Has your perception of Trek changed in the last 10 years?
- Thread starter Dale Sams
- Start date
Good question. 
I find myself more easily able to be objective. There's no "current" Trek except for whatever JJ decides to do every three or four years, so everything in the 'TV Trek' basket is automatically archive television, whether it was made in the 1960s or the early 2000s alike. When I watch it I'm far more easily able to put aside my pre-defined prejudices, and simply judge each individual episode on it's merits.
I find myself more easily able to be objective. There's no "current" Trek except for whatever JJ decides to do every three or four years, so everything in the 'TV Trek' basket is automatically archive television, whether it was made in the 1960s or the early 2000s alike. When I watch it I'm far more easily able to put aside my pre-defined prejudices, and simply judge each individual episode on it's merits.
Tired and cliched, needing new ideas and fresh blood injected into its production and writing. Plays things far too safely, not wanting to take chances or do anything that could be considered the least bit 'risky'.
About ten years ago I would have been starting to come out of my 'burned out on Trek' phase, which kicked in just before the end of DS9 and which lasted 3 or 4 years. I started to get back into it once the DVDs came out, starting with DS9 which had always been my fave, and down from there to my 2nd fave, TOS, and then on to 3rd fave TNG.
Now, before my burnout, Star Trek had been my fave show ever. As in all Trek. Everything. The whole franchise was wonderful and absolutely perfect to the teenager I was then - but by the time of these DVD rewatches my critical faculties had developed somewhat, so I was a lot less forgiving of the bad stuff. I was beginning to see the various series more for what they were. But in the cases of DS9, TOS and TNG, what I saw were some pretty darn good TV series on the whole. Good, but not perfect.
So far, so good. I was back on board with Trek.
Then it was time to give Voyager another go. Now this one did defeat me. Managed to get through the just-about-okay-ish first two seasons, but season three utterly finished me off. The characters seemed to get progressively stupider week after week, which for a while wasn't so bad actually. I sat back and laughed at the goofy adventures of the stupidest crew in the history of Starfleet, but that only took me so far. By season three their stupidity was wearing very thin, and with the junking of all the Kazon/Seska stuff (as lame as that was) at the start of the year the series suddenly had no direction, no real point. Alter Ego was the final straw, by the end of that one I was literally lying on my side burbling "Make it stop. Make it stop..."
So my feelings on Voyager now are...well, I can watch it if there's nothing else on. There's still a little bit of nostalgia in me for it, and I know it did get a lot better after Jeri Ryan joined up. But that was a major change in my Trek perceptions, the discovery that Voyager wasn't on the same level as the others and that I didn't need to own any of it.
That, and discovering that the Animated Series - which I barely remembered at all - was actually pretty darn good.
Now, before my burnout, Star Trek had been my fave show ever. As in all Trek. Everything. The whole franchise was wonderful and absolutely perfect to the teenager I was then - but by the time of these DVD rewatches my critical faculties had developed somewhat, so I was a lot less forgiving of the bad stuff. I was beginning to see the various series more for what they were. But in the cases of DS9, TOS and TNG, what I saw were some pretty darn good TV series on the whole. Good, but not perfect.
So far, so good. I was back on board with Trek.
Then it was time to give Voyager another go. Now this one did defeat me. Managed to get through the just-about-okay-ish first two seasons, but season three utterly finished me off. The characters seemed to get progressively stupider week after week, which for a while wasn't so bad actually. I sat back and laughed at the goofy adventures of the stupidest crew in the history of Starfleet, but that only took me so far. By season three their stupidity was wearing very thin, and with the junking of all the Kazon/Seska stuff (as lame as that was) at the start of the year the series suddenly had no direction, no real point. Alter Ego was the final straw, by the end of that one I was literally lying on my side burbling "Make it stop. Make it stop..."
So my feelings on Voyager now are...well, I can watch it if there's nothing else on. There's still a little bit of nostalgia in me for it, and I know it did get a lot better after Jeri Ryan joined up. But that was a major change in my Trek perceptions, the discovery that Voyager wasn't on the same level as the others and that I didn't need to own any of it.
