star trek - When did the Ferengi lose their formidability

In episode 1x05 The Last Outpost the Ferengi antagonists are thought to be a formidable enemy. The crew mentions, without hesitation, the technical formidability of the Ferengi and it is assumed that it is technically feasible for a Ferengi ship to disable a galaxy class starship. In contrast, in Deep Space nine the Ferengi, Quark and Rom especially, are more like the comic relief, and the Ferengi tech we see is much less threatening and not at all combat oriented. When did the Ferengi stop being a formidable enemy, whether it was a change in "tune" of script writing or a specific event in the series?

Answer

It was essentially with the episode you mention, The Last Outpost. I heard David Gerrold talk at a convention toward the end of or after the end of the first season of Star Trek: The Next Generation. He said they wanted a small, compact, bobcat like creature - one that could tear you to pieces.

They were disappointed because what they got on screen was nothing like what they had intended. They didn't come across seriously enough to project the feeling of a threat, so they were dropped as serious antagonists at that point.

While they did show up during that season in other roles, note that it wasn't too far into the season (for instance, The Stargazer). While the disappointment hit them when they saw the episode on screen, the series had a long lead time from start to finish for each episode, so it wasn't possible to adapt immediately to the situation.

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