Summary
- Fans who believed in Gene Roddenberry's view of a conflict-free futuristic utopia often dismissed "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" as not being true "Star Trek."
- It's unclear whether Gene Roddenberry would have liked "DS9" or not, as he never lived to see its premiere. While he gave his approval to the broad idea of the show, it's uncertain how he would have reacted to its sometimes controversial storylines.
- The truth is that Gene Roddenberry had objections to many aspects of "Star Trek" that fans consider classics.
There's always been a debate about whether Gene Roddenberry would have hated Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and the truth is more complicated than some might think. There has always been a division in fandom over whether the vision of Gene Roddenberry should be treated as gospel, or merely as a guide. Fans who rigidly believed in Roddenberry's view of a futuristic utopia free from conflict often claimed that DS9 wasn't "proper" Star Trek. This is a surface-level reading of a show that broke down the so-called "Roddenberry Box" to provide new ways of telling Star Trek stories.
To criticize Star Trek: Deep Space Nine for not lining up with the vision of the so-called Great Bird of the Galaxy ignores the fact that Gene Roddenberry hated classic Star Trek movies and shows. It's therefore very hard to tell if he would like DS9 or not, despite a consensus that the long-dead Star Trek creator would have hated it. Roddenberry never lived to see DS9's premiere, so fans will never know for sure how he would have reacted to its sometimes controversial storylines. However, it's possible to approximate Roddenberry's response from what he left behind – the memories of friends, loved ones, and colleagues.
Would Gene Roddenberry Hate DS9? – What We Know 
It's unclear exactly what, if anything, Gene Roddenberry knew about Star Trek: Deep Space Nine prior to his death in 1991. Speaking on Twitter in 2014, DS9 co-creator Rick Berman stated that Roddenberry "gave us his enthusiastic approval" regarding their pitch for the show. As this would have been at least two years before DS9 premiered, it's likely that anything Berman and co-creator Michael Piller presented to Roddenberry would be the broad idea of "The Rifleman in Space" – referring to the father and son eking out a living in a frontier town or space station. Due to Roddenberry's position as the creator of Star Trek, no Star Trek: The Next Generation spinoff could have been commissioned while he was still alive without him giving his consent.
It's likely, therefore, that Berman and Piller did have a broad conversation with Roddenberry about what Star Trek: Deep Space Nine would entail, and he agreed in principle. In the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion, Berman said that "[Roddenberry] knew that we were working on something, and I definitely had his blessing to develop it." So Roddenberry had approved of the initial premise, but DS9 challenged Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek vision, which was something that didn't always go down well with the franchise's creator.
However, there are various hallmarks of Roddenberry's Trek running through Star Trek: Deep Space Nine from its very beginning. Just as with Star Trek: The Next Generation, DS9 opens with the protagonist encountering an omnipotent species keen to learn more about humanity. As an aethiest, Roddenberry would surely have been interested in DS9's more rational and scientific approach to religion, though he may have disapproved of Sisko becoming a religious icon. He would certainly have disapproved of the clear conflict between Picard and Sisko, especially as Roddenberry had previously voiced the strange opinion that humanity would have evolved past grief in the 24th century.