That, and discovering that the Animated Series - which I barely remembered at all - was actually pretty darn good.
Well, the wife and I are still on our big rewatch and we've started DS9 season 1 and we've realized we missed a lot of early season eps of this series. The tonal shift from TNG is still jarring, but we're seeing the different goals and aims of the showrunners, they just haven't gotten their sea legs yet.
I grew up watching The Original Series over and over on BBC.
Plus the Motion Pictures.
Then, TNG finally reached Britain, and I was initially really hesitant about something that didn't have Kirk/Spock/McCoy in.
But I came to love it just as much, and realise now that it may have been one of the best TV series mankind has ever created.
I loved DS9, but toward the end of Season 7, I realised that the Dominion War was boring me. I think now, that I don't like the vision it presented as much as classical TOS and TNG. Everyone seemed tired by the end of it - Bashir and O'Brian were just following a routine.
VOY intrigued me when I first heard of it - and I stuck it out, and enjoyed it, until about Season 6, when it started becoming a tire like the Dominion War - I think the episode where I realised this was the one where The Doctor in one a big city-ship of some sort.
ENT, I originally had huge misgivings about, as did many people. I had lost faith in Star Trek, which had basically been my religion. But now, I realise it was a lot stronger than I gave it credit for - re-examining it, I love the show - I was way too harsh on Rich Berman and Brannon Braga.
JJ Abrams Star Trek XI initially seemed to me to be part of an awful trend in Hollywood of dumbing everything down and commercializing it, but I have learnt to enjoy his interpretation too.
So, after a dry spell, between ENT and 2012, I seem to have regained my lost faith in Star Trek.
Plus the Motion Pictures.
Then, TNG finally reached Britain, and I was initially really hesitant about something that didn't have Kirk/Spock/McCoy in.
But I came to love it just as much, and realise now that it may have been one of the best TV series mankind has ever created.
I loved DS9, but toward the end of Season 7, I realised that the Dominion War was boring me. I think now, that I don't like the vision it presented as much as classical TOS and TNG. Everyone seemed tired by the end of it - Bashir and O'Brian were just following a routine.
VOY intrigued me when I first heard of it - and I stuck it out, and enjoyed it, until about Season 6, when it started becoming a tire like the Dominion War - I think the episode where I realised this was the one where The Doctor in one a big city-ship of some sort.
ENT, I originally had huge misgivings about, as did many people. I had lost faith in Star Trek, which had basically been my religion. But now, I realise it was a lot stronger than I gave it credit for - re-examining it, I love the show - I was way too harsh on Rich Berman and Brannon Braga.
JJ Abrams Star Trek XI initially seemed to me to be part of an awful trend in Hollywood of dumbing everything down and commercializing it, but I have learnt to enjoy his interpretation too.
So, after a dry spell, between ENT and 2012, I seem to have regained my lost faith in Star Trek.
I think I've eased up on its flaws a little bit more. I was so hypercritical of it ten years ago. I've gone from 'Hate episodes for their flaws' to 'Like episodes for their virtues then snark the hell out of their flaws'.
It is harder to watch TNG now, but it's not about problems with quality, it's because I've seen every episode so many times.
It is harder to watch TNG now, but it's not about problems with quality, it's because I've seen every episode so many times.
I enjoy Star Trek probably as well as I ever have . . . maybe more. I'm pretty emotionally wed to the original cast, being a dinosaur who was around at the start. So, not much has changed for me over the last ten (or 21.1) years - other than the remastered TOS episodes, which I've thoroughly enjoyed; along with a whole lot of really good fiction. Most of the spinoffs didn't do much for me, though there's a lot to like about Deep Space Nine.
My ultimate Star Trek wish would be for a CGI series using the likenesses of the original cast in new adventures.
Otherwise, I watch reruns; and read the novels and comics for my 'new' fix. I still love it!
