A matter of taste...

[DMK]

Hi all,

Sometimes i wonder...Am I a Star Trek fan or not? Am I a trekkie?
I love star trek, but I would never buy a star trek suit or fake ears... I only buy dvd´s. That is all. I do like to watch it..Over and over.. Even my girlfriend loves to watch it with me ( I guess I am lucky :P)

The last years I have been waiting for a new star trek series..
When the last series came into the world, I noticed that i do not care very much for the "near future". I like...no..i LOVE TNG, Voyager and DS9, but I cannot look at most of the episodes in the original series. Not that I do not have respect for the original series, but I cannot enjoy it that much.
"Enterprise" was nice. I could enjoy a big part of the series. Love the remarks that Travis has and I loved the episodes where they have first contact.

I now know what I like from TNG, Voyager and DS9. It is the differences between aliens, the differences in culture and the humor that is connected to it. The fact that Worf grinds his teeth a bit when he is really pissed off, but cannot do anything because he is on duty... That makes me laugh. The love-hate relationship that Odo and Quark have. The relationship between Neelix and the Doctor. Fantastic!! But most of all..I like the episodes that have to do with first contact, strange phenomena, problems that have to be solved, holograms, time paradoxes... Trying to create a conversation through a worm hole... Trying to escape from a strange trap...That can only be solved by combining instinct and technology. I also like the episodes that involve Data a lot. The episodes that make you think about things that you take for granted in life and that Data tries to grasp. Like love, having a child, hate (crystal entity)....

Of course, TOS and the movies also contain a lot of the elements that I just described, but it is not futuristic enough I guess? It is hard to explain why the "near future in space" does not attract me that much.

I feel badly for the people that cannot enjoy Star Trek. My father cannot look at it. When he sees a Klingon. To him..it is like for me looking a guy in a pink ballerina. It is childish in his eyes...Even if I explain it all to him...It is just not his thing. If only I could make him see passed the hidden treasures inside the series...
Maybe there are many people here that think the same about me, because I cannot enjoy TOS or the movies? Most Star Trek movies that have to do with war.. I cannot enjoy those very much. I do like it when the war is against the borg. Maybe because it is such an intriguing enemy?

My friends do not understand my love for Star Trek. If I talk about it full of passion, I see that they do not care at all. Later they say then "It was you that liked Star Wars, right?"..
Then I have to explain that I do not. I do not like Star Wars at all. Aliens that have space ships do not fight using a sword.... Naja, a bit of blasphemy maybe haha It is not my intention to piss people off here. I know it is somewhat of a religion to Star Wars fans. The thing I cannot appreciate that much is the fiction part I guess....
It is a lot of Fiction and not that much Science. I want a lot of science and a lot of fantasy, but the fact that it is both at the same time and in a certain balance makes TNG, Voyager and DS9 so interesting to me.

Every month or so, I browse the internet for news...Is there a new series coming? I only find info about the movie that is coming up. Again, something in the "near future". The last movie and the last series were "in the near future".
Nice, but I really hope that the next series / movie after the movie that is coming next will be a bit more in the future.
Maybe the majority of the fans like the fact that it is not so far into the future? Maybe they like the war between 2 species/groups the most? That would also explain the love for Star Wars..

I am waiting. Waiting for a new series that plays in the far future... Maybe one that also has the goal to explore, or the goal to get home... Okay then..a bit of soap, but a lottttt of science and fiction. I sure hope that one will come. Out of misery I started to watch the fan made series too, but, well, they only prove that is hard to make a professional series. Some of them were really good, but without a mountain of money you cannot copy Star Trek.

Looking forward to any reaction. Once again, I did not try to offend any one that might love Star Trek TOS or Star Wars. I am just talking about my taste and I wonder if there are more that think the same.

Friendly greetings, from Sweden,
DMK

 

[MacLeod]

Sometimes the order in which were introduced to ST can impact on your perception of each show.

I saw the shows in sequence. TOS (in reruns), TNG, DSN, VOY and ENT.

I can happily watch TOS episodes, and I watched one yesterday.

 

[DMK]

Sometimes the order in which were introduced to ST can impact on your perception of each show.

I saw the shows in sequence. TOS (in reruns), TNG, DSN, VOY and ENT.

I can happily watch TOS episodes, and I watched one yesterday.

I started looking when TNG was on TV (as a teenager). Then I also watched TOS when VOY and DS9 came out, but I could not get myself to like it.
But since I do not like ENT that much, I doubt it is only the order. If I had to choose the series I like the most, it must be VOY. Since they are so far from home, everything around them is unknown. I like that idea a lot. New aliens...new phenomena´s..

My post was a lot of what I like and do not like. But I want to put weight on the fact that the last Star Trek releases (and the future release) is situated in the near future. I wonder why... It the far future too much work? Too expensive to create? Not interesting enough for the general public? Or not interesting enough for most Star Trek fans?

Thanks for your response!

DMK

 

[F. King Daniel]

I don't get the "near future" thing. You can't watch TOS or the movies because they're too contemporary, but you like Deep Space Nine, which features characters acting in a much more current day manner than the (supposed) "evolved" humans of Next Generation and Voyager. Sisko and Odo and O'Brien are far more like Kirk and McCoy than they are Picard or Janeway's crews.

And, the in-universe technology is pretty much the same whether you're watching Enterprise (2150's), The Original Series (2260's) or Next Gen/DS9/VOY (2260/70). It just looks cooler the more modern the show or movie.

