Abrams work is just as proper as anything with Rick Berman's name on it.
What do you think of as "Old Trek"?
- Thread starter Lord Garth
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Abrams work is just as proper as anything with Rick Berman's name on it.
Market saturation, perhaps ?
They re-mastered TOS from 2006-2008. There are also new effects shots. They're available on Blu-Ray, Netflix, and probably online but I'm not sure exactly where.
That's a common notion tossed out, but I don't think so.
I think it's more like, "market saturation of stuff people didn't want to watch." Forgetting to put the bold part in there is being too much the apologist.
I, a Trek fan since the 1970's, was bored by the end of TNG.
The short version of what I think is that, by its end, TNG had become totally formulaic. Those formulas, with all their ossified tropes and self-impressed navel-gazing, became the rule in all the later series, as well, and without exception. Did you feel like you were tuning into a TNG episode during the teaser of "Broken Bow"? So did I. It was freaking boring, man.
Probably that and the fact that more often that not, spin-offs of successful shows don't always work or turn out to be as successful. Joey only lasted a season, so did The Sanford Arms and so did Caprica. The Jeffersons lasted 10 seasons but how long did Gloria?
Times also change. This has been said before but I agree with it and I don't think even TNG would get TNG's ratings today.
What I will say is that I know a lot of people who have been watching the Star Trek series on Netflix. Some never watched DS9 when it was on the '90s but have now said they thought it was pretty good.
I'm not sure what how a series did 15-20 years ago really has to do with now. In the end, there are still seven seasons of DS9 and VOY that are available for viewing. ENT still ran just shy of 100 episodes. Those are good runs with a solid number of episodes.
It's all about perception. If DS9, VOY, or ENT had the ratings they had on a cable channel today (which is where we'd most realistically have a new Star Trek series today), they'd be considered to be ratings as solid for cable as Mad Men, The Soparnos, or Battlestar Galactica. DS9, VOY, and ENT were seen by more people than those three shows yet Mad Men, The Sopranos, and Battlestar Galactica are held in higher regard.
Long story short: I don't think the ratings have much bearing on quality or the here and now.
What it does have a bearing on is that when most people are nostalgic for older Star Trek, it's TOS, the early films, and TNG while the Abrams films are the new Star Trek. Popularity wasn't the angle I was going for in the original post but it feeds into my argument that DS9, VOY, ENT, and the TNG films -- basically the Star Trek from the mid-'90s to the mid-'00s -- are really The Middle.
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Me, too. But then DS9 gave me a different formula, and I loved it until the end.
Honestly, as I said I know that DS9 wasn't as popular as TNG. It was my opinion that saturation and competition by the more familiar Voyager may have had something to do with it, but I can't go back in time, stop Voyager from airing, and watch the restults, so I'm quite happy saying that I don't know if it's just DS9 not being appealing.
So, did you even look at the data I linked to? Because it doesn't support what you're saying, there. VOY went down just like DS9 did. DS9 was slipping even before VOY came on the air, and the slope of its demise got no worse after VOY came on.
I know many will disagree with me, but I truly think that it was franchise fatigue that brought down Star Trek. The 90's had so much Star Trek on TV that the regular viewing public got sick of it. Enterprise didn't do well mostly because it was buried on the failing UPN where no one could watch it.
I think my Dad is a good example of how Star Trek was forgotten over time:
He loved TOS and watched TNG. He skipped out on DS9 because he missed the first few seasons and was not a fan of the serial nature of the series. He completely skipped Voyager because he didn't care enough about a ship away from the major species he was used to. He skipped Enterprise because we didn't get UPN on our TV until midway through the 3rd season. The reboots excited him about Star Trek all over again.
I think my Dad is a good example of how Star Trek was forgotten over time:
He loved TOS and watched TNG. He skipped out on DS9 because he missed the first few seasons and was not a fan of the serial nature of the series. He completely skipped Voyager because he didn't care enough about a ship away from the major species he was used to. He skipped Enterprise because we didn't get UPN on our TV until midway through the 3rd season. The reboots excited him about Star Trek all over again.
You realize that the example of your Dad, as you've recounted it, does not support the notion of franchise fatigue, right?
Exactly. Enterprise's premiere jumped up a bit from the last of Voyager, but slid back down onto the same slope as DS9 and Voyager. There was only one way things could go, from there.
Even simpler than "franchise fatigue" is the explanation that few TV spinoffs or sequel series are as successful or last as long as the show that inspired them. It happens more than it did at one time - I guess the CSI and Law & Order shows might be good examples - but compare the longevity and ratings of shows like Mary Tyler Moore and Rhoda or Buffy and Angel and you'll see what I mean. A lot of spinoffs are long shots and failures - MASH and AfterMASH, for example.
So, did you even look at the data I linked to? Because it doesn't support what you're saying, there. VOY went down just like DS9 did. DS9 was slipping even before VOY came on the air, and the slope of its demise got no worse after VOY came on.[/QUOTE]
That's why I used the past tense, there.
Of course, it wasn't a spinoff from a successful television series that was currently or even recently being produced and broadcast.
This is all very fascinating, but...
Topic A)
Topic B)
Topic A)
Topic B)
I'm still unclear as to how Topic B relates to Topic A.
The cable channel Me-TV plays one remastered Trek rerun a week, at 9 p.m. EST on Saturday.
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