Star Trek: 11 Huge Comparisons Between Deep Space 9 And Babylon 5

11. Inspiration

Brandon Tartikoff suggested setting Deep Space Nine on a space station to differentiate it from The Original Series and The Next Generation. If those series were Wagon Train in space, then the new series would be The Rifleman in space, a series about a widower and his son living in a frontier town.

Other inspirations for Deep Space Nine include examples from history such as World War II, the Cold War, the American Red Scare, and even the Kon-Tiki voyage of Thor Hyerdahl. Film and literary genres also proved inspirational. Cyberpunk, film noir, mystery, psychological thrillers, crime, pulp SciFi, and both Greek and Shakespearean tragedy, all served to inspire the show as well.

Straczynski set his series on a space station rather than exploring a new alien planet every week to avoid the bloated budgets experienced by other science shows.

Straczynski wanted the show to have the scope of sagas such as Dune, The Lord of Rings, and the Foundation Series, as well as the depth and character development of mainstream dramas such as Hill Street Blues. Straczynski was inspired by notes on mythology, history, religion, sociology, psychology, and science. Specific references include the legend of King Arthur, Babylonian mythology, Shakespeare, Christian scripture, and Roman history.