TNG... oozing the 80's

[2 of 10]

Right you are, it's not just Trek however, go back and watch Star Wars, before ILM came out with the digitized it in 96. I have an old VHS of Star Wars. Now that looks really dated, I did see it on the first night it came out, and was blown away by the effects, now it's so outdated, it's a statement on how far the industry has come in 32 years. Just think what things will be like in 2040.

 

[John Picard]

I don't remember guys wearing skirts in the 80's so why the hell were some male crew members wearing skirts in TNG's first season? I always thought that was ridiculous and unpractical for women, not to mention the men! Where did they pull that style from?

Yes. And since the first season tried visually to take cues from TOS, you get pure 80s with dashes of sci-fi of the 60s.

Instead of only women wearing skirts, the sexes are equal. Let everyone wear skirts!

Anyway, that style didn't last for longer than the first half of S1, did it?

I'll be glad if that piece of fashion doesn't catch on. Let the women wear trousers, fine. but lets question the right to let men wear skirts

Really? You've never seen a kilt? What about ancient Greek and Roman styles? Males wore tunics with a style of skirt for the lower regions. Everything old is new again

 

[KirksFlyingFist]

Maybe it's just me, but TNG is one of those rarities that doesn't feel extraordinarily locked into the decade it was created within.

It's a dated show, but when I watch it I don't think "80's." It still feels futuristic to me.

 

[jamestyler]

I'm starting to think First Contact looks a bit dated. The new Starfleet vessels we saw were fine, but the uniforms are starting to look their age,

I don't know about the uniforms. I've been on a mission to buy all my videoTrek on DVD. I haven't got round to FC yet, but the later seasons of DS9 seem a lot easier to watch with the black/grey uniforms. They reflect the mood of the era - which is the same thoght I had with FC & Nemesis.

With TNG I find it really hard to watch the first three seasons. I have no idea why but it all just feels way too dated. Oddly enough the uniforms really put me off as they feel like a parody of the later uniforms which, although some people don't like them, I always thought the suited the more sophisticated mood of Picards ship. But there are aspects and stories I still enjoy.

Tech stuff is always going to age, but some of it still looks good. If the sets/props are well designed and the story is grounded then it seems to age a lot slower. How good does TUC look and feel, for example?

 

[Toban Kal]

Really? You've never seen a kilt? What about ancient Greek and Roman styles? Males wore tunics with a style of skirt for the lower regions. Everything old is new again

Kilts are one thing, but those minni-skirts we see in TNG are another, more disturbing, matter entirely

 

[cultcross]

Historically, men in skirts or skirt-like clothing is quite common. It's only because Western culture has evolved largely from European stock, where men wore trousers and skirts were enormous things for women, that we have an aversion to men-in-skirts.
The miniskirt has caught on for women, why not men? Men wear those horrid rugby shorts that are basically Y-fronts, or super-tight cycling shorts. Leaving little to the imagination is hardly a solely female occupation, even today.

TNG is very much a product of its time though, even more so than DS9 or Voyager, imho. As well as everything already mentioned, we had a therapist on the bridge! And taking one of the central command chairs with the captain and first officer, too.

 

[eepruls]

I don't remember guys wearing skirts in the 80's so why the hell were some male crew members wearing skirts in TNG's first season? I always thought that was ridiculous and unpractical for women, not to mention the men! Where did they pull that style from?

Yes. And since the first season tried visually to take cues from TOS, you get pure 80s with dashes of sci-fi of the 60s.

Instead of only women wearing skirts, the sexes are equal. Let everyone wear skirts!

Anyway, that style didn't last for longer than the first half of S1, did it?

I'll be glad if that piece of fashion doesn't catch on. Let the women wear trousers, fine. but lets question the right to let men wear skirts

A kilt-like uniform would have been fine as long as it hit the knee and did NOT show any upper leg/thigh. I think that is what makes me cringe - the guys in mini-skirts. Proper work shorts/kilt for engineers would have been okay and not looked so ridiculously stupid.

 

[DGCatAniSiri]

A kilt-like uniform would have been fine as long as it hit the knee and did NOT show any upper leg/thigh. I think that is what makes me cringe - the guys in mini-skirts. Proper work shorts/kilt for engineers would have been okay and not looked so ridiculously stupid.

Agreed - my high school theatre did Brigadoon my senior year and we wore kilts. They reached well past the knees and were perfectly fine - none of us in the production complained about wearing them (and one of the chorus men actually had a heavy Scotish background and would actually wear a kilt to school on a semi-regular basis). In contrast, those male mini-skirts? DO NOT WANT.

 

[Red Ranger]

Star Trek: The Big Hair Generation! It's only the first season eps where some actors have big hair that ID it as a late '80s show IMHO. -- RR

 

[Nardpuncher]

It doesn't scream 80s to me too loudly. I count us lucky they didn't use more pastel colors!

