# Star Trek 101 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 14, 2003, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-101/188498 "2003-07-14T22:22:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Ura-Maru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/51bf81/32.png) [@Ura-Maru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ura-Maru)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2003, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-101/188498/41 "2003-07-16T07:16:28Z")
Actually, $100 for a 26 episode season of an hour long show is pretty reasonable. Pound for pound, that’s considerably below average. A bit much of a ‘starter price’ if you’re not sure you’ll like it, though. – See? I CAN post in a ST thead without bringing up That Other Show. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![blowero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/41988e/32.png) [@blowero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blowero)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2003, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-101/188498/42 "2003-07-16T07:43:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by greyseal \* > Anyone else out there just not “get” the whole DS9 thing. I was a fairly hardcore fan of TOS and TNG when in my teenage years. And then DS9 came out… and nothing. It doesn’t do anything for me. I’ve probably seen 20-30 episodes (some partials) and can’t remember any lasting impressions. I think it stems mostly from having a captain (commander, whatever) that lacked the charisma of the first two shows. Kirk and Picard just had IT, whatever IT is. Of course - lots of people can’t _stand_ DS9. I just didn’t want to say anything before because the fans tend to be very vocal [ducks and runs]. Since you brought it up, though - it was a huge disappointment for me when the show aired. I was looking forward to a new Star Trek show, and it was just so…boring. There, I said it. ---
**Author:** ![One\_And\_Only\_Wanderers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/838e76/32.png) [@One\_And\_Only\_Wanderers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/One_And_Only_Wanderers)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2003, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-101/188498/43 "2003-07-16T08:14:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by blowero \* > \*\*Of course - lots of people can’t _stand_ DS9. I just didn’t want to say anything before because the fans tend to be very vocal [ducks and runs]. > > Since you brought it up, though - it was a huge disappointment for me when the show aired. I was looking forward to a new Star Trek show, and it was just so…boring. There, I said it. \*\* Hey you’re allowed not to like it 🙂 Just because I like something doesn’t mean I will criticize someone who doesn’t. DS9 stood out for me because of the humor. It was (IMO) by far the funnies of the Treks. Quark and Garak were fantastic. I was less enthused by the holographic singer guy, but hey nothing is 100% great ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2003, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-101/188498/44 "2003-07-16T14:43:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by greyseal \* > **And then DS9 came out… and nothing. It doesn’t do anything for me. I’ve probably seen 20-30 episodes (some partials) and can’t remember any lasting impressions.** IMO, DS9 is the better show, but it’s harder to be a casual viewer. First, while the first 2 seasons were in the aggregate a lot better than a similar time period on TNG, it was also inconsistent with both hits and big whiffs (including most of the first episode). OTOH, once it got good, it was quite self-referential and therefore difficult to appreciate if you didn’t know all the politics which had been developed over the past seasons. (Not unlike Babylon 5 or Twin Peaks, although less so.) For instance, when DS9 first came on I didn’t get a chance to see much of it until late in the fourth season, and I didn’t really enjoy it. But then a local station began a syndie run of the show starting at the beginning and by the time I had watched the bulk of the episodes and understood the relationship between Kira and Dukat, Sisko and Dukat, Sisko and Kira, Bashir and Garak, etc., not to mention the Dominion, the Jem’Hadar, and the Cardassians generally, it became a much better show. –Cliffy ---
**Author:** ![minty\_green](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@minty\_green](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minty_green)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2003, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-101/188498/45 "2003-07-16T16:13:46Z")
I generally agree with what Cliffy just said. At the time the first season or two aired, it was a hit-and-miss experience, with some great episodes like “Duet” and some crappy ones like “Move Along Home.” Looking back on them now, after not having seen most of them since they first aired (and some not at all), it looks to me like DS9 hit the ground running. The show’s greatest strengths were the characters and stories it developed over a long time, and that’s just not something you pick without watching a fair number of shows. Plus, as the series builds through its first couple seasons, it helps to know that they’re working their way towards some serious pan-galactic asskicking. I loved how they just casually dropped in the first reference to the Dominion as somebody Quark might be able to buy wine-producing berries from. ---
**Author:** ![greyseal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bbe5ce/32.png) [@greyseal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/greyseal)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2003, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-101/188498/46 "2003-07-16T17:56:57Z")
Well, I’m glad I’m not the only one out there. The thing is, most of my trekkie friends _love_ the show, so I was the odd man out. Maybe someday I’ll give it a fair shake and try a marathon or something. ---
**Author:** ![Achren](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/898d66/32.png) [@Achren](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achren)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2003, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-101/188498/47 "2003-07-16T20:00:23Z")
also on DS9 - wow, more people who like it! I liked the complicated-ness of the show - and neat characters. Ah the magic of the internet in discovering like minds! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![shy\_guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a6a055/32.png) [@shy\_guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shy_guy)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2003, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-101/188498/48 "2003-07-17T04:31:30Z")
Thanks again, Aesiron. I’ll be hitting the library and Barnes and Noble soon. And great idea about Netflix, friedo. Looks like it’s time for me to get a membership. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2003, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-101/188498/49 "2003-07-17T04:36:40Z")
No problem. Incidentally, I didn’t intend to do it that way but quite a few of those books are written by Peter David and the _New Frontier_ series (about a dozen books encompassing a single storyline) is written exclusively by him. He’s my favorite Trek author. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-101/188498.md?page=2)