TAS: Underrated Series

[EnsignTOS]

Except for a few things here and there, what's not to love about the animated series overall? 1. The original VA's are there. 2. The early-70's soundtrack is very good. 3. The characters' personalities are fleshed out even more. 4. Some of the best lines and quips are to be found here. 5. Uhura in command twice. 6. And much more!

So why exactly is it so unpopular?

 

[BillJ]

I didn't know it was unpopular?

 

[Spock's Barber]

I always thought that TAS episode "The Jihad" would have made a better motion picture than that atrocity called TMP.

 

[2takesfrakes]

The Animated Series is very cute! There's no question about its visual appeal. As we all know, it won an Emmy. So the writing's up to snuff, as well. The problem with this series is that it makes a half hour drag on. It's boring, which is the cardinal sin of all entertainment - particularly with a cartoon, where "anything" can happen. The pacing sucks, which affords time to appreciate its other flaws, like the cheap animation, in particular. Also the reuse of Jimmy Doohan, especially, catches the ear, the same with Nichelle Nichols and Majel Barrett. The acting in it sucks, from The Big 3. If The Animated Series was more "animated" and moved at a nice clip during its half hour, these other flaws would be hardly noticeable. I've tried to watch it with all of the affection and attention that I've afforded The Original Series, but whilst I do own it, the show's just not "lively" enough, I guess you could say. But again, the visuals of it are very charming, as is the TAS theme music, which is a slight variant of the TV show's.

 

[EnriqueH]

I recently discussed TAS since I had seen it for the first time, but I had trouble getting through it.

I'm currently watching the entire Star Trek franchise start to finish. I went through TOS and then started on TAS, but despite the cast, I found it challenging to get through at times.

First of all, some of the actors weren't accustomed to voiceover work and it shows. There's a certain vitality from some performers. I love the man, but I have to be honest: Shatner was one of them. Although in the later episodes, you can tell he was starting to figure it out. He's the lead actor, and his energy and screen presence was a HUGE contributing factor to TOS and, yes, Star Trek's success overall, but he was inexperienced going into TAS.

Second, going from TOS straight into TAS was a jarring experience. TOS *always* was crackling with activity. The show was all about energy, activity, action. EVEN if everyone was sitting around, the music, colors, and dialogue kept things moving. Look no further than Captain Kirk. Shatner was a ball of energy on TOS, even if just sitting in his captain's chair...but in TAS, his eyes moved and the rest of him stayed perfectly still. The antithesis of Kirk.

In TAS, the animation was stagnant, had very little activity, and the music was repetitious episode after episode. In other words, the opposite of TOS.

The TAS' main strengths were: A) Bringing back the cast, experienced or not, it helps to have them. B) The writing. There ARE some wonderful stories. Truly worthy of TOS, but the problem was that the animation and music didn't serve them at all times.

Overall, I like TAS. But it does have some flaws, especially when juxtaposed next to TOS.

 

[BillJ]

The problem with this series is that it makes a half hour drag on. It's boring, which is the cardinal sin of all entertainment...

So, it was the proto-TNG!

 

[Spock's Barber]

The problem with this series is that it makes a half hour drag on. It's boring, which is the cardinal sin of all entertainment...

So, it was the proto-TNG!

Cure insomnia FAST, FAST, FAST!!!!! Watch TNG!!!!

 

[Warped9]

TAS shows its age. More so than TOS it's a product of its time when television animation seemed almost a throwaway medium. I'm sorry if that doesn't sound fair because we know a great deal of creativity went into animation of that era.

There is a lot of good in TAS, but it suffers in comparison with what we've gotten in animation since. There are a lot of great ideas in TAS that I just love accepting as part of the TOS universe.

TOS doesn't really suffer much compared with live-action SF we've gotten since particularly when you put it in context of irs era. But TAS does suffer.

For me a show like the early '90s Batman TAS is what a show like Star Trek TAS should be like. And I think it was in its day, but certainly not by today's standards. The voice acting suffers at times and definitely the static animation more than anything else. Change the latter and the show becomes markedly better instantly. Fix the former and you have a winner.

