For those who watched DS9 during its first airings, did it seem odd to you that Vic Fontaine/James Darren sang entire songs in the later seasons of DS9?
I only finished watching DS9 recently and just found it really odd. It seems out of place in the regular TNG/DS9 format, didn't drove the plotline forward, and sometimes felt just like a filler.
(I don't mean to be disrespectful, I like the character and the actor can sing well, I am just curious why the producers made that decision).
Yeah, having watched in release order (ish) and just recently finished Discovery & Picard, I feel this sentiment in my bones! For sure, I don't want the actors and writers to have to be worked to the bone churning out 26-episode seasons each year.
But it's also really frustrating how they insist that every 10 episode season, their characters must save the entire galaxy. There's no actual space to get to know the characters who aren't the main ones.
The Dominion war brewed for 3 seasons and then played out over 2 more. I think. That's a time scale that allows for amazing character development.