How popular is TNG in 2020?

[Lt. J'Korta]

TNG has always been, and will always be, the most "authenic, real" Star Trek for me. I love DS9, I enjoy Voyager, TOS, and Lower Decks. But every time I watch TNG I feel like I'm home. I'm safe with Captain Picard on the Bridge and Commander Data doing his thing.

 

[Arpy]

I still think TMP only made so much money because the fanbase in the 70s was so starved for new Star Trek content they would have watched almost any sort of Trek movie

Maybe, but ST09 came out years after there was any new Trek and on more screens, and still TMP sold more. TMP took Trek more seriously, and regardless what the pundits and executives say about it today, it was immensely popular.

 

[XCV330]

I still think TMP only made so much money because the fanbase in the 70s was so starved for new Star Trek content they would have watched almost any sort of Trek movie

it's completely subjective, but judging from my family's reaction, where everyone was seriously into what little trek we'd hadin returns, that was the case. But it was disappointing

And in an even greater sin that Wise could probably not have forseen, the merits of TMP did not transfer well to small screens at a time when people were starting to buy video tape players (it might have looked great on laser disk, but I never knew anyone who owned one). TWOK kicked ass AND it looked good enough to replay the hell out of on tape, ready for the next movie to come out. I didn't really appreciate TMP until recently in 4k.

 

[Orphalesion]

Maybe, but ST09 came out years after there was any new Trek and on more screens, and still TMP sold more. TMP took Trek more seriously, and regardless what the pundits and executives say about it today, it was immensely popular.

But in 2009 we had a lot more content to watch than just 79 episode, plus a lot more other quality Sci-fi to explore. Plus I don't think the fandom in 2009 was quite as enthusiastic and die-hard as the one in 1979 (that's purely from my experience of being alive in 2009 and from what people tell about the Trek fandom in the 70s) It always sounds like in the 70s Trek had just gotten new life through re-runs and it seems like people were literally dying for more Trek, in 2009 Trek was comparatively dead and the big Sci-fi shows were things like NuBSG, Eureka and Lost.
Also the re-boot "back to the roots" approach might have deterred some people ("how dare they recast Shatner/Nimoy???" "Why isn't this about Picard, Seven or Janeway???" "This isn't exactly as I remember from my childhood!!" etc.)

As to TMP taking itself seriously... It's subjective but I can't see it. Especially with stuff like pretty much everything about Ilia (from her sex oath to her drone walking around in a tiny, tiny bathrobe for the rest of the film) or that endless flyby scene. What merit TMP might possibly have is copied from 2001.
I do have the suspicion that at least some people who claim that TMP is "taking itself serious", "intellectual" or "artistic" are just telling themselves that because it's Star Trek (especially ST with the OG crew) so they feel they have to talk it up/defend it, just like some people who insist that TFF isn't a crime against the very film it is shot at "if you look at it this way".

I still think if TMP had been the same movie, but hadn't carried the Star Trek name, it would have made a lot less.

That's not saying I find it impossible for people to like TMP (or even TFF). People like bad things all the time; I myself enjoy Haven. I know it's an teriible episode, but some elements of it just tickle my interest and I like 80s camp.

 

[RAMA]

Current numbers: 17x over avg and a 25% uptick over the last 30 days!

https://tv.parrotanalytics.com/US/star-trek-the-next-generation-syndication

RAMA

 

[Greg Cox]

It's relative, isn't it?

Sherlock Holmes is still going strong something like 130 years since his creation. But go ahead and compare any version of his stories produced in this century with the versions extant fifty years ago, never mind a century past.

Trek is over fifty years old itself. Anyone who expects any greater fidelity to its original version than we're getting right now just has not paid attention to how narratives change and over what kind of time frames.

There are dimwits on Facebook who still get all misty-eyed about the possibility of resurrecting the TOS crew as CG zombies - all it takes is a bit of deepfakery on Youtube for them to get wet in the pants, right? It's sad.

Heck, "Frankenstein" recently passed its 200th anniversary and, yes, it keeps mutating and evolving as well.

 

[Mudd]

Maybe, but ST09 came out years after there was any new Trek and on more screens, and still TMP sold more.

No it didn't.

 

[Orphalesion]

Heck, "Frankenstein" recently passed its 200th anniversary and, yes, it keeps mutating and evolving as well.

