There’s a surprising reason thatStar Trek: Deep Space Ninehad much cooler sets thanStar Trek: Voyager. Being set on a Cardassian-built space station,Star Trek: Deep Space Nineneeded to have very different sets from previousStar Trekshows.The spaced-out Ops, not a starship bridge, was the command center of Deep Space Nine. The Promenade was an expansive, multi-leveled set that was home to civilian-owned restaurants and shops, a Bajoran temple, and of course, Quark’s (Armin Shimerman) Bar. DS9’s many background actors encompassed a whole host of aliens in extensive makeup and elaborate costumes.
As a show set on a Federation starship,Star Trek: Voyager’s sets didn’t need to be nearly as impressive or large asDeep Space Nine’s. The Intrepid-class USS Voyager boasted a lot of the same familiar locations asStar Trek: The Next Generation’sGalaxy-class USS Enterprise-D. In fact, many ofStar Trek: Voyager’s sets were built whereTNG’s once stood, on Paramount’s Stage 8, like the USS Voyager’s mess hall, which had once beenStar Trek: The Next Generation’s Ten Forward set. ButDS9’s sets were also cooler thanVoyager’s for a less obvious reason.
Deep Space Nine’s Stages Were Kept “Icy Cold” For The Alien Actors
OnThe Delta Flyerspodcast coveringDS9season 2’s “Profit and Loss”, Quark actor Armin Shimerman explains thatStar Trek: Deep Space Nineliterally had coolerStar Treksets thanStar Trek: Voyager. While discussingDS9’s heavy Cardassian military costumes, which were based on wetsuits,Star Trek: Voyager’s Ensign Harry Kim actor Garret Wang remarks that the “hot stage lighting of the 1990s” must have made conditions on set much worse. Shimerman disagreed, and with good reason. Read Shimerman’s explanation below, and listen toThe Delta Flyersstarting at the 50:28 mark.
Armin Shimerman: “Those Cardassian costumes were the worst costumes … The moment you start to sweat, it just stays in there and gets hotter and hotter.”
Garrett Wang: “And with the hot stage lighting of the 1990s, my goodness.”
Armin Shimerman:“Our stage was purposely kept very cold, because we had so many aliens.”
Garrett Wang: “I would have loved working on your show.”
Armin Shimerman: “I felt sorry for the Starfleet people in their skimpy jumpsuits. But for the rest of us, who were in a lot of material, it wasn’t unpleasant at all. They kept it icy cold for us.”
It makes sense thatStar Trek: Deep Space Ninewould have much colder sets thanStar Trek: Voyagerdid.Lower temperatures helpedDS9’s many actors in full alien makeup,like Quark and the aforementioned Cardassians,Lurian barfly Morn(Mark Allan Shepherd), and background actors outfitted as everything from Klingons to Jem’Hadar. Quark’s Bar, the Promenade, and Ops all had multiple levels and lots of space to spread out bright stage lighting, so everyone could be as “icy cold” as the surface of Andoria. EvenDeep Space Nine’s crew quarters were darker thanStar Trek: Voyager’s, with fewer harsh lights.
Starfleet’s “Skimpy Jumpsuits” Got A Makeover In DS9 Season 5
DS9 And Voyager’s Starfleet Uniforms Were Made Of Wool
Fortunately, Shimerman needn’t have worried about his Starfleet co-stars, becauseStar Trek: Deep Space Nine’s uniforms got a toasty makeover inDS9season 5.The gray-shouldered Starfleet uniforms fromStar Trek: First Contactspread throughout Starfleet’s ranks, and were used in the last half ofDS9, during theDominion War arc. The quilted details and thicker turtleneck of these uniforms looked much warmer than the previous iteration.Star Trek: Deep Space Nineseason 6, episode 19, “In the Pale Moonlight”, shows Captain Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks) wearing the many layers of the Captain’s uniform variant, including a matching vest.
Do Star Trek’s Uniforms Change for Different Environments?
The uniforms on Star Trek evolve over time, but do the changes to Starfleet uniforms ever include variants for different environmental conditions?
ButStar Trek: Deep Space Nine’s first Starfleet uniforms, which were also used throughoutStar Trek: Voyager’s seven seasons, were also a lot warmer than they looked. OnThe Delta Flyers, Garrett Wang and Robert Duncan McNeill confirm that theversion of the Starfleet uniformworn onStar Trek: Voyagerwas very warm, because it was made of wool. Chances are Wang and McNeill were quite comfortable on theStar Trek: Deep Space Nineset, when Ensign Harry Kim and Lieutenant Tom Paris paid a visit to Quark’s Bar in the pilot episode ofStar Trek: Voyager.
Source:The Delta Flyers, “Profit and Loss”
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Cast
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, also known as DS9, is the fourth series in the long-running Sci-Fi franchise, Star Trek. DS9 was created by Rick Berman and Michael Piller, and stars Avery Brooks, René Auberjonois, Terry Farrell, and Cirroc Lofton. This particular series follows a group of individuals in a space station near a planet called Bajor.
