How to get the younger generation interested in TOS?

[Amaris]

I would suggest if you are talking about someone under 30 who has never seen any form of Star Trek at all, start with the movies 1-6, then graduate to the fan collectives, then Movies 7-12. If you start them off with Star Trek 2009 and STID, I personally think you risk them rejecting the rest of Star Trek.

Besides, having someone think of Chirs Pine as the true, definitive Kirk is just, well, wrong. He's a fine actor, but Shatner IS Kirk. :P

It worked for one of my friends, though. She watched ST09 and practically begged me to unleash my Trek knowledge on her, and now she's a big fan of TOS. She loves it because the stories are fun, and she finds it "charming."

 

[Commishsleer]

To get young people in I think we need a cartoon like the "Clone Wars" in Star Wars. And lots of merchandising with ships and cool weapons.

 

[2takesfrakes]

The only way to get the young hooked on TOS is, as someone else has already mentioned in this thread, to watch it with your kids. Like the Jesuits say, "give us the first 7 years and we've got them for life." Other than that, The Original Series may not have the appeal required to attract young audiences. It's half a century old and they're not going to be oblivious to that fact. Whilst CGI revamps and re-editing can help it seem less cheesey, in certain places, nothing can prevent it from seeming less dated. It's no one thing, like dated FX, it's everything.

 

[Ssosmcin]

A friend of mine asked me to recommend a Star Trek episode to kick it off for their two ear old. I suggested "Tribbles," and he took it from there. He posted this on the Facebook Star Trek post for the 50th anniversary of "The Cage" and it made me smile.

What a weird coincidence! Renita wanted to watch Star Trek last night. We previously introduced her to the show with "The Trouble with Tribbles" (good recommendation for a youngster Scott McIntyre, thanks!) and a "City on the Edge of Forever" (Classic!) since they are pretty tame in terms of scary content for a two year old. So we figured we should get her started at the beginning with the pilot episode, "The Cage", last night. We had no idea it was the 50th Anniversary of it! Renita wasn't too fond of the aliens but after a barrage of questions she finally liked them by the end because they were really trying to help the nice old lady and make her feel better. She had asked questions the entire time and when it ended she wanted to watch another one so we moved on to "The Man Trap". She said felt bad for the salt sucking vampire.

A new Trekkie is born. At 2!!!

 

[Redfern]

Perceptive child to recognize the "pity" of the situation rather than being scared witless by thw salt vampire's "grand reveal".

Sincerely,

Bill

 

[EnsignTOS]

A Trekkie teacher got me interested in the show. I always knew of and about 'Star Trek' but I never paid it a considerable lot of attention, although I really meant to. So one chilly day in October 2011, the teacher played the episode "The Devil In The Dark" for us, and from then on I was hooked!

That was my story. I think it really depends on the kid. In my case, I genuinely thought it was cool. It's kind of like you have to have a "you gotta want it!" personality...if you know what I mean. Other parts of Today's Generation are more attracted to steamy romance and all that stuff that you read in fanfictions. Yuck.

 

[Lance]

To get young people in I think we need a cartoon like the "Clone Wars" in Star Wars. And lots of merchandising with ships and cool weapons.

Yeah, I think on the broader level if CBS were interested in building a younger fanbase from the ground up, this would be a good way to go about it. Something like "Clone Wars" would also have the benefit of having cross-market appeal, ie a lot of older Trek fans would find enjoyment in it, but it'd be the impact that it could have on younger viewers that would truly pay dividends in the end.

For all the talk of ST'09 and STiD being a success, I'm not entirely sure that has translated into emboldening the fandom. It still seems to me that even though there might be a new audience that likes those movies, many of them have not crossed over into the more mainstream fandom. While there are plenty of us older fans who like the new movies, I'm just not as convinced it has worked the other way around.

 

[Joska Daro]

I watched STiD last year but I wasn't interested in Star Trek. I watched it again because I was a fan of SHERLOCK.
Then someone recommended "Tribbles" to me and oh god and now I am crazy about TOS(and other series)although some of the episodes are older than my parents.
So trust me TOS do not lack the appeal to attract certain young audience. Just find the right person.

 

[bbailey861]

To get young people in I think we need a cartoon like the "Clone Wars" in Star Wars. And lots of merchandising with ships and cool weapons.

