How much does watching VOY as a kid affect people's opinions?

Discussion in 'Star Trek: Voyager' started by TalkieToaster, Nov 23, 2013.

  1. TalkieToaster

    TalkieToaster Lieutenant Red Shirt

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    I have fond memories of watching Voyager as a kid. I didn't know at the time how many people disliked it. Some of my opinions regarding Trek have changed since then (I liked Insurrection as a kid and now think it's mediocre), but for the most part I like Voyager just as much as I did then. I can see the show's flaws better now, but I think it had some overlooked strong points. How big are the differences in opinion between people who watched the show as a kid and those who didn't?
     
  2. T'Girl

    T'Girl Vice Admiral Admiral

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    I watched it as a child and it's the series where I like and identify with the cast of characters the most. Of all the shows, they're the most like friends.

    I like the major characters on TOS, TNG and ENT, but don't identify with them.

    With DS9, strictly speaking I don't really "like" the people on the show, I'm not sure you're intended too.

    :)
     
  3. F. King Daniel

    F. King Daniel Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    I watched it as a teen. It was TNG I saw as a kid and loved at the time... I've since re-evaluated my opinion after an attempted rewatch.
     
  4. hux

    hux Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    I wasn't a kid but Voyager was the first Trek show i properly watched about 15 years ago and the one that got me interested in all the other series.....i think it was the lost in space element that appealed to me and i got hooked

    After that i watched all the other Trek shows and while i came to recognise that TNG and DS9 were probably superior in terms of characters and stories.....Voyager remains my baby...the one that gives me a warm glow inside each time i watch it

    I see its flaws but have an emotional attachment to it that i don't have with the others

    I guess it's a bit like having kids and one of them is a bit slow and less able than the others....you make more effort with that one....no wait, that's a terrible analogy....you get what i'm saying though
     
  5. Melakon

    Melakon Admiral In Memoriam

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    I was 44 when VOY aired, having started with TOS and watched the other series as they aired. At the moment, Voyager is probably in my number 2 spot, though I'm still evaluating ENT.
     
  6. Brit

    Brit Captain Captain

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    I was nineteen when TOS first aired so I saw all the Treks as an adult, and mostly they all have various faults. Personally TOS is probably still my favorite Trek although I don't watch it much anylonger (I think I have all the episodes memorized). I did watch a couple about a month ago one being "The Devil in the Dark" and I still found it enjoyable, of course the production values have changed etc. But that can't be helped. I think I love Voyager second, maybe because I was older and female and have loved science fiction since I was 12 and it show a woman as the leader. The show resonated with me. I like all the Treks from TOS to Enterprise, but some I like better than others. If I were to list my favorite Trek Episodes, there would be a mix from all the shows.

    My favorites would be TOS, Voyager, DS9, TNG, and Enterprise but sometimes I like Voyager better than TOS. Heck I even like the Animated series.
     
  7. Goji

    Goji Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    It was the first Trek show I ever watched, and for at least a year it was the only one that aired on a channel we had access to, so it was the only one I *could* watch. At the time I was quite the fan. Then my family moved, got satellite TV for the first time and I completely converted to TOS/DS9. Now Voyager is by far my least favorite show in the franchise, but I still have fond memories of staying up late (it aired at 11 PM, I remember that vividly) to record episodes on VHS. I might even still have those tapes somewhere.
     
  8. Guy Gardener

    Guy Gardener Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    How does one know when they are no longer a kid?
     
    Last edited: Nov 23, 2013
  9. Harvey

    Harvey Admiral Admiral

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    I was eight when Star Trek: Voyager started airing. At the time, I didn't really distinguish between "good" and "bad" Trek; really, the only entries in the franchise I didn't care for were Star Trek--The Motion Picture and Star Trek V: The Final Frontier. Perhaps not coincidentally, those were the only two films in the franchise they didn't own, so I saw them rarely.

    When I was twelve, I joined Trek-RPG.net and was surprised to read some very negative reactions to the episode "Dark Frontier" at the time. I had been faithfully watching some incarnation of Star Trek since my birth, and I never really thought critically about any part of the franchise up until that point.

    The series wrapped when I was 14; revisiting it on DVD during high school and college, I found myself re-evaluating the series (often, negatively) to the point where I realized it was my least favorite.
     
  10. Lucky

    Lucky Captain Captain

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    I think nostalgia does influence things. With TOS and TNG, I don't remember a time I didn't know who the characters on those shows were. DS9 was the first Trek show I started watching live regularly (the show was in its 6th season i believe). And ENT was the only Trek show I watched live from the beginning (I was 16 when it started). So with those shows, I either grew up with them or was a regular viewer in their run. I had seen a few episodes of Voyager, but I was never a regular viewer. It wasn't until towards the end of college that I started watching Voyager. I liked it, characters like Seven were standouts, but it is my least favorite of the shows. It was hard for me to look past the flaws I saw, and I just never connected to it as emotionally as I did the others.
     
  11. teacake

    teacake Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    I have introduced Star Trek to a lot of people (it's not easily watched here), many of them young. I've always started with Voyager :D
     
  12. Guy Gardener

    Guy Gardener Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Has it really been that long?

    That people have to be "introduced" to Star Trek because they've never heard of it.
     
  13. exodus

    exodus Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    When nobody over 12 laughs at your jokes?:p
     
  14. Guy Gardener

    Guy Gardener Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Nah. That's so easy, everyone should be doing it.
     
  15. teacake

    teacake Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Yes people have to be introduced to Star Trek. They have heard of the recent movies but never seen a single episode of any of it.. :eek:
     
  16. Pondwater

    Pondwater Vice Admiral Admiral

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    As a kid I was very into TNG. I was 10 when "Caretaker" originally aired and I had a strong dislike toward it. It wasn't Next Gen. Anywho, several Summers later, the cable went out and UPN was one of few stations that picked up on the analog TV. So, I began to watch it again and loved it. By then I was a teenager/young adult.
     
  17. jaz'a

    jaz'a Vice Admiral Admiral

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    I was 11 when Voyager started. I didn't watch it from the beginning but picked it up a few seasons in. Not out of choice, but someone had to turn the VCR on for mum. I ended up loving it more than she did. I've tried to watch the other Treks, but have only had slight success. I've watched a chunk of ENT. Half an episode of TNG (the production was terrible and the acting.. ugh) although I've seen all the TNG movies. Those were ok, they were trek so I was happy. DS9 I've tried numerous times but other than season 7 I've never been able to get into it.

    I'm a character person. They don't have to be perfect characters but I have to care about them. I did on voyager. I watched very little TV growing up and I loved the strong (if imperfect) character that Janeway is. The only TV character I totally crushed on as a teenager.

    These days it is my comfort TV. I still love the characters and I still enjoy it.

    I'm always disappointed when I watch other trek because I don't enjoy it as much and I really want to because of how much I love Voyager.
     
  18. exodus

    exodus Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Yes, lots that haven't seen it have the notion that it's very talky and boring. That and stereotype of how the fans are, turn them off too it.
     
  19. Guy Gardener

    Guy Gardener Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Did you see Star Trek on South Park a couple weeks back?

    In a Game of Throne spoof, the entire school was acting out a civil war to homogenize their gaming console.

    PS4 vs XBOX 1.

    Cartman was not fond of the kids playing the Star Trek MMRPG.
     
  20. exodus

    exodus Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    I don't watch South Park.