[morganvachon]

As much as I like supporting actors like Rene Auberjonois and Armin Shimerman, who can shine through the makeup and portray their characters realistically, I have to disagree regarding the main casts. I think they are about even as far as acting ability; from TNG you have excellent actors in Patrick Stewart, Brent Spiner, and LeVar Burton, generally good acting in Michael Dorn, Marina Sirtis, and Jonathan Frakes, And "good enough" from the rest.

In DS9, you had great acting from the above mentioned Auberjonois and Shimerman, though both could ham it up as well. Passing performances by Avery Brooks and Nana Visitor were the norm but they were both known to shine as well as fall flat. Alexander Siddig is an enigma; he was so good at being annoying that one might dismiss him before realizing that he was the perfect choice for the role. Poor Cirroc Lofton, like Wil Wheaton, suffered from the "kid surrounded by grownups" typecasting that often kills a child star's career. Both are decent actors but were never allowed to grow very much with their roles. And again, the remaining cast were neither great nor horrid.

In short, both casts had a range of acting ability, and even the best actor can't always rescue a bad script or director. But to say one is hands-down the best compared to the other is, at best, blind favoritism ("I liked one show better than the other so the other cast must suck").