Imagine a small old west town on the outskirts of civilization. The settlers have been plagued by conflict with the natives, so the government sends a U.S. Marshall to help settle disputes and keep the peace. Shortly after this Marshall arrives, a railroad line comes through town, bringing all kinds of new commerce and tourist opportunities to the small town.

Adventure ensues.

Other characters are present as well. The tough local sheriff. The Marshall’s teenage son. The sleazy saloonkeeper everyone loves to hate. The settler who gets roped into assisting the Marshall in relations with the townsfolk. The Marshall’s longtime friend. The naive big city doctor hoping for romance and excitement.

Sounds like a pretty typical Western, doesn’t it?

I’m actually describing something quite different. The TV series I just finally started watching–Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

Commander Sisko is, of course, the Marshall. Odo is the sheriff. Quark the saloonkeeper, Kira the local emissary, Bashir the doctor, Dax the old friend. The space station really does function like an old west town, with the wormhole taking the role of the railroad coming through and upsetting the balance while bringing new opportunities. Even the theme music is reminiscent of the rousing, optimistic tunes of old western movies.

I noticed the parallels as soon as I watched the pilot episode and have remained fascinated by them ever since. I love mixing genres and this one is particularly fun and well-done so far. And while I like the characters and the stories are okay (it’s really too soon to judge–I’ve only seen half a dozen episodes) this old-west pattern is definitely what delights me the most. As a fan of both westerns and science-fiction–I approve.

When Gene Roddenberry was pitching his original vision for Star Trek to the network executives, he called it “wagon train to the stars.” Indicating that it would be essentially a Western in space. While Star Trek: The Original Series never really was that (it seems that Roddenberry just said that to get the network on board, having no intention of actually making Star Trek a space Western), perhaps in a way Deep Space Nine is a belated nod to that original pitch. It seems too obvious not to be intentional–at least to me.

Regardless of why it happened, I’m looking forward to studying this wagon train to the stars and the way it melds genres. Maybe I’ll find a few things that I can implement into my own work.