is STAR TREK respected scifi???

[blakbyrd]

JD said:
Personally, I don't get the why so many "sci-fi fans" hate Trek so much. I really don't see where it's that different from the other kinds of sci-fi, I've always thought it had a lot of depth and did a good job tackeling issues when it decided to do so.

Agreed.

 

[Warped9]

I remember when Star Trek had a measure of respect from general sf. That time is past and not surprisingly considering the amount of crap we've gotten over the past twenty years and the last decade or so in particular.

 

[Anwar]

I was wondering when you'd show up and give off that exact response...

 

[Cyclopean]

Warped9 is right, in one respect.

Sci-fi writers only 'respected' Trek when they hoped they could get a check from it, and that was almost entirely in the 60s.

There's a great disparity between what writing for TV and what what writing for Analog/Asimov's pays, and there's a greater disparity in the kind of stories one can tell on TV versus what one can tell in magazines.

When they complain about trek, SF writers envy the former and bemoan the latter.

 

[Maurice]

I think characterizing sci-fi writer's lack of respect for Trek as paycheck envy is mean-sprited.

Frankly, I think the reason many S.F. writer embraced the original show was that it was the first somewhat serious attempt to do science fiction that wasn't a one-shot or Irwin Allen level. That the show occasionally bought material from sci-fi authors indicated at least some respect for their work, and the idea of serious science fiction for television. However, once the sequels (TAS aside) started popping up, it was TV by writers who often said "I'm not really into science fiction", and it shows.

 

[FordSVT]

EliyahuQeoni said:
First, I don't think it matters whether it is "respected" or not. Second, Star Trek isn't Science Fiction, its Action-Adventure Fantasy. Just because it has space ships and laser guns doesn't make it Science Fiction, which is the problem readers of Hard SF have with it.

No, it's definitely science fiction. What you're saying is that anything that doesn't fit the definition of hard sci-fi is not science fiction. If that were true, there would be no need to differentiate "hard" science fiction from the rest of it.

 

[UnknownSample]

DS9sega... thanks for using "SF" rather than "sci-fi" at least once. And I agree with yours and FordSVT's last posts, and thanks for those too.