why is star trek original series disliked

[J.T.B.]

In "A Piece Of The Action" the Iotians as 1920's gangsters were a spoof, an exaggeration of a stereotype perpetuated in 1930's films. And in "I, Mudd" we see the androids act in an exaggerated manner of how such things might be seen in B movie sci-fi. And note that in "What Are Little Girls Made Of?" and "Requiem For Methuselah" androids are not depicted in such an exaggerated way.

Those are standard comedic devices, why not just identify them as comedic? The only thing I see that might qualify as camp are the over-the-top performances the crew puts on for the androids in "I, Mudd."

Basically, anything that isn't "dark", with characters wallowing in constant "angst" and "Daddy issues" is dismissed as "camp". "Fun", an characters who act like actual people is not allowed.

This view is incorrect. These stories have their place, and I can enjoy them on occassion, but now pretty much EVERYTHING has become that. And it has become tedious.

The use of the word is also incorrect, as far as the dictionaries I have access to.

Going back to the OP: All shows age, and all will look dated to younger viewers to some extent. TOS happens to be the eldest Trek. If a viewer doesn't have enough to identify with or connect to, they won't like a show that's so different in look, style, pacing etc. from what they're used to. With that in mind, TOS is quite remarkably ahead of its contemporaries in the amount of attention it generates, going on 50 years later.

 

[Galileo7]

I love TOS. I grew up in the 60's, so I don't have a hangup about the 'dated' aspect of the show. The themes are just as relevant today as they were then. More so, perhaps - just turn on the news channel.

^^^
Why type a response when this one fits me to a tee?

Agree absolutely, but for me I grew up in the '70s with the reruns Mondays through Fridays. A great decade in my boyhood to experience it with TMP December 7, 1979.

 

[marksound]

Shows from that era aren't understood by much of the current generation spoiled by HD big screen TVs, CGI effects, 3D movies, video games, smart phones, and high speed internet. These things are recent developments in technology, but try explaining that to kids these days.

They just won't believe ya.

 

[The Old Mixer]

FWIW, I think it helps to have been around at a time when we didn't call the show TOS...when it simply was Star Trek. Those who grew up on the later shows that built upon its success (including various non-Trek sci fi shows that were only put on the air because of the ratings of TNG in its prime) aren't as appreciative of the qualities of the original, by and large.

 

[BillJ]

It doesn't bother me when people dislike Star Trek, but it does irk me when people disrespect it.

 

[MANT!]

As mentioned earlier, TV tropes often says it best..

Star Trek the original series has a camp reputation, and has been endlessly parodied and mocked. People forget that Star Trek was THE trailblazer that has influenced every science fiction series after it (and even influenced non-sci-fi shows as well) up to this day. In 1967, three of the five nominees (including the winner) for the Hugo Award (awards for science fiction and fantasy) for Best Dramatic Presentation (which at the time included both television episodes and movies) were episodes of Star Trek. In 1968, the show did even better: all five nominees for Best Dramatic Presentation were Star Trek episodes.

• In fact, society has changed so much that some of the most radical and innovative things it did are now almost entirely overlooked. A black woman, as a military officer? Said black woman, kissing a white man, at a time when that kind of thing would get you arrested (or worse) in large parts of the United States? The show's portrayal of race was so far ahead of its time that when Nichelle Nichols considered leaving the show to return to musical theater, Martin Luther King Jr. himself insisted to her that she needed to stay, telling her that the show's depiction of ethnic relations was not only unprecedented, but exactly the kind future he dreamed of, and that Star Trek was the only show he and Coretta let their children stay up to watch.
• Not to mention that the original pilot had a FEMALE first officer.
• It also avoided (see Babylon 5 above) "Cute Kids And Robots", at least among the regular cast, which was one reason science fiction fans at the time considered it a better, more serious show than much of the science fictionhttp://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/LostInSpace on television.
• On the other hand, the German(-French) seven-part series - Raumpatrouille Die phantastischen Abenteuer des Raumschiffs Orion (French title: Commando spatial), which was produced at the same time (its first episode was aired on German TV nine days after that of Star Trek in America), is regarded by many German fans as equal to the original Star Trek in many respect and superior in some, most notably the roles played by its female characters. Raumpatrouille also gradually acquired a bit of a camp appeal as due to its budget limitations some prominent spaceship parts are not hard to recognize as household implements.
• Hell, even The Next Generation hasn't really aged that well. At its time, it was noted for taking everything about the old series and modernizing it (as well as adding some twists of its own). Nowadays, with spinoffs doing the same thing and other shows going further where it could never go, the only thing it has going for it is Patrick Stewart...

TNG like TOS was a product of it's time..and both need to be viewed in the contest of the times in which they were created. One can't criticize The Count of Monte Cristo with a modern sensibility as it makes no sense to do so..

 

[Warped9]

^^ Which still doesn't mean the word "camp" is being used appropriately.

