When Was Fandom At Its Peak?
- Thread starter Aike
- Start date
trevanian
Rear Admiral
Absolutely 75-76. ST primed the pump and SW cashed in on it in 77. If they'd gotten ANY kind of trek feature into theaters before SW, it would have been huge. You look at the mid to late 70s and see the bestseller nf boom w/ Trek and the insanely large conventions and the general trek madness and while it wasn't quite Bond as of 1965, it was pretty close.
Bond as of 1965? What do you mean with that?
Did the early Bond movies have a huge following back then?
About years 3 to 5 of TNG. TNG was the most mainstream success "Star Trek" ever had, expanding the popularity of the Franchise exponentially and internationally.
Maybe Abrams will do even better.
I think Trek became accepted by the most people during TNG. Even people who didn't like "sci-fi stuff" would tune in to watch TNG each week.
They would talk about it over the water cooler at work, etc. People who new I was into ST would ask me questions about something on the show.
They would talk about it over the water cooler at work, etc. People who new I was into ST would ask me questions about something on the show.
My gut instinct says Trek fandom peaked when First Contact opened in the theaters.
trevanian
Rear Admiral
For THUNDERBALL they had many screens running 24hrs/day during opening weeks, the bond insanity (including martini drinking) going up into stratosphere.
I'd say the period of Star Trek IV-VI-TNG was the peak for people around me.Star Trek had that "mainstream" thing going on. For example,our wargames club consisting of everything from teenagers to mid-grade Army Officers and their families would drop everything to watch TNG's new episode Saturday evening.
This gets my vote. Late in the run of TNG Trek perception started moving from just nerdy to "un-cool nerdy".
Star Wars was big competition but the release of Trekkies and news coverage of the juror in a Trek uniform did it in.1986.
I disliked The Voyage Home, but the mid-eighties were a perfect peak. People were looking forward to TVH as the wrapup of the "trilogy" (and most of them seemed to love it). Fandom was going strong in print fanzines (which I miss), Creation Cons, and the Best of Trek books. The increasingly movielike novels and the strongly developed FASA RPG were going strong. Plus TNG was announced for the following year. The Official Fan Club was putting out a glossy zine, and the Star Trek Welcommittee hadn't faded away yet.
I disliked The Voyage Home, but the mid-eighties were a perfect peak. People were looking forward to TVH as the wrapup of the "trilogy" (and most of them seemed to love it). Fandom was going strong in print fanzines (which I miss), Creation Cons, and the Best of Trek books. The increasingly movielike novels and the strongly developed FASA RPG were going strong. Plus TNG was announced for the following year. The Official Fan Club was putting out a glossy zine, and the Star Trek Welcommittee hadn't faded away yet.
This gets my vote. Late in the run of TNG Trek perception started moving from just nerdy to "un-cool nerdy".
What is wrong with promoting intergalactic peace
?http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DjP8LqSPj8A&feature=related
For overall fandom, I'd say early 90's: TOS movies had just completed (TUC) TNG was in the middle of it's run and DS9 was about to start. I wasnt born until the '91 though, so for me personally I think now is the highest point in my fandom
That's about right. Although now you have people claiming that the 1994-1995 period suffered from oversaturation. I don't agree. It was a great time.
It peaked around '90-'92, during the prime TNG years. TNG isn't even my favorite series but that is when TNG references pervaded the culture. You'd hear about it in classes, in the media, etc. There was also the TUC during this time. This peak spawned DS9.
Before or after those years, it was more of a subculture thing. But during those few years it almost became what you'd call mainstream. It really started to decline during the early part of TNG's last season. The public is fickle, particularly about SF, and their attention wanders.
Mr Awe
Before or after those years, it was more of a subculture thing. But during those few years it almost became what you'd call mainstream. It really started to decline during the early part of TNG's last season. The public is fickle, particularly about SF, and their attention wanders.
Mr Awe
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I'll have to agree with the TNG years. Back then it was almost cool to admit to liking Trek.