 

[Count Zero]

I also think that both the 23rd and the 24th century are an equally far off future. The near future would be 50 or 100 years from now, a time before the setting of any of the Trek shows so far.

 

[DMK]

I don't get the "near future" thing. You can't watch TOS or the movies because they're too contemporary, but you like Deep Space Nine, which features characters acting in a much more current day manner than the (supposed) "evolved" humans of Next Generation and Voyager. Sisko and Odo and O'Brien are far more like Kirk and McCoy than they are Picard or Janeway's crews.

And, the in-universe technology is pretty much the same whether you're watching Enterprise (2150's), The Original Series (2260's) or Next Gen/DS9/VOY (2260/70). It just looks cooler the more modern the show or movie.

Maybe you are right to say that it is more modern. It is the fact that the series TNG and VOY and DS9 is newer..thus more modern.... And that is why it looks a lot more futuristic (and not too fake )?
But Enterprise is a lot more about "saving the earth", and keeping peace between species. It is less about exploring, even though that is what captain Archer is trying to enjoy in the series. In TNG and VOY there is also a lot of war, but that is not one long drama, but a few that involve the borg, one that involves aliens that stole something, one that .... It is less "soapy" that way..

Sometimes, it is not just logic that makes someone like something. It is just taste
I must say that it took me a lot of episodes to like DS9. But after a while I liked it a lot. Even tough it is a lot of soap and less futuristic, because a big part is situated on the station (without a lot of exploring).

Thanks for your answer. Made me think!

 

[DMK]

I also think that both the 23rd and the 24th century are an equally far off future. The near future would be 50 or 100 years from now, a time before the setting of any of the Trek shows so far.

I understand. You are right. I could not find the right words to describe that part in time. Well, you understood what I meant

 

[MacLeod]

I liked DSN no doubt because it allowed for far greater deveoplemnt of other races and seeing the results of decisions made. I like TOS and TNG, for me VOY was too similar in tone to TNG which might have worked had there been a few years gap between the two shows. I also feel as if VOY failed to live up to it's great premise. As for ENT it only really became the show it should have been in Season4.

But everyone has different tastes.

 

[DMK]

I liked DSN no doubt because it allowed for far greater deveoplemnt of other races and seeing the results of decisions made. I like TOS and TNG, for me VOY was too similar in tone to TNG which might have worked had there been a few years gap between the two shows. I also feel as if VOY failed to live up to it's great premise. As for ENT it only really became the show it should have been in Season4.

But everyone has different tastes.

It is true that everyone has a different taste. Well, on this forum a lot of the visitors have a simular taste
It is a shame that so many people in the world cannot enjoy any of the star trek series. My collegue´s at work, my friends, they cannot appreciate it at all.
And other movies, like Titanic is loved by many. It is all about taste indeed
If more people would like Star Trek, then the creators would get bombarded with requests to make a new series or to continue a series that officially is about to stop. Sometimes that does not help (Seinfeld), but sometimes it does!!

The fact that VOY is similar to TNG is a positive thing in my opinion. That is probably why I like them the most.

I also looked for other science fiction series and movies, but they are mostly situated on a dark ship...like containers that are welded together. Star Trek contains starships that have well lit rooms and light colours..It is clean. All the reasons why Klingons would hate it :P But I like that. Haha does not really make much sence, but it maybe has to do with the fact that it is easier to make a dark scene. Then you dont notice the details that much.

 

[GSnail]

I can see how someone would like TNG, DS9, and VOY and not the other two. Besides the fact that they are all in the same time, they are at the same point in the federation, in the earlier ones, the federation did not seem as established, and the three together give you a good picture of the galaxy at that time, there's the enterprise near home, exploring, the deep space nine in... deep space, fighing a war, and the voyager off at the edge of the galaxy, trying to get back home. Crossovers between them make sense, you have to bend over backwards for "Relics", "Trials and Tribble-ations" and "Flashback", but it makes total sense that Barclay is working on the pathfinder project, or Admiral Janeway is talking to Picard, or Q references the captains to each other.
I like TOS (haven't watched ENT), but when I watch it, it seems like a different universe.

 

[RandyS]

Sometimes the order in which were introduced to ST can impact on your perception of each show.

I saw the shows in sequence. TOS (in reruns), TNG, DSN, VOY and ENT.

I can happily watch TOS episodes, and I watched one yesterday.

Yep, same here. Except for the part about watching one yesterday. I didn't.

And DMK is right, it is a matter of taste. Like him, my dad does not understand Star Trek, despite having watched it first run back in the 60's. He even called me stupid for liking it. So did my brother.

I ignore them.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

I'm a fan. I've bought very little related to Star Trek over the years - a couple of novels, maybe. I got the DVD of the last movie and the Star Trek Encyclopedia as gifts. That's pretty much it.

You can be a cheapskate and still be a Trekkie.

Every month or so, I browse the internet for news...Is there a new series coming?

No definite plans, but Bryan Fuller keeps talking about wanting to do a series, and has made statements that could be interpreted that 1) he's talked with JJ Abrams and 2) they want to hold it till after the next movie. Seth McFarlane has also talked about being interested in a series.

CBS has no comment. They own the TV rights, and from what I can tell, there's not much reason why they'd be eager to make a series, but if someone with clout and a strong track record made a serious case for it, perhaps they would be persuaded. Future of Trek is where what scant news we can glean is posted.

 

[Elias Vaughn]

Am I a Star Trek fan or not? Am I a trekkie?

Well...

I love star trek,

Yes.