The writers actually took this idea, and created a really good show. In the first season it is a bit rocky, it has the standard bumpy road to finding itself, but this first season is far beyond what TNG’s first season was.
By the end we have our characters figured out, our most basic of arcs (Federation/Cardassian/Bajoran relations), and some fairly decent episodes. If there is a failing this season it is only that the writers are still trying to figure out what kind of a show they want to do, so some episodes just feel like they are rejected TNG scripts.
But they did enough to showcase the potential of DS9 right off the bat. It is different: it isn’t on a starship, it is on a space station. It doesn’t have an all Federation cast, we have shapeshifters, Bajorans, Trill, Federation, Ferengi, and Cardassians.
Despite some weaknesses, it convinced me it was going to be a better show earlier on than TNG would have convinced me watching those first two seasons.
NEXT TIME: The Circle