I personally add The Animated Series to the classic list, because I enjoyed it. And it was the same era, and had the same actors voice them.
"Modern" Era TREK?
- Thread starter Farscape One
- Start date
I still think TNG represents modern trek but.....
If by modern Trek you mean attitude and style, it's possible that Nutrek and Discovery fit the bill. TNG era trek has been accused of not aging well because of it's format and limitations of the time (the 90's).
The music that the characters enjoyed was often limited classical or jazz, so it was hard to identify with it, making it look less contemporary IMO. We're used to hearing a wider variety of music--Rock, Pop, R&B Country ect, and the lack of it gave TNG human society a regressive feeling.
It steered away from progressive things like showing same sex couples, and did it through alien analogy episodes.
And the no conflict amongst the crew, and the way the characters expressed themselves--it always seemed too safe. They seemed less free with their dialog.
If you compare the way TNG characters spoke to DS9 or even Voyager characters did, you can see the difference.
So if Discovery does these things different, and it sounds like they might be, it might be considered a new era of Trek.
If by modern Trek you mean attitude and style, it's possible that Nutrek and Discovery fit the bill. TNG era trek has been accused of not aging well because of it's format and limitations of the time (the 90's).
The music that the characters enjoyed was often limited classical or jazz, so it was hard to identify with it, making it look less contemporary IMO. We're used to hearing a wider variety of music--Rock, Pop, R&B Country ect, and the lack of it gave TNG human society a regressive feeling.
It steered away from progressive things like showing same sex couples, and did it through alien analogy episodes.
And the no conflict amongst the crew, and the way the characters expressed themselves--it always seemed too safe. They seemed less free with their dialog.
If you compare the way TNG characters spoke to DS9 or even Voyager characters did, you can see the difference.
So if Discovery does these things different, and it sounds like they might be, it might be considered a new era of Trek.
Even the pacing on "modern" Trek came to feel less than modern. By the time VOYAGER came around, the pacing felt positively stately compared to contemporary shows like BUFFY or X-FILES.
Confession: once, while watching a particularly talky episode of VOYAGER, I turned to my girlfriend and said, "You know, Xena would have wiped out an army or two by now."
Confession: once, while watching a particularly talky episode of VOYAGER, I turned to my girlfriend and said, "You know, Xena would have wiped out an army or two by now."
Blame the onerous licensing fees asked of most movie and TV productions, and also all of what copyright is these days; if it costs too much to have Purple Haze be played in an episode, then it won't be used, even if Jimi Hendrix would be 'classical' in 400 years.
There wasn't any popular music of the '60's featured in the original show (aside from the original compositions of Severin's gang heard in that shitty episode The Way To Eden), so why was it necessary to hear them on TNG, DS9, Voyager, or Enterprise? And especially with the fees charged, and also with what would be charged to have said songs featured on the DVD/Blu-Ray (which has derailed hearing any music on more than a few DVD box sets of a few TV shows, as has happened to the DVD's of WKRP In Cincinnati, The Fugitive, etc.)? The show did have defects, but this isn't one of them.
And at least Abrams was able to feature The Beastie Boys and old R&B in the first two movies respectively.
Seems weird that "Enterprise" wouldn't be seen as modern since it was created after 9/11 which to me is basically the moment when the 90's came to a end. Still I got to admit it feels more like 90's era Trek than anything more modern. Same with last 2 TNG movies.
Jason
Jason
I've never understood why licensing fees are so expensive. If the alternative is that the show decides to make up something or go with an public domain work, then why wouldn't the licensing studio just ask for a nominal fee and take the extra publicity?
I think of TOS, TAS, and TMP-TUC as "TOS era."
TNG-ENT and GEN-NEM would be "Berman era" and no longer modern.
nuTrek or JJTrek (STXI-STB) would be "Abrams era" and arguably modern.
DSC is today's Trek, which is certainly modern.
TNG-ENT and GEN-NEM would be "Berman era" and no longer modern.
nuTrek or JJTrek (STXI-STB) would be "Abrams era" and arguably modern.
DSC is today's Trek, which is certainly modern.
TOS - Old Trektament.
TNG-ENT - New Trektament
Kelvin Timeline - Latter-Day Trek
DIS - ScienTrekogy?
TNG-ENT - New Trektament
Kelvin Timeline - Latter-Day Trek
DIS - ScienTrekogy?
One could argue this... I see your point. We should also consider that Enterprise was actually available in HD and widescreen formats... previous shows were not. That has some element of "modern" to it.
