Is it time to put Star Trek to rest?

[Dukhat]

Haven't watched the video but, tentatively, I think there is a fair debate to have about the extent to which Star Trek's coherence has been stretched beyond recognition.

Like, at this point "Star Trek" genuinely does communicate almost nothing as a label. It doesn't consistently refer to any character, or location, or setting, or theme, or tone, or storytelling model, or target demographic, or production style.

Obviously someone could very reasonably argue that this predates Kurtzman and even happened as early as TNG/the films, but I think even someone who enjoys everything labelled "Star Trek" would have trouble defining what the name actually means at this point, other than "a production from CBS/Paramount that has the name Star Trek on it".

I think the challenge now is to figure out just what story they can tell that they haven’t already covered ad nauseum for the last 60 years. Personally I like the idea of just rebooting everything and starting from scratch, but unless what they come up with is new and interesting, and not just a retread of the past, taking Star Trek in a new direction will be exceedingly hard. But it’s not impossible. Look at nuBSG. They took the basic plot of TOS BSG and spun it in a completely new format with incidental callbacks to the original. That’s how you successfully reboot a franchise.

 

[Lord Garth]

Modern Phase 1 = 1987-2005
Modern Phase 2 = 2009-2016
Modern Phase 3 = 2017-present

Classic Phase 1 = 1966-1974 --> TOS and TAS
Classic Phase 2 = 1979-1994 --> TOS Movies and TNG <-- and DS9 S1-S2
Classic Phase 3 = 1994-2005 --> TNG Movies, DS9, VOY, and ENT

Modern Phase 1 = 2009-2016 --> Kelvin Films
Modern Phase 2 = 2017-Present --> DSC and onward

You don't think it's weird to me to call Star Trek in the late-'90s or early-'00s part of the "Classic" Era? It is. But time marches on.

I'm not calling anything that's 4:3, was SD, and aired on an abandoned format (syndication) or a channel that doesn't exist anymore (UPN) "modern". That's not what it is anymore and I'm not going to pretend it is.

When I say stuff like "No way are the '90s retro! The '00s? Get out of town!" I'm just joking around. I'm in my 40s, it feels weird to me to think of it that way. But it is.

Don't believe me? Spend some time with some teenagers. If it came out in a year that starts with 19, it's old. It might not feel that way to you or me, but that's part of what being middle-aged is.

 

[fireproof78]

If there's one thing I've observed about this site, it's that no one clicks videos. At least, not until someone explains what they're about.

Yes, because random videos are not getting clicks unless I know why someone thinks I should watch it.

 

[FredH]

I don't click vids unless they're in the music forums.

I don't click on Xhitter links period.

Vids can be pretty annoying, especially if you’d rather just read something.

 

[Dukhat]

Phase 1: TOS, TOS films through TVH (1966-1986)

Phase 2: TNG, DS9, VOY, ENT, TOS films TFF, TUC, TNG films (1987-2005)

Phase 3: Star Trek ‘09, Star Trek Into Darkness, Star Trek Beyond (2009-2016)

Phase 4: DSC, PIC, LDS, PRO, SNW, Section 31, SFA (2017-2027)

Phase 5: ?

 

[Ceridwen]

Profit.

 

[Lord Garth]

Phase 5: ?

ParaSkydanceWarner Trek.

I'm sure I'll find a better name in the coming years, but for now...

 

[Dukhat]

Profit.

I was gonna say that lol

ParaSkydanceWarner Trek.

I'm sure I'll find a better name in the coming years, but for now...

PSW+

 

[CorporalCaptain]

This is what makes sense to me.

@cooleddie74's are the last three.

It's like @Dukhat's, except I can't put TMP-TVH in with TOS. TAS goes with TOS far more. TMP is a reimagining on many more levels. First of all the production was a major new undertaking. Also, new tropes are ironed out, that differentiate all the films from TOS.

1966-1974 TOS, TAS
1979-1986 TMP-TVH
1987-2005 TNG-ENT, STV-NEM
2009-2016 STXI-BEY
2017-present CBSAA/P+

 

[Turtletrekker]

I actually tend to break the Berman era down into four sub-eras

• Roddenberry / Berman. First two seasons of TNG
• Berman/Piller
• Berman/Behr/Taylor
• Berman and Braga (The Killer Bs)

 

[Dukhat]

It's like @Dukhat's, except I can't put TMP-TVH in with TOS. TAS goes with TOS far more. TMP is a reimagining on many more levels. First of all the production was a major new undertaking. Also, new tropes are ironed out, that differentiate all the films from TOS.

