Will We Ever See The 1990s Star Trek Aesthetic Again? Or Hear that “humm” Sound When No One Speaks?

[GuyX]

It's funny how the things people love the most and grew up with don't seem dated to them.

They are very dated. From the bus seat costumes to the flat, un-animated touchscreens with less functionality than the phone I'm typing this on to the sexist outfits and sometimes awful makeup on the women to the messages of episodes like "The Outcast" which do not go over well in the 21st century.

I’m actually a new Trek fan. I only just finished watching DS9 last week. TNG I finished in 2015(it took me so long to dig into DS9 because I desperately wanted an HD remaster but when I kept reading about how that was not going to happen anytime soon, I took the plunge thanks to the pandemic. DS9 is by far my favourite Trek show. It blew me away). I don’t think DS9 feels dated from a design stand point. Some of the execution of those designs can look a bit cheap but the design itself looks fine. Meaning you could make DS9 today, with a bigger budget & keep all the equipment & ship designs & props but made to a higher production quality stand point and it wouldn’t look dated one bit. What gives the show away is the 90s production technology & techniques. You can tell it was made in the 1990s because of Major Kira’s hair cut, that sort of thing.

Early TNG does feel dated. The first couple seasons. But again it mostly feels dated because of things like an actors hair style or the production technology. The movie sets of TNG don’t feel nearly as dated. Why? Larger production budget.

 

[F. King Daniel]

The movie sets of TNG don’t feel nearly as dated. Why? Larger production budget.

I'd say more generic sci-fi designs. I like the Enterprise-E bridge, but it doesn't have anything memorable about it.

 

[Josh Kelton]

Watching these new Trek shows...I haven’t seen a single ship design that’s felt right.

Perhaps it just needs more time for people to become acclimated to it.

 

[Lord Garth]

I’m actually a new Trek fan. I only just finished watching DS9 last week. TNG I finished in 2015(it took me so long to dig into DS9 because I desperately wanted an HD remaster but when I kept reading about how that was not going to happen anytime soon, I took the plunge thanks to the pandemic. DS9 is by far my favourite Trek show. It blew me away). I don’t think DS9 feels dated from a design stand point. Some of the execution of those designs can look a bit cheap but the design itself looks fine. Meaning you could make DS9 today, with a bigger budget & keep all the equipment & ship designs & props but made to a higher production quality stand point and it wouldn’t look dated one bit. What gives the show away is the 90s production technology & techniques. You can tell it was made in the 1990s because of Major Kira’s hair cut, that sort of thing.

Early TNG does feel dated. The first couple seasons. But again it mostly feels dated because of things like an actors hair style or the production technology. The movie sets of TNG don’t feel nearly as dated. Why? Larger production budget.

I know what you're saying, and to you it's all new. We're looking at it from opposite perspectives. So Imagine watching it every week for years on end. Imagine watching it after it starts to go downhill. It doesn't sound like you've seen VOY and ENT yet. The type of Star Trek shows you want back had their time. It had a beginning, middle, and end. It's done. You discovered it after the fact, and that's all there is to it.

Picard continues the story of it, even though it's not the same production style. Lower Decks hearkens back to '90s-era Star Trek, even though it's animated. These two shows are as close as you're going to get for now. But, if it helps to know, the people in charge of making Star Trek will increasingly be people who grew up with TNG. So you won't get exactly that, but you will get something closer to its vain.

 

[The Old Mixer]

Oh yeah...if he hasn't watched VGR or ENT yet, then my advice would be to keep watching...he'll probably get his fill of it just like everyone else did.

 

[Vger23]

Watch The Orville.

 

[fireproof78]

To clarify, I think that Trek changing to reflect modern advances is a good thing. I'm just saying it also has a certain look about it that's unique and that people tend to identify with.

Star Wars has a lot of it's own visual language. It's consistency sometimes makes it seem like there is never any real technological progress, which is a definate weakness. Yet, I think part of the appeal is having a fairly consistent universe which feels both expansive and integrated.

Which is fine...for Star Wars.

 

[NCC-73515]

Here's one thing I've never, ever seen brought up: Where would anyone put the paper from the printouts? I didn't see anywhere to put paper at all on that bridge.

One random guy brings Pike a paper report, and he just shakes his head XD

Early TNG does feel dated. The first couple seasons. But again it mostly feels dated because of things like an actors hair style or the production technology. The movie sets of TNG don’t feel nearly as dated. Why? Larger production budget.

The padded walls remind me of Alien from 79 (another timeless design, I think). Walls should be soft and there should be carpet everywhere in case the artificial gravity and/or inertial dampeners fail. If anyone gets thrown around on the D bridge, they're gonna be less injured than getting thrown around on DS9's Ops XD

 

[fireproof78]

If the inertial dampeners fail the crew is dead.

 

[WarpFactorZ]

I'd say more generic sci-fi designs. I like the Enterprise-E bridge, but it doesn't have anything memorable about it.

Agreed. I could draw the Ent-D bridge with my eyes closed. The E? Might as well just be a "bridge-of-the-week" thrown together from other sets.

 

[EnderAKH]

Agreed. I could draw the Ent-D bridge with my eyes closed. The E? Might as well just be a "bridge-of-the-week" thrown together from other sets.

