Trek and science fiction fans?

[Warped9]

One could make the blanket statement that if you watch any form of Trek then you must have some passing interest in science fiction. But how far does that interest go?

Star Trek is a form of science fiction even if some people might dismiss it as not real SF or just sci-fi or even science fantasy (which it most certainly is not). The lines can get pretty blurred.

But how many Trek fans also have an interest in non Trek science fiction whether in television, film or literature?

To some extent it's a silly argument, but I've met people who dismiss Trek as not SF even as they rave about some other SF oriented film or TV series. What they're really saying is they simply have preferences in how they like SF done. Still, I have met a few individuals who actually weren't interested in SF beyond Trek.

And so this question is to explore if there are Trek fans that actually don't follow SF in any other form in TV, film or literature.

 

[Geckothan]

I love plenty of sci-fi. I actually watch other sci-fi shows more than I watch Trek these days.

 

[Pemmer Harge]

I enjoy a range of SF TV shows (e.g. Babylon 5, Battlestar Galactica, Doctor Who), films (e.g. Alien, Back to the Future) and books (e.g. The Left Hand of Darkness, Behold the Man). Much though I love Trek I wouldn't say it's my very favourite science fiction.

 

[C.E. Evans]

For me, I grew up with a lot of sci-fi shows in the mid to late '70s, and Star Trek was just one among many. There were definitely times when I considered myself far more of a Star Wars or Doctor Who fan than a Trekker/Trekkie.

While I was really heavy into Trek during the '90s, I find myself now going back to regarding it as one sci-fi franchise among many...

 

[captcalhoun]

i watch a bunch of SF/F shows, but the only SF novels i read besides Trek are Discworld and old Star Wars tie-ins.

 

[ChadHydro]

I do watch plenty of other sci-fi shows but I probably watch Trek the most

 

[Nerys Myk]

I've read SF for almost as long as I can remember. The first adult book I read was A Journey To the Centre of the Earth. As a sixties kid I was watching Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea and Lost In Space along with Star Trek. And in the seventies suffered through more bad SF on TV than I care to remember. Thank god for books!!!!!

 

[RyuRoots]

My primary interest has always lied mainly in giant robots, androids/gynoids, and different takes on the evolution of AI but I'll take a look at a lot of different kinds of things. Far-future tends to interest me more than the "possible in a few decades" stories usually, but there are some notable exceptions. I'm generally not especially picky about how "hard" or "soft" sci-fi is as long as the tech and the story are presented well. I like both GitS and Star Wars, for instance.

 

[Joshua Howard]

I voted No, in spite of the fact that some other Sci-Fi is interesting to me. Star Trek is the only sci-fi which has held my long-term interest enough for me to say that I am a fan of it.

To put my point in context, I have spent many an hour watching TV shows. Most of those TV shows, however much I may have enjoyed watching them once or even twice, were never interesting enough for me to keep re-watching them year after year, spending money on merchandise related to them, buying the DVD's, etc..

My interest in Star Trek is far reaching enough that it could be classified as a hobby. That could not be said of any other Sci-Fi. Sci-Fi beyond Trek to me is "just a TV show", or "just a movie". Trek, however, taps into some philosophical territory for me, and so for me personally, it gets classified in a league completely unto itself.

On my desk I have Enterprise models. On my shelf, somewhere, I have Star Wars DVD's; but you will probably never see a Star Wars ship on my desk.

 

[Admiral Shran]

I voted no. Other than Trek, the only other sci-fi that's held my interest in the long term has been Star Wars and Quantum Leap.

I like to watch other sci-fi, but none has ever jumped at me and held on for years like Trek has.

 

[Elzie]

I voted "yes". When I was younger, I think I liked Star Wars more, simply because all I saw of Trek was TOS.
And now that my dad has seen how much I've gotten into Trek in general, he suggested that I'd try Babylon 5.
Is it worth trying?

After I discovered TNG, i wanted to try other sci-fi stuff, so I watched Lost In Space, it was OK. I had already seen (and fell in love with) Back To The Future, and there are some other stuff I've seen.

If I'd only find something that really hits me...
Luckily my dad - is it just me or do I mention him in almost every post I write? - likes sci-fi too, so I can just go over our DVD shelf and pick one. But I just wouldn't want to get disappointed... I never really understood Blade Runner for one.

 

[Geckothan]

And now that my dad has seen how much I've gotten into Trek in general, he suggested that I'd try Babylon 5.
Is it worth trying?

Absolutely!

 

[RandyS]

You're right Warped, it is a silly argument. Science fiction is like anything else, some good some bad. As for myself, I like more sci-fi in both books and TV and movies than just Star Trek. There is also some sci-fi that I'm not interested in.

Three examples are:

StarGate SG 1, which I watched for the first several years of it run, then lost interest and have never looked at the other shows in that franchise.

Andromeda, which I watched for it's first three years, then gave up on. Started good, became shit.

Earth Final Conflict, which I watched from beginning to end in the (largely) vain hope that it would get better. It never did.

 

[RandyS]

And now that my dad has seen how much I've gotten into Trek in general, he suggested that I'd try Babylon 5.
Is it worth trying?

