Voyager = true to Roddenberry's Trek

[Tidus79001]

"We would have seen something new and groundbreaking for Star Trek..."

"Instead it was basically TNG-lite"

I am attached & devoted to Voyager as much as the fans of the Star Trek: The Original Series were devoted to that series. I wasn’t yet born when Star Trek: The Original Series was first aired (I did however discover it at a young age & it is what made me a lifelong Star Trek fan). When I found Voyager I knew that I felt the same sense of pride & belonging to that series as fans of the original series felt.

I make no apologies for having a strong deeply rooted devotion to Voyager which is some of the best Star Trek ever created. Star Trek: Voyager to me is the most close to vision of Star Trek that Gene Roddenberry created with the original series. Voyager breathed new life into the Star Trek universe by unquestionably getting back to the basics of Roddenberry’s ideals "To explore strange new worlds” & “To seek out new life and new civilizations” & “To boldly go where no man has gone before".

Michael Piller who was one of the three executive producers of Voyager made this statement in the "Braving The Unknown" bonus feature that was included with the Voyager Season 1 DVD’s:

"We made it very clear that what appealed to us about that idea was that it took us back to the basics of Roddenberry's original idea that it’s a group of people in a ship alone in the unknown facing who knows what…”

“…the idea really was to go back and challenge ourselves as writers, to come up with the kind of material and face the kind of challenges that Roddenberry had to face when he created the original Star Trek”

Jeri Taylor also said about the following about creation of Voyager on the "Braving The Unknown" bonus feature:

“We felt the need to create an avenue for new and fresh storytelling. We are forced into creating a new universe. We have to come up with new aliens, we have to come up with new situations, and this makes it a great challenge for us, but we really felt it was the way to be the truest to the ideals of star Trek”

Anyone who wants to say that Star Trek: Voyager fans are a different type of fans, less relevant fans, or an inferior sort of fan is dead wrong. Star Trek: Voyager fans are the fans who like the vision of Star Trek the way that Gene Roddenberry originally envisioned it. These writers have shown the highest integrity as writer by making these decision to be true not only to Star Trek, but to themselves as writers seeking a challenge instead of seeking a easy safe route (it is offensive to hear anyone who would criticize people who are brave enough to show this creativity & seek these type of challenges).

I always hear Next Generation fans & Deep Space Nine fans bash Voyager fans as being a different type to Star Trek. Deep Space Nine was the most non Star Trek series of all, but those fans don't seem to notice that. Sometimes I wonder if they ever have even watched Star Trek: The Original Series (I know that I have met a few of them who haven't, and base all of they know about Star Trek on the Next Generation fans & Deep Space Nine, or a few said they didn’t watch it because it wasn’t “The Next Generation” enough). For one I am personally glad the Voyager was TNG-lite since TNG often seems to be “Star Trek Lite”.

It seems like a lot of Next Generation fans & Deep Space Nine fans don't want to consider the Star Trek: The Original Series, or Star Trek: Voyager to be real Star Trek since it doesn't meet their personal likes of what they want in Star Trek.

The Next Generation was too touchy-feely for me (*puke*). If I wanted to see people explore the inner depths of their emotions I would watch a soap opera! They never really explored much & seemed to only want to just frolic around on the holodeck, or when they weren't doing that they were ferrying diplomats all over the galaxy. Week after week of encountering the same alien races did become a bit stale & boring (the original series & Voyager were constantly encountering new races). Don't get me wrong I don't hate The Next Generation, but I never felt attached to it & I do credit it for making a substantial contribution to the Star Trek universe.

Deep Space Nine is the series that tried to drive me away (I turned it off during the pilot, and for me to do that to Star Trek is a hard thing since I am a big Star Trek fan). I have never watched a full season, and only have watched a few episodes, but I never really can get into it. To me Deep Space Nine is Star Trek in name only. I was shocked that the writers felt that a Star Trek show didn’t need a real vehicle for exploration & wasn’t surprised that by season 3 they introduced the Defiant as a ship permanently assigned to Deep Space Nine (the runabout idea was a really seemed like a bad joke since it really wasn’t designed for long range deep space exploration nor was it capable of real defense of the space station). I will give Deep Space Nine credit that once the Defiant was introduced they did encounter more new alien races & explore more that The Next Generation.

