Poll What is your Favourite era of Star Trek?

[Orphalesion]

I have to go with the Berman era shows, even if it has many glaring problems, since of the new ones I only really like Lower Decks, the other shows from the Kurtzman era aren't my interest for various reasons, even if I like some aspects of them here and there. Of the Berman era shows I really really like DS9 and TNG, and at least have some tolerance for parts of VOY and, to a much lesser degree ENT.

TOS...I just can't relate to those characters. I mean Spock is alright, but the rest just hold no interest for me, and most of the characters aren't ever focused on. There is the occasional good episode (like the Enterprise Incident, with that marvellous female Romulan Commander), but beyond that...no.

 

[Oddish]

I'm fine with Classic/Berman/Kurtzman. It divvies the franchise up nicely.

 

[F. King Daniel]

I grew up with Berman-era Trek. But for the end of DS9, last few season of Voyager and first 2 seasons of ENT I was watching out of habit. The Xindi arc brought me back, season 4 was okayish. Then Trek was dead.

But the hype for the 2009 movie brought me back in a big way. That was the movie I'd been waiting my whole life for. And the sequel was almost as good. Beyond? Okay but just another Trek movie.

Then the current TV era was a huge deal and has been a lot of fun. So I got for 2009-present.

 

[StarMan]

Berman era. When I did my deep dive into all things Trek ~1996-7 it was TNG, DS9 and VOY that I eagerly consumed (thanks, Blockbuster). The initial trigger was TOS re-runs in the wee hours, but it wasn't until I saw First Contact on the big screen I started actively seeking it out. At the time, Berman era Trek was prevalent on VHS.

In more recent years I've watched TOS and have a much, much greater appreciation for it. But, my first love was the Berman era.

That said, there's a LOT of junk volume in amongst those two eras, but that's where all the good stuff is. The Kurtzman era - for all the promise of NuTrek in the streaming / prestige era of television - has disappointed at nearly every turn.

 

[Vger23]

Is anyone surprised that the most recent stuff is the least popular?

Not because it’s “no good…” but because of the well- documented power of nostalgia and tendency of fans to always feel like the newer stuff is the weakest…

 

[Ray Hardgrit]

Nostalgia's probably coming into play for all of us who are fans of the older series, but I have a feeling that if Voyager and Enterprise had been split off into their own category the newer series wouldn't be in last place anymore.

 

[Kamen Rider Blade]

I prefer Berman Era Trek. There was so many different story types and the relatively consistent World Building throughtout the 3 major series.

 

[Lord Garth]

The way I looked at my vote is: the poll is asking me to vote based on the whole package of the 1st Generation, the whole package of the 2nd Generation, and whole package of the 3rd Generation. So my vote is based on how I see those three generations as a whole.

I love Discovery and Picard, but it doesn't mean I'm onboard for the entire New Trek Package. I take it one series at a time. So if I'd have voted for what we're calling the "Kurtzman Era" here, it would've been a misrepresentation of what I actually think. For instance: I appreciate that the Abrams Films got Star Trek going again, and I like them as Big Blockbuster Movies, but that's as far as it goes. While I don't dislike them, as far as I'm concerned they're effectively Comic Book Movies.

EDITED TO ADD: Because there were and have been so many more series in the Berman and Kurtzman Eras, there are more chances for them to make a series I don't care for. The "Classic" Era never had that. It was just TOS (and TAS), and they cut it off before it had a chance to leave a bad taste. If the first era lasted as long as the Berman Era, and if they'd have continued to make Star Trek shows during the '70s and into the early-'80s, I'm sure they would've eventually made a Star Trek series I wouldn't have been too thrilled with and they all probably would've dated a lot worse than TOS, given when we're talking about.

 

[dupersuper]

Well, let's see...my favourite series are:

1: TOS/TNG/DS9 (tie)
2: Lower Decks
3: Prodigy (new addition!)
4: Short Treks
5: Enterprise/Voyager/TAS (tie)
6: Discovery
7: Picard

So first place is a tie between one classic era show and two Berman era shows, then the next three are all Kurtzman era shows that I'm very much enjoying, then two Berman era shows and one classic era show tie for fifth (or "meh") place, then the bottom two are Kurtzman era shows (though if Discovery manages to actually stick the landing this season they may just edge out the "meh" shows, while Picard is by far my least favourite: I just found it bleak and depressing and unimaginative). So...where does that put me?

