DS9 Stories/News: Hewitt: Creating The World Of Deep Space Nine

Star Trek: The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine writer Robert Hewitt Wolfe shared memories of his time on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine including setting up long term storylines, actor influence on storylines and lack of interference by the studio.

The writers of Deep Space Nine had more freedom than they found on some shows due to that lack of studio interference. “On Deep Space Nine, we got virtually no studio notes ever,” said Wolfe. “They largely just let us do what we wanted. Things went very smoothly.”

One thing that the writers realized rather quickly was that having the characters on a stationary space station as opposed to being on a traveling starship freed up the writers to create more serialized stories. “We very rapidly realized that being on a space station meant not ending stories every week,” said Wolfe. “If you’re on a starship, you leave the planet where the adventure is happening every week, and therefore…there isn’t a narrative pull towards revisiting those stories or it’s rarer. On our show, we never left, and the people we were dealing with didn’t either a lot of the time, so very quickly…we built towards more serialized storytelling. I think it’s something that was just a natural outgrowth of the premise.”

Some story elements had a longer lead time, and began their build up early in the series. According to Wolfe, these included the Bajoran religion and politics and the Dominion, which was set up beginning in the second season.

Other story elements developed as a result of the actors themselves, including the Odo-Kira romance. Odo’s scenes were played with “this admiration and longing for her that we picked up on very quickly,” said Wolfe, “and [we] thought, ‘Well, OK, that’s a great relationship too…we’ll run with that.’”

More can be heard on the podcast, located here, including Wolfe’s thoughts on working with Michael Piller and Ira Steven Behr, for which characters the writers most enjoyed writing, how Nog went from Ferengi son to Federation cadet and Wolfe’s most recent work, Alphas.

DS9 Stories/News: Legends of the Ferengi Review

Legends of the Ferengi

Rating: Series: Deep Space 9
Author: Quark, as told to Ira Steven Behr & Robert Hewitt Wolfe
Published: August, 1997
Review by: CL6 Kali D’or

Found this one in a used book store and couldn’t help myself. The premise of the book is that Quark tells stories based on the Ferengi Rules of Acquisition. It is done totally tongue-in-cheek and is a great laugh of a book. I have yet to read the Ferengi Rules of Acquisition which Quark wrote some time ago, but it has to be as good as this one.

…

..

All 285 Rules are not included, the book would be too long and cumbersome, but Quark has taken some of his favorites and explained the who and how and why they came into being through tale tales, old stories, family fables, lies and other devious means to get his/their point across.

Some examples:

Rule #31: “Never insult a Ferengi’s mother….insult something he cares about instead.” A good insult is a thing of beauty, a work of art that endures long after it’s crafting. Not bad, and the attached list of the 10 Most Famous Insults in Ferengi history are a hoot.

Rule #104: “Faith moves mountains…of inventory.” This has a clever little folk tale attached, about one of the really old guys, Grand Nagus Gint, who died of a tooth sharpening accident. But a clever Ferengi, Yost, came up with a plan to liven up the mourning citizenry with figurines of the Nagus and marketing was born.

Rule #177: “Know your enemies….but do business with them always.” Another short little ditty about the Tholians, silk, bog moss and how things really work. According to Quark.

Rule #94: “Females and finances don’t mix.” Funny picture, reputed to be an old cave drawing, showing a female Ferengi with bags of “profit” while all around her, the men are dead. This stuff is just too funny.

This is not a big book – just a small paperbound one, only 157 pages long. It’s the kind of book you might keep in the bathroom, for a quick page or two every day? Or next to your computer – read a rule while something downloads. It’s up to you. I found the writing to be very clever, totally in keeping with the character. There are pictures of all our favorite Ferengi cast members, and their “victims” to entertain as well. And references into the history and culture of the Ferengi that we didn’t know before, and may well not really have wanted to find out. Thank you for sharing, Quark!

 

DS9 Stories/News: Deep Space Nine’s Autographed Pictures

Michael Dorn as the Klingon Worf, were a regular in all of The Next Generation, and joined Deep Space 9 in season 4.

Casey Biggs who played Damar in Deep Space 9 brought some pictures that Nana Visitor (Major Kira) had signed, and being a fan of her, I had to get me one of those!

Vaughn Armstrong, in all the roles he’ve played on Star Trek, so far it’ve been 14!! The most for a single actor.

