One Legendary Star Trek Writer Fought To Make A Musical Episode Of Deep Space Nine

In a parallel reality, we got a "Star Trek" musical earlier than the latest "Strange New Worlds" episode — much earlier. Ira Steven Behr, showrunner for "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine," discussed some foiled plans for that show in a 2018 interview with GeekTown. Behr revealed that one of his writers wanted to make a musical episode of "Deep Space Nine." Which writer? Ronald D. Moore.

If you're a Trekkie, you've probably heard that name before; Moore was a prolific writer on both "The Next Generation" and "Deep Space Nine." Moore was also an advocate for breaking formulas; he left "Star Trek: Voyager" after writing two episodes because of what he saw as a sterile creative environment. He went on to create the 2003 remake of "Battlestar Galactica" and made it into a show that reflected his problems with what "Star Trek" became. A musical episode is the sort of brave new frontier that sounds up his alley.

Moore, who spoke about his attempts at a "DS9" musical to IGN in 2003, noted he had the idea before "Buffy The Vampire Slayer" episode "Once More With Feeling" or the medical drama "Chicago Hope" musical, "Brain Salad Surgery." This would've made it even more untested. And it might be why, according to Moore, "nobody would f***in' do it." "Strange New Worlds" proved a "Star Trek" musical isn't a doomed concept, but could Moore have pulled it off back on "Deep Space Nine?"

"Deep Space Nine" has the most colorful cast of "Star Trek." It was set on the eponymous space station, in orbit of the planet Bajor and next to an interstellar wormhole. As a galactic waystation, DS9 was home to a lot more than just a homogenous crew of Starfleet officers. There was also Kira Nerys (Nana Visitor), a Bajoran revolutionary turned officer of her now freed planet, shapeshifting security officer Odo (René Auberjonois), the scheming Ferengi bartender Quark (Armin Shimerman), and spy-turned-tailor Garak (Andrew Robinson). Seeing all these characters in an alien environment like a musical would've been a treat.

But wait, isn't "Deep Space Nine" the so-called dark "Star Trek" series? Its most famous episodes are the dramatic ones, like "Duet," when Kira is face-to-face with a possible war criminal from her past, or "In The Pale Moonlight," when Captain Sisko (Avery Brooks) crosses lines for the greater good. It'd be a mistake, however, to forget about all the comedy of "Deep Space Nine."

For instance, there's Ronald D. Moore's own "Take Me Out To The Holosuite," when Sisko and the DS9 crew play baseball against a crew of Vulcans. The holodeck certainly would've been a useful tool for explaining the musical — it's how "DS9" introduced Vic Fontaine (James Darren), a holographic recreation of a 1950s, Sinatra-esque lounge singer. Whenever "DS9" needed a lighter touch, the duty either fell to Fontaine or the Ferengi; as money-loving capitalists, the latter stood in for unenlightened 20th-century humans.

These Ferengi episodes weren't always successes (Behr admits as such), but they gave new depth to a race that had previously been caricatures. The greatest strength of "Deep Space Nine" wasn't that it got dark, but that it took risks. I wish that Moore's musical episode could've been one of them.