Rene Auberjonois

Deep Space Nine's sixth season began ambitiously with a six-part story arc devoted to the Dominion War. This was a brave move in many ways, but a sensible one too. Whereas other sci-fi shows wouldn't commit to showing the impact of war (e.g., Babylon 5), here there were numerous visible sacrifices. Characters were frequently kidnapped and held prisoner, allowing screen time for other members of the ever-growing cast (at its peak there were as many as 18 individuals with speaking roles per episode).

Deep Space Nine's fifth season was a turning point from which there was no going back. Character and information overload took over, and the complicated twists and turns in the build up to war either hooked viewers securely, or sent them away with a headache. The Klingon faction instigated by Worf's arrival was occasionally played for laughs, but mostly their hardheaded personalities made all efforts at diplomacy moot. In the opening episode a chilling possibility is proposed as to what might be: have the Changelings infiltrated already and replaced key personnel?

The fourth series of Deep Space Nine can be summed up in one word: Klingons! The show's producers apparently felt beset from all sides. Babylon 5 was a huge hit, as was Star Trek: Voyager, the flagship of new channel UPN. Stepping up DS9's action quotient seemed to be the answer. Time would tell, however, whether doing so via Trek's tried-and-tested former bad guys was the best solution. Opening with a special two-hour extravaganza, the new year was immediately unfamiliar. Dennis McCarthy's original theme--despite winning an Emmy--had been deemed too subdued.

Deep Space Nine's third season begins eventfully, with Sisko promoted to Captain and being given a prototype warship equipped with a cloaking device, while Odo learns where he came from. In the two-part opening tale, this clever gambit is played to hook viewers into the idea of DS9 becoming an ongoing mystery/conflict show. Why the sudden intense change in format? Mostly it was to ensure the show continued to thrive, when a really rather greedy production hierarchy fast-tracked Voyager onto the air mid-season (cue unnecessary crossover episode with Tuvok).

Only Kira Nerys would risk going to war over an earring. With the witty and wise second-season opener "The Homecoming," the writers started taking chances with the direction of Deep Space Nine--and the payoffs are immediate and far-reaching. It's the first episode in a complex trilogy involving the fate of the tenuous Bajoran Provisional Government, an extremist group called the Circle, and a legendary member of the resistance whom Sisko believes might be able to unite Bajor.

Warping into syndication in 1987, Star Trek: The Next Generation successfully launched its seven-season "continuing mission" of the starship Enterprise, and this classy DVD boxed set gathers the show's inaugural season in crisp picture clarity and dazzling 5.1-channel sound. A ratings leader with a sharp ensemble cast, this revamped Trek honored series creator Gene Roddenberry's original Trek concept, nurtured by returning veterans like producer Robert H. Justman and writers D.C. Fontana and David Gerrold.