Are you "aging out" of Star Trek?
- Thread starter Omega-Trekker
- Start date
While it's true my television tastes are changing as I get older (IE, these days I'm now into network procedurals, which I couldn't be bothered with as recently as a decade ago) Star Trek is something I will always have time for.
That said, my tastes in the older Trek shows have changed with age. In my youth, I considered TNG to be better than Voyager. Now I feel the opposite.
That said, my tastes in the older Trek shows have changed with age. In my youth, I considered TNG to be better than Voyager. Now I feel the opposite.
It's impossible to age out of TREK. Though it's theoretically possible for newer TREKs to betray the show's premise.
Age out? Probably not.
Just stop watching? Yes. Plenty of stuff that I've liked to watch either went to far, or just became boring and I've stopped watching entirely. LIke Dr Who, or Stargate Universe.
Just stop watching? Yes. Plenty of stuff that I've liked to watch either went to far, or just became boring and I've stopped watching entirely. LIke Dr Who, or Stargate Universe.
There's never been a part of Trek I one hundred percent loved so if I don't like a newer show I just chalk it up to not for me and move on.
Yes and no. None of the newer shows (with the exception of Prodigy, which I watched with my kids) do much for me. Some of them are quite well crafted and made with obvious love for Star Trek as a franchise. But the acting, writing, direction, visuals, inter-character dynamics, 'feel,' etc of the newer shows are just not what I am looking for. Even with the best of them (SNW, I'd argue) I found myself losing interest in an episode halfway in, turning it off, and never returning. I just couldn't shake the feeling that I was only watching the show because it was a "Star Trek" show, and that (if so) there are better things for me to be doing with my finite free time than checking boxes on a fandom scorecard. But I don't really know if that is "aging out" of Star Trek so much as it is the uncontroversial reality that the modern shows are quite different than the pre-2005 shows (and starkly different than TOS, which is my jam). It shouldn't be surprising that many of us who like the older stuff aren't going to like the newer stuff. A much more extreme example, but I don't think anyone who loved the BSG remake would be expected to love the Dirk Benedict version (or vice versa) just because they both have "Apollo" and "Cylons" in them.
I *did* feel like I was aging out of, or had exhausted, TOS 12 or so years ago when it first showed up on Netflix (which saddened me), but I randomly came back about 5 years ago and enjoy it now more than ever, to my immense surprise. I think what has helped me is that I limit myself to watching whatever episode is "playing" at the moment on Pluto when I find some TV-watching time. This makes the experience feel more like watching it on Saturday afternoon syndication in the '80s, take it or leave it, catch as catch can. I have wound up watching (and enjoying, to some extent) episodes I would never have sought out (like Mudd's Women or Assignment: Earth).The paradox of choice, I guess.
I *did* feel like I was aging out of, or had exhausted, TOS 12 or so years ago when it first showed up on Netflix (which saddened me), but I randomly came back about 5 years ago and enjoy it now more than ever, to my immense surprise. I think what has helped me is that I limit myself to watching whatever episode is "playing" at the moment on Pluto when I find some TV-watching time. This makes the experience feel more like watching it on Saturday afternoon syndication in the '80s, take it or leave it, catch as catch can. I have wound up watching (and enjoying, to some extent) episodes I would never have sought out (like Mudd's Women or Assignment: Earth).The paradox of choice, I guess.
In my sixties now too..(sigh) and while I’m still a Trekker I’m just not so bothered if some of it doesn’t work for me anymore.
Lower decks and now SNW ..I’ve gone as far as I’m going with them.Not holding out much hope for the Academy show but I’m hoping to be pleasantly surprised.
Lower decks and now SNW ..I’ve gone as far as I’m going with them.Not holding out much hope for the Academy show but I’m hoping to be pleasantly surprised.
I hadn’t really thought about the issue in terms of age.
The Berman era is “my Trek.”
The modern era has been more hit or miss for me, but I do enjoy a lot of it (specifically LDS and SNW).
Is that because I’m aging? Maybe?
I still see myself as a Trekkie and will give SFA a fair shot. As I will with anything else that comes our way.
Definitely not aging out...digging in is more like it. 
I cut my teeth on TOS Star Trek as a little girl, so I will always have a special place in my heart for it, and I watch all of the old shows often now. I was raising kiddos (as a single mom for like, a decade, too) so there has been a lot that I'm watching for the first time that I missed over the years due to that, which is pretty fun. I will see a meme or a running joke from like, DS9 or VOY, in a thread here, and it'll be, "ohhahahaha now I get it!"