Yeah, I think on the broader level if CBS were interested in building a younger fanbase from the ground up, this would be a good way to go about it. Something like "Clone Wars" would also have the benefit of having cross-market appeal, ie a lot of older Trek fans would find enjoyment in it, but it'd be the impact that it could have on younger viewers that would truly pay dividends in the end.

For all the talk of ST'09 and STiD being a success, I'm not entirely sure that has translated into emboldening the fandom. It still seems to me that even though there might be a new audience that likes those movies, many of them have not crossed over into the more mainstream fandom. While there are plenty of us older fans who like the new movies, I'm just not as convinced it has worked the other way around.

I agree with this assessment as well. I think a new animated series would go a long way in getting younger audiences interested in Trek. We can expand their horizons as interest develops. I don't understand why they didn't proceed with an animated series after the '09 film.

 

[Gaith]

It's true, a lot of the episodes are bad. I wouldn't want to let someone new wander around unsupervised in season 3. New viewers need some recommendations to guide them.

Quite. Building off that, I think a youtube video review/overview series could be pretty helpful - something along the lines of Red Letter Media's "Half in the Bag", with two or three fans discussing each ep, featuring plenty of video clips to tie things together and contextualize in terms of continuity, inspirations from prior material, and future callbacks. And they should definitely be humorous in a good-hearted way - laugh at the cheese, and scoff at the stupid when necessary, but do so affectionately, and praise the good for being good, not just good in a kitschy or much-parodied way.

They wouldn't have to be full-on documentaries; 5-10 minutes per ep would probably be ideal. And I know there have doubtless been numerous written and pocasted series rewatches, and that's all well and good, but there's nothing so user-friendly as video.

 

[Count Spockula]

In my freshman film class, a difficult task indeed! I precede the episode viewing with a lecture on miniatures, models and stop action. Then a lecture on editing where I select an episode which functions on parallel editing like the "The Doomsday Machine." We view the episode from the Blu-ray set. I conclude with a supplemental discussion using examples of the original model animation. The young trekkers love to participate in the discussion where they discuss everything from acting styles to the cold war.

Then an interesting phenomenon starts to happen... the others in class get the feeling they are missing something. I get a lot of email and after class discussion from these guys(you know they want to appear cool in front of the others and cant admit their interest...The questions go farther than just what's going to be on the test....) However, there are those students you will never reach they just sit there... but at least the word is out...

Last semester, the door to the classroom was cracked a bit; instructors and students from other classes started to walk in to watch the episode. They heard that wonderful cue music in the hallway....

Trek resonates!!!

 

[Riker Kenobi]

Fans who started on the Abrams movies will likely never attain such unpleasant levels of elitism as some of the "old guard" around here. And that's definitely a good thing.

+1

I started with the 2009 movie, then watched The Wrath of Khan because I'd heard people say it was the best movie, and now I love TOS. Shouldn't matter what path you take to get into something. Hell, I started watching TNG because of Wil Wheaton on the Big Bang Theory (and then became a Riker fan as the result of an episode that most people understandably think is awful).

Frankly when I was a kid I may not have been able to get past how "old" everything looks, and the message of Star Trek would have been lost. Now I'm slightly more mature and able to appreciate the series for what it is. So the path I took was the right one for me.

Anyway, in trying to convert someone it depends on the person you are trying to get interested. Try to pick episodes or movies tailored to their interests. But don't try too hard to convert them... if they grow to love it, then great, but if they don't, it's nothing personal.

 

[Jeri]

So trust me TOS do not lack the appeal to attract certain young audience. Just find the right person.

This is what I think, too; we have a friend in her 20's, and she adores TOS. It's got plenty going for it. There's a lot of competition for kids' attention, though.

 

[CaptainMurdock]

I was 16 when I first discovered TOS back in 2007. I became interested in it when I heard the end credits music. I enjoyed the theme so much, I wanted to see what the show was like. The first episode I saw was "The Omega Glory" and from there I was hooked. I sought out the series on DVD and was a fan ever since. It mainly depends on interests really. I'm a fan of older things, I like living in retro. Star Trek fit my style and opened a new world to me. I'd say just pop an episode on and leave it idol for a child or teen to discover. If they like it they will watch it. If not, at least you tried.