Poll What is your Favourite era of Star Trek?

[trekfan_1]

Edit: Mods , is there a way I can edit a poll option description? If not , small request to insert TAS in the description for option 1 and ENT in option 2.

Apologies if this has been brought up. I didn't find any threads about this in the past 5 pages.

I usually have a pretty good pulse on Trek Nation but I'm fascinated to see who wins this poll.

I have separated the franchise by Era.

What is your favorite Star Trek Era?

Classic: TOS, TAS, Star Trek movies 1-6

Berman era: TNG, DS9 , VGR, ENT, Star Trek Generations, First Contact , Insurrection , Nemesis

Kurtzman era: Star Trek 2009, Into Darkness, Beyond , Discovery, Picard, Lower Decks, Prodigy

I realize that one can say the TOS movies are in a different era than TOS and that Kurtzman has little influence on the current animated shows. But I think there's obvious close synergies in those "eras" that I deiced to group those productions together.

 

[1001001]

Edit: Mods , is there a way I can edit a poll option description? If not , small request to insert TAS in the description for option 1 and ENT in option 2.

Done

 

[Vger23]

Classic is my favorite by a mile. The TOS series and films were the boldest and had the greatest sense of adventure. Lots of real intriguing concepts and drama. Great combination of fun, action and thoughtfulness, the balance of which was never re-discovered in any of the follow-ups (except for maybe DS9). TOS treated world-building as a backround context to give fun sci-fi adventure stories more context. The Berman era waaaaaaay over-did world building. The Kurtzman era doesn't give a flying shit about it. So classic era is the sweetspot for this. The characters are iconic with perfect chemistry. And, I think of everything else as derivative.

Berman era was good, but far too stiff and homogenous to be my favorite, and far too inconsistent. TNG could at times be more brilliant that TOS ever hoped to be, but mostly it was bland with a full 1/3 of the episodes are so boring and unengaging it's hard to get through. DS9 was the best of the bunch, brilliant almost from start to finish, rivaling TOS in most aspects. VOY had great potential, but the characters were weaker than the previous two series and the issues have already been well-documented (reset button, treknobabble, lack of consequences, etc). ENT also way too inconsistent and extraordinarily derivative at first, but got better over time. Overall, as an era, it's too mundane in it's approach to space exploration and discovery...not enough wonder and mystery, and there were frankly more "misses" than "hits". The characters in this era felt more-and-more like they were cobbled together by the numbers form a list of required traits rather than unique and interesting persons.

Kurtzman era is also good. Way more fun and adventure than the stuffiness and rigidity of the Berman era, but far less thoughtfulness and intellectual engagement than the classic or Berman era. Biggest weakness is the lack of attention to detail within the world, (Berman era paid too much attention to this...Kurtzman era pays too little attention) and insincere development of characters. The stories and characters are generally fun, and the visuals and action is top-rate...but it doesn't stand up well under scrutiny, and it always feels like it was rushed and haphazardly planned out.

Every era has it's positives and negatives. I might have given the nod to the Kurtzman era if it weren't for the option to combine the films and series in the classic era. The TOS films are still the bar I set for a "favorite era" in the franchise. Everything, from the character and story arcs, the designs, costumes, music, etc. is "peak Star Trek" for me.

 

[trekfan_1]

Done

Thanks.
And of course, Just realized I forgot to add Star Trek Picard in option 3.
Feel free to reduce my trekkbbs rank from L.t Commander to Lieutenant

 

[Lord Garth]

Well.... I have to go with The Classic Era.

"What?! You, the Big Discovery Fan aren't going with The Kurtzman Era?!" Nope. Sorry. I like Discovery and I like Picard. I enjoy Prodigy and watch it when I'm in the mood for it. BUT (and it's a big but) then there's the rest: I'm a non-fan of Lower Decks, I'm very in-the-middle about the Abrams Films, and very much in the mindset of "we'll see" when it comes to Strange New Worlds.

"How about the Berman Era?" It has the middle of TNG, DS9, parts of VOY, First Contact, and the fourth season of ENT. Everything else is spotty.

The Classic Era is the only one that doesn't have anything I don't like. So it wins.

 

[1001001]

Thanks.
And of course, Just realized I forgot to add Star Trek Picard in option 3.
Feel free to reduce my trekkbbs rank from L.t Commander to Lieutenant

Fixed.

You have used up your favors for all of 2022.

 

[Ray Hardgrit]

I think Vger23's already said everything I could say, but I'm picking the Berman era because it put the work in to build a universe that the Kurtzman era doesn't always fit into. Or doesn't feel like it fits into at least. The Berman era was all over the place in quality, and was frequently dull and stuffy compared to rival series like Babylon 5 and Farscape, but it feels the most like home to me.