Are you saying I should of named classic era the Roddenberry/Gene Coon/ Fred Frieberger/Loui Scheimer /Nick Meyer/Harve Bennet era ?

No DC Fontana?

 

[Greg Cox]

Watched TOS my whole life, and gorged on FASA Trek RPG in high school. Those are anyone's formative years.

TNG didn't even start until I was in college.

I was well past college by the time TNG came along. College was TMP and TWOK.

 

[trekfan_1]

Well, let's see...my favourite series are:

1: TOS/TNG/DS9 (tie)
2: Lower Decks
3: Prodigy (new addition!)
4: Short Treks
5: Enterprise/Voyager/TAS (tie)
6: Discovery
7: Picard

So first place is a tie between one classic era show and two Berman era shows, then the next three are all Kurtzman era shows that I'm very much enjoying, then two Berman era shows and one classic era show tie for fifth (or "meh") place, then the bottom two are Kurtzman era shows (though if Discovery manages to actually stick the landing this season they may just edge out the "meh" shows, while Picard is by far my least favourite: I just found it bleak and depressing and unimaginative). So...where does that put me?



No DC Fontana?

Admittedly an oversight on my part for not including her

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

Because it contains DS9 then I have to go with the Berman Era.

 

[FederationHistorian]

Really depends on what you like.

Classic - 23rd century; original episodic stories of the Enterprise crew. Debuts iconic allies in the Vulcans and adversaries in the Klingons, Romulans and Khan. Roddenberry's original vision come to life and Alexander Courage as composer.

Berman - 24th century; expansive worldbuilding that spans multiple species and several centuries. Got rid of Ron Jones as a composer, but brought in Behr (DS9), Pillar (DS9/VOY), Moore (TNG/DS9/VOY) and Coto/Sussman/Reeves-Stevenes (ENT) as writers and Dennis McCarthy, Jerry Goldsmith & Jay Chataway as composers. First experimentation with cliffhangers, season long arcs & miniarcs. A lot of filler content.

Kurtzman - 23rd century in separate timelines & late 24th century; heavily focused on world building of the 23rd century and followup on the 24th century. Heavy on action and shock value, not very strong on worldbuilding and character development outside a select group of characters. Significant lack of filler content.

You could also call the era from ST’09 to DIS S1 as the Moonves era, which threw out the slow burn approach with ENT’s later seasons with Coto and B&B for something flashier and more shallow with Abrams, Kurtzman, & Lindelof that had diminishing returns over the decade and sacrificed fan service for critical acclaim.

I personally ranked them as:
1) Berman era
2) Classic era
3) Kurtzman era

 

[fireproof78]

I like parts of all of it.

 

[Mudd]

TOS, but not TAS or movies.

 

[dupersuper]

Really depends on what you like.

Classic - 23rd century; original episodic stories of the Enterprise crew. Debuts iconic allies in the Vulcans and adversaries in the Klingons, Romulans and Khan. Roddenberry's original vision come to life and Alexander Courage as composer.

Berman - 24th century; expansive worldbuilding that spans multiple species and several centuries. Got rid of Ron Jones as a composer, but brought in Behr (DS9), Pillar (DS9/VOY), Moore (TNG/DS9/VOY) and Coto/Sussman/Reeves-Stevenes (ENT) as writers and Dennis McCarthy, Jerry Goldsmith & Jay Chataway as composers. First experimentation with cliffhangers, season long arcs & miniarcs. A lot of filler content.

Kurtzman - 23rd century in separate timelines & late 24th century; heavily focused on world building of the 23rd century and follow up on the 24th century. Heavy on action and shock value, not very strong on worldbuilding and character development outside a select group of characters. Significant lack of filler content.

Well said: agreed, except there's only one Kurtzman era separate timeline (Kelvin), and there's no such thing as filler.

 

[Ray Hardgrit]

Filler is totally a thing and Star Trek was terrible for it. The Original Series went 79 episodes without even reaching the overarching serialised story!

 

[gweeps]

While I have nostalgia for the classic era because I grew up watching repeats on Saturday morning, I matured with the Berman era, and DS9 is probably my overall favourite series.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Berman.

 

[comsol]

Definitely Classic Era for me.