From the first episode "Emissary",the audience knew Deep Space Nine was a different type of show that was even unique to the Star Trek universe.

Regularly, the Trek shows had been about starships zipping through space encountering lifeforms and either saving the day or throwing the entire quadrant into some sort of chaos.

Deep Space Nine was the prarie town in the great frontier of space. Whereas Star Trek and The Next Generation were both based on exploring the galaxy, DS9 (as fans call it) let the galaxy come to us.



When it aired, people found it the antithesis of what Trek was meant to be. "What? No starship?" they would say. "What? Starfleet on a Cardassian station orbiting Bajor?" came the shouts.

People were not happy at first but then again, first impressions are not always what is important.



Eventually, DS9 became a reality behind the other shows. It enhanced the Trek universe and backed up episodes we had seen on the other series with even more information, follow up data and continuous flow of idea and sensation.



In the first season alone, in order to bring in the audience from TNG, characters we knew and either loved or tolerated from other series were sprinkled into the plots in order to make the galaxy a surprisingly small place in a believable manner.

The Duras sisters were involved in political subterfuge.

Lwaxanna Troi was an ambassador with no one to love.

Q was playing his usual tricks and found the less stable shows had more need for him.

These additions aided the show in several ways. It did allow a small carryover of audience and also upheld the continuity necessary on a series that spun off from another Trek hit.



With or without realizing it, the creators of DS9 had formed the basis for a space soap opera with continuous arcs and tremendous growth in character, scenario and appreciation to detail.



The creators also knew to save some of their storylines for the right moment. There were set ups that allowed for major pay offs and details that were made to fit the mold later in the run. A clever writing staff who cared about every sentence being believable and tracable worked very hard to create through lines from episode to episode that depicted station life like a little one horse town.



There was gossip and meals and a wonderful addition to the Trek tapestry: a Ferengi bar. A place where the change of pace can always be quickly altered and scenarios unlike other Trek series can be initiated. Quark's Restaurant, Bar and Holosuite Emporium allowed for a touch of night life, down time and relaxation. It was also a den where criminals and suspicious characters added spice to the alien terrain.