Okay, then why is TOS more well known and popular than any of the other Trek series?
News CBS All Access Wants Emmys For Star Trek: Discovery
- Thread starter AutoAdmin
- Start date
It's more well known because it's been part of pop culture for much longer, and there's the "cheese" element to TOS which helps keep it in the public eye.
I'm not sure I'd say it's more popular however. TNG and even Voyager are more commonly watched than TOS these days.
Doubtful.
Nah...
If you're referring to the Netflix list...that as incomplete and out of context piece of data as there is.
I could easily argue that people are watching Voyager on Netflix because they don't care enough to own it in home media, for example. That's actually the truth for me. I own TOS and DS9 all on BR. So I only watch VOY on Netflix. It ain't because I like it more. Just the opposite actually.
TOS is far more popular in the everyday collective consciousness than any of the other series.
I would suspect the average person couldn't name TNG at this point, much less Voyager. The list of Trek shows would begin and end at "Star Trek." A few might come up with Discovery, considering the recent advertising push, but I don't think any of the spinoffs have a significant cultural presence (at least in the U.S.).
"Popular in everyday consciousness" does not equal most watched. Lots of things became seminal parts of pop culture, but are these days more well known as second-hand cultural references than the primary source material.
For example, The Honeymooners is far, far more iconic than say Full House. But I have no doubt whatsoever far more people watch Full House today than the Honeymooners.
Don't get me wrong, I think TOS is probably more heavily watched than any TV show of its time or earlier. Old TV up until streaming just seemed to die out, with only old movies really having any staying power. But that doesn't mean that people were rewatching old TOS episodes with much frequency. Hell, a lot of members of this forum have admitted they don't like TOS and don't watch it much.
If you don't want to trust Netflix viewing, that's fine (although personally speaking, I even watch on Netflix what I have on DVD - dealing with the codecs on my computer is such a PITA, and I don't own a TV). Online polling generally shows TNG as significantly more popular than TOS. If you're aware of some sort of legit metric - not cultural zeitgeist - to suggest TOS is more popular, I'd be more than willing to read it.
I think at least to a degree that was helped by the Abrams movies. That put the orange-yellow-blue vibe back with Kirk and his crew. TNG ended with a whimper with Nemesis.
Another way to look at Trek popularity is to look for memes. In general, TNG memes are more popular than TOS. You can't just write this off as an age thing either, because people who were prime viewing age to watch TNG at the time are mostly in their 40s now, which is past meming age anyway.
But Trek wouldn't exist today if TOS hadn't found new life in syndication. It's rarely left the air since the '70s.
Yeah, no question about that, especially among younger viewers. I remember many people, including some of my sci-fi loving friends, had no idea that Into Darkness "borrowed" so heavily from Wrath of Khan.
I'm not arguing that TOS wasn't seminal. But "most popular?" No, it just isn't. Unless there are oodles of aging boomers firing up their DVD players on a regular basis. But even my mother, who was born in 1950 and started watching TOS when it was on, says she can barely deal with how dated TOS is now, though she rewatches the Berman-era series regularly.
I think you were right to draw the distinction between "most watched" and "most known." TOS is clearly the most known, I'd argue, but I have no idea what's most watched. All the TV shows seem pretty niche-y at this point, even Discovery.
At the moment, I'd guess Lost in Space enjoys more cultural awareness than any of the Trek spinoffs. What a bizarre turn of events.
Yeah, it is.
That's why the current generation of Trek movies are based directly on it and on no other version of Trek.
In other news...the reason CBS sent out a complete set of STD episode discs to Emmy voters is because almost none of them will have seen it. Studios do the same thing at Oscar voting time - Academy members are pretty much like everyone else, and a great many of them will have seen only the most popular, commercially successful films and TV of the previous year and will be unfamiliar with the Oscar bait.
Last edited:
I think DS9 might actually be the most watched right now. Older fans still love to watch it and it's cult status has been growing over time. TOS and TNG are stuff everyone has seen a million times. Voyager wasn't well liked but I think it was watched quite alot especially after they added Seven of NIne yet i'm not sure it's really creating new fans like DS9. Everyone has forgotten Enterprise was even a show. Same with the TOS cartoon.
Jason
Jason
It's not. Based on ratings and disc sales, it's not in the running.
Could disc sales be connected to not being on Blu-Ray? Also what does ratings mean exactly? RIght now I know you can watch the show on Amazon Prime, ,Hulu,Netflix,CBS-Access,DVD's and illegal downloads at least in America. Not sure about other countries. Does it run on Space for example in Canada?
Jason
I can't speak for anyone else, but I watch TOS often. - At least once per week. Even after seeing every episode hundreds of times, it never gets old to me. I love TNG too, but would never watch episodes over and over and over. Perhaps I am in the minority. I don't know because I don't know about what the statistics are. But, I think there are more like me. We own the DVDs, have episodes stored on our phones, we will watch a portion of an episode while stuck in traffic, or stuck in a checkout line.
Of course the show is dated, but that's part of its charm. I'm not surprised if younger viewers find it too primitive, because they were raised in an age of much more advanced technology. Anyway, I don't want to debate which show is most popular, or which is better because they all have good aspects to them, but just wanted to say that not all the TOS junkies are dead yet.
Amongst people who actually like Star Trek, TNG is the most popular show. You're just not going to find that many Star Trek fans under the age of 50 who's favorite Trek show is TOS.
That said, the characters and iconography of TOS are more visible and known in pop culture. The imagery of TOS looks much better on a hipster T-shirt. The merch of TOS is objectively better and more popular than that of TNG, but TNG is the more popular show in terms of viewership.
That said, the characters and iconography of TOS are more visible and known in pop culture. The imagery of TOS looks much better on a hipster T-shirt. The merch of TOS is objectively better and more popular than that of TNG, but TNG is the more popular show in terms of viewership.
I like to think us older fans still count as "people who actually like STAR TREK." We're not all dead yet.
And, trust me, we still rewatch TOS with great pleasure.
Last edited:
Similar threads
- Locked
- Poll
