Star Trek : Deep Space Nine Star Trek : Deep Space Nine was the third live - action " Star Trek " series and entered production in . It was broadcast in first - run syndication from until . It was the first " Star Trek " series created by Rick Berman and Michael Piller rather than by Gene Roddenberry . It was also the only series to air alongside another " Star Trek " production throughout its entire run , airing alongside from until , and then with from until . Summary . " Deep Space Nine " went where no " Star Trek " had gone before – it was the first series that was not based on a starship , but was instead based on a starbase , known as Deep Space 9 ( the starship was introduced in season 3 , but the station remained the primary setting of the series ) . The change in the setting spawned when Brandon Tartikoff originally approached Rick Berman about the show , he specifically said he wanted it to have a new format ; if " " was in space , " Deep Space Nine " was to be in space – a man and his son coming to a dilapidated town on the edge of a new frontier . The series was designed to have more interpersonal conflict than its predecessors , while still staying true to the universe that Gene Roddenberry had created . Rick Berman commented : " " [ Deep Space 9 ] ' s an alien space station that doesn ' t work the way they want it to , and that in itself created a lot of conflict . At the same , our core characters are Starfleet officers ; Sisko , O ' Brien , the doctor and Dax in no way vary from " The Next Generation " in terms of the lack of conflict among themselves . That was a rule we had to follow . We needed to create a series that wasn ' t a franchise based on people aboard a starship , because we knew there would be a couple of years of overlap between the two series " " . ( " Captains ' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages " , p 5 ) Berman also commented : " " The problem with " Star Trek : The Next Generation " is Gene created a group of characters that he purposely chose not to allow conflict between . Starfleet officers cannot be in conflict , thus its murderous to write these shows because there is no good drama without conflict , and the conflict has to come from outside the group . What we wanted to do was something that was almost paradoxical – bring conflict but not break Gene ' s rules . They still play paramount importance in what we ' re doing . We created an environment where Starfleet officers were in a location that they weren ' t happy about being in , and they were in a location where the people who lived there weren ' t all that happy about them being there . We also created a situation where we had people who were members of our core group who were not Starfleet : the security shapeshifter Odo ; the Bajoran Major , Kira ; the bartender , Quark . A group of our integral people are not Starfleet officers , and the ones that are Starfleet officers aren ' t crazy about where they are , so we have a lot of frustration and conflict " " . ( " Captains ' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages " , p 8 ) Regarding Gene Roddenberry ' s involvement , Berman stated , " " Michael and I discussed it with Gene when we were still in the early stages , but never anything conceptual . " " " " We never got a chance to discuss it ( the concept ) with Gene . By the time we had it to the point that it was discussable , he was in pretty bad shape and not really in the condition that it would have been wise to discuss it with him . On two specific occasions I was with him at his house and we tried to bring it up , but it wasn ' t really appropriate . " " ( " " , p . 328 ) Initially Berman and Piller were originally at a loss for a title for the series and toyed with calling the series " The Final Frontier " . During further development the station was temporarily dubbed " Deep Space Nine " , which not only stuck permanently as the name of the station , but the title of the show itself . Despite this , the two co - creators were reportedly dissatisfied with the name . ( " " , pp . 17 - 18 ) The show is known for its complex characters and storylines , engaging battle scenes and darker ( less Utopian ) atmosphere . Unlike its predecessors and " Star Trek : The Next Generation " , " Deep Space Nine " tended to avoid an episodic format for most of its run and instead featured multiple - episode story arcs . Unlike other " Trek " series , DS9 also had a large cast of recurring characters . Such characters included Nog , Rom , Elim Garak , Dukat , Vedek Bareil Antos , Winn Adami , Weyoun , the Female Changeling , Damar , Martok , Kasidy Yates , Leeta , Brunt , Ishka , and Zek . Miles O ' Brien , and later Worf , were two characters imported from TNG . Worf – a major character from TNG – played a large role on DS9 . Several " Next Generation " characters also had recurring roles on the show , such as Keiko O ' Brien and Gowron . Several other TNG characters made appearances , such as Captain Jean - Luc Picard , Thomas Riker , Q , Lwaxana Troi , Kurn , Lursa , B ' Etor , Admiral Alynna Nechayev , Vash , and Toral . In addition , Julian Bashir and Quark also had one - time appearances on " The Next Generation " , in and respectively . Quark ( and the station itself ) also made a cameo in the pilot of , . Characters from " The Original Series " were also re - introduced , including Kor , Kang , Koloth , and Arne Darvin . Following the highly rated appearance of James Doohan as Montgomery Scott in , it was reported in 1993 that Doohan had been urging Paramount to add him to the cast of DS9 . It was also rumored that William Shatner had expressed interest in participating in DS9 in some capacity . ( " " , p . 