Why is DS9 so disliked....

[ChooseSlack]

Well, maybe not disliked, but a lot of my friends I've run into online and in person who are fans of Trek, have either considered DS9 anywhere from 'so-so' to 'I really hated it'.
When pressed, I've noticed they really don't give much of an explanation. I try to explain that the show really, really got much much better after Worf jumped on board, but they still don't listen, or whatever.

Me personally, I put DS9 a very, very close second. I love every single character on it, and Garak is easily my favorite 'side' character in any of the series (yes, even more then Q). As opposed to Next Gen, where I could just never get into Geordi, or Deanna's character. I've also never been much of a fan of Voyager, as the only character I cared for was removed after the 2nd season, and I can't stand Janeway. I won't even get started on Enterprise. The concept alone for that show is just abysmal considering all the possibilites they could've done (a show about Starfleet Academy, a show focusing on a Kligon ship, or Cardassian ship for that matter).

Meh, I'm babbling now. )

Anyone else notice this, or have an explanation.

 

[Orac Zen]

It isn't disliked on this board. Far from it, in fact.

I'm not a fan of DS9 for a number of reasons, most of which aren't easily explained. I hope to give the show another go at some stage, though, so my impressions may (or may not) change.

Oh - welcome to TBBS.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

In my experience, there are two opinions about DS9:

1. Love it

2. Never heard of it

...and a few misguided souls might go for Door #3.

 

[Phily B]

I'm honestly not sure what the problem is, it's one of my favourite TV shows of all time and the only Trek which I think is still amazing after all this time, a few select episodes of TNG are too of course. But I do remember hating DS9, I'd seen one or two episodes and thought it was boring.

 

[scottydog]

DS9 does tend to polarize people. I'm not sure why. First I hated it, then I gave it a legitimate chance, and now I'm head over heels in love with it. What can I say, I converted

 

[Michael]

Maybe because everyone considers it so "dark" ...

I never understood it either. Yeah, maybe it's darker than TNG (not that hard, when you consider the lightness of some of it), but it's not THAT dark.

 

[McCoy]

Maybe because to casual fans it is the least Trek-like. Both conceptually (station-bound and often morally ambiguous) and in execution (arc-based rather than episodic).

When it was in its first run I was lukewarm towards it. But last year I bought the whole series on DVD (great sale!) and while re-watching it, it became my favourite modern Trek.

 

[Elwin Ransom]

Idunno. I think it's the best Trek.

 

[Nebusj]

ChooseSlack said:
I try to explain that the show really, really got much much better after Worf jumped on board, but they still don't listen, or whatever.

Well, what's to explain? Deep Space Nine got a fair start, but it had the bad fortune to put a fairly weak foot forward. The first season, with a few shining points, presented too many episodes that played like the stuff already wearing thin on Next Generation, and people concluded the show wasn't worth the investment in time or energy. Maybe it happened a bit later -- the show's ratings did drop every season -- but nevertheless, people who quit watching came to the conclusion the show wasn't good enough to be worth their interest.

Of course they're skeptical that the show is really Better Than You Thought: how often have you turned back to a show you disliked because a fan told you it was much better than you think? (Remember that a fan is, almost by definition, a person who loves something so much he will only reluctantly own up to its faults, at least in front of a non-fan.)

So, in trying to argue that the show is better than they thought, you're trying to argue against their own experience, and from a position in which your authority isn't compelling.

 

[Jack Bauer]

A friend of mine had several reasons why he disliked DS9:

1. The show doesn't go anywhere. It's on a space station. Boring.

2. He didn't like arcs.

3. He found the actresses on the show to be unatractive. (He was on the shallow side at times..ok a lot of the time)

Needless to say I disagreed with him. Unfortunately he passed away a few years back and I can't debate him over it now.

 

[Wicca who Wonta]

DS9 is so well made and thought through that no other trek can be compared to it. The people who doesn't like it might not have given it a chance before discarding it.

 

[anti-matter]

I didn't really care for it at first but it became my favorite Trek. I used to hear gripes about ... 'there's no ship' so I guess a story about a space station turned many away.

 

[Navaros]

Nebusj said:

Of course they're skeptical that the show is really Better Than You Thought: how often have you turned back to a show you disliked because a fan told you it was much better than you think? (Remember that a fan is, almost by definition, a person who loves something so much he will only reluctantly own up to its faults, at least in front of a non-fan.)

So, in trying to argue that the show is better than they thought, you're trying to argue against their own experience, and from a position in which your authority isn't compelling.

