I agree with Dennis. I pass on this sort of thing. Have for some years now...it's just a no-win situation for anyone.
TOS Purists of TrekBBS - Unite!
- Thread starter TOS Purist
- Start date
I don't think I would qualify as a TOS purist. It doesn't bother me if other people like the spinoffs. I personally just don't have any interest in them anymore (not even TNG, which I loved when it first aired). For me, TOS is the only Trek that has retained its appeal over the years.
And TOS is so different from all the spinoffs, in so many ways, that I consider them totally separate entities. There was a time when I tried to squeeze TOS and the spinoffs into one coherent "reality," but I soon realized that TOS was definitely getting the raw end of that deal. I'd have to discard or mangle way too much of what makes TOS great in order to make it fit in with the rest of Trek.
And TOS is so different from all the spinoffs, in so many ways, that I consider them totally separate entities. There was a time when I tried to squeeze TOS and the spinoffs into one coherent "reality," but I soon realized that TOS was definitely getting the raw end of that deal. I'd have to discard or mangle way too much of what makes TOS great in order to make it fit in with the rest of Trek.
Well, if a bunch of self-proclaimed TOS purists want to get together and say hi, I don't see the problem. It's when those purists start saying that people are stupid for liking anything else is when I have a problem. But so far, that hasn't happened yet.
number6
Vice Admiral
It always does. Give it time.
Purity groups make me nervous. It's like something Melakon would come up with.
Nice reference.
But don't think of this as a "purity group"...think of it more as a "support group."
And a place where non-purists are posting anyway, despite me kindly asking that only TOS purists post here...
"Hello, my name is Bob. It's been three weeks since I last watched non-TOS Trek."
"Hi Bob!"
The last time I watched TOS was maybe 10 years.(brief run on Sci. Fi channel during the summer.)
I haven't seen Voyager or DS9 since their original runs.
TNG is on BBC America and I watch it.
I'll just say I enjoy watching Star Trek and leave it at that.
I haven't seen Voyager or DS9 since their original runs.
TNG is on BBC America and I watch it.
I'll just say I enjoy watching Star Trek and leave it at that.
I'm not really all that hung-up on canon, continuity, whatever. I just regard TOS as pretty much the Trek I'm a fan of. I like DS9 and I enjoyed TNG during its initial run and I even got a huge kick from the admittedly moronic Abrams reboot but it's TOS that I'm a Trekkie for, all else is afterthought.
I like Trek, but I find the idea of a "purity group" for anything pretty scary.
Isn't it enough that everyone here shares a passion for TOS? Why do we also have to share a loathing for everything that's been done the 40 years since then?
The thing is, TOS itself is an amalgam of so many influences and competing creative approaches, it's not "pure" itself. Even while it first aired it was growing and changing, just like it is today.
Isn't it enough that everyone here shares a passion for TOS? Why do we also have to share a loathing for everything that's been done the 40 years since then?
The thing is, TOS itself is an amalgam of so many influences and competing creative approaches, it's not "pure" itself. Even while it first aired it was growing and changing, just like it is today.
If people weren't, you will find this a very lonely place.
Thank for the definition of a Trek purist.
I'm not sure I qualify. It may depend on one's definition.
After TOS I also accept TAS and TMP. And if something deviates from that continuity wise then I'm inclined to write it off as "real" Star Trek," whatever that may mean.
That said I have liked parts of TNG even if I might question some of it in terms of continuity.
How Trek became what it is currently was a slippery slope, one that I've only been able to see more clearly in retrospect over the years, where I could recognize the signposts of when it began morphing into something that didn't work for me. Until Generations I found something to enjoy in all the films even as I began to feel that something was off (for me) and I couldn't comfortably reconcile it with the Star Trek established in TOS-TMP. I initially disliked TNG, but gradually came to appreciate parts of it. I initially liked DS9 then gradually grew to dislike most of it. Everything after that has been a serious disappointment.
I suppose the only real way I could define myself as a purist is that I resent and resist retconning contemporary Trek references and "continuity" into TOS.
After TOS I also accept TAS and TMP. And if something deviates from that continuity wise then I'm inclined to write it off as "real" Star Trek," whatever that may mean.
That said I have liked parts of TNG even if I might question some of it in terms of continuity.
How Trek became what it is currently was a slippery slope, one that I've only been able to see more clearly in retrospect over the years, where I could recognize the signposts of when it began morphing into something that didn't work for me. Until Generations I found something to enjoy in all the films even as I began to feel that something was off (for me) and I couldn't comfortably reconcile it with the Star Trek established in TOS-TMP. I initially disliked TNG, but gradually came to appreciate parts of it. I initially liked DS9 then gradually grew to dislike most of it. Everything after that has been a serious disappointment.
I suppose the only real way I could define myself as a purist is that I resent and resist retconning contemporary Trek references and "continuity" into TOS.
By those definitions, congratulations! You're a TOS purist.
I WOULD accept the other Treks as canon, except for the fact that starting from TWOK, they disregard TOS's canon and attempt to retcon a lot of things. And since TNG and the rest build off from stuff like TWOK and the rest, they are non-canon by association (by continuating and building off from the non-canon material).
number6
Vice Admiral
How was TNG built off of TWOK?
Paramount began to see Star Trek as a viable thing with the success of all the films and reached out to GR about creating TNG. GR took a lot from the aborted Phase II series and incorporated that into TNG, so I don't see how you make the TWOK connection. What kind of "purist" are you?
Paramount began to see Star Trek as a viable thing with the success of all the films and reached out to GR about creating TNG. GR took a lot from the aborted Phase II series and incorporated that into TNG, so I don't see how you make the TWOK connection. What kind of "purist" are you?
TNG takes place in the same continuity as TWOK.
That's what I meant, lol.
That's what I meant, lol.
