Maybe the future of Star Trek is up to fan productions.
Some are really awesome...
If you want Trek dead, then that is your path. Trek is getting close to 60 years old now. We are getting close to 1000 episodes of tv and have had 13 features released and counting.
Fandom in its various forms can help sustain interest in a program but without reach of product, that interest eventually withers and dies. Just like its fans. I am one of the TOS fans but I was exceptionally young when it came out. Most people who were even thirty are now deceased.
What kept it alive. Syndicated reruns in the 70's. That gave rise to a new generation of fans. But over the decades the reach of those reruns have declined. But They created mass market films. Then mass markets TV shows sequels. Those have had various level of audience appeal, that have added some new fans with each iteration.
They have had various fanzines, fan novels, and fan productions over the decades. That isn't what has keep Trek as a viable property for new generations. It's been the studio produced mass market shows and films.
Without that the fanbase of Trek would be a mere fraction of what it is today as the mortality rate, would have done its thing.
Fan productions have almost no real impact on the franchise, except in allowing some small part of fandom a creative outlet, and for some fans some enjoyment. Thats really it.
variety.com
