Age and how you got here...
- Thread starter Warped9
- Start date
I'm 24(25 in Aug) and have been a fan of Star Trek TOS since 2013 when I rented the first two reboot movies from redbox. I liked them well enough to try out the original source material they were based on and fell in love with the series as a whole and became a huge fan. So far I've seen the whole of seasons 1 & 2 and some episodes of season 3, plus movies 1-6. (I would have seen all of season three but my walmart never had it just 1 & 2)
I was 11 when TOS premiered. I thought it was the best television show ever. It was a sad moment when it was cancelled three years later. But like everyone else, I watched reruns forever.
When TNG appeared I was prepared to be just as pleased. But after watching one dull story after another I lost interest. The classic drama was gone. The characters were largely uninteresting. And the writing was terrible. Data was the only salvation. Many of the stories that centered on Data were good. Even this android was more humanly interesting than the real humans around him.
Picard was not the leader that Kirk was. Riker was the handsome manequin. Geordi proves that, in acting, the eyes matter. Dr. Crusher was little more than fill-in. Wesley was an annoying brat. Worf needs to be a real Klingon. That would be interesting. He just doesn't belong on the Enterprise.
When DS9 came on I watched the first episode only. I saw the mystical elements surrounding Sisko's life and the Founders (or whatever they're called) and immediately lost interest. This is not Star Trek.
Some years later I saw a few episodes, and I think the show got some salvation from Quark and his Ferengi cohorts. Trek has always benefitted from a few fun, humorous episodes inserted in between serious dramatic episodes. But here the fun ones were surrounded by poorly written ones. So, just as TNG was the Data Show and nothing more, DS9 became the Quark Show.
Then came Voyager. Nope. While the others were weak, this one was dismal. Seven was nice to look at. But that couldn't carry the show. Janeway was not a convincing leader. Chakotay was an empty shell ... Riker with face tatoos. Tuvok was pure Vulcan with none of Spock's human side. Boring. Neelix was refreshing in a supporting role. Only the doctor provided any real entertainment. Like Data before him, only the odd character was given any life.
Both of those shows demonstrate that you need a top-two (or top-three) characters to carry the show. In TOS and DS9, the top dogs were weak, and only the lesser characters offered anything of interest.
Then came Enterprise. High hopes ... dashed yet again. The premise was good: Earthlings are just learning how difficult it is to survive the perils of long-range space exploration. But it took too long (4 years?) for Archer to grow a pair. T'Pol was played by an airhead actress. Nice to look at but unable to offer anything else. Phlox was Spockish in intelligence and was humanly interesting. Bravo to that. Reed had potential, but the writing kept him mostly on the sidelines. Likewise (and more so) for Mayweather. Sato ... mostly a sideline.
Only Trip Tucker offered anything substantial to the drama. I found him more interesting than any character since TOS. He had the engineering chops of Scotty, and down-to-earth likeability. For me Enterprise was the Trip Show.
So in the end, TV Trek is, for me, TOS and nothing else. Yes, it had a horrible third year. And a fair share of weak shows in the earlier years. But there were many good shows and a few excellent ones. That could only be reproduced by the original cast, and that was accomplished in the early Trek movies. Once the films shifted to TNG Trek was effectively dead. And with Nimoy (and Kelley and Doohan gone), it can never be resurrected.
Kudos for a job well done in the follow-on films by the new cast. A good second-best after TOS. But TOS stands alone at the top. We're fortunate to have had that for so many years.
When TNG appeared I was prepared to be just as pleased. But after watching one dull story after another I lost interest. The classic drama was gone. The characters were largely uninteresting. And the writing was terrible. Data was the only salvation. Many of the stories that centered on Data were good. Even this android was more humanly interesting than the real humans around him.
Picard was not the leader that Kirk was. Riker was the handsome manequin. Geordi proves that, in acting, the eyes matter. Dr. Crusher was little more than fill-in. Wesley was an annoying brat. Worf needs to be a real Klingon. That would be interesting. He just doesn't belong on the Enterprise.
When DS9 came on I watched the first episode only. I saw the mystical elements surrounding Sisko's life and the Founders (or whatever they're called) and immediately lost interest. This is not Star Trek.
Some years later I saw a few episodes, and I think the show got some salvation from Quark and his Ferengi cohorts. Trek has always benefitted from a few fun, humorous episodes inserted in between serious dramatic episodes. But here the fun ones were surrounded by poorly written ones. So, just as TNG was the Data Show and nothing more, DS9 became the Quark Show.
Then came Voyager. Nope. While the others were weak, this one was dismal. Seven was nice to look at. But that couldn't carry the show. Janeway was not a convincing leader. Chakotay was an empty shell ... Riker with face tatoos. Tuvok was pure Vulcan with none of Spock's human side. Boring. Neelix was refreshing in a supporting role. Only the doctor provided any real entertainment. Like Data before him, only the odd character was given any life.
