Will TOS maintain its legendary status as Trek fandom gets younger?

[Racefuel]

Like in my case..I watch TOS for nostaligia..it takes me back to afternoons after school when my local stations would re-run TOS. But were I not to approach it from that, were I someone who just entered the Star Trek fandom based on say..the ST09 Kelvinverse films?

TOS would be hard to stomach

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

I guess the title asks it all. As new generations of fans discover Star Trek (through the current shows, no less), do you believe that TOS will remain respected and loved in the coming decades - or will it fall by the wayside as fans instead look back with nostalgia on "their" Trek (in most cases, not TOS)?

No. For example, Berman-Trek--with hundreds of episodes & its own set of fans who never watched TOS--did not dull, replace or otherwise prevent TOS' continuing ascent as a cultural landmark. In the time of the Berman series, TOS only continued to grow as said cultural landmark, and in the decades to come, despite the existence of JJ-Trek and the new series, TOS remains the undisputed face of the franchise in pop-culture, general awareness of the concept and certainly in representing the lion's share of merchandising across the decades. There's a reason behind that--starting with TOS being a far more innovative and bold series than any Star Trek TV series of the 1980s-foward.

I think every new iteration of Star Trek since 1979 has just reinforced the legendary status of TOS. The more time goes by, the more you have to acknowledge that it all started with that amazingly entertaining idea and set of characters / designs / etc.

True.

Cultural theorists have argued pop culture typically has a shelf life of 20 years. By this metric TOS has achieved near timelessness. What else from the 1960's has had this relative staying power? The James Bond films? THE PRISONER? Even now, someone in roughly their mid-30s that is otherwise a genre fan could probably enjoy TOS if watching it for the first time. But at the same time think of THE OUTER LIMITS or THE TWILIGHT ZONE. Both are supposed to be incredibly good. But unless it was a case of someone recommending a particular episode, I'd just look at the amount of the episodes on hand and how old they are and just pass on them. There's just too much good content out there, and people have to triage what they try out.

TOS' power transcended being "just" as TV series, hence its ability to outlast productions that were born of period gimmicks or trends (e.g., much of the filmed spy genre). Unlike the original Lost in Space, which spent its post 1960s years ping-ponging from nostalgic acceptance to total derision and back, TOS never suffered from that problem, as it was minted as the Gold Standard TV sci-fi to follow had to either surpass or at least reach (a constant issue in the media coverage for Space:1999). What other TV sci-fi creation ever had that kind of lasting impact aside from the original Twilight Zone? None.

 

[Relayer1]

“Cheesy” was the main response.

It is.

There's probably a small core group of classic episodes that could be used as an "in" for modern audiences without overloading them with 60's cheese. And drop a few breadcrumbs for the later shows.

My somewhat subjective picks are -
Space Seed
City On The Edge Of Forever
Balance Of Terror
The Doomsday Machine
The Menagerie
Journey To Babel
The Ultimate Computer
The Enterprise Incident
The Tholian Web

 

[ananta]

It makes me kind of sad that younger people don’t generally have any interest in (much) older media these days, whether it’s tv, film or music. I’ve always loved old movies and even, in some cases, music from long before I was born. In fact, I tend to enjoy older media to contemporary stuff. TOS was well before my time and it’s my favourite show to rewatch, perhaps partly because of the stylistic choices of the era, not least the beautiful lighting and colour (a far cry from the PIC photography; dark sets are fine but never forget to actually light your actors!).

So, yeah, it’s sad that a number of fans now may not even watch TOS. They don’t know what they’re missing, but such is life!

 

[Citiprime]

For those that think TOS will become too dated, let me ask a question kinda related to this ... The original Star Wars trilogy is only about 10 years younger than TOS.

Do people believe that A New Hope will one day lose its "legendary status" among Star Wars fans as time goes on?

I just don't subscribe to the idea that quality content ages out of being relatable or enjoyable.

 

[Nyotarules]

For those that think TOS will become too dated, let me ask a question kinda related to this ... The original Star Wars trilogy is only about 10 years younger than TOS.