Ten years ain't what it used to be in terms of TV/movies. I mean, this May it'll be 10 years since The Phantom Menace...it certainly doesn't look as old as stuff from 1989 did in 1999...if you know what I mean.

 

[spoonunseptium]

In the pilot episode, Troi looks like a 13-year-old girl with the wrong face.

I mean, agh, I wanted to slap her into the 90s, when she learned to straigten her hair.

And don't even get me started on the early-season uniforms. Who at Starfleet got together and said, "Let's trade in these decent-looking uniforms for LEOTARDS!" All the civilian clothes were pretty horrendous, too.


Ofcourse, there is an epsiode of TOS where the main female love interest looks exactly like a barbie doll. Like, I'm not even kidding. I thought she was made of plastic.

DS9 and Voy, in my opinion, had the best overall look- from the hair(except Kira's-yech) to the set designs and costumes.

 

[Cyke101]

I'm starting to think First Contact looks a bit dated. The new Starfleet vessels we saw were fine, but the uniforms are starting to look their age,

I don't know about the uniforms. I've been on a mission to buy all my videoTrek on DVD. I haven't got round to FC yet, but the later seasons of DS9 seem a lot easier to watch with the black/grey uniforms. They reflect the mood of the era - which is the same thoght I had with FC & Nemesis.

With TNG I find it really hard to watch the first three seasons. I have no idea why but it all just feels way too dated. Oddly enough the uniforms really put me off as they feel like a parody of the later uniforms which, although some people don't like them, I always thought the suited the more sophisticated mood of Picards ship. But there are aspects and stories I still enjoy.

I liked those uniforms, too, but when they came out, I couldn't help but wonder how the cast wasn't sweating under thick layers. Somewhat loose and functional seems to be more prevalent in today's sci-fi. Even the retro-costumes of Abrams Trek seem to be of a little looser fit than TOS or the TNG-movie/DS9 uniforms.

But I suppose what seems more dated to me now is the heavy use of grey and black. In this post-Matrix world of ours, dark colors don't cut it anymore I suppose with TNG, the patterns (in addition to the hues) are what dated those uniforms.

Star Trek: The Big Hair Generation! It's only the first season eps where some actors have big hair that ID it as a late '80s show IMHO. -- RR

Ironic since Picard's the main character! But you're right, Bouffant Betties were all over the place.

 

[Cyke101]

Edit: double post

 

[RandyS]

I'll be glad if that piece of fashion doesn't catch on. Let the women wear trousers, fine. but lets question the right to let men wear skirts

Or better yet, let men be fully clothed, and women wear nothing.

Screw Star Trek, let's enforce that in real life.

 

[Space Cowboy]

I'll be glad if that piece of fashion doesn't catch on. Let the women wear trousers, fine. but lets question the right to let men wear skirts

Or better yet, let men be fully clothed, and women wear nothing.

Screw Star Trek, let's enforce that in real life.

That sounds good in theory, until you remember that cafeteria lady from high school. </shudders>

 

[Data Holmes]

I must say, I always liked the "big 80's hair" look on most women... *shrug*

 

[WillsBabe]

Hey! Stop dissing my heyday!

TNG does look 80's. That's okay, it was made in the 80's. At the time it looked great. It wasn't made for you guys to watch on dvd 20 years later, it was made for those of us who were around at the time. So there!

 

[john titor]

Season one was very 80s, after that it progressively became 90s. 88-90 was like a transition period, a lot of 90s bands started around then or became successful at that point eg, Stone Roses, Smashing Pumpkins, Nirvana, Radiohead etc. Bill Murray says to Vigo in Ghostbusters 2 (1989) that shoulder pads are so out. So for me TNG is predominantly a 90s show which is why its way better than anything from the 00s because the 90s owns the 00s in terms of everything, music, film, fashion, lack of serious economic recessions except for japan and other parts of the world, videogames, everything.

 

[ndcarlin]

The costumes were OK except the teal blue really screams late 80's. EVERYTHING was teal then...Popular color for cars. Also look at sports teams that showed up in the late 80s, early 90s. Panthers, Jaguars, Orlando Magic...All wear teal.

The hair I never noticed except on troi. Good GOD...What a nightmare!

To me it's the sets that are just hideous, particularly the bridge. I remember reading something one time that compared the bridge to the lobby of a Hilton hotel. Would ONE angle somewhere have killed them? And the mauve and taupe everywhere else...Blecccchhhh

 

[RandyS]

Hey! Stop dissing my heyday!

TNG does look 80's. That's okay, it was made in the 80's. At the time it looked great. It wasn't made for you guys to watch on dvd 20 years later, it was made for those of us who were around at the time. So there!

I'll go along with that.

Good times....good times.....