with its war arc. VOY had more sci-fi and humor, and as a TNG superfan, it felt more like a continuation of my favorite show to me.

 

[thribs]

Kurtzman has probably only seen Voyager.

 

[fireproof78]

it felt more like a continuation of my favorite show to me.

VOY absolutely was a continuation of TNG. Mileage will vary as to the positive or negative aspects of that.

As to the OP, I always thought that Voyager was more popular due to both the streaming thing with Netflix as well as being the flagship for UPN. It had a little bit more visibility to it.

Personally, I'm hoping that a lot of the references to past Trek are being left behind, especially in DSC, but I won't hold my breath on that one.

 

[Paul755]

Voyager may have had more viewers because it had a set time and network. TNG and DS9 were syndicated so it made it more difficult to find sometimes.

 

[Christopher]

Kurtzman has probably only seen Voyager.

Not true.

https://blog.trekcore.com/2019/01/alex-kurtzman-can-call-himself-a-trekkie/

When I was doing the films, I loved the world of “Trek” — but I will admit that when I grew up, I was more of a “Star Wars” guy. I loved “Trek,” I loved “The Wrath of Khan,” I loved [the Original Series], but wasn’t the same experience for me as a kid.

[…]

[Over the last three years,] I found myself connecting [to “Trek”] more and more at a time where I saw the world changing. And for the first time, despite the experience that I had on the [Kelvin] films, I began to feel like “Star Trek” was more necessary than ever — whereas “Star Wars” was about a galaxy far far away, “Star Trek” is about the best of what we can become.

Voyager may have had more viewers because it had a set time and network. TNG and DS9 were syndicated so it made it more difficult to find sometimes.

Well, yes and no. Yes, it was on a network, but it was a fledgling network that wasn't carried in nearly as many markets as the big four. In cities that didn't have UPN affiliates, Voyager was syndicated just like TNG and DS9. So being on a network may have helped somewhat, but not as much as if it had been on a bigger, more established one.

 

[Greg Cox]

I prefer DS9, but having spoken (and listened) to lots of younger fans at conventions, I've come to better understand that Janeway was indeed an inspiration to entire generation of young girls and women. She means a lot of them.

 

[Tuskin38]

the USS Nog was a background detail that was easy to miss.

Not really, the ship was very clearly in view with the name

 

[1001001]

"He was a one-legged crazy man!"

USS Nog Dedication Plaque

 

[fireproof78]

I prefer DS9, but having spoken (and listened) to lots of younger fans at conventions, I've come to better understand that Janeway was indeed an inspiration to entire generation of young girls and women. She means a lot of them.

That's always nice to hear.

 

[Deks]

Not really, the ship was very clearly in view with the name

If you freeze the shot, then yes... if you just watch... then not necessarily.
I missed the USS Nog insignia on multiple viewings as there are a few 'distractions' in that sequence (they aren't bad... they're just... distracting).
In any case, its a homage and serves as a background ship mostly... therefore its easy to miss.

 

[Crewman6]

That's always nice to hear.

Those kids deserved a better show!

 

[Crewman6]

Voyager was syndicated just like TNG and DS9.

Ah, nope! At least not right away. I missed all of S1 of voyager because my city didn't have a UPN.

 

[Amasov]

If it's any consolation, Mike McMahon was a recent guest on the 7th Rule podcast and he said they are always thinking about how they can get the LD crew over to DS9. He said Quark's bar is the perfect place for them to visit. And you know Mariner would know Quark somehow.

 

[Christopher]

Ah, nope! At least not right away. I missed all of S1 of voyager because my city didn't have a UPN.

Ah, but that's the thing about syndication -- it's on a case-by-case basis. Voyager was offered as a syndicated show in markets that didn't have UPN, but that means it was up to individual stations to decide whether or not they wanted to carry it. It sounds like none of your local stations chose to pick it up, but lots of them did.

(And did you check the late night schedules? Some local stations didn't have room for it in prime time or daytime, so they ran it in the wee hours. I recall there being some shows that I only belatedly discovered were on in my city because I didn't routinely pay attention to what was on after midnight.)

 

[1001001]

Someone on this very board contacted me because they lost Voyager Season 7 because they lost their affiliate and no one picked it up in syndication.

I taped episodes and mailed the VHS to him.