Do people believe that A New Hope will one day lose its "legendary status" among Star Wars fans as time goes on?

I just don't subscribe to the idea that quality content ages out of being relatable or enjoyable.

Depends on the viewers definition of 'quality content'. The entertainment industry recognises it has a diverse market and not just pandering to a certain demographic. The first Star Wars film, as much as I enjoyed it, is set in a fictional unknown time, in a galaxy far, far away full of aliens and white looking humans. In the future, it might still be enjoyable to us oldies living on our childhood memories but my neices and nephews (born in the 21st century) will probably find it dated and unimpressive.

 

[gweeps]

I think it's already behind TNG and Voyager. Here's the spread from the Fan Collective DVDs, released in the late-2000s.

Enterprise: "Broken Bow"
Enterprise: "In a Mirror, Darkly"
Enterprise: "In a Mirror, Darkly, Part II"
Enterprise: "Regeneration"
Enterprise: “E²”
Enterprise: “First Flight”
Enterprise: “Judgement”
Enterprise: “These Are the Voyages…”
Enterprise: “Twilight”

The Original Series: "Errand of Mercy"
The Original Series: "The Trouble with Tribbles"
The Original Series: "Mirror, Mirror"
The Original Series: "The Alternative Factor"
The Original Series: "The Enemy Within"
The Original Series: "Turnabout Intruder"
The Original Series: "The Enterprise Incident"
The Original Series: "Balance of Terror"
The Original Series: "Tomorrow is Yesterday"
The Original Series: "The City on the Edge of Forever"

The Next Generation: "A Matter of Honor"
The Next Generation: "Sins of the Father"
The Next Generation: "Redemption"
The Next Generation: "Redemption, Part II"
The Next Generation: "Deja Q"
The Next Generation: "Qpid"
The Next Generation: "True Q"
The Next Generation: "Encounter at Farpoint"
The Next Generation: "Hide and Q
The Next Generation: "I Borg"
The Next Generation: "Descent"
The Next Generation: "Descent, Part II"
The Next Generation: "In Theory"
The Next Generation: "Tapestry"
The Next Generation: "Q Who"
The Next Generation: "The Best of Both Worlds"
The Next Generation: "The Best of Both Worlds, Part II"
The Next Generation: "Parallels"
The Next Generation: "Frame of Mind"
The Next Generation: "Yesterday's Enterprise"
The Next Generation: "Cause and Effect"
The Next Generation: "Time's Arrow"
The Next Generation: "Time's Arrow, Part II"
The Next Generation: "All Good Things..."
The Next Generation: "Chain of Command"
The Next Generation: “Chain of Command, Part II
The Next Generation: "Darmok"
The Next Generation: “The Inner Light”

Deep Space Nine: "Crossover"
Deep Space Nine: "Through the Looking Glass"
Deep Space Nine: "Shattered Mirror"
Deep Space Nine: "What You Leave Behind"
Deep Space Nine: "Far Beyond the Stars"
Deep Space Nine: "In the Pale Moonlight"
Deep Space Nine: "Little Green Men"
Deep Space Nine: "Trials and Tribble-ations"
Deep Space Nine: "Q-Less"
Deep Space Nine: "The Way of the Warrior"
Deep Space Nine: "The Sword of Kahless"
Deep Space Nine: “The Visitor”

Voyager: "Barge of the Dead"
Voyager: "Death Wish"
Voyager: "The Q and the Grey"
Voyager: "Q2"
Voyager: "Scorpion"
Voyager: "Scorpion, Part II"
Voyager: "Drone"
Voyager: "Dark Frontier"
Voyager: "Shattered"
Voyager: "Unimatrix Zero"
Voyager: "Unimatrix Zero, Part II"
Voyager: "Endgame"
Voyager: "Year of Hell"
Voyager: "Year of Hell, Part II"
Voyager: “Course: Oblivion”
Voyager: “Flashback”
Voyager: “The Omega Directive”
Voyager: “Timeless”
Voyager: “Before and After”
Voyager: "Counterpoint"

 

[F. King Daniel]

I guess the title asks it all. As new generations of fans discover Star Trek (through the current shows, no less), do you believe that TOS will remain respected and loved in the coming decades - or will it fall by the wayside as fans instead look back with nostalgia on "their" Trek (in most cases, not TOS)?