 

[Noname Given]

As mentioned earlier, TV tropes often says it best..

Star Trek the original series has a camp reputation, and has been endlessly parodied and mocked. People forget that Star Trek was THE trailblazer that has influenced every science fiction series after it (and even influenced non-sci-fi shows as well) up to this day. In 1967, three of the five nominees (including the winner) for the Hugo Award (awards for science fiction and fantasy) for Best Dramatic Presentation (which at the time included both television episodes and movies) were episodes of Star Trek. In 1968, the show did even better: all five nominees for Best Dramatic Presentation were Star Trek episodes.

• In fact, society has changed so much that some of the most radical and innovative things it did are now almost entirely overlooked. A black woman, as a military officer? Said black woman, kissing a white man, at a time when that kind of thing would get you arrested (or worse) in large parts of the United States? The show's portrayal of race was so far ahead of its time that when Nichelle Nichols considered leaving the show to return to musical theater, Martin Luther King Jr. himself insisted to her that she needed to stay, telling her that the show's depiction of ethnic relations was not only unprecedented, but exactly the kind future he dreamed of, and that Star Trek was the only show he and Coretta let their children stay up to watch.
• Not to mention that the original pilot had a FEMALE first officer.
• It also avoided (see Babylon 5 above) "Cute Kids And Robots", at least among the regular cast, which was one reason science fiction fans at the time considered it a better, more serious show than much of the science fiction on television.
• On the other hand, the German(-French) seven-part series - Raumpatrouille Die phantastischen Abenteuer des Raumschiffs Orion (French title: Commando spatial), which was produced at the same time (its first episode was aired on German TV nine days after that of Star Trek in America), is regarded by many German fans as equal to the original Star Trek in many respect and superior in some, most notably the roles played by its female characters. Raumpatrouille also gradually acquired a bit of a camp appeal as due to its budget limitations some prominent spaceship parts are not hard to recognize as household implements.
• Hell, even The Next Generation hasn't really aged that well. At its time, it was noted for taking everything about the old series and modernizing it (as well as adding some twists of its own). Nowadays, with spinoffs doing the same thing and other shows going further where it could never go, the only thing it has going for it is Patrick Stewart...

TNG like TOS was a product of it's time..and both need to be viewed in the contest of the times in which they were created. One can't criticize The Count of Monte Cristo with a modern sensibility as it makes no sense to do so..

As much as I like Star Trek (TOS) I don't agree with what TV Tropes states and BOTH "The Twilight Zone" and the original "The Outer Limits" were adult themed science fiction, and had a lot of influence (and I'm sure help spur GR to make Star Trek - along with the earlier feature film "Forbidden Planet".)

Many like to claim 'Star Trek' was the first attempt at adult science fiction on television; but that not accurate.

 

[RandyS]

Shows from that era aren't understood by much of the current generation spoiled by HD big screen TVs, CGI effects, 3D movies, video games, smart phones, and high speed internet. These things are recent developments in technology, but try explaining that to kids these days.

They just won't believe ya.

Well, to be fair, were we any different when we were young and ignorant? Granted, today's younger generation has a whole different kind of ignorant about them that is frankly, alarming, but what can you do?

Speaking for myself though, I can remember being a teenager back in the 80's, and discovering that three of my favorite characters (Batman, Superman, and Buck Rogers) had films (serials) made about them in the early 1940's when my grandparents were teenagers and young adults. I tracked these films down, and watched them, and not only enjoyed them for what they were, and never once considering them "primitive", but that made me open to checking out other films from that era.

You're right. Today's kids won't do that for some reason. It would be nice if one of them would explain to me why that is.

 

[Warped9]

If you grew up watching a b&w television (at least for a few years at first) then you likely were more receptive to older b&w films and television shows. But if all you ever knew was color TV then your experience and biases might be quite different.

Not all of today's youth are write-offs, so to speak. I've known a few that aren't put off by b&w or dated production standards and f/x---indeed they're actually quite interested in what came before.

Last summer a young coworker asked me about the original film Logan's Run. I told him about the film and yet also wondered whether he could get into it. He replied he'd still like to see it so I lent him my dvd of the film. The next day he told me he'd loved it and particularly liked the story and interesting ideas. I next lent him The Omega Man which he really liked also.

I teased him about maybe having been born in the wrong era.

 

[BillJ]

You're right. Today's kids won't do that for some reason. It would be nice if one of them would explain to me why that is.

I think it comes down to their being so much more to do nowadays. From video games to the internet to the 500-hundred channel universe.

In the early-80's when we first got cable you had thirty channels, only two of those were premium movie channels (HBO, The Movie Channel). Now we have ten versions of HBO alone.

 

[J.T.B.]

If you grew up watching a b&w television (at least for a few years at first) then you likely were more receptive to older b&w films and television shows. But if all you ever knew was color TV then your experience and biases might be quite different.