Yeah, but Janeway would slice her ass up in a technobabble competitionConfession: once, while watching a particularly talky episode of VOYAGER, I turned to my girlfriend and said, "You know, Xena would have wiped out an army or two by now."
Simplest solution to THAT would have been to hire a couple of indie bands to play a set in Ten Forward. JMS did this a couple of times with lounge singers in Babylon 5, IIRC.
"Is that classical music?"
"Yes, I believe it is."
"Modern," used synonymous with "contemporary," suggests the latest era(s) Trek. "Modern" constantly shifts.
Today, Modern Trek is JJ-Verse or Kelvinverse Trek. It's about to include DSC. Although DSC is not JJ or Kevlin and may one day need its own name, both JJ and DSC can both be held under the "Modern" moniker as they're similar in a way that's distinct from the previous era:
TNG-ENT I call "Berman Era." No-one will ever not know what that means.
TOS, I call "Original." Classic Trek refers to TOS and TOS movies, I think.
Then there's The Original Movie Era, the TNG Movie Era, and, so far, the Modern (or JJ or Kelvin) Movie Era.
Today, Modern Trek is JJ-Verse or Kelvinverse Trek. It's about to include DSC. Although DSC is not JJ or Kevlin and may one day need its own name, both JJ and DSC can both be held under the "Modern" moniker as they're similar in a way that's distinct from the previous era:
TNG-ENT I call "Berman Era." No-one will ever not know what that means.
TOS, I call "Original." Classic Trek refers to TOS and TOS movies, I think.
Then there's The Original Movie Era, the TNG Movie Era, and, so far, the Modern (or JJ or Kelvin) Movie Era.
True, music is just a small part of it. It's the style and attitude that slightly dates the TNG era, IMO. Style and attitude can determine "modern".
At times, the TNG era looked and sounded like a 90's sci fi show designed specifically for TV. The later shows-- DS9, Voyager and yes, even Enterprise, made an effort to have the characters sound more contemporary in speech and attitude.
We heard a lot about classical music, the theatre, plays, Shakespeare, jazz, drinking tea, etc.-- it just didn't seem relatable.
At most, the most casual, adult conversation between Data and Geordi is about how he takes care of his cat. In the age of Game of Thrones, I doubt this type of format would last long on network TV or streaming TV.
And then there's the "hero bubble" that always let you know the heroes were never really going to be defeated or killed. Today the theme is "anyone can be killed", main character or not.
In fact, that is why I think Discovery can be considered trying to take on the role of being modern era trek, because I suspect it is going to copy elements of GOT into its format--we got hints about it already.
I'm not really a fan of the Nutrek movies or timelines, but do respect the attempts to have the environment appear more contemporary and relatable.
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Would this have been well-regarded by most Trekfans, though? Not everybody that's a fan of Star Trek liked or cared for alternative rock back then, and many Trekfans would probably say that rock might have died out by the 24th century. Plus, many Trekfans didn't like hearing Faith Of The Heart at the beginning of Enterprise or hearing the Beastie Boys in the 2009 movie, preferring Star Trek to be 'timeless'.
Great to see and hear that the Beastie Boys will be classical music in the 23rd century-too bad that the Beastie Boys had more or less ceased to be when both movies were made (and one of the Boys had died), preventing them from making a music video from the 2009 movie (plus a re-release of Sabotage), which would have been cool to see (at least Rhianna did make up an original song for Beyond.)
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As much as I like the Beastie Boys I think in the long run the Beattles or Rolling Stones would have been more logical. They have already proven they will stand the test of time. Plus it kind makes more sense to use bands that made it big in the 60's for a reboot of a show that was created in the 60's.
Jason
There really isn't a Beatles or Stones song that would've fit the scene well. OTOH, "Sabotage" was perfect. Plus it had the bonus of being a callback to ST09.
TOS: Hippie Trek
TNG/DS9/VOY: Yuppie Trek
ENT: RHSC* Trek
DSC: Millennial Trek
TNG/DS9/VOY: Yuppie Trek
ENT: RHSC* Trek
DSC: Millennial Trek
I guess that is true but if they wanted to go for humor they could have used "Faith of the Heart" or that metal music the one guy was playing in "The Voyage Home" before Spock gives him a Neck Pinch.
Jason
Not metal. Punk.
Enterprise wasn't actually created after 9/11. Indeed, Broken Bow aired slightly over two weeks after 9/11, which would mean several episodes were already filmed prior to 9/11.
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