Star Trek's "present day"

[Ray Hardgrit]

I'm curious, what do you folks personally feel to be Star Trek's 'present day' era? Like, if they made a new series in this era you wouldn't think 'oh, another prequel' or 'it's a far future story', you'd think that it was set in the 'now', or close enough.

Also, is this the same era you feel most at home in? Is it your favourite era?

 

[BillJ]

My favorite era is TOS, though I don't see it as Trek's "present".

I don't think there is a present, which points to the actual total lack of vision from the CBS powers that be.

 

[Lord Garth]

I'm curious, what do you folks personally feel to be Star Trek's 'present day' era? Like, if they made a new series in this era you wouldn't think 'oh, another prequel' or 'it's a far future story', you'd think that it was set in the 'now', or close enough.

Also, is this the same era you feel most at home in? Is it your favourite era?

With anything new they'd make, from my own personal perspective: I'd consider anything Pre-TOS to be a "Prequel", anything Post-NEM to be "Not a Prequel", and anything set in the later-DSC and SFA Era to be "Far Future". So, that would mean I think of the late-24th and early-25th Century as "Now(-ish)".

Since my favorite New Trek series is Picard and I'm in the middle of a DS9/VOY Re-Watch, that further solidifies the view I have. That's basically where I am right now.

My favorite era? That's an entirely separate question which I have an interesting relationship with. It's not so cut-and-dried. The TOS Movie Era was the era that got me into Star Trek in the first place. I'd call the TOS Era the cool/hipster era since TOS was before my time, and I was into it, but my friends weren't. And the TNG/DS9/VOY Era is the one I spent the most time with.

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

I like TOS era the best.

I suppose the easiest answer is that the present day is whatever time period any given show mainly takes place in.

 

[Turtletrekker]

For one thing, the idea of there being a "present day" in Star Trek is nonsense because is not set in the present day. It has a starting point and it has its furthest out point and everything in between, but no "present". "Now" is where you are in the moment.

If I'm watching TOS the present is the 23rd century. If I'm watching TNG DS9, the present is the 24th century and if I'm watching Starfleet Academy the present is the 31st century. If they did a story set in the 19th century. That would be present. If they do a story in the 55th century, that would be present.

 

[Ceridwen]

It depends on which one I am watching.

 

[serdogthehound]

it is based on the episode and yes that includes that if I watch the The Squire of Gothos it the 27/28th centruy

 

[F. King Daniel]

SFA is the latest and last show, so that's the present.

 

[BillJ]

SFA is the latest and last show, so that's the present.

Probably SNW’s season five will be the last shown.

 

[The Wormhole]

SFA is the latest and last show, so that's the present.

But wouldn't the epilogue scene in Disco's finale actually be the farthest point we've gone in the timeline, meaning even SFA is now a prequel?

 

[Ray Hardgrit]

But wouldn't the epilogue scene in Disco's finale actually be the farthest point we've gone in the timeline, meaning even SFA is now a prequel?

Calypso's the actual latest point in the timeline, so the epilogue scene was a prequel.

 

[Lord Garth]

I'd love a series set in the Calypso Era. A second chance to make "The Future" as unlike what we've seen in other time periods as possible.

But I don't even expect Star Trek to go to the 32nd Century again after SFA ends. Forget about the 43rd-ish Century. Would've been nice, though.

 

[Greg Cox]

Honestly, I always assume that that the present day is the one we're living in. So Trek is always set in the future, but occasionally they visit the present day, like in "Tomorrow is Yesterday," "Assignment: Earth," the whale movie, "Future's End," etc.

Although, of course, the present-day of earlier Trek -- the sixties, the eighties, the nineties, et cetera -- are now in the past.

 

[Paul Weaver]

Honestly, I always assume that that the present day is the one we're living in. So Trek is always set in the future, but occasionally they visit the present day, like in "Tomorrow is Yesterday," "Assignment: Earth," the whale movie, "Future's End," etc.

Although, of course, the present-day of earlier Trek -- the sixties, the eighties, the nineties, et cetera -- are now in the past.

And some times what was the future is now the past.

Tomorrow is Yesterday was set in the near future (about 2.5 years as it turns out), but close enough to be contemporary.

However we passed Past Tense 18 months ago, and in broadcast that was specifically set nearly 30 years in the future.

 

[Richard S. Ta]

I think what a lot of people are answering isn't exactly what the question is asking.

I suppose it was a lot easier to answer in the 90s when the showwas set in a particular linear period of time, but from ENT on it's all become a bit muddy.

Simply due to the weight of material I'd say the present is TNGish times with everything else existing in the past or future of that, but it's a thing that's impossible to pin down as it's all a matter of perspective.

 

[F. King Daniel]

I kinda wish they'd done that Khan/Eugenics Wars spin off in the present day which they hinted at, just for how much it would muddy up this question.

 

[The Wormhole]

I suppose it was a lot easier to answer in the 90s when the showwas set in a particular linear period of time,

Because of this comment, I decided to do some figuring. If in some hypothetical What If, we did continue getting non-stop televised Trek continuing on from TNG/DS9/Voyager, than that would mean we'd be right around now finishing up the season set in the year 2402, a year after Picard's third season is set, which is currently the furthest point we've gone in that particular time period. And that aired three years ago. So even modern producers when revisiting the 24th century to continue 90s Trek didn't sync the the in-universe year up with how many years had gone by in the real world.

No, I don't really have a point to make. Just thought it was an interesting observation.

 

[Paul Weaver]

No, I don't really have a point to make. Just thought it was an interesting observation.

Picard was about 60 when TNG started, and was nearing 100 in Picard season 3

Riker's hasn't aged as well as Picard

Riker aged 66:

Picard aged 66

 

[B.J.]

Not really a fair comparison. IRL Frakes was ~70 for PIC season 3, while Stewart was ~54 for Generations.
(Also, I really dislike the dark desaturated uniform "colors" in PIC, which isn't helped by the dim lighting. These two pics really make it obvious.)

 

[Greg Cox]

Simply due to the weight of material I'd say the present is TNGish times with everything else existing in the past or future of that, but it's a thing that's impossible to pin down as it's all a matter of perspective.

I don't know. As somebody who grew up on TOS, and was a hardcore, convention-going Trekkie long before TNG and its spinoffs existed, I always push back against any suggestion that the TNG era is somehow the core of the franchise ("the main Star Trek," as I saw somebody else refer to it today).

The way I see it, TOS and TNG era and the new streaming shows are all equally slices of Star Trek history, and no one period is the axis around which the entire franchise is dated, as though we're talking B.C. and A.D. or something.

Like you said, it's all a matter of perspective.