I wouldn't be surprised if politics came into play. Certainly, I suspect that's part of the reason why DS9 isn't played more prominently in the U.S. these days, despite the fact that it probably rivals TNG in popularity at this point.

I mean, have you tried getting DS9 DVDs used? It's impossible to get them and the prices are inflated to boot. You might as well buy them new.

But, yeah, I suspect Q was the writers' own little personal meta machine. A perfect case of the writers laughing with the audience instead of at them (I'm glaring at you Trio from S6 Buffy).