 

[trekfan_1]

For me its Berman, then Classic, then Kurtzman (from what Ive seen) I actually enjoy the world building aspect of TNG. The fact they're more often "using a carrot rather than a stick" to paraphrase Dr. McCoy. Im also a tech nerd so I actually get a kick out of the technobabble. Its just personal preference. I'm also a big fan of Patrick Stewart and DS9 is my all-time all favorite series. TOS will always have special part in my heart but I find it too dated now. Still enjoy it on occasion. Still love most of the TOS movies (other than V)

Gave up on Discovery late in season 1. I will be giving it a second chance starting with the second season in preparation for Strange new Worlds. Picard is ok but I detest overt violence and course language. Especially violence.. I guess I'm an Organion at heart . Will still continue to watch it.
I don't mind the Kurzamn movies.
LD was not my cup a tea after watching 1 episode. Will give it more of a chance but I doubt I will change my mind. (we'll see). Haven't checked out Prodigy yet but will soon.

 

[Greg Cox]

I've enjoyed all the various incarnations of Trek to varying degrees, but TOS is the Trek I grew up on, so it will always be "my" Trek.

That said, I'm really enjoying the current cycle of shows, including LOWER DECKS.

 

[Kor]

Classic all the way for me.
Though over the years I've become rather ambivalent about anything after TWOK.

Kor

 

[Jedi Marso]

Watched TOS my whole life, and gorged on FASA Trek RPG in high school. Those are anyone's formative years.

TNG didn't even start until I was in college.

 

[tomalak301]

The Berman era, but it was much more than just Berman. I kind of wish you had called it the Michael Pillar/Ira Steven Behr era.

 

[trekfan_1]

The Berman era, but it was much more than just Berman. I kind of wish you had called it the Michael Pillar/Ira Steven Behr era.

Yeah I hear you. For better or worse, that's what much of fandom has labelled that era. Especially when it was happening.

 

[Ray Hardgrit]

The Gene Roddenberry/Maurice Hurley/Michael Piller/Jeri Taylor/Ira Steven Behr/Brannon Braga/Kenneth Biller/Manny Coto era.

 

[trekfan_1]

The Gene Roddenberry/Maurice Hurley/Michael Piller/Jeri Taylor/Ira Steven Behr/Brannon Braga/Kenneth Biller/Manny Coto era.

Are you saying I should of named classic era the Roddenberry/Gene Coon/ Fred Frieberger/Loui Scheimer /Nick Meyer/Harve Bennet era ?

 

[tomalak301]

Yeah I hear you. For better or worse, that's what much of fandom has labelled that era. Especially when it was happening.

Yeah. I just feel like Berman gets so much undue credit. Michael Pillar came in and literally saved the franchise (Not really considered a franchise at the time but still). The first two seasons of DS9 were pretty good but it was when Ira Steven Behr came in that the show reached new heights in season 4 and 5. Berman was largely responsible for most of Voyager and Enterprise. Maybe he was the executive producer and showrunner, but Piller and Behr brought in the quality that we know and love for both TNG and DS9 respectively.

 

[trekfan_1]

Yeah. I just feel like Berman gets so much undue credit. Michael Pillar came in and literally saved the franchise (Not really considered a franchise at the time but still). The first two seasons of DS9 were pretty good but it was when Ira Steven Behr came in that the show reached new heights in season 4 and 5. Berman was largely responsible for most of Voyager and Enterprise. Maybe he was the executive producer and showrunner, but Piller and Behr brought in the quality that we know and love for both TNG and DS9 respectively.

Do not disagree. I guess I was going for more a "guardian/overseer" category. In the same veine of what you said about Berrnan getting too much credit, one could say the same about Roddenberry. Gene Coon was much more of the heartbeat of the original show than Roddenberry. Having said that, since Roddenberry was so disassociated with the 3rd season of TOS , TAS and most of the movies, I couldn't justify calling that the Roddenberry era even from an overseer perspective.

 

[Vger23]

I think you could make an argument even as far back as TOS that Roddenberry gets too much credit, for example.

You had Gene L. Coon, Fred Freiberger, DC Fontana, John Meredyth Lucas, Robert Justman, etc etc who were all responsible for the feel and shape of that show.

Nobody's giving Berman "too much credit"...but he was the "back then" equivalent of the franchise runner, just like Kurtzman is now.

 

[shapeshifter]

Born and raised TOS but I have a place for parts of every incarnation. I don't dislike any series (or era) as a whole. It's all Trek to me.

 

[STEPhon IT]

TOS for me, not the movie era. The series world had a wonder I can continue to imagine the unlimited nature of the future while the movies hunkered down on how limited space was. The redundancy of the crew had to launch from Earth, or return to Earth, in nearly everyone of their installments expressed how limited the thinking was.