I think voyager's premise is underrated because people focus on ship battle damage etc... It's the perfect combination of episodic resets with a series-spanning goal for the ship.
Voyager is great as light, dinnertime TV. Too many fans fail to realise that NOTHING is going to match the warm, fuzzy memories of their first Trek and thus everything since then is terrible. The name "Star Trek" adds the Weight of Expectation™ which crushes all. Look at The Orville, which is basically Voyager with Family Guy humour and it's quite popular.
I disagree. I think most people, fans of Voyager or not, think that the premise was just fine. It's what the show did with that premise that often divides opinions. That would imply that most Trek fans only like the first Trek they got in to, and that's clearly not the case.
Voyager in terms of characters and episodes balanced ensemble ones-workforce, scientific method, year of hell with single character episodes-of which the doctor, Janeway, and seven got the majority. Though all the other characters got episodes in which they got to shine. Which was really an endearing part of voyager to me personally.
As compared to other Trek series and films (as opposed to a broader spectrum of shows)? I agree with what you say, however all of Trek is ultra-light, dinner fare compared to the films and docs I typically watch. I think that's one reason why I love it. It's pretty much at odds with all the other entertainment options that I tend to gravitate towards. "Dark" in Star Trek is like standing in a moderately well-lit room or outside on a fairly sunny day... I completely agree with this.
I admit I struggle a bit with this topic because it's all so subjective. Essentially, do I think Voyager is better than how I think most people remember Voyager? If I judge the show on its own, I say yeah, probably it is underrated. If I judge it in the context of when it aired, probably not. In a vacuum, the overall quality of the show isn't too much different than TNG, and in fact the stories are easily told with either cast (I would say by design, since characters were crafted to be story-telling analogues of characters on previous shows). This is either a strength or a weakness depending on whether you "love" or "hate" getting more of the same. Most of Voyager's problems were TNG's problems as well, though some were exposed a bit more by Voyager's premise of being cut off from Starfleet. There's just no getting around that this was the decline phase of the TNG era, and as a result the show just is going to be saddled with some of that "blame" no matter what. In that context, it isn't underrated at all. It's a victim of a production staff trying to save the cash cow by clinging too tightly to a formula, then trying to freshen it in only a very superficial manner. I can't even fault B&B too much for that, since it's a natural reaction to seeing DS9's ratings decline vs. TNG's. I choose to push that aside though. I accept it and enjoy it for what it is. I liked more of the same then, and I still do.
This is the best thing posted here. TNG: It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Easily puts forward the franchise's worst episodes, moments, and characters. Also puts forward the franchise's finest moments and episodes. VOY: It was the okayist of times. Even Threshold isn't as bad as many early TNG offerings. Even Neelix isn't as bad as early Deanna Troi. Even DS9 put forward episodes worse than anything you'll find in Voyager. Problem is, Voyager never reached the same heights either.
I’ll go with that. And. It seemed like TNG characters all thought very highly of themselves, Smug at times. That’s hard to take. Annoying. Voyager characters had humility in some regard, a degree of reality that TNG characters avoided. With the exception of the EMH. Larger than life, designed that way.
Voyager was my first trek. Now I'd rank it way lower than TNG and DS9. So sick of this argument that people only like things due to nostalgia.
Been Trek since 66. The only thing I didn’t like, based on nostalgia, was Chris Pine. Pining for a Shat impressionist, that’s me. As far as the VOY/TNG bout..... I’ll hit on TNG season seven and see if my mind changes.
But some critics of Voyager will point to this series and say things like "This is what Voyager should have been" or "This is what Voyager wishes it could be". Yeah, and I liked it better than the one episode of Discovery I watched. The original series was my first Trek. I was actually born approximately 2 weeks before it's premier and I have vague memories of it from when I was a toddler. But I didn't really get into it until I saw the the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th movies later on. Then I went back and watched the series and became a fan. So I saw it, TNG and some of DS9 before I ever watched Voyager. The original series is my second favorite though. I feel that way sometimes about the TNG characters.
There are some standout excellent voyager episodes that hold up with the best of trek overall. Same with DS9 and TNG. It's just people remember the worst of voyager more than say TNG.
It seemed like his stray facial hairs might eventually grow to six inches.....Somebody, please Fix That. Yes, he’s annoying, but someone has to teach Tuvok to cook.
Well, he cooked for one episode only and then he stopped. It seems the Vulcans are forbidden to do anything fun...