In fairness though, you got to see and live with the Ent-D bridge over the course of 7 years, 176 hours of television plus a movie. You've been with the Ent-E bridge for 6 hours. The D had a lot more opportunity to imprint an emotional investment with you.

 

[mdtauk]

Agreed. I could draw the Ent-D bridge with my eyes closed. The E? Might as well just be a "bridge-of-the-week" thrown together from other sets.

The amount of time we all spent seeing the bridge, from various angles may have more to do with that, than it's design.

But I take your point, and find the Ent E bridge less distinctive in my mind too.

 

[fireproof78]

The D stands out only from sheer repetition. In this instance familiarity breeds contempt.

Mileage will vary.

 

[The Wormhole]

And the music. My god. I know the Enterprise theme was terrible but give him some memorable! The Discovery & Picard main title sequences don’t inspire awe or wonder. The music doesn’t feel grand & heroic. It’s just...there.

Wut? If there's any music in this franchise which doesn't feel grand, heroic, or memorable and is just...there, it's definitely the music from the 90s shows. Say what you want about the music on the current shows, I'll admit it's not always perfect, but it definitely has more presence than the music on TNG and DS9 did. I mean, come on, TNG's most memorable music (TBOBW score) only came about because the composer knew he was leaving the show after that episode anyway and couldn't be reprimanded.

TNG doesn’t look dated. Even all these years later. Or DS9. The designs don’t look dated at all.

Wut? Those shows are totally dated today and totally scream 90, possibly more than TOS screams 60s. LCARS is laughably primitive compared to touchscreen technology that exists today, and the omnipresence of CRT screens all over the place on DS9, even on the state of the art Defiant was already looking bad when that show ended and plasma and LCD screens were starting to become commonplace. And don't even get me started on everyone carrying computer pads all over the place, or seeing stacks of them on a desk in order to represent "busy."

 

[Bornin1980something]

^Oh, I've seen the desks at home increasingly cluttered with digital devices. It's only cost that keeps their numbers down. If you replicate all the padds you want, it is implausible that some would wind up piled high like paper.

 

[fireproof78]

I mean, the PADD just simulates paper and characters treat it as being one PADD per subject. It makes little sense as people keep bringing in more and more PADDs as if electronic messaging wasn't a thing.

 

[GuyX]

I know what you're saying, and to you it's all new. We're looking at it from opposite perspectives. So Imagine watching it every week for years on end. Imagine watching it after it starts to go downhill. It doesn't sound like you've seen VOY and ENT yet. The type of Star Trek shows you want back had their time. It had a beginning, middle, and end. It's done. You discovered it after the fact, and that's all there is to it.

Picard continues the story of it, even though it's not the same production style. Lower Decks hearkens back to '90s-era Star Trek, even though it's animated. These two shows are as close as you're going to get for now. But, if it helps to know, the people in charge of making Star Trek will increasingly be people who grew up with TNG. So you won't get exactly that, but you will get something closer to its vain.

Correct. I have not seen Voyager or Enterprise

 

[GuyX]

Wut? If there's any music in this franchise which doesn't feel grand, heroic, or memorable and is just...there, it's definitely the music from the 90s shows. Say what you want about the music on the current shows, I'll admit it's not always perfect, but it definitely has more presence than the music on TNG and DS9 did. I mean, come on, TNG's most memorable music (TBOBW score) only came about because the composer knew he was leaving the show after that episode anyway and couldn't be reprimanded.

Wut? Those shows are totally dated today and totally scream 90, possibly more than TOS screams 60s. LCARS is laughably primitive compared to touchscreen technology that exists today, and the omnipresence of CRT screens all over the place on DS9, even on the state of the art Defiant was already looking bad when that show ended and plasma and LCD screens were starting to become commonplace. And don't even get me started on everyone carrying computer pads all over the place, or seeing stacks of them on a desk in order to represent "busy."

I’m not talking about the background score. I’m talking about the main title theme.

And again, when you say things like “CRT television make it seem dated” you aren’t paying attention. There are things that feel dated from a PRODUCTION stand point. I.e material that they used to build the sets. Budget was obviously a problem. I’m talking about DESIGN.

the Design of the TNG Enterprise doesn’t look dated. Nor do the Starfleet costumes of DS9.

Here’s an example. They changed the way Klingons look in Discovery. Why? Klingons looked great as is. Or in Picard they have those ridiculous totally impractical incorporeal holograms instead of actual Consoles. It makes no sense and isn’t practical. They would’ve had that tech in TNG era based on what we see. All of a sudden the world switched the holographic displays? That would’ve been possible then! But we all know why Picard as Holographic displays. Because it’s looks “futuristic”. Those are the sort of details that bother me. You don’t get a lot of form over function in 90s Star Trek but now it seems like you do.

It doesn’t have to look EXACTLY the same. But a natural evolution might be nice. A continuity. The flashy J.J Abrams style just doesn’t seem right.

 

[fireproof78]

They changed the way Klingons look in Discovery. Why

To make them alien. Make it feel like an interstellar Empire. Klingons in TNG were one note stereotyped species. Frustrating.

 

[Lord Garth]

Correct. I have not seen Voyager or Enterprise

Hmmm. Yeah. Let's just say I'm giving you the head's up.