I've found that the majority of the time, DS9 fans are quite open to owning up to DS9's faults. :thumbsup:

DS9 is a show that did indeed get much better with each subsequent season, faults and all. Those who tuned out after Season 1 and never watched DS9 again do indeed have no idea what they are missing. Same can be said of any season, because every single season of DS9 has several great episodes in it. Made great because they are built upon developed themes from several previous seasons. Therefore the OP's point about this issue is right on the money.

"Their own experience" in that case may be vastly different from the experience received from DS9 as a whole series; which someone who tuned out prematurely would not be able to appreciate. For example, the show evolving from being Bajoran-centric to instead being (the much better) Dominion-centric. I'm a huge DS9 fan and even I hate Bajorans. I don't blame other people who hate Bajorans from tuning out due to DS9 being Bajoran-centic (there are many others who do not like Bajorans). However, they might be interested to know that in later seasons it is possible to mostly ignore the more annoying elements of DS9, like Bajorans, and instead focus only on and enjoy the good things in those seasons which they never watched.

Back to the OP's question, and I've said this before and I'll say it again: main reason in my view is because DS9 is too sophisticated for average joe viewer. Generally speaking, on TV "stupid" sells. "Smart", "complex", or "sophisticated" does not.

 

[Photon]

DS9 tends to be liked by more mature viewers. If you're looking for the alien/anamoly/space sickness/space god/ of-the-week-you're at the wrong place.
In 1993, I tried to watch. I enjoyed Emissary (little freaky w/the prophets and wormhole) but the remainder of S1 was dull. I quit somewhere in the middle of S2.

Picked back up in 2003 when Spike was running reruns. The War and the Defiant made take pause and I began watching and appreciated all the seasons.
Your friends might want to cherry pick certain epis. I'd start w/the Jem Hadar then The Search and so on. Leave out the politick Bajor and the dufus shows about luv on a space station.
Defiant
Die is Cast arc
Tbe Advesary

Then Way of the Warrior thru S4. That'll get em.

 

[CommanderRaytas]

DS9 aired when I was nine years old (going on ten). At first, I didn't like it because it had taken all my energy accepting the existence of TNG (I was only a kid).

So when I was living in Detroit 2003-2004, I watched the re-runs and just fell in love. Now it's definitely my favourite show, and I don't just mean Star Trek.

But people tend to hate ENT much more than DS9. Most people who don't like it are indifferent to it.

 

[Ezri]

In my take with DS9 is this. The reason people do not like the show, because the show is so complex from one season to the next. If you watch the show and see season 7 and see the war going on. You will think …. Oh dear a war going on. When it flips back to season 1, you see the recovery of the system and the debate what to do with a post occupation of the planet.
With the post 9/11 world and being the post 9/11 America DS9 hits home. If DS9 was going into season 1 in 2007 the show would not have been accepted. The world has changed.

 

[Wicca who Wonta]

I love how they delt with the war in episodes like 'Nor the Battle to the Strong' and 'The Siege of AR-558'. That kind of writing was what made DS9 so great!

 

[Squiggy]

Personally, I wasn't into it much during it's first run. I was all about TNG, and then Voyager came on (with so much potential wasted).

Then DS9 was out there. In syndication. No ship, sorta dirty. No marketing.

Meh.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

ChooseSlack said:
Well, maybe not disliked, but a lot of my friends I've run into online and in person who are fans of Trek, have either considered DS9 anywhere from 'so-so' to 'I really hated it'.
When pressed, I've noticed they really don't give much of an explanation.

I thought it was derivative and tedious. It was rather like what people later criticized "Enterprise" for being: a series that the producers thought represented a departure from past "Star Trek" but which was stodgy and backward when compared to ambitious network dramas. In the process of unsuccessfully trying to be sophisticated, it sacrificed enough of what made "Star Trek" fun to watch that it was very easy for me to lose interest in it.

I liked the Ferengi, though - I'd make a point to tune in if I found out that Quark was featured in an episode. Aside from those, the only episode that stands out as excellent in my memory is "Far Beyond The Stars."

 

[Ezri]

What I like about DS9, is when they lost anyone in battle they had feelings of the lose. It was not like in the days of Kirk and company when Bones said "He is dead Jim" Think about it, what did Kirk say or do when he lost a red shirt. Nothing much, like ok big deal lost a red shirt. Ever see a wake for a lose of a red shirt? NOPE, I never did. With DS9 they had wakes and talk with nice words about the lose of a crewmember. That is why I like the show.