Both of those shows demonstrate that you need a top-two (or top-three) characters to carry the show. In TOS and DS9, the top dogs were weak, and only the lesser characters offered anything of interest.
Then came Enterprise. High hopes ... dashed yet again. The premise was good: Earthlings are just learning how difficult it is to survive the perils of long-range space exploration. But it took too long (4 years?) for Archer to grow a pair. T'Pol was played by an airhead actress. Nice to look at but unable to offer anything else. Phlox was Spockish in intelligence and was humanly interesting. Bravo to that. Reed had potential, but the writing kept him mostly on the sidelines. Likewise (and more so) for Mayweather. Sato ... mostly a sideline.
Only Trip Tucker offered anything substantial to the drama. I found him more interesting than any character since TOS. He had the engineering chops of Scotty, and down-to-earth likeability. For me Enterprise was the Trip Show.
So in the end, TV Trek is, for me, TOS and nothing else. Yes, it had a horrible third year. And a fair share of weak shows in the earlier years. But there were many good shows and a few excellent ones. That could only be reproduced by the original cast, and that was accomplished in the early Trek movies. Once the films shifted to TNG Trek was effectively dead. And with Nimoy (and Kelley and Doohan gone), it can never be resurrected.
Kudos for a job well done in the follow-on films by the new cast. A good second-best after TOS. But TOS stands alone at the top. We're fortunate to have had that for so many years.
My dad was much like this when I was a kid. He's softened with age.
It's ironic that people still hold this attitude particualry given how much has changed within living memory
We are living a science fiction existence, every day. We take things for granted that at one time (and not that long ago) would have been considered sheer impossible fantasy. But many people have trouble being able to see beyond tomorrow and their own noses.
57 here.
Watched the show in its first run with my father, who was also a big science fiction fan. I am more hardware oriented and poured over all available printed materials before the Internet came along. I build models/replicas and I am really focused on how things work, not just how they look. I lurked on different sites and found the wealth of information on TrekBBS wonderful. Aside from a couple of trolls and some who like to argue to the point of getting personal this forum is a great place to share and learn.
Watched the show in its first run with my father, who was also a big science fiction fan. I am more hardware oriented and poured over all available printed materials before the Internet came along. I build models/replicas and I am really focused on how things work, not just how they look. I lurked on different sites and found the wealth of information on TrekBBS wonderful. Aside from a couple of trolls and some who like to argue to the point of getting personal this forum is a great place to share and learn.
53, started watching in September of 1966 as a 4 year old with my parents who are in their 70s and still fans too!
My 20 year old son was never a Trek or SciFi fan in general until the Abrams movies. They made Trek cool for his generation and now he's into original Trek, especially TOS and TNG - and SciFi in general. He's been borrowing my Trek tapes/DVDs/Blu-Rays and netflixing Star Wars and other sci lately. Very pleased with that development I must say.
My 20 year old son was never a Trek or SciFi fan in general until the Abrams movies. They made Trek cool for his generation and now he's into original Trek, especially TOS and TNG - and SciFi in general. He's been borrowing my Trek tapes/DVDs/Blu-Rays and netflixing Star Wars and other sci lately. Very pleased with that development I must say.
3 generations---that's pretty darn good.
My folks are lost cause, but my kids are fans!
44. Started watching reruns in the mid to late 70s, let's say 77 or so. Didn't become a full fledged "Trekkie" till 1983. Watched TOS many times over the years. After reading The Making of Star Trek in the mid 80s I was happy to hear a new series announced, and considered it vindication of the Trek on TV idea (as opposed to the knee jerk heresy many fans seemed to feel at the time). Consequently STNG became my favorite series. TOS is a second with DS9 third.
I, as well, thought, "Yes we love the original cast/crew, BUT the concept is legit and compelling and can survive another incarnation."
I was blown away by those who were against it.
I thought--"Really, Trek to you is just about a handful of irreplaceable characters and actors?"
My parents used to mock Trek fans back in the late 1960s but Mum said they watched some.
2 of my 3 daughters are fans (I started too late exposing them to it); both much prefer DS9 to any of the others. The other daughter is more warm to TOS than any of the others, but she's not really a fan.
2 of my 3 daughters are fans (I started too late exposing them to it); both much prefer DS9 to any of the others. The other daughter is more warm to TOS than any of the others, but she's not really a fan.
55 here. I have a vague memory of watching The Man Trap in the first house I ever lived in -- which we moved out of in early 1968, so it was either the first run (when I would've been 6) or a repeat that season.
