re: the constraints of network tv showcasing skillful writing
sometimes i think what people miss about nostalgic shows like ds9 is the very constraints of the format. the lines separating TV and film having become somewhat blurred, there are fewer constraints on what a tv show has to be. episodes are getting longer and series themselves are varying the length...and so one doesn't have to get as creative with the tools that one has.
are there any moments from your own writing that you're proud of, that might not exist if you were given the flexibility of the streaming format?
Lots and lots. I'm very proud of "The Wire" from DS9, for example. And also of "Things That Go Bump" from The Dresden Files. Those are both basically "bottle" shows, which means they had limited locations, most of which were standing sets, and were written, in part, to save us money. People don't have to do bottle shows much on big budget streaming shows, so writing a good one is a dying artform.
Another example: the root beer scene from "Way of the Warrior" only exists because we had to fill time. On a show with no firm time constraints, that scene wouldn't exist. And it's one of my favorite scenes I've ever (co)written.
It's hard to imagine something like Nog's character arc from DS9 occurring on an 10 episode a season show that might go 30 eps if it's lucky. We did 26 episodes a year on DS9, which gave us lots of room to explore secondary characters like Nog and give them plenty of story.
The list goes on and on.
