Are you "aging out" of Star Trek?
- Thread starter Omega-Trekker
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TOS had bad episodes.
TNG had bad episodes.
DS9 had bad episodes.
VOY had bad episodes.
Etc.
Bad episodes are not confined to one era
TNG had bad episodes.
DS9 had bad episodes.
VOY had bad episodes.
Etc.
Bad episodes are not confined to one era
Every Trek series has had at least one episode I just plain didn't care for (if not far worse) and don't seek out to rewatch.
Show me any long running TV show ever that doesn’t have a bad episode.
Even Leonardo couldn’t paint a Mona Lisa every time. Who can?
Even Leonardo couldn’t paint a Mona Lisa every time. Who can?
Like many have said before on this topic, I think I'm aging back into it, which strikes me as odd and amusing. I've been getting back into the stuff I liked back when I was a kid/teenager all those years ago. Star Trek and comic books are the two major ones. Maybe it's how a middle-age crisis manifested for me. Fortunately, a rekindled fondness for spaceships and Captain America seems to be its only consequence so far. Let's hope it stays that way.
It's also one of the reasons I decided to register on this website instead of trying to find a ST community on Reddit or some other social media. I've used a lot of BBSs in the past, and seeing an active one immediately made me prefer you guys over other Web 2.0 communities.
It's also one of the reasons I decided to register on this website instead of trying to find a ST community on Reddit or some other social media. I've used a lot of BBSs in the past, and seeing an active one immediately made me prefer you guys over other Web 2.0 communities.
I don't think "aging out" is a thing for a show not made for children. I aged out of Sesame Street and The Electric Company. Star Trek has always been aimed at an older and more broad audience.
Me, I've been a fan of a TV series which premiered in 1966 called Star Trek since I was a toddler. I was a fan of everything directly connected to it with the original cast.
I was - never- a fan of the franchise or the intellectual property owned by Paramount. Just because it has the two words "Star Trek" associated with it doesn't mean it requires my time investment. Each TV series has been case by case.
So, yes, I'm a fan of Star Trek. I was a fan of TNG and their films, really enjoyed DS9, liked some of Voyager, dug Enterprise.
After that, I liked 2 of the 3 Bad Robot films.
I watched Discovery until I hated it (3.5 seasons), but I was never a fan.
SNW - I watch it. I'm not a fan.
Picard - I watched it.
LD - tried it. Doesn't appeal
Prodigy - tried it. Doesn't appeal
Academy - tried it. Doesn't appeal.
I'm done trying.
I didn't age out of it. I still watch the shows I really liked. They're just not making Star Trek that appeals to me. Again, I don't feel obligated to watch it because "Star Trek" is in the title. That's just the name of a property - like any other TV franchise. There's nothing about what's coming out that I find more or less special than any other SF shows right now. They just use familiar terminology and set designs. If they stopped making it tomorrow, I wouldn't notice because all of the Star Trek that I do love and want in my life as a 58 year old adult is on my shelves.
Nope, didn't age out of it, just don't care for what's coming out.
Me, I've been a fan of a TV series which premiered in 1966 called Star Trek since I was a toddler. I was a fan of everything directly connected to it with the original cast.
I was - never- a fan of the franchise or the intellectual property owned by Paramount. Just because it has the two words "Star Trek" associated with it doesn't mean it requires my time investment. Each TV series has been case by case.
So, yes, I'm a fan of Star Trek. I was a fan of TNG and their films, really enjoyed DS9, liked some of Voyager, dug Enterprise.
After that, I liked 2 of the 3 Bad Robot films.
I watched Discovery until I hated it (3.5 seasons), but I was never a fan.
SNW - I watch it. I'm not a fan.
Picard - I watched it.
LD - tried it. Doesn't appeal
Prodigy - tried it. Doesn't appeal
Academy - tried it. Doesn't appeal.
I'm done trying.
I didn't age out of it. I still watch the shows I really liked. They're just not making Star Trek that appeals to me. Again, I don't feel obligated to watch it because "Star Trek" is in the title. That's just the name of a property - like any other TV franchise. There's nothing about what's coming out that I find more or less special than any other SF shows right now. They just use familiar terminology and set designs. If they stopped making it tomorrow, I wouldn't notice because all of the Star Trek that I do love and want in my life as a 58 year old adult is on my shelves.
Nope, didn't age out of it, just don't care for what's coming out.
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Or maybe he just destroyed all his crappy works and all we get to see are his various master pieces?
Side-note: But I absolutely hated that Federation/Maquis set-up & was very happy it was dropped almost immediately!
It's a completely artificial, political conflict, that of course no one would care about when stranded. It felt like a cheap copy of the DS9 Federation/Bajorans set-up, where two opposing factions make a lot more dramatic sense, because they're, well, stationary, and therefore get pitted against each other a lot politically.
The much better drama for VOY should have been the death of many senior officers & inexperienced youngsters having to step up in roles. Not this fake "human rebels against Starfleet" shit.
And then Stargate Universe sees this dud and put their own
All TV series have bad episodes. The greatest TV shows in history have legendary turds. Hell, the original Twilight Zone, a show even more legendary and publicly liked than Trek, has a lot of shitty episodes.
That was the great thing about having 28 - 35 episodes (or more depending) a season. You can have a good number of turds, failed comedies and ill-conceived ideas and still wind up with a well loved classic because the majority don't suck.
That was the great thing about having 28 - 35 episodes (or more depending) a season. You can have a good number of turds, failed comedies and ill-conceived ideas and still wind up with a well loved classic because the majority don't suck.
Enterprise is one of my friends favorite Trek. He keeps trying to get me to watch more of it.
If I wasn't making my way through B5, I would.
I did watch a couple of episodes from season 1 last year, and it holds up much better than season 1 of TNG.
Whenever they cast off the need to be an updated version of the original series and leaned into being TNG, the show worked. First season TNG had an identity crisis that none of the other sequels did. Enterprise did seem to struggle with an identity at first - or maybe it was confidence - but since the people in charge had years of Trek under their belts, it wasn't as bad. But the network also wouldn't let Enterprise be what Berman and Braga wanted. It also would have helped if the two guys running the series actually liked, or at least knew, the show they were saying they were a prequel to....
TNG loomed large as a success.
There is a great book called the Twilight Zone Companion, one of the most endearing aspects of which is the author's willingness to point out just how much utter crap there is in TZ, despite the book being written for and by Twilight Zone superfans.
And some of the truly great episodes aren't the ones normally ending up in a Top 10 list. "The Hunt" by Earl Hamner, Jr., is an episode that ranks up there, IMHO, with the episodes landing on most fans' Best Of compilations.
This was the third book on a TV show I bought as a younger and I absorbed it. Every time my copy gets dog-eared, I buy another. One of the best books on a TV show ever, IMHO.
I grew up watching TNG when it was on the air.
Now in my early 40’s, I’m still very excited when a new series is announced and launched. That’s the wonderful thing about the Trek universe, there is something for any age group.
Now in my early 40’s, I’m still very excited when a new series is announced and launched. That’s the wonderful thing about the Trek universe, there is something for any age group.
Interesting timing!
ultimately it comes down to the writing. Good writing can encapsulate any demographic and make the experience enjoyable. I think this is something that 'modern' writers fail to realize or embrace.
If you pander to certain demographics and fail, well guess what, you've alienated not just your target audience, but everyone else as well.
TOS/TNG still appeal to people because they were not targeted towards a specific group or demographic. but there was something for everyone. New stuff not so much.
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