The Nagus

"The Nagus" is the 11th episode of the American science fiction television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

This is the first of several episodes in the series focusing on the politics of the Ferengi, an alien race distinguished by their emphasis on earning profit as the highest goal.

Zek, the Grand Nagus of the Ferengi Alliance, arrives at Deep Space Nine and seems to take an interest in Quark.

Quark has a hard time adjusting to his new position, but he becomes popular among the Ferengi entrepreneurs by giving away lucrative business opportunities.

The writers had difficulty developing the business part of the story and Michael Piller suggested: "Well, let's do The Godfather"; the idea stuck and Ira Behr wrote the teleplay.

[3][1] Shortly after Quark is "made" Grand Nagus, the shot of the following scene is a near-exact duplicate of the opening of the movie, with a client coming to seek a favor.

Casting director Ron Surma found out that Wallace Shawn was interested in doing an episode of Star Trek and writer Ira Behr said: "Let's find something that could possibly recur, and if he likes it…".

Club, bemoaned the fact that the Ferengi are essentially a horrible cultural stereotype and that it provides a very limited platform on which to base a story.

He praised the casting of Wallace Shawn, Shimerman's performance, the hilarious Godfather riff, but concluded that it is the B-story with Jake and Nog that gives the episode its heart.