Is it time to put Star Trek to rest?

[Dar70]

I am beginning to think the franchise has nothing left to really offer. Well for me at least for me. Out of all the live action stuff over the last 7 or 8 years. Most of it has been pretty bland/bad to me. With maybe a season and a half of Disco, 1 season of SNW and 1 season of Picard. That I enjoyed to varying degrees.
Everything else I have not really enjoyed. Lower decks was just too inane for me. Only watched one ep of prodigy and they took it off streaming.

Lots of missteps imo the last 8 years. But it just seems like the franchise has run out of steam. I constantly find myself watching the older stuff or finding new scifi fantasy shows that offer something a bit different and unique. Or just plain watching more non scifi stuff now.

But after almost 50 years of some type of Trek in production almost every year (except maybe between Enterprise and the 2009 film) it's gotten pretty stale to me. There are almost 1000 episodes of Trek not to mention like 14 movies.

Many its just my age. Idk.....
But getting old doesn't explain why I love Star Wars Andor...

 

[Nerys Myk]

Nah,

 

[Tosk]

I am beginning to think the franchise has nothing left to really offer. Well for me at least for me.

There's an easy fix for this that doesn't require putting Trek to rest.

 

[korblborp]

loads shotgun while crying i'm so sorry i have to do this, boy ;_;

 

[Ray Hardgrit]

Honestly, I feel like I'm waiting for Star Trek to come back from its rest.

We've had animated comedy Star Trek, animated kids Star Trek, goofy prequel hijinks Star Trek, bizarre grimdark/therapy Star Trek, grumpy old pitch-black nostalgia Star Trek and whatever the hell Section 31 was. It's not that I didn't like any of them, but I'm eager to get some regular Star Trek back.

 

[fireproof78]

am beginning to think the franchise has nothing left to really offer. Well for me at least for me.

Simple answer:

 

[Dar70]

There's an easy fix for this that doesn't require putting Trek to rest.

To be fair I said..."for me at least" and it could be an age thing.... ....I'm just wondering if anyone else feels this way. I am beginning to. If Paramount/Skydance announced no more trek for 20 years it would not make me feel sad.

 

[FredH]

No. (It may take a rest anyway.). I would never presume to suggest that a story or franchise should be put to bed simply because it’s not working for me anymore. If there’s still an audience other than me — and there usually is — then I haven’t that right.

(Trek is still working for me, but there are certainly other IPs out there that aren’t.)

 

[Tosk]

To be fair I said..."for me at least"

But that's my point. You could put it to rest for you without everyone else losing out too.
Believe me, I get it though. There have been elements of Kurtz-Trek that I have hated.

 

[Dar70]

Honestly, I feel like I'm waiting for Star Trek to come back from its rest.

We've had animated comedy Star Trek, animated kids Star Trek, goofy prequel hijinks Star Trek, bizarre grimdark/therapy Star Trek, grumpy old pitch-black nostalgia Star Trek and whatever the hell Section 31 was. It's not that I didn't like any of them, but I'm eager to get some regular Star Trek back.

I think at this point Ray what we have wanted is unlikely to come back. We both think the same way in regards to current Trek. But I think the Franchise has gone too far in its current form for them to ever get it back to what we may want. Season 3 of Picard is about as close as we will ever get. So we have to hold that close I suppose... ....

But I have zero confidence in the current producers and to tell the truth Trek is probably not even on most people must watch lists. Even Star Wars has lost favor with many people and there is still awesome stuff like Andor being produced.


I truly know that they won't end Trek permanently. But I'm hoping Skydance sees it's more of a money pit right now and at least gives it a proper rest after academy.

 

[Tosk]

Season 3 of Picard is about as close as we will ever get. So we have to hold that close I suppose... ....

Just when I was starting to think we agree...damn.

 

[Dar70]

But that's my point. You could put it to rest for you without everyone else losing out too.
Believe me, I get it though. There have been elements of Kurtz-Trek that I have hated.

I'm not happy that I have burned out on it. I wish I still had that feeling in me where Trek was must watch tv. But now it seems I'm only watching it to stay active on these boards and yeah complain about much if it. . Just so people know I'm not complaining and criticizing to be mean. Yes I joke sometimes and it may be taken wrong. But when I have a gripe I'm doing it because the show meant so much to me since 1975. I'm Not doing it to be a dick.

 

[Dar70]

Just when I was starting to think we agree...damn.

....sorry man. I really did enjoy that season. Sure it was a bit of fan pandering but the other shows do it as well just not as obvious. But for example ...when Worf was reintroduced that was the first time in a long time I actually felt like I did 20 years ago with the franchise. Im embarrassed to say I said WORF out loud sitting by myself watching it. Hadn't had a nerd moment like that in forever...

 

[James Cole]

Season 3 of Picard is about as close as we will ever get. So we have to hold that close I suppose... ....

The PICARD series finale still holds the record of the most watched Star Trek episode tracked by the Nielsen streaming numbers. Whenever the wider media does a general story about Star Trek, they usually use a picture from PICARD season 3.

