Is Star Trek "For Kids"?

[Jedi_Master]

It's difficult to argue an intensely personal and subjective standard.
My kids can watch Spiderman: Homecoming thirty times a week, and they move on about their day - whilst occasionally trying to climb furniture like "Piederman!"
On the other hand, they can watch the Puss and Boots cartoon series ONCE and are still whacking me, their mother, and any other person nearby with sticks or any other object that substitutes for a sword.
They also can watch Star Wars ONCE! and immediately get the moral lesson that "bad guys" must be killed... and shoot at people in the local Target.
So... everyone has to make their own choices, and it's really a stretch to enforce a subjective standard on a corporate product.

 

[Spot261]

I’m discussing what you’re discussing, which is that TOS had more graphic violence than Discovery. If you think that’s off topic the you shouldn’t have brought it up.

Nope, I said statistically there was more sex and violence in TOS than Discovery, just rechecked my own posts, still no mention of it being comparably graphic, that was just you.

 

[Mark 2000]

Nope, I said statistically there was more sex and violence in TOS than Discovery, just rechecked my own posts, still no mention of it being comparably graphic, that was just you.

If you say so.

 

[Galileo7]

I was nine years old when I began watching reruns of TOS. So, yes it is for kids.

 

[ozzfloyd]

I was nine years old when I began watching reruns of TOS. So, yes it is for kids.

I was 10 when I saw Aliens. Was it for kids?

 

[The Wormhole]

I was 10 when I saw Aliens. Was it for kids?

Well, Aliens actually did have a toyline associated with it that was targeted at kids. So there's that.

 

[Timewalker]

Star Trek is for everyone!

But, there are topics that kids just won't get.
I haven't watched the Animated Series (yet?) so I don't know how deep the material is in there, but animated usually says: for the kids.
In general, I don't think Star Trek is a show for the kids.

I can't think of anything in TAS that would be a problem for kids.

I do recommend seeing "Journey to Babel" and "City on the Edge of Forever" before you watch "Yesteryear", as that episode uses elements of both episodes (the Guardian of Forever and a look at Spock's life when he was a child).

Shows that aren't trying to be accessible to kids don't put such a large number of kids in the show. Also, while they touched on major social issues they always digested it down to something simple, and never had any kind of graphic depictions of violence. The times there was sexual content, they talked about it in a manner that adults would easily understand but would go over kids' heads.

Arguing that they put a low rated show in the garbage slot is not an argument they didn't design the show for either kids or adults to enjoy it.

"Family show" is not the same as "Kids show". They very clearly intended the show to be enjoyable for both kids and adults. I will concede, TNG season 6 diverged from this more, as did later in DS9. But Voyager seemed to lean more and more into it as the show went on, adding more and more kids to the show.

I wish they'd kept Mezoti, instead of writing her out.

Let me ask you, what age were you when you first got really into Trek? I was 10. What percentage of Trek fans do you think would answer that question with a number over 18?

I was 12, and will admit that it was a bit uncomfortable watching a couple of episodes with my grandfather, since he disapproved of them.

Really? TOS had people with their organs on the outside? Spinning blades splattering brains everywhere? Moaning, naked Klingons?

I have never actually noticed the organs-outside-the-body in the transporter malfunction scene. Keep in mind that was in TMP, not in the TV series.

I don't remember "blades splattering brains everywhere." What episode was that in?

And when the hell were the TOS Klingons ever naked? The closest ever on TV was in "Day of the Dove" when Chekov attacked Mara. Her tunic was ripped, but she certainly wasn't naked.

This all sounds like a description of some of the TOS stories in the Orion Press "Serinidad" stories. Now those contain blood, guts, gore, torture, rape, naked Klingons, and are not even remotely suitable for anyone under 18.

 

[Mark 2000]

I don't remember "blades splattering brains everywhere." What episode was that in?

That's why there are question marks at the end of those sentences. As in "Discovery had these things, did TOS?"

