How does TOS continue to be relevant when many others failed

[Good Will Riker]

There have been so many genre shows that have come out before and since the arrival of "Star Trek" in 1966, yet the original show continues to be have relevance after over 40 years.

Yet, shows like "Space: Above and Beyond," "Crusade," and "Jericho" are cancelled and quickly forgotten.

Why is this the case? Surely, no one back then would have known that it would have lasted this long.

 

[davejames]

Well for one thing, it was intelligent and well written. That never hurts. And the main characters are some of the most iconic in TV history.

I also think it's partly because, like Star Wars, TOS had it's own unique style and didn't just reuse the same generic sets and costumes every other scifi show did. They really tried to create an interesting and believable world that people would want to visit and explore.

 

[TigerOfDarkness]

Interesting question.

Some things that spring to mind are:

Correct me if I am wrong here, but TOS had the advantage of being pretty much the first non-juvenile space travel show that had continuing characters. It also had great cast chemistry, optimistic future, good stories, nice design, memorable costumes, catch-phrases, pointed ears, camp, humour, drama, etc.

Being first and being constantly repeated at a time when there was little other TV SF around got it noticed and remembered.

At the time, it seemed a believable vision of life on a future space-ship.

All of that is my speculation, of course.

 

[Warped9]

TOS told timeless stories on top of doing so many other things right. Many of its stories, although perhaps having now dated terminology, dealt with issues that every generation can relate to and must deal with.

Dealing with racism and prejudices in a broader context is dealing with exclusiveness. So many people can relate to this.

Dealing with technology in a cautionary manner is still highly relevant, and perhaps more so now as computers get evermore sophisticated.

It's never dated to address sociological issues. The names and references may change but the basic issues still apply.

The above are but three examples of many that TOS touched on. Even their takes on the Vietnam war are still applicable today to war in general and major powers involving themselves with lesser powers.

TOS stays relevent because they addresses timeless issues that are always with us but with different names.

 

[Phantassm]

Re: How does TOS continue to be relevant when many others fa

^^Well said.

 

[Ronald Held]

Re: How does TOS continue to be relevant when many others fa

Yes indeed.

 

[MacLeod]

Re: How does TOS continue to be relevant when many others fa

Perhaps it also appeals to that side of our nature that says yes things are bad, but we can make them better.

 

[scottydog]

Re: How does TOS continue to be relevant when many others fa

I wonder if TOS would still be relevant and popular today if the movie franchise and subsequent spinoff series never occurred.

 

[MacLeod]

Re: How does TOS continue to be relevant when many others fa

You could argue that if TOS wasn't as popular as it was, those spinoffs would never have come about.

 

[Warped9]

Re: How does TOS continue to be relevant when many others fa

MacLeod said:
You could argue that if TOS wasn't as popular as it was, those spinoffs would never have come about.

I don't think there's much of an argument there--there would have been no films or tv spinoffs. If TOS hadn't beem as popular as it has been then what we might have gotten during the past decade or so might have been a feature film reimagining of a long defunct tv series like so many others have done. Probably something not much different than what Abrams is doing.

 

[paustin]

Re: How does TOS continue to be relevant when many others fa

whats great is how much more relevant TOS is compared to it's own spin offs

 

[Anwar]

Re: How does TOS continue to be relevant when many others fa

I dunno, I found it rather funny that DS9 seems even more relevant nowadays than it was when it first aired. I doubt they'd have been able to tell stories like DS9 did with our current views, probably get censored to hell.

 

[Outpost4]

Re: How does TOS continue to be relevant when many others fa

As Warped9 stated, it's the stories. There is one other over 40 year old science fiction/fantasy series that remains popular today and it has the added disadvantage of being in black and white. But its stories are timeless. Of course I'm talking about The Twilight Zone.

There is one other thing the two series share: great acting. Say what you want about Shatner's acting style. It makes no difference. He inhabited the Captain Kirk role. That's great acting. The same can be said for Nimoy and Kelley. No offense to Martin Landau in Space: 1999 or June Lockhart in Lost In Space, but with them, we always knew they were acting out a role. For many of us, Shatner is Kirk, Nimoy is Spock and Kelley is McCoy.

 

[Anwar]

Re: How does TOS continue to be relevant when many others fa

What about Outer Limits? It's still popular isn't it?

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Re: How does TOS continue to be relevant when many others fa

"Outer Limits" and "Twilight Zone" are two comparably durable series and series premises; they don't generate the same kind of fandom as Trek because of their nature as anthologies.

That said, what makes OL and TZ and ST work after four decades is the same thing: the writing was often strong, dramatic and even sometimes thoughtful. Stories that people like can endure for millenia, even if often clumsily told or staged.