15 ) The series focused on several races that were first featured on TNG , such as the Bajoran s , the Cardassian s , the Trill , and the Ferengi . Later , the Klingon s and the Romulan s ( both created in TOS ) became pivotal species in the series . Many other species made appearances on the series , including Vulcan s , Bolian s , and Benzite s . The series also created many species of its own , most notably the Changeling s , the Vorta , and the Jem ' Hadar , who formed part of the Dominion . " Deep Space Nine " also featured several regular characters who were not members of Starfleet , with Kira Nerys , a member of the Bajoran Militia , and Odo , the station ' s chief of security , as well as civilians such as Quark and Jake Sisko . The series spent some time exploring the mirror universe , which had not been seen since the TOS episode . The mirror universe was featured in five episodes of the series : , , , , and . In addition to the visits to the mirror universe , the DS9 writing staff wrote a number of episodes in which the character of Miles O ' Brien would be subject to particular trauma . This became an in - joke among the staff , who called them " O ' Brien Must Suffer " episodes and went to great lengths to produce at least one such episode per season . ( " " ) The show also focused on a wider array of uses and depictions of functions for the holodeck . In addition to many obvious activities such as those referenced by Chief O ' Brien and Julian Bashir , which were completely in keeping with holodeck usage on " The Next Generation " , the holodeck was used as a recurring background for people to hang out in in the form of a 1960s Las Vegas lounge ( numerous episodes ) , as a weapons showroom ( by Quark ) , and as the location for a baseball game between teams assembled by Sisko versus , a long - time rival Vulcan captain . ( ) The show broke the " standard format " for " Star Trek " shows a number of times as well , with a direct , first - person narrative providing the commentary for the episode , a retelling of a classic TOS episode from a different angle in , life in the racially segregated 1950s in , and a reintroduction of the concept of " black ops " to the " Star Trek " universe with Section 31 : . The show also broke with tradition – and with the two " Star Trek " series that followed it – by featuring a commanding officer as the star of the show at the rank of commander , rather than captain , for a significant portion of its run . Robert Hewitt Wolfe recalled that this led to unfavorable comparisons to the other series . " " Whenever people would do articles about " Star Trek " they would talk about the three captains : Kirk , Picard , and Janeway . " " Feeling that Sisko deserved the higher rank as much as the other lead characters , the producers decided to promote Sisko in . ( " " , p . 253 ) Due to the show ' s non - episodic nature , much of the series was easily lost on the casual viewer . Many also believe that the changing television landscape contributed to DS9 ' s ratings trouble , as local TV stations which had aired TNG in prime time became WB and UPN affiliates and pushed syndicated programming to the margins . Subsequent " Trek " shows " Star Trek : Voyager " and had network support from UPN and a guaranteed time slot . DS9 was also the only series to run opposite another " Star Trek " show ( first " The Next Generation " , then " Voyager " ) for the entirety of its run ( the first twelve episodes of the third season aired without another series on ) . Additionally , certain markets , notably in the UK , would only play one " Star Trek " series , in its entirety , at a time . Thus , events alluded to in " The Next Generation " or " Voyager " that happened in " Deep Space Nine " took months to " sync up . " Despite these problems , " Deep Space Nine " remained a fan - favorite series throughout its seven - year run , with reviewers consistently lauding the series for its bold shift in tone from " The Next Generation " . Most notable among such changes was the concept of inter - personal conflict – something which Gene Roddenberry himself was said to have forbidden . Said Ronald D . Moore , DS9 producer and screenwriter : " I ' d like us to be remembered as the " Trek " series that dared to be different . We took chances in a franchise that has every reason to play it safe and spoon - feed the same old thing to the audience week after week . We challenged the characters , the audience , and the " Star Trek " universe itself . Sometimes we failed ( sometimes spectacularly ) but we never stopped trying to push the show into new directions . " There was also a rivalry with another popular and critically acclaimed television series , " Babylon 5 " , created and produced by J . Michael Straczynski for Warner Bros . The two productions , which ran largely concurrently , were observed to be so similar that " Babylon 5 " fans accused Paramount , to whom Straczynski had previously pitched his series , of plagiarism . Considering how fellow " Trek " alumni like Walter Koenig and Andreas Katsulas had major roles in the rival series , Majel Barrett - Roddenberry agreed to a guest appearance as a gesture of goodwill to encourage a reconciliation between the two sets of fans . Several former producers and head writers from DS9 have been involved in other sci - fi series including the creation of the " re - envisioned " , , , and . " Deep Space Nine " was the first live - action " Star Trek " series to feature a fully - animated sequence in its opening credits , as opposed to the simple flashcards accompanied by rapid flypasts of the " Enterprise " used for the opening sequences of both " The Original Series " and " The Next Generation " . Subsequent series , " Voyager " also had a fully animated credit sequence . In the DVD season special features the creators talk about the similarities between " Deep Space Nine " and an old Western setting Sisko as the mayor , Kira as a Native American , Bashir as a country doctor , Odo the lawman , Quark as the local barkeep , and Miles O ' Brien the everyman wed to the local schoolmarm Keiko . Episode list . Season 1 . DS9 Season 1 , 19 episodes : Season 2 . DS9 Season 2 , 26 episodes : Season 3 . DS9 Season 3 , 26 episodes : Season 4 . DS9 Season 4 , 25 episodes : Season 5 . DS9 Season 5 , 26 episodes : Season 6 . DS9 Season 6 , 26 episodes : Season 7 . DS9 Season 7 , 25 episodes :