My ultimate Star Trek wish would be for a CGI series using the likenesses of the original cast in new adventures.
Otherwise, I watch reruns; and read the novels and comics for my 'new' fix. I still love it!
Funny about some people noticing the flaws more and finding them unpalatable.
With TOS I see more flaws than ever, but the charm factor is higher. Maybe it's having grown up with this series from my first days of watching television. But even still, I started watching TNG as an adult and while I went through a "can't stand the goody-goody everything is great depiction of the Federation", I've started to like it once more. Part of it is just visiting with the characters. Stewart was so great on so many levels. And even stiff ol' Riker, who I couldn't stand early on, has grown on me.
VOY got off to a rough start, but it was so fresh and new--totally fascinating. Then the Kazon scuffle kept dragging on and Seska was brought back (yech!). I honestly hate to say it, but 7of9 was a very positive turning point for the show. Not because of the overt appeal to sexually enticed teenage boys, but because of an intriguing character. Jeri Ryan did a great job with her, really honestly. And then VOY got crappy again with the "Borg kid". At least it ended on a great note.
With TOS I see more flaws than ever, but the charm factor is higher. Maybe it's having grown up with this series from my first days of watching television. But even still, I started watching TNG as an adult and while I went through a "can't stand the goody-goody everything is great depiction of the Federation", I've started to like it once more. Part of it is just visiting with the characters. Stewart was so great on so many levels. And even stiff ol' Riker, who I couldn't stand early on, has grown on me.
VOY got off to a rough start, but it was so fresh and new--totally fascinating. Then the Kazon scuffle kept dragging on and Seska was brought back (yech!). I honestly hate to say it, but 7of9 was a very positive turning point for the show. Not because of the overt appeal to sexually enticed teenage boys, but because of an intriguing character. Jeri Ryan did a great job with her, really honestly. And then VOY got crappy again with the "Borg kid". At least it ended on a great note.
I stopped liking Star Trek for what I wished it was or what the hype told me it should be and started enjoying it for what it truly was. I like it much better that way!
I've become much more ambivalent about Trek in the past ten years. I tend to look at it as a money-making franchise more than anything else these days, which makes me far more forgiving about the creative directions taken during this time period.
TOS can only get better with time in my opinion. The flaws are not really an issue with me. TOS has that cool 60's grainy look that can't be duplicated. In that respect, it's impossible to produce a new ST series, or a TOS themed movie with the same quality, because that quality is a product of it's decade.
Trying to duplicate the TOS is like trying to make a new Humphrey Bogart movie. It's impossible.
Trying to duplicate the TOS is like trying to make a new Humphrey Bogart movie. It's impossible.
^ TOS has a lot of qualities to it that requires patience and attentiveness, something the ADD riddled youth of today can't stomach, hence why most of the time they're the ones deriding it as crap.
There were a lot of people on the production crew of Star Trek TOS who knew it was something very special, something so compellingly unique next to everything else being made that day. And they exercised tremendous creativity and persistence because of it. It shows in many ways. Unfortunately severe time and budget constraints (and other obstacles) prevented the episodes from fulfilling their greatest potential, and so... it's easy to be unforgiving if you ignore all the good that came of them.
There were a lot of people on the production crew of Star Trek TOS who knew it was something very special, something so compellingly unique next to everything else being made that day. And they exercised tremendous creativity and persistence because of it. It shows in many ways. Unfortunately severe time and budget constraints (and other obstacles) prevented the episodes from fulfilling their greatest potential, and so... it's easy to be unforgiving if you ignore all the good that came of them.
I find I like Trek more than ever, as a franchise, as a universe. The shows, honestly, I tend to find mediocre in general, but that's OK, in general. After the long post-ENT drought I found that Star Trek Online scratched an itch I didn't know I had, and I started getting back into watching DS9, posting on the BBS, and that stuff. I even watched some Voyager, and liked it!
that last 10 years? Each time I watch anything Star Trek, it becomes easier to shrug the small stuff and love it all the more...
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