A recent trend of articles has popped up across the net recently talking about the "proposed' eight season of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Never an actual idea that was considered, but the former showrunner for the series, Ira Steven Behr revealed on the 2018 documentary "What We Leave Behind" an idea that he came up with alongside fellow DS9 writers.
They hammered out an episode for the eight-season concept, and Behr revealed it in the documentary. It'd essentially see the death of Nog, the return of Benjamin Sisko to the station, and a war with the Jem'Hadar. The idea has some legs, but with how popular Nog and his actor Aaron Eisenberg were, it seems like a tough sell. Especially since he was still very much alive in 2015.
Eisenberg has since passed away, dying in 2019, making the crux of the episode a bit more difficult to pull off now. Plus, with Avery Brooks, the man behind the captain that is Benjamin Sisko, pushing 80, it seems far harder to pull off now than ever before. It seems like this idea is just that, an idea. One that will never come to pass.
That doesn't mean that we can't revisit Deep Space Nine, or in this case, the concept of life on a space station. One could make a pitch for a new space-station-based Star Trek series, but one that is not as busy as DS9.
In fact, the more isolated the better. Stick a crew, some family members, and a small rotation of ships that come in and out of the area and you can really make a compelling drama. If you focus on how the Starfleet officers deal with the stresses of deep-space living, how the family handles the stress of living so far out in the space boonies, and of course the conflicts that arise when guests come to town, you could have a real interesting series.
That would be a far better idea than revisiting the hollowed halls of Deep Space Nine. With Brooks retired from acting, Armin Shimerman being vocal about not wanting to return to Quark in a live-action setting, and most of the other cast has moved on, it seems like revisiting a story that seems very much complete is a bad idea.
Yet, the concept of deep-space living, especially one without so many expected interruptions, would be a stellar episode and a great spiritual successor to Deep Space Nine.