Again, different audience and dynamic. Perhaps VOY is condemned because TNG had already done it and done it better. VOY claimed to be something new and never fulfilled that claim.
Maybe. Which means Berman was right again when he said they should've waited.
He probably was right on that point.
Right, which means the production team must be prepared to do something with it. This is no fault of the audience, who keeps getting blamed.
They were rushed into production and hassled by Network interference the entire show. They were in a much tighter spot than past Treks.
Not as much as you think. TOS was constantly under the gun to perform or be canceled. I'm not saying VOY didn't have its pressures, because it obviously did. Just that it isn't new to the franchise.
They have no one to blame but themselves for hating every single alien species the show presented right from inception.
Again, the evidence is lacking for such hyperbolic statements.
It's always been done that way, because it's the only real effective way to do it in Trek.
That is an artificial limitation that does not need to be imposed on Trek. Writers should be able to move past that.
It's the audience's fault for refusing to accept that a single alien species existed that could do any damage whatsoever to the Borg.
Given how overblown the Borg were in TNG and movies, is that really an unreasonable expectation? Given how the Borg were reintroduced in "Unity" such a lukewarm reception may be understandable.
Also, their reception to Scorpion is not as dire as being portrayed here. A quick review of fan ratings were generally positive, even among those who are more critical of VOY.
Well, the premise really wasn't all that different from Past Treks. Only difference was that they took an inherently limited plot and stretched it out 6 years too long.
Again, a fault on the production team.
Decreasing interest as a whole, which was aided by the audience hating everything VOY did.
An interesting statement not supported by facts.
Maybe if they had cannon fodder and the audience didn't hate them sticking around in one area long enough to flesh it out...
Then flesh out the characters. Often times, if the location doesn't matter, and according to VOY premise it really didn't, then the characters should.
Yeah, it was. For not accepting VOY doing what all other Treks did.
VOY was not supposed to be like other Treks. VOY was supposed to be different.
VOY was "Lost in Space: TNG". And that show didn't work out either.
Again, not the fault of the audience.
I disagree, but even if he was it doesn't change that Moore and Behr are whiners who think they had it worse than they really did.
Their attitudes have no bearing upon VOY.
Holding UPN's interference against VOY or allowing it as a factor. VOY failed on its own.
VOY's characters maintained the status quo, and did nothing that would create an emotional hook beyond the superficial. Some were thinly sketched and little was done to fix that. Again, for me, if I don't have a connection to the characters, then it is difficult for me to enjoy a show.
Regardless of audience feedback, VOY did little to make a change in its characters that mattered. So, if it doesn't matter, why should I care?
Like I said, trim the cast. Smaller casts are easier to write and keep track of. Xena and Hercules were on at the same time as VOY and both did fine with only 2 main characters.
It also makes it easier to do Secondaries and Recurring characters, cause with a smaller main cast you won't risk forcing a Central out of their screentime.
Indeed, but this is not a problem with the audience, which, for some reason, gets most of the blame in this discussion. To me, that is unreasonable, not because VOY was the same as other Treks, but because it set out, from the outset, to be different.
Allow me to share my own personal experience. Being a teenager (ish) when VOY came out, I read as much as I could about it, including make-up, alien design, and character biographies. I enjoyed it, found the ideas enjoyable, and think that the Intrepid class is a fine looking ship (much better than the Defiant, IMHO).
I did not start out wanting to
hate, malign, smear, disparage, critique, insult or otherwise harass VOY. It was enjoyable for me as a young man. It was enjoyable for most of my friends, as well as my brother and family friends.
Fast forward ten years, and I am watching VOY with a more mature eye, as someone who is more well read and wants to write good stories about characters. Unfortunately, VOY did not have much to offer in that way. Regardless of the reasons why, VOY characters suffered from a lack of development, to the point that Harry Kim was slated to be killed a variety of times because the writers had no idea what to do with him. If that had happened, VOY might have been better for it, by reducing the main cast and showing that survival is in question.
I read an article that said that VOY stuck too closely to the TNG formula of "problem of the week" when shows like Stargate SG-1 (among others) were doing character arcs and plot lines. I tend to agree with that because VOY set out a new premise, something different, then went right back to the TNG formula. For the record, DS9 suffered from a similar formula at the beginning but took steps to change that.
A formula only works for so long in creative works.
This article spells it out better, but I'll summarize: the problem with VOY is that it became a shooting circle of blame. Writers pointed at Trek fatigue, fans pointed out writers, and everyone pretty much stopped listening. It's sad, but that seems to be the case.
VOY said it would be different, and did not deliver. Regardless of the premise weaknesses, it still did not do anything to create lasting character arcs or something new. And before the argument comes up that the audience was opposed to different, bear in mind the Scorpion was different and added to the show, including character development. Unfortunately, that character development was often centered around Seven of Nine.