TOS was first. Already it's attitudes are quite dated, hence SNW ignoring and remaining a lot of stuff. But as the first it'll always be the best.

Tumblr is full of young 'uns and they adore it.

 

[Racefuel]

And yes, to a degree, Star Wars (ANH) in its original form is kind of the same way. In one of my social circles are a few younger sci-fi fans where their first Star Wars movie was Attack of the Clones and Clone Wars cgi show...and they have used the words "cringe" about ANH.

Time marches on

 

[Sci]

It makes me kind of sad that younger people don’t generally have any interest in (much) older media these days, whether it’s tv, film or music.

Ever it was thus. How many young people in the 1960s (60 years ago) were into pulps and silent films from the Nineteen Aughts (60 years before then)? How many people from the 1930s were reading popular fiction magazines from the 1870s (60 years before the 1930s)?

 

[Racefuel]

One of the issues I know a few people have with TOS is when they use phrases like "there's no earth ships out this far" or calling the enterprise a "space cruiser" or such.

Little things yes, but just like how people bristle at calling the Titan-A a "refit"..those key phrases and such in TOS cause a ruckus for some

 

[Sketcher]

Do people believe that A New Hope will one day lose its "legendary status" among Star Wars fans as time goes on?

I mean...A New Hope is the Star Wars film that I watch the least. It's somewhat of an outlier, being such a simple story, with an obvious smaller budget than the other films. It's also been show, analyzed, dissected, parodied, and replicated so many times over the decades it's hard to be amped up to watch it. The behind the scenes, and all the underdog stories to get it made, I still find vastly enjoyable to watch wherever I can.

 

[The Wormhole]

DS9 and VGR will date by just not being in HD.

DS9 is now dated, ironically, by what was at the time their attempt to be more "realistic." That being CRT screens being so omnipresent everywhere on the show, even on the state of the art Defiant. That was already dating the show in its final season and plasma and LCD screens were becoming commonplace. Voyager is dated by the same issue that dates all the 90s shows, that being computer padds are treated like electronic clipboards rather than as portable computers. It's especially laughable now seeing the characters carrying padds around the ship to deliver to someone else rather than simply sending the information to them via some form of e-mail. To say nothing of the stacks of padds we see cluttering desks to represent "being busy" or the crate full of padds that had to be lugged around on Voyager.

 

[James Cole]

It's especially laughable now seeing the characters carrying padds around the ship to deliver to someone else rather than simply sending the information to them via some form of e-mail. To say nothing of the stacks of padds we see cluttering desks to represent "being busy" or the crate full of padds that had to be lugged around on Voyager.

I see the stack of PADDs as being the 24th century version of having too many tabs open in your browser. Hell, I've had an old laptop, a new laptop, two smartphones, and a tablet all going at the same time while working on a project.

And e-mail isn't the productive panacea it appeared to be. For anything important, it makes sense to have the person who wrote the report deliver it to their supervisor and be able to answer questions while looking over it. Hell, if you're expecting something that might be a bit of a mess, having the person that did a short project read it over to you usually inspires a lot of on the fly revisions that frequently improve the quality of the content.

 

[Lord Garth]

My enjoyment of things:

2000s & Up: "Pick and choose". Some of it, I like. Some of it is, "That damn new stuff!" Depends on what it is.
Mid-1980s to 1990s: My Time. I find most of this easy to watch, even if I think it's bad. It can be fun-bad.
1970s to Early-1980s: The stuff slightly before my time or I was too young for. Not too far out there for me.
1960s: I still don't have a problem watching most of this stuff and never did.
1950s: I won't lie. I'm not much of a fan of TV or Film made in the '50s.
1930s & 1940s: This has been an acquired taste for me. As an adult, I really like entertainment from these eras.
1920s & Earlier: I've always had a fascination with Silent Films and the Early-20th Century in general.

