Access to channels is a different subject, than the point I was refuting. i.e ST is rarely on UK screens these days, when in fact it is on almost daily. At least 6 days a week.
So what killed Star Trek?
- Thread starter ChristopherPike
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Access to channels is a different subject, than the point I was refuting. i.e ST is rarely on UK screens these days, when in fact it is on almost daily. At least 6 days a week.
Enterprise probably had terrestrial UK broadcasts far closer (6 months) to their US debut than other other Star Trek show, it just happened to be on a different channel, namely Channel 4.
So it was denied the 6pm weeknight slot on BBC2 that all the other series had.
Channel 4 wouldn't normally have picked up an import they didn't have digital rights to as well, so didn't promote it as much as their other shows.
The two channels you mentioned though are American channels on cable. It may well be on 6 days a week but if you don't have sky. But I do see your point.
Virgin played tons of TNG, DS9, Voyager and Enterprise a while back but nothing for a long time.
Nothing surprises me with the garbage UK tv. 
I think at the moment my Sky Planner has about 5 programmes in it to record a week.
1 of them has 1 episode left to air
1 has about 3 episodes left to air
1 has about 9 episodes left to air
Guess I'll have to wait for the new US season to make their way over here. NCIS, Criminal Minds, might try Terra Nova. Though the cynic in me thinks It'll only last 1 season.
1 of them has 1 episode left to air
1 has about 3 episodes left to air
1 has about 9 episodes left to air
Guess I'll have to wait for the new US season to make their way over here. NCIS, Criminal Minds, might try Terra Nova. Though the cynic in me thinks It'll only last 1 season.
You should be able to get a read on Terra Nova's fate fairly quickly after it debuts (Sept 26). It's absurdly expensive, so FOX must be expecting stratospheric ratings. We'll probably know whether the experiment was a success by early November.
Certainly making Star Trek more high fantasyish and supernatural and surreal is the way to go while simultaneously getting rid of aliens altogether - a weak spot in Star Wars IMO while bringing it down to a twilight zone - The Right Stuff - type type of reality with more of a lean towards hard science and what is possible though even though it is highly unlikely technologically.
I hear that the act following the Beatles Ed Sullivan appearance didn't do so well either, but other bands did come along, didn't they.
Serling, Rodenberry, Shirley Temple, the Beatles, Schubert are not easily replacable commodities.
I hear that the act following the Beatles Ed Sullivan appearance didn't do so well either, but other bands did come along, didn't they.
Serling, Rodenberry, Shirley Temple, the Beatles, Schubert are not easily replacable commodities.
Me no grok.
Don't think I'll have long to wait after it airs in the UK as Sky is already running trailers for it. I suspect it'll air maybe less than 7 days after it airs in the US
With hindsight Trek was lucky to last as long as it did. Figures-wise TNG was never going to be replicated. DS9 was actually a much better show (imho not only one of the best SF shows ever, but a great drama in its own right, up there with the new Galactica) but it was not a simple populist adventure of the week jaunt.
After early season doldrums, DS9 found its feet quite quickly but Voyager was horrible (the Kazon being awful didn't help) and took a very long time to improve. At its best it was not great and, at least to me, gathered most of the least popular Trek characters together in one show. This was where the real damage was done - Kirsten Beyers novels are way better than the show ever was !
Following Voyager would always be difficult - the demand had already gone and a prequel was a poor idea that had been raised and dismissed on a regular basis. The Xindi, Suliban and the Temporal Cold War were exceedingly poor, and despite a few decent main characters and a vast improvement in the final year, the damage was done.
There was certainly Trek fatigue, but Voyager and Enterprise finished it off. Enterprise could have possibly pulled it back with another season, but I doubt it...
After early season doldrums, DS9 found its feet quite quickly but Voyager was horrible (the Kazon being awful didn't help) and took a very long time to improve. At its best it was not great and, at least to me, gathered most of the least popular Trek characters together in one show. This was where the real damage was done - Kirsten Beyers novels are way better than the show ever was !
Following Voyager would always be difficult - the demand had already gone and a prequel was a poor idea that had been raised and dismissed on a regular basis. The Xindi, Suliban and the Temporal Cold War were exceedingly poor, and despite a few decent main characters and a vast improvement in the final year, the damage was done.
There was certainly Trek fatigue, but Voyager and Enterprise finished it off. Enterprise could have possibly pulled it back with another season, but I doubt it...