But there is certainly more than enough good in TAS to see that it could work again today given a similar level of creativity and dedication as the original.

 

[2takesfrakes]

The Next Generation was Gene Roddenberry's Pièce de Résistance! There is no comparisson with it to a mere ... cartoon. TNG was poignant, at times ... exciting at times ... and yes, I'll say it, deliberate in its thoughfullness, at times. But what a thing of beauty that Classic Television Series is ...

 

[BillJ]

The Next Generation was Gene Roddenberry's Pièce de Résistance! There is no comparisson with it to a mere ... cartoon. TNG was poignant, at times ... exciting at times ... and yes, I'll say it, deliberate in its thoughfullness, at times. But what a thing of beauty that Classic Television Series is ...

I'll agree that there is about 30 episodes of what you describe sprinkled through TNG. But the rest of it is absolutely coma inducing.

 

[Warped9]

The Next Generation was Gene Roddenberry's Pièce de Résistance! There is no comparisson with it to a mere ... cartoon. TNG was poignant, at times ... exciting at times ... and yes, I'll say it, deliberate in its thoughfullness, at times. But what a thing of beauty that Classic Television Series is ...

I've just coughed out a lung.

And TAS cannot be compared with live-action. It's not a fair comparison.

 

[2takesfrakes]

... TAS cannot be compared with live-action. It's not a fair comparison.

... AGREED!!! In-the-deed, agreed!

 

[Christopher]

3. The characters' personalities are fleshed out even more.

Good point. Sulu and Uhura in particular were better served and more truly equal members of the ensemble in TAS than they were in TOS. And "Yesteryear" is right up there with the most important and influential Spock stories ever told, so much so that TNG was referencing it even when the rest of TAS was being treated as a canonical non-entity, and so much so that parts of it were all but remade in the 2009 movie. And "The Survivor" gives us our only onscreen mention of McCoy's daughter.

 

[Marsden]

Popularity, like fashion, is something I will never understand.

Having said that, I didn't know if it's popular or not, somewhat like what BillJ just said, but really, it is it's own part of Star Trek and a much closer addition to the original more than anything else, including the 6 movies.

Unlike a lot of cartoon adaptations, it really is a continuation, and made in a time when cartoon programing was only as highbrow as Scooby Doo and the Flintstones, if there's a popularity issue, I think that must be part of it.

 

[Richard Baker]

TAS has some great stories, also some rather weird ones- I still remember a giant Spock wandering around.
The budget animation detracted from the experience though- as mentioned above, static shots, reusing and zoom-cropping older ones, generic empty backgrounds, I noticed those more than what was going on in the story. I can only imagine what they could have done with today's CGI along the lines of the Yamato 2199 series...

 

[Warped9]

I still remember a giant Spock wandering around.

I used to really object to that, and still do in some respects, but s detail pointed out from earlier in the episode--the giant sized ancestors of the Phylosians--puts the oversized Spock in a different context. I don't think it's as dumb as I once thought.

generic empty backgrounds

TAS actually had some gorgeous alien planetscapes and such. This aspect certainly wasn't one of the series' weak points.

 

[PCz911]

I always thought that TAS episode "The Jihad" would have made a better motion picture than that atrocity called TMP.

To watch either TAS or TMP requires a certain mindset. You have to be in the right frame of mind since the pacing is so slow

But I love both. Can't say the same for tng movies. Just my personal opinion, mind you

 

[Richard Baker]

generic empty backgrounds

TAS actually had some gorgeous alien planetscapes and such. This aspect certainly wasn't one of the series' weak points.

I was thinking more about the shipboard scenes.

I do agree they had better planetary landscapes and being drawn they could really open up the visuals.

 

[urbandefault]

For some insight into Filmation's ambitions and limitations, watch this documentary. I gained a new respect for the entire process after seeing what they were up against.

[yt]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IauV2h2d84U[/yt]

As far as I'm concerned, Star Trek was the masterpiece that rose above their other really good shows.

 

[EnriqueH]

I remember enjoying "Yesteryear" and "Beyond the Farthest Star" a lot.

It's a good show, but it's a tough watch if you're doing a franchise marathon because TAS has a different energy level than TOS.