Number One Reason to Love TOS

The characters, particularly Kirk, Spock, McCoy, and Scott. Beyond that, I like the sets, especially the bridge set. It was "comfortable", unlike the larger, more open, hospital white bridge sets in some of the movies, which seem cold and uninviting.

I like the fake outdoor sets too; I like them better than when they filmed outside for real (which always just looked like Southern California). The indoor "outdoor" sets had a surreal look to them, which is fitting for an alien world with bizarre things going on.

Of course, I liked a lot of the stories too.

Star Trek reminds me of another one of my favorite shows: Magnum, P.I., which also had four great characters (Magnum, Higgins, T.C., and Rick), and some similar interplay among the characters (Magnum quarreling with Higgins is similar to McCoy quarreling with Spock). MPI also had comfortable sets, i.e., the main house and especially the guest house at the "Robin's Nest" estate.

Seinfeld is another favorite of mine, and it too had a great quartet and comfortable sets.

On the other hand, I could never get into Star Trek: TNG, mainly because I didn't like any of the characters except for Data. I found the rest of them to be either forgettable or downright annoying. I wasn't a big fan of the beige plastic bridge set and lazy touchscreen interfaces either. Some of the stories were interesting, but I didn't like the overly pacifist/diplomatic approach they often took. I didn't care for any of the other Star Trek series either, with Deep Space Nine being my least favorite.

 

I've always thought science fiction to be the most theatrical form of drama, due to how much has to be created, and that TOS presented that theatrical quality best of all. One can disregard the sets and performances, and just concentrate on the ideas. It's why I tend to watch it more than anything else, even its own descendants. "Spectre of the Gun" is one of my favorites, due to its artificiality.

 

TOS was VERY theatrical... Most of the cast (and many others involved behind the scenes) had worked in theater productions for many years and the whole style of the show was heavily influenced by that experience.

Then, of course, there was Bill Shatner's theatrical style of acting...

 

Nimoy.

 

Yeah, and Kelley.

 

I don't think that's any more the case for Trek than most other shows at the time.

 

ST offers intelligent entertainment and a realistic hope for a better future for mankind.

 

All I need.

 

The characters.

Though the background music is rather high up on the list.

 

The "Live Theatre" experience that The Classic Series borrows from so heavily and in various ways:

The overacting, the staging, the lighting (especially) in the way it's employed to add texture or flavour to the sets and the thrift present, its tight budget evident even by late Sixties' standards. Last, but not least ... the Shakespearian themes and literate references.

A live show, with its limited resources, often depends on the actors to use their words, alone, to illicit the collective imagination of the audience to move the story forward. STAR TREK employs this, often and when it does show the fake-looking alien, or danger, it's up to the audience to buy into it and play along. This is STAR TREK's biggest strength ... and greatest weakness.

 

Number One reason....all of the Trek babes!!!

 

Phasers & Communicators. Spent days in my dad's woodshop (mid 70's) trying to make toy versions.

 

The overall message that humanity would eventually mature and in doing so reach for the stars as explorers.