Why did people tune out?

[Anna Yolei]

I just wonder if the production team would have found more success by toning that down a little in the FIRST episode.

I realy don't think so. I actually didn't mind Sisko's angus all that much at all, especially not in the first episode, where we're supposed to be getting to know his character and what made him tick. And the death of his wife and the manner in which she died would make for a huge chip on the shoulder.

 

[Jack Bauer]

A friend of mine (who sadly died a few years ago) was someone who I thought was representative of most casual tv viewers (and he admited to being one in his weekly Voyager/ENT reviews) was someone who tuned out of DS9. One thing he didn't like was the fact that it was set on a space station and went nowhere. He found that boring. Plus he didn't care about Bajoran politics. His biggest problem was it was too serialized for his tastes. He much prefered standalone episodic tv. I could only imagine what he'd say aboutLost. Also he thought it was too serious in tone.

 

[shatastrophic]

i enjoyed all seasons except 7, 1-6 seemed like a great build up that could keep going, each season surpassed the previous one and this was happening on a show that had some tough critics in the beginning. It took while to find it's flavor but when it did it was great. Now i know some of you think the first 2 seasons were kinda boring, but trying to find one's momentum as a show and keep it small for a while and still make good trek was a task. It had to be small for awhile, there was a general arc from the beginning meaning that these characters would eventually be big. The premis in the beginning was that they were on the outskirts of the federation in a not so glamours rickity old alien station. Then placing them in front of a wormhole caused the station to be an important place for exploration, commerce. Still far off enough that although important now, only scientists, the grand nagus or the ocassional thug would go. Sometimes we would get the occasional vistor from the other side. Then with the invasion and unification of the dominion and cardassia it became as sisko put it " the most important piece of realistate in the alpha quadrant." To watch the station and the characters' roles evolve because of this constant changing environment was great. All the way up to the end of 6, the S7 came it seemed they knew they were at 7 years and were supposed to quit, which they were, but instead of thinking of something good they wasted time with some episodes and poorly wrapped up plotlines with others, that is why i think viewers tuned out, if the surge of dropping viewers happed before S7 then I don't know why.

 

[indranee]

yes, the "tuning out" happened way before S7. good post, though. I liked your summary.

 

[Maniarek]

I thought the characters on DS9 were on average as interesting as those on TNG (with the exception of Quark though). Brooks’ and Visitor’s respective characters at times displayed the kind of insight we saw with Picard & Data on TNG.

I wish the DS9 writers took the Ferengis more seriously, I thought they were kind of wasted. Some of Quark’s best scenes/moments was when he was portrayed in a more serious role….but he was downright funny at times too.

I thought the first two seasons were decent, it just missed that extra something that could’ve spiced things up a bit you know? More action, and a little less of the political intrigue. Perhaps the Defiant should’ve been introduced to the series earlier.

The Dominion war arc was brilliant….one of the best story arcs in the history of Trek. DS9 would not have been the same without it.

 

[Maniarek]

You are absolutely right the change came too fast, hot on the heels of TNG’s success and the galactic power politics theme of the show, but that’s why it’s one of the most underrated sci-fi shows of all time. Even if one doesn’t take a liking to the show, you’ve got to appreciate its radical redesign of the Star Trek universe.

 

[Good Will Riker]

A friend of mine told me that the reason why he tuned out of watching DS9 during its 1st season was due to "Sisko" because he was just a boring, talking head. An impression that did not change when he tried getting back into the show during season 2. So he quit, and never bothered watching another single episode, and he had been a TNG fan since the early-90's.

DS9 fans have a lot of patience when it comes to this show. A show that literally took 3 years for its lead character to be dynamic, well-developed, and one of the primary reasons to watch...no other show could have gotten away with that. No other show out there, except for the 4 STAR TREK shows under the control of Richard Berman.

 

[Smiley]

I tuned out because it was usually sometime on the weekend, and I was busy doing other things. Since it got serialized later in its run, I had a hard time figuring out what the current circumstances were for the crew.

What kept my interest were some strong episodes like "In Purgatory's Shadow," "By Inferno's Light," "Call to Arms," "Far Beyond the Stars," "In the Pale Moonlight," and "What You Leave Behind." The DS9 Companion renewed my interest, and I became a big fan after watching the DVDs.

 

[Trekwatcher]

For me, I never took a liking to Avery Brooks as Sisko. Something about his acting style did not work for me. The only scenes of him I really liked were when he interacted with Jake. Plus, I never got excited about the whole Bajoran religion thing. I always felt it took the wind out of the sails. I watched every DS9 episode faithfully, but at times I felt watching DS9 was an effort. Bashir, Worf, Garak, and Ezri kept me coming back when I had long lost interest in the prophets, etc.

 

[kirk40]

I put weak early episodes because thats exactly why I stopped watching it for a while. But then when i got back into about 5th or 6th season I was hanging on every episode.

 

[kalysto]

I still try to get into DS9, I love the idea of long arcs, and the Dominion War seemed interesting, but I was just put off early on, or in fact anytime the Bajoran story took centre stage. Boooooring.

Sisko was never quite my scene, but I came off TNG and found mostly no-one measured up to my favourite characters from there (Picard and Worf). The odd episode does make it into my list though of great Trek episodes, so one day, I'm sure I'll give it a chance again, and just fast-forward through the boring bits.

 

[Holytomato]

I agree that people wanted Trek II.

They got it- Voyager.

They got it again- Enterprise.

They got it again- Nemesis.

Finally after all this, the DS9 spirit has made a come back: DS9 Relaunch, SCE & Relaunch, Vanguard, IKS Gorkon & Relaunch, Titan, Prime Directive, and TOS-R

Let's not forgot how good Babylon 5 was.

Long live DS9!

 

[Trubinator]

It had a lot of weak episodes and the main cast members were never really all that interesting. Also, B5 was on at the time, so a lot of people probably preferred that as an arc show.

 

[Opus]

Modern Trek hit it's peak with DS9's premier. The end of TNG and its move to the big screen plus the anticipation of an entirely new series was an incredible build-up. Even TNG's 7th season took a hit in the ratings. Modern Trek in general began a slow decline from that point forward. The general population got tired of it all.