 

[Refuge]

Really? TOS had people with their organs on the outside? Spinning blades splattering brains everywhere? Moaning, naked Klingons?

Spoiler: Too many Discovery spoilers

That was a deliberately provocative scene to engender the horror of what may have been torture and sexual abuse of the character having these flashbacks. That it ended up not being a forced abuse story has a retrospective element of misdirection. Either interpretation would be inappropriate for kids in my opinion.

The eating of alien entities is another favourite of Discovery and it is gruesome. Oddly for me the Mudd scenes of him repeatedly killing Lorca were almost played for humour but by contrast Ash twisting the neck of a gentle character (Culber) was unsettling and violent. The tone counts as well. Discovery (the Mudd episode apart) plays darker.

 

[Timewalker]

@Mark 2000: Well, it appears that I was able to answer one of them: The transporter scene in TMP said that the organs were outside the bodies.

I've only seen a few Discovery episodes, and given my preference for less blood/guts/gore, it would appear that I'm not missing much.

 

[Jedi_Master]

Silly rabbit - Trix are for kids...

 

[Butters]

I think it depends entirely on the kids. It’s not inappropriate for kids, but I would not expect them to take much from it before they’re about 10-12, but there are much cooler things at that age.

Discovery I don’t let them watch but, unintentionally, B5 is compulsive viewing for the seven year old, because Shadows! Fixated on them, unsurprisingly.

 

[2takesfrakes]

Who are all of those "action figures" and playsets for, then, if not kids? Not teenagers and certainly not young adults!

 

[-Brett-]

Who are all of those "action figures" and playsets for, then, if not kids? Not teenagers and certainly not young adults!

If this forum is any indication, they're for "adults". Or 30+ year old children who like to pretend they're adults, anyway. No one else seems interested.

 

[XCV330]

I watched star trek on reruns as a kid in the 70's. its as much a part of my early learning as Mr Rogers, or that weird yellow bible story book my folks made me read. I learned good things from the show. Probably learned some bad things, but mostly I had a lot of fun. and it creeped me out.

I used to pretend one of those flying rubber pancake things would land on my back at any moment.

 

[1001001]

Both of my kids grew up watching Star Trek. I’ve taken both to conventions when they were teens.

Star Trek was regular family viewing in our home, and still is with Discovery.

 

[Lord Garth]

Back in 2001, at one point, I was burned out. I wanted to leave the board. Obviously that didn't happen, I said it in the heat of the moment, but I just about had it... and a bunch of people told me not to go, after I said so. One of them said to me "You're the voice of reason!" Bear in mind I was 22 at the time and I, of all people, was being called the "voice of reason"? Looking back on it, I think that says something about the situation right there.

 

[suarezguy]

I agree with the consensus here that Star Trek generally and overall is intended to be appropriate for all-ages/family viewing. Generally (DS9 maybe an exception) PG, with only 2, 3, at most 4 shows a year that were instead more intense and even then only to the PG-13 level.

Shouldn't the story they are trying to tell and how they tell it determine what audience it is acceptable for? Not the genre.

I'm generally for artists having their own discretion about what they want to make, including its tone, but it is at least worth considering that not only is Sci Fi generally presumed by viewers to be appropriate for children it is also generally marketed as such. If they do want to make something intended more for adults, the studio should clearly market that it's not what might be expected.

 

[suarezguy]

Just checked the OP, no mention of graphic content one way or the other whatsoever, it isn't the point at all. That might be what YOU are discussing, but the actual thread we are posting in is about whether trek is or ever has been a kids show

But the (occasional) presence of guns or lasers/phasers, including gun/phaser fire being exchanged, generally isn't thought to disqualify a show from being for kids or appropriate for kids.

 

[The Wormhole]

Who are all of those "action figures" and playsets for, then, if not kids? Not teenagers and certainly not young adults!

The ones currently being made for McFarlane Toys could end up with the "Ages 17+" label so many of their products do.

And no, that's not a typo. I actually did intentionally write "seventeen."