Episode Behind the Scenes

TREKCORE > DS9 > EPISODES > PROFIT AND LOSS > Behind the Scenes
 
Cirroc Lofton (Jake Sisko) does not appear in this episode.
   
Actress Mary Crosby (Natima) is best remembered for playing Kristin Shepard, who shot J.R. Ewing on Dallas. She is also the aunt of actress Denise Crosby, who played Tasha Yar during the first season of The Next Generation.
   
It was while working on this episode that a 6.7 magnitude earthquake struck Southern California, including the Paramount studios where Deep Space Nine was being produced. The earthquake struck on 17 January 1994 at 4:31 AM, when Armin Shimerman, Mary Crosby, and other actors requiring extensive makeup were having their makeup applied in preparation for crew call at 5 AM. Following a two-day inspection of the studio for damage and structural safety, filming continued on 19 January – albeit, amidst a series of aftershocks.
   
Much of the plot resembles things that happen in the Academy Award-winning 1942 film Casablanca. In fact, the original script of the episode was titled "Here's Lookin' at You...", a reference to a popular quote from the film.
   
Armin Shimerman and Mary Crosby's makeup had to be touched up each time the actors kissed, since his orange makeup would end up mixing with her gray makeup.
   
Director Robert Wiemer on "Profit and Loss" and the LA earthquake:
"They all went running out to their cars in full makeup and raced home. And of course since the power was out, there were no traffic lights, and every corner became a four-way stop. The stories that must have been going around! It must have seemed like the bowels of the Earth had opened and those creatures had come out!"
   
More from director Robert Wiemer on "Profit and Loss":
"I'll never know how we got done with it on time. In addition to everybody telling everybody else his or her personal earthquake story or experience - which took up a lot of time - we also had to deal with the aftershocks that rumbled through every minute and a half. All the lights would rattle and the sets would shake and everybody would catch his breath. Talk about breaking concentration!"
   
Ira Steven Behr discusses the original draft, with the working title "Here's Lookin' at You...":
"Everything that was really worthwhile on the show was borrowed from Casablanca, and we couldn't do that. .So then we had to find the show. And I thought that the idea of Quark involved with an alien, with a Cardassian, was an interesting way to go."
   
Ira Steven Behr talks about his feelings on the finished episode:
"I felt we didn't need another tough, sexy swashbuckling character on the show. We had enough of those. We needed our offbeat, interesting characters. It should have been Beauty and the Beast, or Woody Allen and every woman he's ever been with in films. You don't take Woody Allen and make him into Bogart. Yeah, you have Bogey telling Woody Allen how to behave, but he does it through his Woody Allen persona. The scenes with Quark drove me mad."
   
Armin Shimerman talks about "Profit and Loss":
"It was great fun. Mary Crosby was a sheer delight to work with. And the honest truth is I probably had a little bit of a crush on her during the week I worked with her. She put up with a tremendous amount of makeup that I don't think she expected, and she did it without complaint. And she allowed me to kiss her with my sharp teeth, which I have qualms about. I'm always terrified that I'll hurt someone. I wish I could tell you [how many takes there were on the kissing scenes]. All of them were enjoyable, but I don't remember how many. After each one, we had to have our makeup touched up. The orange of my makeup mixed with the gray of Mary's makeup, and it wasn't a pretty sight. Karen Westerfield [Makeup artist] was truly miffed at the damage that was being done."