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If you’re a Star Trek: Deep Space Nine fan, on May 13th something very cool is playing for one night only in movie theaters around the country: What We Left Behind: Looking Back at Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. The film is a feature length documentary that was partly funded by the fans and it’s loaded with new interviews with almost everyone involved in the series, tons of DS9 footage in HD for the first time, and so much more. However, while I enjoyed the entire doc, my favorite part was a sequence where showrunner Ira Steven Behr got a few of the original writers together to brainstorm ideas for a season 8. While it was just done for the documentary, after you hear what they came up with, you’ll wish they were getting ready to make a new season because the storyline was very cool.

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Image via CBS Television Studios

A few days ago, I got to sit down with Ira Steven Behr, producer Kai De Mello-Folsom, Nana Visitor (Major Kira) , Armin Shimerman (Quark) and Andrew Robinson (Garak) at the Collider office for an extended interview about Deep Space Nine. During the wide-ranging conversation we talked about how the documentary happened, what it will take to get the show remastered in HD, how they pulled off making twenty-six episodes a year, how things changed during the writing process, if they were nervous about getting renewed each year, who took home what from set and why, their reaction to the series finale, when Andrew Robinson realized Garak was a fan favorite, and so much more. As a longtime fan of DS9, this is one of those interviews I was so happy to be able to do and I hope you enjoy hearing what they had to say.

Finally, if you’re a fan of DS9, I absolutely suggest checking out the documentary next week. You can get more details on where it is showing here.

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Image via Shout! Studios

Check out what Ira Steven Behr, Kai De Mello-Folsom, Nana Visitor, Armin Shimerman and Andrew Robinson had to say in the player above and below is exactly what we talked about, the official synopsis and trailer.

Ira Steven Behr, Kai De Mello-Folsom, Nana Visitor, Armin Shimerman and Andrew Robinson:

  • How did the documentary come together?
  • How fans contributed to the making of the documentary and that helped get some of DS9 in HD.
  • How the money raised caused them to change what the documentary would become.
  • Is there any possibility of future DS9 stories based on what they came up with it in the writer’s room for the documentary?
  • What would surprise people to learn about the DS9 practical sets?
  • How they did 26 episodes a season from 2 to 7. How did they pull this off?
  • How they had storylines that would last all season and for seasons.
  • Were they nervous about getting renewed each year?
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    Image via Shout! Studios
    When did Andrew Robinson realize Garak was a fan favorite?
  • Who took home what from set and why?
  • Armin Shimerman talks about why he didn’t take anything home and why.
  • When did they realize the show was streaming on Netflix?
  • Is it possible to get all of DS9 remastered in HD? They remastered about 22 minutes for the documentary.
  • How often did the storyline go through big changes during the season and did the writers ever have input into their storylines?
  • When did Armin Shimerman start having people over to his house on the weekends to rehearse and did it alter anything on set?
  • When did Ira Steven Behr figure out the series finale and what was the reaction to the finale from the cast?
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Image via Shout! Studios

Here’s the synopsis for What We Left Behind: Looking Back at Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and the trailer:

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine first aired in January 1993, well over a year after the death of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry. When compared to The Original Series and The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine was written off as too “dark,” and “edgy,” “the black sheep” of the Star Trek family, a show that did not fit Roddenberry’s vision of the future. Though polarizing within the franchise, the show pushed narrative boundaries for seven seasons and gained a rabid cult following. Now, over twenty years after the series ended, fans and critics all over the world are rediscovering Deep Space Nine and embracing the show with an enthusiasm rivaling the affection they feel for any other Star Trek series. What We Left Behind: Looking Back at Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, takes a detailed look at this historic series and consider the reasons Deep Space Nine went from a family outcast to a Star Trek mainstay.

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Image via Shout! Studios
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Image via Shout! Studios
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Image via Shout! Studios
star-trek-ds9-documentary-what-we-left-behind
Image via Shout! Studios
star-trek-ds9-documentary-what-we-left-behind
Image via Shout! Studios
star-trek-ds9-documentary-what-we-left-behind
Image via Shout! Studios