George Takei in interview published 11/20/2007 for iF Magazine said:

“When Gene Roddenbery passed, that really was the end of STAR TREK, as we knew it. The series that came on immediately after was DEEP SPACE NINE, which was the polar opposite of Gene’s philosophy and vision of the future…”

It wasn’t until Voyager that the producers decided to make a concerted effort to get back to Gene Roddenberry’s original idea & try to be as true as possible to its ideals. This is fact since Michael Piller & Jeri Taylor both did state this on the "Braving The Unknown" bonus feature that was included with the Voyager Season 1 DVD’s (see the quotes earler in this post)

At some point I will watch Deep Space Nine as I am sure that on some level I am doing myself a disservice by missing out on another part of the Star Trek universe.

Also I couldn't stand Enterprise when I first saw it. I tried watching it in the 1st & 2nd seasons, but didn't get interested. I then tried again in the 3rd season, and liked it & watched it through till the end, and I was disappointed when they canceled it (it deserved to have it 7 seasons & was robbed of its legacy by not getting its last 3 seasons). I then went back, and watched it all the way through from season 1 & found that it wasn't a bad show at all & that I had just never given it a fair chance. I like Enterprise better in a lot of ways than the Next Generation.

Voyager was the first series since the original series that I felt attached to & felt that I could call my own.

 

[exodus]

Yes, I think Gene Roddenberry would have been very proud of Voyager.

It captures very much what he brought to the table in TOS; quirk, social/political commentary and sexy women.

I agree w/ Takai and understand Berman intentions toward Trek.
I feel those that worked side by side w/ Gene all those years, know more of what he wanted from Trek than we fans that didn't. That's why it saddens me when the fans base is more interested in debating inconsistancies in the show rather than exploring the deeper messages & metaphor's within Voyager.
Voyager has allot more to offer than folks give it credit for.

 

[Adm_Hawthorne]

Also, it brought back the idea of a space cowboy (cowgirl?), which was really an integral part of TOS.

I think, when TNG hit, we somehow forgot about that kind of spirit.

 

[Joeman]

I make no apologies for having a strong deeply rooted devotion to Voyager which is some of the best Star Trek ever created.

And you shouldn't have to.

When I entered my Star Trek "ratings project", I really did feel that Voyager would make a run at the best season. In the end, it turned out that while Voyager is a great show with tons of great episodes, it was just a bit inconsistent. They really didn't put together that one awesome season (as compared to what some other Treks did). Bottom line though, I can totally understand how and why you feel the way you do about it.

It's too bad about DS9. Hopefully one day you'll give it a chance and be able to enjoy it for what it is. It really is fantastic Trek. I used to loathe Enterprise, until I gave it a serious chance and it became my favorite Trek of all.

The key for me to appreciating DS9, Voyager, and Enterprise (since I disregarded their original runs) was to watch them from the beginning. Trying to come in from somewhere in the middle just wasn't working for me.

 

[Tidus79001]

It's too bad about DS9. Hopefully one day you'll give it a chance and be able to enjoy it for what it is. It really is fantastic Trek. I used to loathe Enterprise, until I gave it a serious chance and it became my favorite Trek of all.

The key for me to appreciating DS9, Voyager, and Enterprise (since I disregarded their original runs) was to watch them from the beginning. Trying to come in from somewhere in the middle just wasn't working for me.

I do plan on giving Deep Space Nine another try at some point. Enterprise did prove to me that just because my initial reaction to a show is to be inclined not to want to watch it doesn't mean that later on that same show can't change my opinion towards it

At some point I will watch Deep Space Nine as I am sure that on some level I am doing myself a disservice by missing out on another part of the Star Trek universe.

Also I couldn't stand Enterprise when I first saw it. I tried watching it in the 1st & 2nd seasons, but didn't get interested. I then tried again in the 3rd season, and liked it & watched it through till the end, and I was disappointed when they canceled it (it deserved to have it 7 seasons & was robbed of its legacy by not getting its last 3 seasons). I then went back, and watched it all the way through from season 1 & found that it wasn't a bad show at all & that I had just never given it a fair chance.

I have found out that "Reisistance Is Futile" for me as far Star Trek is concerned (the Star Trek geek in me couldn't resist that pun, LOL).