Robert O’Reilly was the man behind the Klingon “Gowron” in Star Trek: The Next Generation, and Deep Space Nine.

Patrick Kilpatrick have had at least three different roles in both Star Trek: Voyager and Deep Space Nine.

Source: http://www.kennl.dk/pictures/Galileo7/Loot/loot.htm

Nana Visitor, the actor who portrayed Kira in Star Trek: Deep Space nine.

J. G. Hertzler is the Klingon Martok in Star Trek: Deep Space nine.

The Ferengi Family Hour, is a show preformed by three actors from Deep Space Nine, and a member of the staff (Lolita Fatjo).

Chase Masterson who played Leeta in Deep Space Nine. This is the cover from a CD she have released.

Mark Allen Shepherd plays the character Morn on Deep Space Nine.

The Auction
They had an auction where it was possible to bid on different items, from signed pictures of the whole cast of The Original Series, to a few props that had been used on the show, like Captain Janeway’s communicator (which was very expensive!). I managed to get two items on the auction, one was a autographed picture of J.G. Hertzler as the Klingon Martokin Deep Space Nine. Unfortunately it didn’t scan very well, so I can’t put it up here for you to look at. The second item I acquired was a synopsis to the Deep Space Nine episode Shadowplay. It contains a two page description of the episode, and a sheet with three pictures from it as well. One of the pictures is signed by Cirroc Lofton, across the character he played on the show (Jake Sisko). Again you can click on the image to view a larger version.

Page one of the synopsis.

Page two of the synopsis.

Pictures from the episode.

This is the picture that was in the package with the synopsis to the Deep Space Nine episode Shadowplay, that I bought on the auction at the convention.

If you move the cursor over the three pictures, you can read a more detailed description about them. And notice that the top right photo is signed my the actor Cirroc Lofton.

DS9 Stories/News: Birthday Alert – Colm Meaney’s 3 Day Birthday Special

Cont.

Then, there is “Julian & Miles”

The relationship built up on DS9 between O’Brien and Bashir was very important to all of the writers, as well as both actors. According to Ronald D. Moore, after the scene where they sing Jerusalem together in DS9: “Explorers“, all of the staff writers wanted to write scenes involving their friendship.”

Alexander Siddig says, “it’s been said, by even the producers, that O’Brien and Bashir are the only real friendship that’s ever happened on Star Trek. These two really are friends. It’s not like some kind of odd couple scenario, likeSpock and Kirk. It’s a real friendship. These people talk about inane things, and I think that’s been really refreshing.“

Robert Hewitt Wolfe elaborates, “It was just great. There was just great chemistry between the two actors, great chemistry between the two characters. It was brilliant of Michael and Rick to create these two characters as foils for each other. And to then see this relationship develop over the years till they’re best friends, till Miles actually likes Bashir kind of almost better than his wife some days, which is very real, I mean there’s days that everybody, you know, it’s easier to be friends with a friend than with your wife some days.” (Crew Dossier: Miles O’Brien, DS9 Season 5 DVD, Special Features).

Ira Behr goes even further, and cites it as his favorite relationship in all of Star Trek; “The relationship between Bashir and O’Brien is the best relationship, the best friendship, in the history of the franchise. Spock and Kirk were still about the captain and his number one. This is a friendship with two equals, two guys. It’s a wonderful thing to watch how this relationship has grown.” (Crew Dossier: Julian Bashir, DS9 Season 6 DVD, Special Features)

I Like You… A Bit More

This is a fanlisting for the relationship between the Star Trekcharacters, Julian Bashir & Miles O’Brien, one of the best friendships in the entire franchise (so says Ira Behr, and me as well).

http://fan.delectableoomph.com/bob/

More O’Brien and Bashir moments.

O’Brien likes Bashir a little too much, maybe?

Bashir and O’Brien at Worf’s bachelor party

 

DS9 Stories/News: Birthday Alert – Colm Meaney’s 3 Day Birthday Special

Cont.

O’brien Must Suffer

 Facebook Page

O’Brien Must Suffer

http://www.stick-online.com/boards/index.php?topic=2151.0

But you gotta admit, this guy has life tough!

