What is the CORE of Star Trek storyline?

[Ethergh0sts]

I think Next generation and Voyager were the core of Star Trek, they hold the most potential, while the rest each had their limitations. Deep space nine had it's own ship to remove that limitation, but it was limited slightly, though a good series.


Personally, I stopped watching Deep space nine around when the founders wanted Odo... I lost interest in much of it.

I stopped watching enterprise sometime after they didn't host a romance between I think it was Tucker and the Vulcan. That and when ever show starting revolving around earth being destroyed, which I kind of watched four episodes some, but it lasted another 14? I don't even know.

Growing up, I saw the series, they were among the most interesting things those weeks, and there wasn't much competition, kind of.

 

[F. King Daniel]

Star Trek: The Original Series, of course. From whence all else sprang.

 

[Satyrquaze]

I think Next generation and Voyager were the core of Star Trek, they hold the most potential, while the rest each had their limitations.

It could be argued that since the very mission statement of Star Trek is "...to seek out new life and new civilizations. To boldly go where no man has gone before". That Star Trek: Voyager is about counter to the "core" all things Trek as you can get as Voyager's mission statement was to go back home.

Sure, they bumped into a few interesting aliens along the way, but that was incidental to their overreaching goal.

 

[Sci]

Star Trek is not a storyline, it is a setting. It has no "core."

And there's just as much potential in a series set at a stationary point as there is on a starship, because the characters have to actually live with the consequences of their actions and really get to know their interstellar neighbors on a deeper level. Maybe more potential, really, since they can't just have random-planet-we-never-see-or-hear-from-again-of-the-week episodes.

 

[C.E. Evans]

The original core of Star Trek was simply the voyages of the Starship Enterprise.

It later expanded into a much larger universe where there were Starfleet crews other than the Enterprise with adventures of their own.

Now it's back to being about the voyages of the Starship Enterprise.

 

[bbailey861]

Star Trek: The Original Series, of course. From whence all else sprang.

Absolutely this. The 79 original stories of the USS Enterprise with Kirk, Spock, and McCoy. These are what got the imagination fired up and provided the core of everything else that was to follow.

 

[MacLeod]

It all depends on what you mean by 'core'

ST uses a space setting in order to tell it's story. It is about the characters as much as anything.

3 of the shows where abot Boldly Going (TOS, TNG, ENT)
1 was about Boldly comg back (VOY)
1 was more of a come to us (DSN)

Each show had it's strengths and weakness. TOS and TNG are perhaps the closest related two shows.

 

[T'Girl]

Voyager's mission statement was to go back home.

In spite of that, they accomplished more exploration than any of the other series crews. They didn't spend time visiting Earth or other federation members, having their councilors mother drop by, fight (multiple) year long wars, or stop at Starbases.

 

[Shazam!]

Now it's back to being about the voyages of the Starship Enterprise.

I dunno. It's more the Super Mega Awesome Rad Adventures Of The Starship Enterprise now, surely.

 

[MacLeod]

Voyager's mission statement was to go back home.

In spite of that, they accomplished more exploration than any of the other series crews. They didn't spend time visiting Earth or other federation members, having their councilors mother drop by, fight (multiple) year long wars, or stop at Starbases.

Well several episodes either featured a story set on Earth/or a portion of an episode set on Earth. i.e "Pathfinder", "Future's End" . In the case of the former the VOY part was more the B-plot.


TNG at times was more about flying the flag so to speak. TOS mixed in some of that with exploration.

 

[Romulus Prime]

If you mean "core" as in the theme, then according to Gene Roddenberry it's about the human condition. In that sense, DS9 does it better than all Trek incarnations because it addressed just about every aspect + made the characters the "new worlds" and "new life" to explore every week. The other shows tend to be run by the alien/planet/problem of the week theme. In that regard, even they address it differently:

Kirk - confronts it with a mountain of self confidence and action
Picard - confronts it with diplomacy and authority
Janeway - with caution and/or desperation
Archer - confronts with...hah, who knows. Did he even have a style?

 

[MacLeod]

To sort of Paraphrase Ql's opening re: Archer


Theorizing that one could travel at warp five, Johnathan Archer stepped onto the bridge of the NX-01 and order Warp Speed. Driven by an unknown force to prove that Humans belong in space. His only guide on this journey is T'Pol, an observer from Vulcan. And so, Johnathan Arhcer finds himself warping from Planet to Planet, striving to seek out new life and new civlisations, to bodly go where no one has gone before.

 

[Orac]

The core of Star Trek i.e. the original premise is: stories about contemporary humans in space.

Hence only TOS and ENT are true to the original premise.

TNG and it's spinoffs have a different premise and are not true to the original i.e. stories about humans with evolved sensibilities in space.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Now it's back to being about the voyages of the Starship Enterprise.

I dunno. It's more the Super Mega Awesome Rad Adventures Of The Starship Enterprise now, surely.

I thought the show I watched in the 60s and 70s was Super Mega Awesome Rad, so no real difference then.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

The core of Trek is finding and losing our humanity in the stars.

 

[BillJ]

Voyager's mission statement was to go back home.

In spite of that, they accomplished more exploration than any of the other series crews. They didn't spend time visiting Earth or other federation members, having their councilors mother drop by, fight (multiple) year long wars, or stop at Starbases.

Did they really though?

We still saw the Klingons, Romulans, Ferengi, Cardassians, Borg, another Federation starship...

Voyager had a great premise but didn't have the courage to let go of the staples of the Star Trek universe.

 

[sonak]

the core? Fun space adventure combined frequently with social commentary, I suppose.

 

[RandyS]

Star Trek is about Paramount/CBS getting rich off fans who can't agree on what Star Trek is about.