Great Trek eras

[Frontis]

Great area? The 60s

 

[CoveTom]

Probably the greatest eras...

TOS, Seasons 1 and 2. They laid the groundwork.

TNG S3 thru DS9 S7. The golden age of the Berman era.

I would agree with you on both fronts, except I would adjust the Berman era by one season on either end. I would say TNG S2 through DS9 S6.

I think TNG S2 is seriously underrated. And though DS9 S7 had some good moments, I think it had run out of steam by then. In particular, I think they utterly destroyed one of the most interesting and complex villain characters Trek ever did in Dukat.

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

The Bantam Books era, the Pocket Books era . . . .

Not to be confused with Gold Key era, the DC era, the Marvel era, the DC era again, the Marvel era again, the Malibu era, the IDW era . . .

The Bantam / Ballantine Books eras, or, the TOS/TAS era where ST became a well-deserved global cultural phenomenon, never to be matched by the franchise again. It was so alive, spirited and creative during the Bantam / Ballantine era; and its creative voice--despite being in the hands of many talents--felt like one, strong representation of TOS, including the welcome deluge of groundbreaking behind the scenes books, technical manuals / blueprints, poster magazines, photonovels, comic book TPBs, and so much more, but all were speaking in the best language of ST, after the TV series, of course.

 

[Rowdy Roddy McDowall]

The Bantam / Ballantine Books eras, or, the TOS/TAS era where ST became a well-deserved global cultural phenomenon, never to be matched by the franchise again. It was so alive, spirited and creative during the Bantam / Ballantine era; and its creative voice--despite being in the hands of many talents--felt like one, strong representation of TOS, including the welcome deluge of groundbreaking behind the scenes books, technical manuals / blueprints, poster magazines, photonovels, comic book TPBs, and so much more, but all were speaking in the best language of ST, after the TV series, of course.

And, arguably best of all, the majority of James Blish's episode adaptations.

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

And, arguably best of all, the majority of James Blish's episode adaptations.

Oh, I consider the Blish novels part of the Bantam / Ballantine Books era of Star Trek. His novels were essential to the massive growth in ST's popularity beyond the TV series.

 

[fireproof78]

Great area? The 60s

The best era

 

[Turtletrekker]

I define Star Trek eras roughly as the Roddenberry/Coon era, the Harve Bennett era, the Roddenberry / Berman era, the Berman/Pillar/Taylor/Behr era, the Berman and Braga era, the JJ Abrams era and finally the Kurtzman era.

My favorites would be Roddenberry/Coon, Bennett, Berman/Pillar / Taylor / Behr and Kurtzman.

 

[Rahul]

What do you think of as great Trek eras? A fit of nostalgia hit me as I was going though the list of shows on streaming, and made be think about this. By this I mean not just the quality of the productions, but also real world fan reaction.

First on my list, and the one I barely knew was the 70s. It was the era of anticipation and endless reruns, culminating in a massive return film. I don't want to forget TAS in this mix either. This was the era that built fandom into what it became: cons, fanzines, etc. I'm not forgetting the 3 years of the 60s show, but I feel this is the period that built Star Trek.

Next, the movie era. While a lot of us wanted a TV show, there's no denying the anticipation of a big noticeable movie every 2-3 years was exciting and memorable. Terry Matalas' nostalgia comes from this period.

TNG. While the story goes that lots of fans resisted, the truth is most people were happy to see it, and it set records! It set the tone not only for 18 years of Star Trek, but spawned a scifi TV revolution. The last 3 years of the show were probably overall the most popular Trek has been in every aspect...

Related to this is the 90s in general. New TV series, movies and everything under the sun but with a noticeable downward creep after 1998.

The Kurtzman era. Not sure what else to call this...Secret Hideout era? CBS destabilization era? While the middle 90s hit all cylinders, this period from about 2017 to 2023 had its own highlights. It could be said the streaming show licensing sub-era from Netflix and Amazon led to the widest and most immediate viewing audience in Trek history. Modern communication makes the effects a bit different than the 90s but there's no doubt it's a significant part of Trek history with a big following.

The era is technically still going on, but in a holding pattern. Will the 60th anniversary, new movie and Hideout contract ending change things? Stay tuned, Trek isn't going anywhere.

Well the objective truth is of course that the best Star Trek era was when I was a kid.