 

[Steven Of Nine]

Re: How does TOS continue to be relevant when many others fa

The base stories chosen for TOS were, as Warped9 notes, timeless. But, you can find those same stories throughout the subsequent series. TNG almost copied several TOS scripts in its first season.

So why is TOS so relevant? Done first, done best, and, like The Twilight Zone it's a standout in the mind of many of the older generation. It was also one of a few distractions 40+ years ago.

A series like STrek would be lost in the general hubbub of material coming out. Look how small an audience nBsG gets. Look how large an audience Heroes gets. But as much as I love both shows, I'd never say Heroes is the better show.

Right place, right time.

 

[Noname Given]

Warped9 said:
TOS told timeless stories on top of doing so many other things right. Many of its stories, although perhaps having now dated terminology, dealt with issues that every generation can relate to and must deal with.

Dealing with racism and prejudices in a broader context is dealing with exclusiveness. So many people can relate to this.

Dealing with technology in a cautionary manner is still highly relevant, and perhaps more so now as computers get evermore sophisticated.

It's never dated to address sociological issues. The names and references may change but the basic issues still apply.

The above are but three examples of many that TOS touched on. Even their takes on the Vietnam war are still applicable today to war in general and major powers involving themselves with lesser powers.

TOS stays relevent because they addresses timeless issues that are always with us but with different names.

Honestly, I don't think that TOS is more or less relevent then other well written shows at the time - like The Twilight Zone (many of it's social commentary episodes are still relevent today); as well as some of the better episodes of The Outer Limits such as The Galaxy Being or The Balerephon Shield. Hell, even The Invaders (the original 1967 series last shown of Sci-Fi years ago) did some social commentary episodes that work when I saw them in the 1990ies. It's just a fact that that show isn't re-run in syndication these days.

The only other 'science fiction' of T.V. (aside from what I've mentioned above) in those days was Irwin Allen's Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Lost In Space The Time Tunnel and Land of the Giants; and even Irwin Allen said he wasn't interested in doing social commentary, just providing 'good entertainment' - so his stuff (writing wise) never rose above that - it would be best described as 'pulp T.V.'

So, all in all many well written science fiction shows of the 1960ies that did social commentary did it as well as Star Trek. Although Star Trek (the opriginal) is still my favorite show; overall, I think Rod Serling's Twilight Zone (the original) did WAY MORE socially relevent stories than Star Trek.

Personally, I think the whole 'Star Trek was the first/best science fiction show to do relevent social commentary is a bit overblown. Yes, Star Trek did do social commentary from time to time; but it's interesting to m,e that the two episodes most cited for this were Let This Be Your Last Battlefield which is about as 'subtle' as a sledgehammer; and Plato's Stepchildren with the supposed 'first interracial kiss on T.V.'; and even with that the take choosen shows a more 'implied' kiss (although both actors state they did kiss and a better shot of said kiss existed; and further that G.R. didn'ty overtly intend to make a 'statement' there and didn't realize there might be an issue until the Network started having a cow.

This is not an attempt to diminish what TOS did; but given taht the other shows written on it's level ALSO do continue to have socially relevent episodes and messages that still work today; I think the premise is a bit flawed in that a number of Sci-Fi shows of the 1960ies did do social commentary that still works on many levels today.

 

[Steven Of Nine]

Re: How does TOS continue to be relevant when many others fa

Noname Given said:(although both actors state they did kiss and a better shot of said kiss existed;

In Star Trek Memories Shatner says there was no kiss.

 

[Classic Fan]

Re: How does TOS continue to be relevant when many others fa

Warped pretty much said exsactly what i would have said.

I think the way it was written was supposed to last indefinately, as most of the stories related to contemporary events, in which case, war, politics, sex, descrimination, racism, genetics, experiments and all can easily be related to today.

Yeah, the terminology of speech is a little dated, but it still has the same meaning.

DS9 is the only recent Trek, in my opinion, that was on parr with the TOS style of stories and filming.

Thats my two cents worth anyhow...

 

[A beaker full of death]

Re: How does TOS continue to be relevant when many others fa

As many have already said, it was well written. PROFESSIONALLY written, by educated people. That means each episode had a plot structure which built dramatic tension. Each contained literary allusions and thematic complexity.

Look, for instance, at the MINOR themes in Conscience of the King: the effect mechanization is having on what it is to be human. The effects of single-minded obsession. The effects of familial tragedy on the survivors (different aspects of which were represented by Lenore, Kirk and Riley). Then of course, there's the major theme: living with the consequences of a horrible mistake.

I saw an episode of Enterprise. It was called "The Communicator." It was about a communicator.