Also, before home video you didn't have a lot of choice about what to watch. If you wanted to watch TV, you had to watch what was on at that time. And if you had cable or independent stations, a lot of the programming was older TV and older movies. So the "dividing lines" between different kinds of shows didn't seem as strongly defined. When I was a kid, I never thought of a B&W show on our color TV as somehow different or dated, it was just something that was on TV and I liked it or not on its own merits.

 

[Kinokima]

As much as I like Star Trek (TOS) I don't agree with what TV Tropes states and BOTH "The Twilight Zone" and the original "The Outer Limits" were adult themed science fiction, and had a lot of influence (and I'm sure help spur GR to make Star Trek - along with the earlier feature film "Forbidden Planet".)

Many like to claim 'Star Trek' was the first attempt at adult science fiction on television; but that not accurate.

Agreed as a huge Twilight Zone fan (and to a lesser extent Outer Limits). Like Star Trek this series also dealt with issues of the day using the cloak of sci-fi.

The main difference to me is Star Trek has a regular cast of characters whereas TZ and OL were anthology TV.

Both of these have their pluses and minuses. I love the characters and their interaction in Star Trek. This is of course missing from anthology shows. But the fact that TZ and OL didn't have regular characters, they could leave you with stronger endings where everything didn't always end well. TZ has some of the best endings in Television for me.

 

[The Old Mixer]

If you grew up watching a b&w television (at least for a few years at first) then you likely were more receptive to older b&w films and television shows. But if all you ever knew was color TV then your experience and biases might be quite different.

Also, before home video you didn't have a lot of choice about what to watch. If you wanted to watch TV, you had to watch what was on at that time. And if you had cable or independent stations, a lot of the programming was older TV and older movies. So the "dividing lines" between different kinds of shows didn't seem as strongly defined. When I was a kid, I never thought of a B&W show on our color TV as somehow different or dated, it was just something that was on TV and I liked it or not on its own merits.

Indeed, as a kid in the 70s, practically everything I watched in the way of daily syndicated reruns was from the 60s, if it wasn't from the 50s. And a lot of it was in black and white.

And while we had a color TV in the living room, if you wanted to watch something other than what everyone else was watching in the living room, you had to watch it on a little black and white bedroom TV.

 

[Cinema Geekly]

Shows from that era aren't understood by much of the current generation spoiled by HD big screen TVs, CGI effects, 3D movies, video games, smart phones, and high speed internet. These things are recent developments in technology, but try explaining that to kids these days.

They just won't believe ya.

Well, to be fair, were we any different when we were young and ignorant? Granted, today's younger generation has a whole different kind of ignorant about them that is frankly, alarming, but what can you do?.

Says every single older generation about the newer generation ever........

 

[marksound]

Shows from that era aren't understood by much of the current generation spoiled by HD big screen TVs, CGI effects, 3D movies, video games, smart phones, and high speed internet. These things are recent developments in technology, but try explaining that to kids these days.

They just won't believe ya.

Well, to be fair, were we any different when we were young and ignorant? Granted, today's younger generation has a whole different kind of ignorant about them that is frankly, alarming, but what can you do?.

Says every single older generation about the newer generation ever........

That don't mean it ain't true.

 

[RandyS]

If you grew up watching a b&w television (at least for a few years at first) then you likely were more receptive to older b&w films and television shows. But if all you ever knew was color TV then your experience and biases might be quite different.

Not all of today's youth are write-offs, so to speak. I've known a few that aren't put off by b&w or dated production standards and f/x---indeed they're actually quite interested in what came before.

I didn't mean to imply that today's youth are all write-offs. Just that they come off as the most arrogant and close-minded generation I've ever seen.

That doesn't necessarily make them write-offs.

 

[SiddFinch1]

Indeed, as a kid in the 70s, practically everything I watched in the way of daily syndicated reruns was from the 60s, if it wasn't from the 50s. And a lot of it was in black and white.

And while we had a color TV in the living room, if you wanted to watch something other than what everyone else was watching in the living room, you had to watch it on a little black and white bedroom TV.

I'm 45 and grew up without cable Tv until I went to college......love tos ...I think its all a matter of when you grew up.....this was long before the pc craze started in the 80s

 

[Mr_Homn]

If you grew up watching a b&w television (at least for a few years at first) then you likely were more receptive to older b&w films and television shows. But if all you ever knew was color TV then your experience and biases might be quite different.

Not all of today's youth are write-offs, so to speak. I've known a few that aren't put off by b&w or dated production standards and f/x---indeed they're actually quite interested in what came before.

I didn't mean to imply that today's youth are all write-offs. Just that they come off as the most arrogant and close-minded generation I've ever seen.

That doesn't necessarily make them write-offs.

That's what every single generation says about the generations that come after them

"oh but no, this time it's different!"

 

[Kemaiku]

Yup, articles written BCE say exactly the same thing, and here we are, more educated and better off than ever, still having to put up with crotchity old gits making the same argument.