"Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" (1993) TV series 1993-1999

Creators:

Rick Berman
Michael Piller

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

Release Date:

4 January 1993 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama | Sci-Fi

Plot:

Orbiting the liberated planet of Bajor, a Federation space station guards the opening of a stable wormhole to the far side of the Galaxy.

Plot Keywords:

Wormhole | Klingon | Emissary | Changeling | Space Station

Awards:

Won 3 Primetime Emmys. Another 9 wins & 42 nominations

Cast

Avery Brooks	...	Captain Sisko / ... (173 episodes, 1993-1999)
Rene Auberjonois	...	Odo / ... (173 episodes, 1993-1999)
Cirroc Lofton	...	Jake Sisko / ... (173 episodes, 1993-1999)
Alexander Siddig	...	Doctor Bashir / ... (173 episodes, 1993-1999)
Colm Meaney	...	Chief O'Brien / ... (173 episodes, 1993-1999)
Armin Shimerman	...	Quark / ... (173 episodes, 1993-1999)
Nana Visitor	...	Major Kira / ... (173 episodes, 1993-1999)
Terry Farrell	...	Lt. Commander Jadzia Dax / ... (148 episodes, 1993-1998)
Michael Dorn	...	Lt. Commander Worf / ... (102 episodes, 1995-1999)
Mark Allen Shepherd	...	Morn / ... (91 episodes, 1993-1999)

Also Known As:

DS9 (USA) (promotional abbreviation)
Deep Space Nine (USA) (short title)
Star Trek: DS9 (USA) (short title)

Runtime:

45 min (176 episodes)

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Klingon

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Australia:M (DVD rating - season 5) | Australia:PG (DVD rating - seasons 1, 2, 3 &4) | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Donald C. Tillman Water Reclamation Plant - 6100 Woodley Avenue, Van Nuys, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Paramount Television

Trivia:

The subplot of Kira carrying the O'Briens' baby was to explain away Nana Visitor's pregnancy.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): In various episodes throughout the show's 6th and 7th seasons, there are several mentions of "good years" for blood wine, with vintages given in Earth years. Why would the Klingons measure the vintages of blood wine in Earth years, instead of Kronos years or Stardates?

Quotes:

Damar: You don't have anything to hide, do you?
[Looks at Leeta as she walks past]
Damar: You certainly don't.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Big Bang Theory: The Lizard-Spock Expansion (#2.8)" (2008)

Prior to "Improbable Cause/The Die Is Cast," I had always compared DS9 to TNG, or DS9 to its then new sister show VOY...but no longer. :)

In your honest opinion, when do you believe that DS9 stopped simply being "at least as good as TNG..." to achieving the greatness that we all come to love and enjoy today?

Although the producers attempted it with "Past Tense, I & II" (it was more of a self-congratulatory pat on the back for the writers, but the earth didn't move, and it didn't generate the kind of buzz that "The Best of Both Worlds, I & II" produced, which they had hoped for, but simply did not happen, because oftentimes, you can't force lightning in a bottle..) for me, it happened when I saw "Improbable Cause/The Die Is Cast." At that moment, I realized that these very 2 episodes were something that I had never seen out of Star Trek before, and both episodes simply blew just about everything else out of the water! The dialogue-intense "Improbable Cause" and (at the time..) the f/x-heavy "The Die Is Cast" (Star Trek's 1st, all-out, full-blown fleet battle!!) packed a one-two punch that not even "Emissary," "The Best of Both Worlds, I & II," and "Past Tense, I & II" could beat in terms of sheer brilliance, awe, and execution. At that moment, I knew that there was no turning back for DS9. Prior to "Improbable Cause/The Die Is Cast," I had always compared DS9 to TNG, or DS9 to its then new sister show VOY...but no longer.

It feels good to know that (not coincidentally..) this occured at the exact moment Michael Piller handedover the baton to Ira Behr (the transfer of power happened between the 2 episodes..). If you want proof, just look how Behr allowed Avery Brooks to have a goatee in the following episode, the episodes were more action-packed (no longer limited to the once or twice a year "token action moments" in Piller's otherwise pacifistic approach..) and you hardly heard much technobabble from that moment onward...

Those 2 incredible episodes finally completely won me over that DS9 could stand on its own 2 feet, and create superior episodes that needed no comparisons whatsoever to its sister series TNG and VOY. Everything was uphill from there and onward...DS9 didn't have to prove itself to anybody, being free to showcase episodes without the limitations that constricted the show that came before it, and the shows that came after it.