Is it time to put Star Trek to rest?

[Starflight]

Lynx is overstating the case a bit, but genre fiction definitely has shifted to "grittiness" since the turn of the century, and doubly so since the dual combo of nuBSG and Game of Thrones, both of which seemed to be taken as blueprints for how to write "mature" SFF. It's not universal, but you'd definitely have a harder time getting most 90s SFF shows commissioned today, because they lack "prestige" unless they're seen to deconstruct the genre in some way (which always translates to including lots of cheap references to real-world suffering, taking out all the fun or fantastical elements that made people love these genres in the first place, and sometimes just outright sneering at past works).

It's starting to go into reverse now, though - I've noticed the shift back to fun/optimism happening in videogames, which themselves were largely insulated from the initial wave of "let's make everything DARKER" in the late 90s, but now might act as a marker for where television and films are going to go.

You can measure the change over the last 8 years by imagining if Discovery's first season was released today - Disco is far from the worst example of the era, but it is a useful benchmark. In 2017 it fit perfectly into ongoing "darker and edgier" prestige TV trends, but today parts of it almost read as a parody of that era, to the point where there's a real argument to be made that the show works best nowadays as a comedy.

 

[fireproof78]

Lynx is overstating the case a bit, but genre fiction definitely has shifted to "grittiness" since the turn of the century, and doubly so since the dual combo of nuBSG and Game of Thrones, both of which seemed to be taken as blueprints for how to write "mature" SFF

Sure, but it's not a new phenomenon to history.

Star Wars was regarded as a dumb kid's film because of its tone and approach in the 70s were cynicism ran high with the Cold and Vietnam War.

 

[Lynx]

TV and audience expectations have changed. Sometimes it is simply better to move on. I feel you, I miss the old days. I wish Trek was something that was more interesting to me in its current form, but it isn't.

The past is awesome, it is also the past. Don't miss the future yearning for something that simply can't be replicated.

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Move on? To what?

There's nothing to move on to.

Dude, TOS and BSG did that. Doom and gloom is not new to this century or decade. Here's a letter from 1973 from an author discussing these same issues. It's not new:

What i know, the 70's weren't so funny either. Many people think it was like a hangover compared to the more happy 60's.

It became better in the 80's and 90's.

Lynx is overstating the case a bit, but genre fiction definitely has shifted to "grittiness" since the turn of the century, and doubly so since the dual combo of nuBSG and Game of Thrones, both of which seemed to be taken as blueprints for how to write "mature" SFF. It's not universal, but you'd definitely have a harder time getting most 90s SFF shows commissioned today, because they lack "prestige" unless they're seen to deconstruct the genre in some way (which always translates to including lots of cheap references to real-world suffering, taking out all the fun or fantastical elements that made people love these genres in the first place, and sometimes just outright sneering at past works).

It's starting to go into reverse now, though - I've noticed the shift back to fun/optimism happening in videogames, which themselves were largely insulated from the initial wave of "let's make everything DARKER" in the late 90s, but now might act as a marker for where television and films are going to go.

You can measure the change over the last 8 years by imagining if Discovery's first season was released today - Disco is far from the worst example of the era, but it is a useful benchmark. In 2017 it fit perfectly into ongoing "darker and edgier" prestige TV trends, but today parts of it almost read as a parody of that era, to the point where there's a real argument to be made that the show works best nowadays as a comedy.

I don't know if I'm overstating.
Maybe, but I write about what I see.

Game Of Thrones is an example of what happened. Instead of optimism and also humor, we got sword-waving bearded gnomes in series from the worst ages in human history, full with gore blood and torture scenes.

And what we see today is a result of that.

DSC and NuTrek just went in the same direction, PIC too.

DSC a comedy? I would call it a "dark comedy".

Sure, but it's not a new phenomenon to history.

Star Wars was regarded as a dumb kid's film because of its tone and approach in the 70s were cynicism ran high with the Cold and Vietnam War.

As I wrote before, the 70's were obviously not as funny as the 60's. It was more like a hangover.
But the music was better that what we have today.

 

[BillJ]

There's nothing to move on to.

This is a genuinely sad comment.

 

[fireproof78]

What i know, the 70's weren't so funny either. Many people think it was like a hangover compared to the more happy 60's.

It became better in the 80's and 90's.

It cycles, as does media.

This is a genuinely sad comment.

Indeed, yes. Because, well, I've always found something to move on to. Though Trek is not foundational to me as it is to others here. It was not my first sci-fi love, as it were.