I get that. I lumped the first four TOS films in with TOS mainly because they have the same characters/actors who logically changed with the times, and the visual reimagining was actually explained in dialogue, rather than the ‘visual reboot’ nonsense of DSC, SNW, etc. TFF and TUC were produced during the Berman era, so were influenced more by TNG than they were by TOS.

The TNG phase was not really a logical next step from the TOS films. It was just Roddenberry trying to remake TOS 20 years later with similar visual styling but with a different tone, and all other Berman-era shows followed in those footsteps to one degree or another.

The KT movies were also a completely different aesthetic catering to big-budget feature films.

And CBS/Paramount Trek was the fourth aesthetic: just a reboot they were too scared to actually call a reboot. I have no other logical way to explain it.

 

[Lord Garth]

I actually tend to break the Berman era down into four sub-eras

• Roddenberry / Berman. First two seasons of TNG
• Berman/Piller
• Berman/Behr/Taylor
• Berman and Braga (The Killer Bs)

I like this, because those 18 years are too big to call it all one thing. In both time and content.

Even though I split it at 1994, because I view the TNG Movies and DS9/VOY as replacements for the TOS Movies and TNG respectively.

But I like the way you do it, because it's a much more accurate look the real situation than just "1987-2005. It's all Rick Berman! TNG!" Whoever worked under him made a huge difference and whenever it changed, it was felt.

 

[Kamen Rider Blade]

PSW+

PSWBD (Paramount Skydance Warner Bros Discovery)

 

[Lord Garth]

SCDPCGC

"Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce Cutler Gleason & Chaough is a mouth full!"

 

[Campe]

Meh. Opinion videos touting themselves as fact. Let me know when there’s a groundbreaking video posted here.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

I actually tend to break the Berman era down into four sub-eras

• Roddenberry / Berman. First two seasons of TNG
• Berman/Piller
• Berman/Behr/Taylor
• Berman and Braga (The Killer Bs)

If we have sub-eras, then obviously TOS and TAS get separated.

And TOS S3 is split off into the Fred Freiberger sub-era.

Maybe TMP even stands alone, in its own sub-era, incorporating all of the development of Star Trek II (aka Phase II).

 

[tomalak301]

I'm not entirely sure what I started, I just said it seemed like Modern was a really long time frame. It kind of reminds me of music I grew up listening to. Would music of the 90s now be considered Classic Music (Backstreet Boys being classical Music? Man I'm old ). I just put Trek in three different time frames. There was the classic era with Star Trek and The Animated Series and the Movies up to The Undiscovered Country, the TV era, and now the Streaming Era. It keeps things simple and easy to understand.

 

[drt]

This is what makes sense to me.

@cooleddie74's are the last three.

It's like @Dukhat's, except I can't put TMP-TVH in with TOS. TAS goes with TOS far more. TMP is a reimagining on many more levels. First of all the production was a major new undertaking. Also, new tropes are ironed out, that differentiate all the films from TOS.

1966-1974 TOS, TAS
1979-1986 TMP-TVH
1987-2005 TNG-ENT, STV-NEM
2009-2016 STXI-BEY
2017-present CBSAA/P+

This is largely the way i consider everything, although, I split out TMP into its own thing. As you pointed out, It has a reimagined vibe that doesn't really feel like an actual continuation of ST/TAS, while TWOK is another mild reboot* that doesn't feel like it follows on from TMP (particularly since it completely retraces Kirk's mid-age crisis storyline from TMP).

* = I've mentioned this before always wondered how TWOK would have looked if Meyer wasn't forced to use TMP sets/special effects stock footage and had the budget for all new sets, ship models, etc.

 

[Dar70]

This is largely the way i consider everything, although, I split out TMP into its own thing. As you pointed out, It has a reimagined vibe that doesn't really feel like an actual continuation of ST/TAS, while TWOK is another mild reboot* that doesn't feel like it follows on from TMP (particularly since it completely retraces Kirk's mid-age crisis storyline from TMP).

* = I've mentioned this before always wondered how TWOK would have looked if Meyer wasn't forced to use TMP sets/special effects stock footage and had the budget for all new sets, ship models, etc.

Funny how we all think of this stuff in different perspectives. I think TMP is the closest thing to TOS we ever got and I definitely lump in with TOS.

 

[Rowdy Roddy McDowall]

As Surak himself once said, "The new stuff will conflict with the older content, and it must be logically approached. Or meltdowns can happen, and I'll let it slide when they happen."

Ah, yes. The Paraphrase Curtain.

(My very first watched MST3K episode snatched the memorable line ''HELP ME, SPOCK!!!!'')