The Next Generation had been very successful. VERY successful, considering the initial scepticism of most fans. Now was the time to make the most of it, and during TNG's fourth and fifth season, noises were being made about a newer, grittier show, where everything wasn't quite so sweet and harmonious. This new series would be different. It would be set on a space station, where adventures would come to it. There would be conflicts between the Starfleet personnel and the Bajoran officers from the nearby homeworld. There was to be a shapeshifter, a Ferengi bar-owner, and a few of the Enterprise crew were to cross over to DS9.
Things didn't quite work out as originally planned, in that Michelle Forbes, who impressed as the Bajoran officer Ro Laren, decided she didn't want to commit to a long stint on a TV show. The new thing for fans was a black captain - only he wasn't a captain. Commander Benjamin Sisko didn't become a captain until series 4.
The pilot show, The Emissary, got off to a spectacular start, with a scene from the battle between the massed ranks of Starfleet and the Borg, under the command of Locutus aka Captain Picard. Ben Sisko loses his wife Jennifer, and escapes with his life shortly before his ship explodes. Sadly, this was as good as the pilot show got really. For me, the problem is, and has been the lack of charisma that Avery Brooks has. Your captain (or commander) must be compelling, decisive and have good leadership skills. He or she must also be a good actor who has something that makes fans like him or her. Patrick Stewart had magnificent authority and conviction. Kate Mulgrew has decisiveness and warmth, and does a lot of physical patting of shoulders. Brooks is chilly, and wooden. He has only two moods as Sisko. Giggly with Jake, or thunderous eyebrows and loud, deep bellowing. Anyway, enough of Brooks.
The pilot show didn't quite work for me in that there was too much mystical stuff about the wormhole, and the story just wasn't strong enough. The characters were introduced quite well, and clearly a lot of the budget was spent on the shapeshifter effects. Patrick Stewart's appearance was very uncomfortable. Obviously just there as a link between the shows, his scenes were poorly developed.
Two characters that have been a hit are Odo, the shapeshifting security officer, and Quark, the Ferengi bar keeper. Both are played by experienced stage and screen actors Rene Auberjonois and Armin Shimmerman and their skill shows. My personal favourite is the sometimes stroppy Major Kira Nerys played by Nana Visitor who was the first Trek woman to be a real action character.(Troi and Doc Crusher were pretty girlie types to be honest.) The excellent Colm Meaney was the transferred O'Brien and his episodes were usually stong. Terry Farrell is beautiful as the Trill, Jadzia Dax whose previous host, Curzon, knew Sisko. Absolutely dreadful is Alexander Siddig (previously known as Siddig el Fadil) as the awful Dr Julian Bashir. Another poor actor and a brat of a character. He has improved a little since the pilot show, but not much. Cirroc Lofton as Jake Sisko is a likeable boy, who has grown into a very handsome young man. He is no Wesley Crusher , thank goodness!

The first season was a mixture of hits and misses. The tone WAS different to TNG, which pleased some but not others.

The series is now entering its 7th and final year. There have been many changes over that time, but first, an episode list.

Series One	Series Two	Series Three	Series Four
Emissary Past Prologue A Man Alone Babel Captive Pursuit Q Less Dax The Passenger Move Along Home The Nagus Vortex Battle Lines The Storyteller Progress If Wishes Were Horses The Forsaken Dramatis Personae Duet In the Hands of the Prophets	The Homecoming The Circle The Siege Invasive Procedures Cardassians Melora Rules of Aquisition Necessary Evil Second Sight Sanctuary Rivals The Alternate Armageddon Game Whispers Paradise Shadowplay Playing God Profit and Loss Blood Oath The Maquis (I) The Maquis (II) The Wire Crossover The Collaborator Tribunal The Jem'Hadar	The Search (I) The Search (II) The House of Quark Equilibrium Second Skin The Abandoned Civil Defense Meridian Defiant Fascination Past Tense (I) Past Tense (II) Life Support Heart of Stone Destiny Prophet Motive Visionary Distant Voices Through The Looking Glass Improbable Cause The Die Is Cast Explorers Family Business Shakaar Facets The Adversary	The Way of the Warrior The Visitor Hippocratic Oath Indiscretion Rejoined Little Green Men Starship Down The Sword of Kahless Our Man Bashir Homefront Paradise Lost Crossfire Return to Grace The Sons of Mogh The Bar Association Accession Rules of Engagement Hard Time Shattered Mirror The Muse For the Cause To The Death The Quickening Body Parts Broken Link
Series Five	Series Six	Series Seven
Apocalypse Rising The Ship Looking For Par'Mach In Al... ..Nor The Battle To The Strong The Assignment Trials and Tribble-ations Let He Who Is Without Sin.... Things Past The Ascent Rapture The Darkness and the Light The Begotten For the Uniform In Purgatory's Shadow By Inferno's Light Doctor Bashir, I Presume? A Simple Investigation Business As Usual Ties of Blood and Water Ferengi Love Songs Soldiers of the Empire Children of Time Blaze of Glory Empok Nor In the Cards A Call to Arms	A Time to Stand Rocks and Shoals Sons and Daughters Behind the Lines Favor the Bold The Sacrifice of Angels You Are Cordially Invited... Resurrection Statistical Probabilities The Magnificent Ferengi Waltz Who Mourns for Morn Far Beyond the Stars One Little Ship Honor Among Thieves Change of Heart Wrongs Darker Than Death Inquisition In the Pale Moonlight His Way The Reckoning Valiant Profit and Lace Time's Orphan The Sound of Her Voice Tears of the Prophets	Image in the Sand Shadows and Symbols Afterimage Take Me Out to the Holosuite Chrysalis