This board is very top heavy with SNW fans, but on the wider Internet there's still an outcry for Legacy whenever a new project is proposed (see Akiva Goldsman calling for Star Trek: Year One and whenever something new drops about SFA).

I remain optimistic that the Kurtzman era will be over sooner rather than later, and that projects more in line with pre-2009 Star Trek might come to the fore before the end of the decade.

 

[1001001]

There's an easy fix for this that doesn't require putting Trek to rest.

Exactly.



I think modern Trek has been hit and miss (loved Lower Decks, hated Picard, for example).

If TPTB have more stories to tell, then I’m happy to take a look.

 

[Starflight]

I think Star Trek is one of the IPs that raises interesting questions about what a media franchise actually is. When TNG came out, some people asserted that you can't have Star Trek without Kirk and Spock - that's not an unreasonable view (after all, you can't have Tomb Raider without Lara Croft, or Xena without... Xena), but it's one that seemed to fade as the 90s shows proved reasonably successful in expanding the scope of the franchise.

The newer shows all have value, but I think there's a fairly common feeling that they're not adept at tapping into Star Trek's unique selling point, which is tricky to do at this point because it's not clear what that selling point actually is. It's no longer an optimistic/upbeat tone (DS9's "gritty" shit and Discovery/Picard's dourness), a format (the episodic model was thrown out by Disco and Picard), any specific character or ship, any specific ethos or philosophy, etc.

So "Star Trek" as a brand name doesn't really communicate anything clear at this point - if I were to tell you there's a new Star Trek series coming called, I dunno, something generic like "Star Trek: Starburst", you'd have no clue what to expect. You don't know what characters it will include, what tone it'll have, what structure it'll have, what kind of plots to expect, who the target audience will be... you don't know what century it'll be set, or even if it'll be necessarily set in space. There's a careful line to walk between innovating and reimagining a franchise to keep it fresh, and brand dilution, and Star Trek might have tipped into the latter.

The franchise doesn't necessarily have to be put to rest, but they might want to consider a focused attempt to reforge a clear identity in the near future, rather than just having it as a name that can be slapped on any sci-fi script.

 

[Turtletrekker]

Just when I was starting to think we agree...damn.

Yeah, Picard season 3 only worked because of the returning cast members and that's not something that can't be sustained over an entire series. Hell, they were barely able to sustain it over a single season. It's like when they do multi Doctor episodes on Doctor Who. There are a ton of fun and they're usually amongst my favorites, but the story always tends to be a little on the thin side and they're not what the series as a whole should be and would actually get very old very quickly.

 

[Dar70]

The PICARD series finale still holds the record of the most watched Star Trek episode tracked by the Nielsen streaming numbers. Whenever the wider media does a general story about Star Trek, they usually use a picture from PICARD season 3.

This board is very top heavy with SNW fans, but on the wider Internet there's still an outcry for Legacy whenever a new project is proposed (see Akiva Goldsman calling for Star Trek: Year One and whenever something new drops about SFA).

I remain optimistic that the Kurtzman era will be over sooner rather than later, and that projects more in line with pre-2009 Star Trek might come to the fore before the end of the decade.

Maybe. You are correct that their are more Kurtzman fans here. I see a lot of outcry as well. Especially on reddit and YouTube. But still I'm not even sure I want a legacy series at this point. As much as I love the idea I think it will be sat on for too long like other ideas that were floated around for years. It's been over two years now and Jeri Ryan is not getting any younger. She would be 60+ by the time they would probably even consider doing it.

 

[Dar70]

Yeah, Picard season 3 only worked because of the returning cast members and that's not something that can't be sustained over an entire series. Hell, they were barely able to sustain it over a single season. It's like when they do multi Doctor episodes on Doctor Who. There are a ton of fun and they're usually amongst my favorites, but the story always tends to be a little on the thin side and they're not what the series as a whole should be and would actually get very old very quickly.

I personally did NOT want a new series with the TNG cast. It was a nice closure for them..certainly better than Nemesis.

 

[Lord Garth]

There's a clear pattern now of there being different production eras with a beginning, middle, and end. If I like shows within that production era, I'll watch them. If I don't, I won't. It's that simple.

When the next production era begins, I'll stick around if I like it and won't if I don't.

Though, to be brutally honest, Apple+ is making science-fiction closer to what I want. For All Mankind, and its upcoming spin-off Star City, those are the things I'm looking the most forward to. I'll give Foundation a shot too. Looking forward to Alien: Earth and Blade Runner 2099 as well, to see how those turn out.

The other thing I want to say upfront is that while I'm looking forward to SFA, I'm not going to get into the thick of it again like I did with DSC and PIC. My peak excitement for this production era has passed. I don't have the same type of time to devote to online arguments that I did before. And the re-watches I'm doing, where I also write reviews, take time and that's my first priority on here now. I don't miss regular arguments about New Trek in the slightest.

So that's pretty much where I stand with Star Trek in a nutshell. I'll stick around for whatever I like and won't for whatever I don't. I won't root for it to end, and I'm fine with it continuing, whether I watch or not. I'd prefer if it continued in a way that I like but, if it doesn't, whatever. If I don't watch, then what's it to me? Let other people watch as much as they want.