Absolutely!

Agreed. Babylon 5 is, second to Star Trek, the best thing that ever happened to sci-fi TV.

 

[Greg Cox]

Of course. I'll be a Trekkie to the day I die, but I'm a fan of plenty of other movies, tv shows, comic books, and authors as well.

 

[Adm_Hawthorne]

Of course. I'll be a Trekkie to the day I die, but I'm a fan of plenty of other movies, tv shows, comic books, and authors as well.

This

I'm an equal opportunity SciFi geek. I pretty much like it all to some extent.

 

[Mary Ann]

Trek is the only sci-fi television that I watch on a regular basis. Many of my sci-fi books, however, are not Trek, and include such authors as Asimov, Clark, Adams and Wyndham, and authors with a fantasy slant such as Pratchett, Holt and Fforde. I've been a Trek fan for almost 25 years and I can't see that changing anytime soon.

 

[Andrew_Kearley]

I like Star Trek, and have watched it many times. The spin-off series I have seen a couple of times: when they were first broadcast and again on DVD - except Enterprise, I couldn't get into that at all. I don't watch a lot of sci-fi on the telly - actually I don't watch a lot of modern telly, full stop. Apart from Doctor Who, which has been my favourite series for 40 years. The last sci-fi show I remember really getting into was Babylon 5. Other than that, it's just older stuff on DVD. I really like Sapphire and Steel, The Prisoner, Timeslip, UFO, Blakes 7, and Space: 1999. In fact, I've probably seen Space: 1999 more than anything else. I watch an episode almost every night.

 

[Luther Sloan]

Star Trek is my #1 favorite.

However, I also enjoy (in no particular order)...

1. Stargate SG-1
2. Star Wars New Hope (Special Edition)
3. Star Wars Empire Strikes Back (Special Edition)
4. Star Wars Return of the Jedi (Original Version)
5. Space Above and Beyond
6. Earth 2
7. Firefly
8. Serenity
9. Matrix (First one only)
10. Back to the Future Trilogy
11. Terminator l and ll
12. Stargate Atlantis
13. Surface
14. Outer Limits (New Version)
15. Chronicles of Riddick Trilogy
16. Frequency
17. Eureka
18. Galaxy Quest
19. 12:01
20. Zathura
21. The Arrival
22. Dune (Mini Series)
23. Deadzone (TV Series)
24. Transformers (First live action film only)
25. Predator
26. Minority Report
27. War of the Worlds (Remake)
28. Iron Giant
29. Aliens l and ll
30. Men in Black


Side Note:

Super heroes flicks and horror films: although they can be classified as science fiction, they are actually both under different separate categories or genres for me.

 

[Warped9]

Sf shows I've enjoyed in whole or in part:

The Adventures Of Superman
Babylon 5
Earth Final Conflict
Journey Man
Now And Again
Seven Days
The Six-Million Dollar Man
Space Ghost
Stargate: SG-1
Stargate: Atlantis
Star Trek
Star Trek (the animated series)
Star Trek - The Next Generation
Star Trek - Deep Space Nine
The X-Files
UFO
Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea

SF Films I've enjoyed:

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
Alien (1979)
Aliens (1986)
The Day The Earth Stood Still (1951)
District 9 (2009)
Fantastic Voyage (1966)
Forbidden Planet (1956)
Green Lantern: First Flight (2009)
The Iron Giant (1999)
Iron-Man (2008)
Justice League: The New Frontier (2008)
Justice League: Crisis On Two Earths (2010)
King Kong (1933)
King Kong (2005)
Logan’s Run (1976)
The Matrix (1999)
Men In Black (1997)
Planet Of The Apes (1968)
Spider-Man (2002)
Spider-Man 2 (2004)
Spider-Man 3 (2007)
Stargate (1994)
Star Trek: The Motion Picture (Director’s Edition) (1979)
Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan (Director’s Edition) (1982)
Superman/Batman: Public Enemies (2009)
Superman: Doomsday (2008)
Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea (1963)
Wall-E (2008)
War Of The Worlds (1953)
Wonder Woman: The Amazon Princes (2009)
2010 (1984)
Avatar (2009)
Babylon 5: A Call To Arms (1999)
Bicentennial Man (1999)
Blade Runner (1982)
Capricorn One (1978)
Close Encounters Of The Third Kind (1977)
The Fly (1986)
Frankenstein (1931)
Frequency (2000)
Gattaca (1997)
Invasion Of The Body Snatchers (1956)
Invasion Of The Body Snatchers (1978)
Minority Report (2002)
The Omega Man (1971)
Pitch Black (2000)
Predator 2 (1990)
Silent Running (1972)
Space Cowboys (2000)
Star Trek III: The Search For Spock (Director’s Edition) (1984)
Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (Director’s Edition) (1989)
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (Director’s Edition) (1991)
Superman: The Movie (1978)
Terminator 2 (1991)
Them (1954)
The Time Machine (1960)
War Of The Worlds (2006)
Watchmen (2009)
The Wolf Man (2010)

I should note that I left off some films like the Batman and 007 movies that certainly have SF elements in them.