 

[The Wormhole]

And e-mail isn't the productive panacea it appeared to be. For anything important, it makes sense to have the person who wrote the report deliver it to their supervisor and be able to answer questions while looking over it. Hell, if you're expecting something that might be a bit of a mess, having the person that did a short project read it over to you usually inspires a lot of on the fly revisions that frequently improve the quality of the content.

And what about personal correspondence? Wouldn't that be more practical to send via e-mail than being hand delivered? I refer specifically to Voyager, when they first started getting letters from home. As each letter came in, it was put onto a padd, then Neelix had to run around the ship to hand deliver the padd to the recipient. Which led to him reading everyone's letters and spreading gossip about them. I should think in that case, e-mail would be a far more logical alternative. Not to mention, respecting the crew's privacy. Though really, the whole thing was just a contrivance to give Neelix something to do for the week, it does leave the impression regardless that reading someone else's mail is apparently not a felony in the 24th century.

 

[BillJ]

One of the issues I know a few people have with TOS is when they use phrases like "there's no earth ships out this far" or calling the enterprise a "space cruiser" or such.

Little things yes, but just like how people bristle at calling the Titan-A a "refit"..those key phrases and such in TOS cause a ruckus for some

If it is stuff like that that stops one from enjoying it, then they probably were never going to enjoy it to begin with. Minutiae should never overshadow storytelling.

 

[BlueStuff]

My enjoyment of things:

2000s & Up: "Pick and choose". Some of it, I like. Some of it is, "That damn new stuff!" Depends on what it is.
Mid-1980s to 1990s: My Time. I find most of this easy to watch, even if I think it's bad. It can be fun-bad.
1970s to Early-1980s: The stuff slightly before my time or I was too young for. Not too far out there for me.
1960s: I still don't have a problem watching most of this stuff and never did.
1950s: I won't lie. I'm not much of a fan of TV or Film made in the '50s.
1930s & 1940s: This has been an acquired taste for me. As an adult, I really like entertainment from these eras.
1920s & Earlier: I've always had a fascination with Silent Films and the Early-20th Century in general.

For me, "2000s" is markedly different from 2010s-now. The 00s were a completely different time with some of my favourite films and TV shows; those years deserve better than being lumped in with the current years all as "new stuff" - for me, anyway.

 

[Gul Sengosts]

From my own experience... I'm a "second-generation" Star Trek fan, by which I mean I grew up with TNG/Berman Trek. To me, TOS (the TV series, not the movies) already used to be that terrible campy old crap, and it was/is for quite a few others my age. I later learned to love it, but I still see many of my age who are fans of TNG but think TOS is unwatchable shit.

At the same time, I see many young people online, often half my age (I'm 40), who fell in love with TOS. One example would be the duo of the "I Quit Star Trek" podcast (if that name seems odd in this context: they love Star Trek, they just make fun of terrible episodes). And I guess if someone's a "third-generation" fan--by which I mean having grown up with Abrams/Kurtzman Trek--this content may be a primer that makes them want to check out that original show. Indeed I think TOS is often even more relevant to some of the present-day content than it was to Berman Trek, especially Disco S2 and, obviously, SNW.

So I don't think TOS will lose its status compared to earlier, because the detraction was there in the 90s already. It looks dated now, but it also did in the 90s, to almost the same extent imo. Also, retro is more in vogue than it was back then. It will continue to find new fans, not least because the Shatner-Nimoy-Kelley trio is so amazing and enjoyable, it has no match in any other show.

 

[JesterFace]

Just because TOS was the first Star Trek series and is what all others have derived from doesn't mean they're obligated to treat it like it's holy.

Even if someone doesn't like TOS but likes other things related to Star Trek it's good to have some respect for the original that made it all happen.
My TOS rewatch is too long overdue but I'm pretty sure it will happen at some point.