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You might as well jump right in watching it, rather than wait for ratings. I'm sure it will be fun to look at, and the novelty factor will be huge. The dinos and Stephen Lang should carry it for the first several episodes regardless of whether it gels as a series in the end.
Back on topic, I saw a comment elsewhere that young audiences are hungry for good adventure shows on TV, but getting sick of psychic detectives, vampires, et al. I have a funny feeling that a space opera series could do very well on basic or premium cable, as long as it was smartly matched to the expectations of the particular audience.
I'm just going to be frank and say HELL NO!
Yeah, "Star Trek: Twilight" is NOT what we need right now...
Trek's premise is so broad that it almost lacks one to begin with and is not relevant or identifyable to people, especially the alien angle all together which I think should be abandoned until such time as there actually is an audience. Once again, the 2001 hard science approach like a documentary emphasizing believability and not overstressing it's limits. A high concept here would help like say an alien computer program that is taking over the universe - a specific direct threat or some such thing. A rubber band can only be stretched so far before it loses it and people lose their interest in the franchise, er, money machine.
What Killed Star Trek? Berman letting Coto take over and the mediocre love fest threesome that it became with Braga as the reluctant cogenitor.
What Killed Star Trek? Berman letting Coto take over and the mediocre love fest threesome that it became with Braga as the reluctant cogenitor.
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Trek's broad, open-ended premise is its strength. It's about the folks who patrol and defend the frontiers of the Federation, take part of diplomacy and occasionally explore to suss out new potential member planets. There's no end to that job and no end to the complications and stories that the premise can generate (the limitation is on the writers' imaginations, not the premise).
Aliens are relatable, because they are simply humans in disguise. Human writers are incapable of writing alien characters who are not either humans in disguise or in some way related to humans, for instance by being a source of profit (tribbles) or a threat (space amoebas).
The relatability problem is more in the aesthetics. People flipping through channels and seeing blue people in a fake-looking desert is going to be less attractive than if you saw people in contemporary clothes in a contemporary setting. People like things that they recognize as safe and familiar.
This is an indictment of the imagination of modern audiences more than anything else. You'd have to sit still and watch for a while before you realized the blue people and the fake desert are metaphors for familiar things. You'd have to have a brain capable of grasping "metaphor." Sometimes I wonder if people can even do that anymore.
Aliens are relatable, because they are simply humans in disguise. Human writers are incapable of writing alien characters who are not either humans in disguise or in some way related to humans, for instance by being a source of profit (tribbles) or a threat (space amoebas).
The relatability problem is more in the aesthetics. People flipping through channels and seeing blue people in a fake-looking desert is going to be less attractive than if you saw people in contemporary clothes in a contemporary setting. People like things that they recognize as safe and familiar.
This is an indictment of the imagination of modern audiences more than anything else. You'd have to sit still and watch for a while before you realized the blue people and the fake desert are metaphors for familiar things. You'd have to have a brain capable of grasping "metaphor." Sometimes I wonder if people can even do that anymore.
One of the most brilliant aliens, and one of the most alien, is the Horta.
I would love to see a remake of The Devil in the Dark that had the resources to make the rock monster seem completely believable, and terrifying when it melts red shirts. And of course with the tweaks to address its shortcomings, like "you stand over here by yourself for a few hours and be sure not to fire at any monster approaching you".
I would love to see a remake of The Devil in the Dark that had the resources to make the rock monster seem completely believable, and terrifying when it melts red shirts. And of course with the tweaks to address its shortcomings, like "you stand over here by yourself for a few hours and be sure not to fire at any monster approaching you".
The broad premise is also a major strength in that you can tell just about any and every kind of story you can think of. That's what drives me nuts about the dweebs who try and say that Star Trek is "an epic, like Star Wars".
No, an epic is a big, broad, sprawling story told on a big, expansive canvas.
Star Trek is a setting, where all sorts of stories can be told. Big sprawling epics, small quiet personal stories, comedies, parodies, social commentaries, whatever.
Again, trying to pigeonhole Star Trek into the space epic category is just another indicator of a lack of imagination.
Familiarity breeds contempt whether it be for the real or unreal. People don't want to believe in anything unreal anymore, including Santa, spelled slightly backwards -satan as in satin's claws. The business is played out. Phased out as it were. Warpified as John Travolta might say. Er, melted down and sold out. Naivetee is gone because there is nothing sacred anymore because people knoe too much as it is especially about what goes on behind the scenes and it;s the same thing all the time, power, corruption, greed, politics and son of a suit priveledge.