My parents watched the show during the NBC run, and I assume I also watched, but I don't have strong "fannish" memories before the early '70's -- but the nature of those memories lead me to believe that I was already a fan by the time I entered junior high fall of '72. (I remember being excited when the afterschool repeat cycle started over again during my 7th grade year (1972-1973) because me and a friend were all kinds of excited about the bridge 'plosions in WNMHGB.
Or possibly my 6th grade year... because it was some time during the fall of 1972 that I started reading Perry Rhodan, because I'd completely internalized all 79 episodes of Star Trek, and I needed something NEW -- and the Andre Norton books in the school library just didn't do it for me.
So, I can legitimately say I've been a Star Trek fan since Star Trek was first broadcast. I've had a few GAFIA-lapses along the way (primarily 1980-1981, and a few years starting immediately after the third-season premiere of Enterprise, until some time in 2008.)
My parents watched the show during the NBC run, and I assume I also watched, but I don't have strong "fannish" memories before the early '70's -- but the nature of those memories lead me to believe that I was already a fan by the time I entered junior high fall of '72. (I remember being excited when the afterschool repeat cycle started over again during my 7th grade year (1972-1973) because me and a friend were all kinds of excited about the bridge 'plosions in WNMHGB.
Or possibly my 6th grade year... because it was some time during the fall of 1972 that I started reading Perry Rhodan, because I'd completely internalized all 79 episodes of Star Trek, and I needed something NEW -- and the Andre Norton books in the school library just didn't do it for me.
So, I can legitimately say I've been a Star Trek fan since Star Trek was first broadcast. I've had a few GAFIA-lapses along the way (primarily 1980-1981, and a few years starting immediately after the third-season premiere of Enterprise, until some time in 2008.)
49. Too young to have really watched in its original prime time run, but at some point in 70 or 71 I started watching it. I learned that TOS was shown in reruns where I live seven days a week at 6 pm, and if at all possible I watched it every night it was on through the 70's, watching the same episodes over and over and over.
53. I began watching Star Trek in the fall of 1973 when one of our local stations began showing it in the afternoons after school and I have been a fan since then. I have also enjoyed all the subsequent Trek series and especially liked DS9. I am not of a fan so much of the Abramsverse. I don't think a reboot was necessary. An origin story could have been told using the established canon.
Like so many here, I've been a Star Trek fan almost as long as I can remember. Being born the year TOS was launched I never caught the first episodes as original NBC programming, but my earliest recollection of ST's initial impact on me was a deal I made with my mother. I had been watching reruns of TOS and something in it just drew me to it - I'm sure a feeling many of you can relate to. I had seen a AMT model Enterprise in the local hobby shop and the deal my mother made with me was I would get the model if I had good grades for one of the marking periods in second grade - so that must have been around 1973. I did wind up getting the model, and although I really didn't do a wonderful job assembling and painting it, it was something that I remember fondly of my early years as a ST fan.
Over the years I've watched every series as they came out. I recall putting time aside while in college to catch episodes of TNG. Most recently my young daughter decided she wanted to know what daddy found so interesting with these space shows. I agreed to let her start with ST:ENT Broken Bow, just by chance because I had been re-watching the series at the time. Since then, at her pleading, we've watched the whole ST:ENT series and are now 12 episodes from finishing ST:TNG. We're already making plans to watch the ST:TNG movies over summer break as well as choosing the next series to explore. It's been slightly emotional both for my daughter as well as me as we finish each series and say goodbye to our old friends, only to introduce ourselves to new ones in the next series. Although I never pushed my daughter to watch ST, I must admit a sense of pleasure to be able to share it with her.
Maybe what drives me to share these experiences here is... that I never have. The love and affinity I have for what we've come to know as the Star Trek universe has been a constant in my life and a very enjoyable part of it. I'm sure many of you have similar stories to tell, but I wanted to make it clear that ST has meant a lot to me over the years.
Over the years I've watched every series as they came out. I recall putting time aside while in college to catch episodes of TNG. Most recently my young daughter decided she wanted to know what daddy found so interesting with these space shows. I agreed to let her start with ST:ENT Broken Bow, just by chance because I had been re-watching the series at the time. Since then, at her pleading, we've watched the whole ST:ENT series and are now 12 episodes from finishing ST:TNG. We're already making plans to watch the ST:TNG movies over summer break as well as choosing the next series to explore. It's been slightly emotional both for my daughter as well as me as we finish each series and say goodbye to our old friends, only to introduce ourselves to new ones in the next series. Although I never pushed my daughter to watch ST, I must admit a sense of pleasure to be able to share it with her.
Maybe what drives me to share these experiences here is... that I never have. The love and affinity I have for what we've come to know as the Star Trek universe has been a constant in my life and a very enjoyable part of it. I'm sure many of you have similar stories to tell, but I wanted to make it clear that ST has meant a lot to me over the years.
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