The one hundred and eighty-sixth TV show: #487 Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
After the other Star Trek installments, this was the one I was looking forward to covering most. It takes the large, optimistic Star Trek future and explores and challenges it. The crew don't all get along, but have conflicts built in that they still solve civilly, there are other outsiders with different points of view they take on, but there's still a lot of places where it's resolved from that same philosophy - so far at least, challenging it but not breaking it. Its focus on serialization and its large recurring cast helps to create a world that stays grounded on the station, avoiding the reset the other shows in the series take as the ship travels on. It starts off strong, and builds to a story that presages the storytelling of later dramas. So far, it really has been the best Star Trek show.