 

[XCV330]

The Bantam Books era, the Pocket Books era . . . .

Not to be confused with Gold Key era, the DC era, the Marvel era, the DC era again, the Marvel era again, the Malibu era, the IDW era . . .

I still want Gold Key issues turned into an animated series with no connection to anything else. I wonder who has the rights to those issues and if there were ever any film rights attached. Probably not.

Gold Key got parceled out over the years. Valiant bought part of it, Dynamite, as usual, dumpster dived some. Mattel owned the name but then it went to Random House and now oddly enough NBCUniversal owns it, though the actual Gold Key Comics name was bought by someone else and there's an attempt to revive it (why?!) but I don't think they have any rights to old licensed materials.

 

[Qonundrum]

I would agree with you on both fronts, except I would adjust the Berman era by one season on either end. I would say TNG S2 through DS9 S6.

I think TNG S2 is seriously underrated. And though DS9 S7 had some good moments, I think it had run out of steam by then. In particular, I think they utterly destroyed one of the most interesting and complex villain characters Trek ever did in Dukat.

^^this

DS9 definitely felt like it was concluding or heading to the main climax in season 6, with 7 feeling more like an epilogue (was it considered for cancelation at the end of season 6 at any point? Ratings for each year did continue to go down...)

TNG2 is grossly underrated, mostly because of a couple of rubbish episodes that are worse than season 1's average outings and come close to being as bad as season 1's worst. TNG2 has an arc (Pulaski's acceptance of Data) as well as a recurring theme of "This is the distant realm of outer space calling. I'm full of unknown things, some of which are very deadly and some very surprising and you're saying you're out here to explore and seek out, so hi there!" Heck, as much as I say TNG5-7 become templated and coasting, they still have the occasional episode that reminds viewers of this, even without the use of recurring baddies. (Yep, it's time to take my mask off and mention my love of "Masks" for returning to the basics and with some TOS flair...)


I'm tempted to add that the best writing went to DS9 while TNG5-7 coasted, which makes sense if they were expanding the universe and pushing the envelope by using the best writing team and ideas to be given to the new sibling (unless your name is "Jan Brady", metaphorically of course), or - better yet - using the duck analogy (TNG makes everything look like they're floating on water but DS9 is showing the hard paddling under the surface). TNG5-7 aren't always bad (but did often get banal, IMHO).

 

[Dar70]

What do you think of as great Trek eras? A fit of nostalgia hit me as I was going though the list of shows on streaming, and made be think about this. By this I mean not just the quality of the productions, but also real world fan reaction.

First on my list, and the one I barely knew was the 70s. It was the era of anticipation and endless reruns, culminating in a massive return film. I don't want to forget TAS in this mix either. This was the era that built fandom into what it became: cons, fanzines, etc. I'm not forgetting the 3 years of the 60s show, but I feel this is the period that built Star Trek.

Next, the movie era. While a lot of us wanted a TV show, there's no denying the anticipation of a big noticeable movie every 2-3 years was exciting and memorable. Terry Matalas' nostalgia comes from this period.

TNG. While the story goes that lots of fans resisted, the truth is most people were happy to see it, and it set records! It set the tone not only for 18 years of Star Trek, but spawned a scifi TV revolution. The last 3 years of the show were probably overall the most popular Trek has been in every aspect...

Related to this is the 90s in general. New TV series, movies and everything under the sun but with a noticeable downward creep after 1998.

The Kurtzman era. Not sure what else to call this...Secret Hideout era? CBS destabilization era? While the middle 90s hit all cylinders, this period from about 2017 to 2023 had its own highlights. It could be said the streaming show licensing sub-era from Netflix and Amazon led to the widest and most immediate viewing audience in Trek history. Modern communication makes the effects a bit different than the 90s but there's no doubt it's a significant part of Trek history with a big following.

The era is technically still going on, but in a holding pattern. Will the 60th anniversary, new movie and Hideout contract ending change things? Stay tuned, Trek isn't going anywhere.

For me it would be the TOS movie era. Except for the 5th film they were solid entries. The Berman era came right after and was a great transition and meshed will with the TOS movie era. I suspect I will never feel about Trek again the way I did during they 20 year or so span. Picard season 3 was the closest I think. I also have to remember that there are not as many years left for me to build up too much nostalgia for newer material...