The more difficult part for me these days is the change in shows being behind streaming subscriptions, and my budget is sorted into other types of buckets so I'm unable to enjoy some of it. I keep up with it vicariously, though through TBBS. Someday I hope to catch up.
I like going in and reading the GTD (edit-Get to Know You) thread, and seeing new members all excited about Trek, even after all these years.
I cut my teeth on TOS Star Trek as a little girl, so I will always have a special place in my heart for it, and I watch all of the old shows often now. I was raising kiddos (as a single mom for like, a decade, too) so there has been a lot that I'm watching for the first time that I missed over the years due to that, which is pretty fun. I will see a meme or a running joke from like, DS9 or VOY, in a thread here, and it'll be, "ohhahahaha now I get it!"
The more difficult part for me these days is the change in shows being behind streaming subscriptions, and my budget is sorted into other types of buckets so I'm unable to enjoy some of it. I keep up with it vicariously, though through TBBS. Someday I hope to catch up.
I like going in and reading the GTD (edit-Get to Know You) thread, and seeing new members all excited about Trek, even after all these years.
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I definitely enjoyed Trek more when I was younger. These days I don't bother with anything new Trek unless I have a very good reason to do so. I don't know if it's age or just me not being interested anymore tho. Maybe a mixture of both.
When Star Trek first aired, I watched it. Then, when it came back in syndication, I rewatched it. So many times that I could tell you what the episode was by the opening scene. I now rewatch at least one episode of a series each day. Right now, I am almost through season 3 of DS9. When I have finished DS9, there will be overlap with Voyager, I'll move on to rewatch of Lower Decks, then Picard. Then season 3, 4 & 5 of Discovery. By that time, Starfleet Academy should be streaming. I try to rewatch in-universe chronological order. Then start over with Enterprise, the first two seasons of Discovery, Strange New Worlds, Star Trek, The Next Generation. The fun never stops.
I’ve been watching Star Trek for 35 years now, and I doubt that will ever change. It’s timeless—there’s always something new or relevant to discover in it.
Take “The Drumhead,” for example. When I first saw it decades ago, I had a completely different reaction than I do today. Some episodes have even grown in meaning as I’ve gotten older. “Half a Life,” for instance, where Timicin faces having to end his life at 60—when I first saw it, that idea felt distant. I’m not 60 yet, but I’m getting closer, and the older I get, the more that episode resonates with me.
Long story short, Star Trek will always have something for me to enjoy. Sure, I don’t get the same sense of novelty I used to, and sometimes I take breaks from watching it—but I always find myself coming back.
Take “The Drumhead,” for example. When I first saw it decades ago, I had a completely different reaction than I do today. Some episodes have even grown in meaning as I’ve gotten older. “Half a Life,” for instance, where Timicin faces having to end his life at 60—when I first saw it, that idea felt distant. I’m not 60 yet, but I’m getting closer, and the older I get, the more that episode resonates with me.
Long story short, Star Trek will always have something for me to enjoy. Sure, I don’t get the same sense of novelty I used to, and sometimes I take breaks from watching it—but I always find myself coming back.
I’d like to note that I do, in fact, love both. They’re different shows attempting to do different things. 1978 BSG is family-friendly space opera, and is a lot of fun as such. 2003 BSG is sometimes-cerebral military sf, and is likewise very enjoyable as such. I’ve met individuals who feel the later version does BSG “wrong” because it’s so different (and certain others who write off the original essentially because it’s not hard sf, or really anything but science-irrelevant space fantasy), but to my mind such opinions completely miss the point.
Sorry guys but unless you're watching every episode of Star Trek Scouts, you've already aged out of Trek.
No, we/they’ve aged out of Scouts, not everything else. I’ll never watch the “Lwaxana takes Alexander to the mudbath on the holodeck” episode again either, but that doesn’t mean I’ve aged out of TNG, let alone Trek as a whole.
I honestly thought this would be me. At 54, I’ve completely lost interest with CBS Trek eating its own tail.
Not really, i can still watch it all, even the new stuff, but my problem is i no longer look a tv, and rarely sub to any of the subscription services, as i prefer to wait until any show is finished then buy them on br to watch when i wish.
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