It’s montage of different scenes from different episodes, but it’s suprisingly representative. He didn’t actually commit suicide though.
The funny thing is: the producers deliberately put in at least every season, an episode themed “O’Brien must suffer”
-He gets cloned and his clone is the victim of a conspiracy while he’s held captive on some desolate planet in a cave.
-He is arrested, imprisoned, tortured, and tried for a crime he didn’t commit by a culture whose verdicts are decided before the trial.
-He starts randomly time-warping around during one instance of which he witnesses his own death.
-He is falsely convicted of espionage and in a Matrix/Inception-esque way, he experiences a 20-year prison sentence in a matter of hours by having the experience, stimuli, and such scanned into his mind.
-His wife is possessed by an alien entity who forces him to commit sabotage to his own station, lie, frame one of his friends, and attempt to kill some other non-corporeal beings.

-His daughter was aged(in a time warp, of course) to the age of 18. Without her parents or human contact. She basically becomes this feral monster girl, though they manage to de-timewarp her.
-His other child has to be transplanted into some alien’s womb in order to save his wife and baby after their ship is attacked. The woman happens to be his superior officer.
-On that note, he’s one of the only enlisted people on the entire show who actually ever does anything(besides guards and stuff) so he has to call everyone sir. Including a punk 22 year old ensign.
-He gets stuck in a little metal cargo box for violating some obscure law on an essentialists planet…for over 24 hours.
-The station of which he is the chief engineer has at least 3 minor malfunctions which only he can resolve at any one time and a major failure at least every 3 episodes.
-He’s a direct descendant from one of the High Kings of Ireland…and nobody, fate included, cares.

The woman who falls off the bridge is his wife.

Luck O’ the Irish? Hmmm…this guy is in need of some.

O’Brien Must Suffer

According to DS9 executive producer/writer Ira Steven Behr, “O’Brien is everyman. In a show about humans and aliens, he’s as human as you get.” Similarly, Behr’s writing partner for the first four seasons of the show,Robert Hewitt Wolfe, says, “He’s just a regular guy, a guy doing his job. He’s just the most unlikely of all heroes because he’s a family man with a daughter and eventually a son and a wife and they have arguments and a real relationship, and he’s just a working class schmo, I mean obviously he’s a really bright guy and very good at what he did, but basically, a working class schmo just trying to get through his day.” (Crew Dossier: Miles O’Brien, DS9 Season 5 DVD, Special Features)

The DS9 writing staff had a running joke with a semi-annual “O’Brien Must Suffer” episode. Among these were “Whispers“, “Tribunal“, “Visionary“, “Hard Time“, “Honor Among Thieves” and “Prodigal Daughter“. (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion) According to Ira Behr, “Every year in one or two shows we try to make his life miserable, because you empathize with him.” Robert Hewitt Wolfe further explains, “If O’Brien went through something torturous and horrible, the audience was going to feel that, in a way they wouldn’t feel it with any of the other characters. Because all the other characters were sort of, I wouldn’t say larger than life, but nobler than life, but O’Brien was just a guy, trying to live his life and so if you tortured him that was a story.” (Crew Dossier: Miles O’Brien, DS9 Season 5 DVD, Special Features)

Those Episodes Were:

Whispers

Episode 2×14

Upon returning from a mission to the Parada system, O’Brien begins to notice the crew acting strange around him and suspects there may be some unknown influence at work.

Tribunal

2×25

When Cardassians arrest Miles O’Brien for working with the Maquis, he’s put on a Cardassian trial, where the verdict is known before the trial begins: guilty.

Visionary

3×17

After receiving a minor dose of radiation poisoning, O’Brien inexplicably begins experiencing a series of jumps into the near future. Meanwhile, a Romulan delegation arrives on the station, expecting an intelligence report on the Dominion.

Hard Time

4×19

Convicted of espionage, Miles O’Brien is given the memories of twenty years in prison in a matter of hours. Returning to DS9, O’Brien finds he cannot shrug the memory of his awful experience or rid himself of the guilt he feels over the death of his cellmate.

Honor Among Thieves

6×15

O’Brien, working undercover for Starfleet Intelligence, befriends the man he will have to betray.

 

& Then, there is “Time’s Oprhan”

An accident on the planet Golana sends Molly O’Brien through a time portal three hundred years into the past into an uninhabited world. Beamed back too late, Molly returns to the present eighteen years old with no immediate recollection of her life or her family.