Was there ever a Frankenstein movie that actually followed the plot of the book? Or one that depicted the Monster like he was in the novel?

 

[Arpy]

No it didn't.

Explain? I’m going by the numbers posted on this page.

 

[Mudd]

Explain? I’m going by the numbers posted on this page.

It's a claim, by someone who frequently posts dubious information. In this case, no reliable source has been posted for the underlying data.

 

[Arpy]

It's a claim, by someone who frequently posts dubious information. In this case, no reliable source has been posted for the underlying data.

You said “no it didn’t,” meaning a definitive no. You can doubt the source, but not contradict. A better reply would have been “I don’t think that’s accurate,” or “where are you getting you’re data,” but please don’t suggest you know anything if you don’t.

 

[Therin of Andor]

No it didn't.

TMP ran in some cinemas from early December 1979 till at least Easter 1980 (as it did here in Sydney). It then went into the suburban circuits.

Admittedly, not playing in every suburb at once, like today's films that have their premieres in many cinemas at once. But lots of time for multiple viewings and repeat box-office sales.

https://www.the-numbers.com/movies/franchise/Star-Trek#tab=summary
https://www.reddit.com/r/startrek/comments/6r9aa5/star_trek_films_ranked_by_worldwide_box_office/

 

[Mudd]

TMP ran in some cinemas from early December 1979 till at least Easter 1980 (as it did here in Sydney). It then went into the suburban circuits.

Admittedly, not playing in every suburb at once, like today's films that have their premieres in many cinemas at once. But lots of time for multiple viewings and repeat box-office sales.

https://www.the-numbers.com/movies/franchise/Star-Trek#tab=summary

Ticket sales?

 

[Mudd]

but please don’t suggest you know anything if you don’t.

You did. You accepted a random claim on the Internet as a fact, then repeated it ("TMP sold more" ) as if that were a fact you knew.

Don't do that.

 

[Arpy]

You did. You accepted a random claim on the Internet as a fact, then repeated it ("TMP sold more" ) as if that were a fact you knew.

Don't do that.

I ran with what was posted for the sake of conversation and forgot the thread just as quickly. I’m not going to cite this anywhere so I didn’t care to look at the source. I’m kicking myself a bit, but it’s not realistic to expect research before offering every word. Not when you’re doing something for fun.

That said, why did you make your statement?

 

[Therin of Andor]

Ticket sales?

I tried to find the site with ticket sales, sorry, but couldn't find the original site RAMA used for his graphic. It did used to be around: a site that listed calculations for ticket sales. Essentially dividing the mean ticket price into each of the totals. I shall keep looking.

Okay, Wiki Talk mentions "The [Wikipedia] article currently states, 'The Motion Picture had the highest ticket sales of any film in the franchise', with a citation to a subscribers-only article from The Hollywood Reporter."

Also: John Tenuto's article:
https://trekmovie.com/2008/02/03/history-of-trek-movie-merchandising/

 

[RAMA]

It is the most accurate measure of this type of information ever presented and I'm almost always correct whereas you ignore lots of facts that disagree with your preconceived worldview. I back up my shit, you don't. End of story.

RAMA

It's a claim, by someone who frequently posts dubious information. In this case, no reliable source has been posted for the underlying data.

 

[RAMA]

Every article, every chart of this info has been incomplete, ie: only showing domestic figures/tickets sold, or not including legacy foreign ticket prices, it took many years to find the missing info but I have the most accurate info possible.

RAMA

TMP ran in some cinemas from early December 1979 till at least Easter 1980 (as it did here in Sydney). It then went into the suburban circuits.

Admittedly, not playing in every suburb at once, like today's films that have their premieres in many cinemas at once. But lots of time for multiple viewings and repeat box-office sales.

https://www.the-numbers.com/movies/franchise/Star-Trek#tab=summary
https://www.reddit.com/r/startrek/comments/6r9aa5/star_trek_films_ranked_by_worldwide_box_office/

 

[Therin of Andor]

Every article, every chart of this info has been incomplete, ie: only showing domestic figures/tickets sold, or not including legacy foreign ticket prices, it took many years to find the missing info but I have the most accurate info possible.

Thanks RAMA, but Serveaux asked about the actual references for your sourced info. Your table looks great, but there are no references under the grid.