When Was Star Trek at its Most Popular?

[indycar]

I wasn't alive at the time. But if I had to give my opinion, I'd say the mid-1980s to the early-1990s, since during that time The Voyage Home (one of the highest grossing films of the year and one of Paramount's highest-grossing films to that point) and The Next Generation started the following year.

I'm curious what other people think and why.

 

[J.T.B.]

Yeah, I'd say (late) 1991 is a pretty strong candidate, with TNG coming off the big "Best of Both Worlds" cliffhanger and hitting its high water mark in ratings, and ST6 being a pretty solid success at the box office.

 

[psCargile]

Yep, TOS movies and TNG.

 

[PCz911]

... thoughts on why the decline?

 

[BJ Wagner]

... thoughts on why the decline?

Franchise fatigue is the term I've heard. Basically After DS9 and VOY came out along with the TNG movies, there was so much Trek that a lot of the freshness ran out. DS9 ratings weren't great, and the trend continued on VOY and culminated in the cancellation of Enterprise. I was a big fan of DS9, but after the boring last few seasons of TNG, I wasn't at all interested in VOY or ENT.

 

[donners22]

1991-1992 was the peak for American TV ratings. They consistently fell away from there.

Aside from First Contact, the films were pretty much in decline from 1986 until the reboot.

... thoughts on why the decline?

Saturation combined with a lack of creative freedom and fresh blood is not a good combo.

TOS was repeating itself after only a few dozen episodes; writers working with tight restrictions hundreds of episodes later had little hope. Plus, of course, there is always the vocal portion of Trek fans who will bash them for trying anything different.

Add in a negative stereotype of Trek and poor distribution deals outside the US, and it's hard to build fans.

 

[Push The Button]

I wasn't alive at the time. But if I had to give my opinion, I'd say the mid-1980s to the early-1990s, since during that time The Voyage Home (one of the highest grossing films of the year and one of Paramount's highest-grossing films to that point) and The Next Generation started the following year.

I'm curious what other people think and why.

Early 90's sounds right, when TNG finally hit its stride and was building an audience. The Voyage Home was probably the most mainstream of all the movies, it was enjoyed by many non-fans that had little or no experience with Trek.

 

[Mage]

Definatly late 80's early 90's.

As for why it got less popular.... TNG became copy/paste really, more of the same. They tried to do different with DS9, and succeeded at some parts, failed at others (I'm saying this as a HUGE Niner, best Trek-show ever). The studios realized this, and figured, let's remake TNG, but with a twist. Not their best idea ever. Enterprise..... Enterprise had a great concept, and in the early seasons, some great stuff is to be found. But the studios interfered too much, and forced changes not everyone really wanted, to make it look more like Trek. Which was something fans wanted (new but still Trek), just better executed. It finally hit the mark in season 4, but by then it was too late.

 

[F. King Daniel]

Going by TV ratings, for the run of The Next Generation. After that, it was a downward spiral.

 

[MacLeod]

Probably in the period 1986-1995. As others have mentioned TVH, a new show (TNG) and in the early 90's another new show DSN. I think after that it went into decline with a series of average movies, DSN whilst trying something different didn't appeal to a certain segment of the audiance so they tried TNG2.0 aka VOY which some loved but others felt it wasn't as good as TNG or even DSN. Then ENT fell into the trap of trying to be yet another TNG clone it wasn't until it's third year they tried something different and it wasn't until the fourth year they actually really began to live up to the premise of the show.

 

[MacLeod]

Going by TV ratings, for the run of The Next Generation. After that, it was a downward spiral.

To be fair though weren't TV ratings were declining all around.

 

[Hey Missy]

It's amazing how far apart TNG and DS9 were in the ratings from 1993 to 1994. Yeah, DS9 was pretty dull in its first two-and-a-half seasons, but then they began putting out episodes such as "The Wire" and "Whispers" at the same time TNG had "Sub Rosa"

 

[Trek Survivor]

Definitely 1991-1995. Encompassing Star Trek VI, the 25th anniversary, TNG's last few seasons, Generations and the launch of DS9 and Voyager. Star Trek was everywhere and was as mainstream as it was ever going to get.

 

[jaime]

Definitely 1991-1995. Encompassing Star Trek VI, the 25th anniversary, TNG's last few seasons, Generations and the launch of DS9 and Voyager. Star Trek was everywhere and was as mainstream as it was ever going to get.

Ah. The golden years. I keep hoping for a renaissance, we appear to be heading that way.

 

[Ghel]

By far, it was during the run of TNG. The show was everywhere and most people were talking about it quite a bit. TNG set the bar for syndicated television, which was completely innovative at the time and even beat out network programs. While TOS and DS9 have a very passionate fanbase, TNG was/is the widest.

 

[The Wormhole]

Definitely 1991-1995. Encompassing Star Trek VI, the 25th anniversary, TNG's last few seasons, Generations and the launch of DS9 and Voyager. Star Trek was everywhere and was as mainstream as it was ever going to get.

I'd extend that to 96, Trek had quite a bit of buzz for it's 30th anniversary and First Contact did pretty decently at the box office. That was the franchise's peak, everything went downwards after.

 

[UnknownSample]

Next Gen was actually teetering on the edge of "respectability", as a drama, amongst people who wouldn't be caught dead watching science fiction otherwise, around season 4. That's as wide an audience as ever... and then Next Gen became stale, repetitive, time-filling, so it sent Trek back into the "fans and loyalists only" zone.

 

[Ayelborne]

Next Gen was actually teetering on the edge of "respectability", as a drama, amongst people who wouldn't be caught dead watching science fiction otherwise, around season 4. That's as wide an audience as ever... and then Next Gen became stale, repetitive, time-filling, so it sent Trek back into the "fans and loyalists only" zone.

In my opinion in the eyes of the mainstream viewing audience, TNG effectively jumped the shark midway through its tenure once Sector 001 didn't succumb in the season ended/opener between seasons 3 and 4. The Borg represented one of the best cliffhangers in TV history. Data's quest to become more human, and the half-hearted approach to Guinan simply weren't enough to thread, or arc the episodes.

Having said that, once TNG was forced to actually write for the characters (at the behest of Patrick Stewart, I believe?), I thoroughly enjoyed the show...

 

[Lance]

Definitely 1991-1995. Encompassing Star Trek VI, the 25th anniversary, TNG's last few seasons, Generations and the launch of DS9 and Voyager. Star Trek was everywhere and was as mainstream as it was ever going to get.

This, very much.

I've seen people try to rewrite history, saying things like "TNG wasn't as significant as TOS" and things to that effect, but those of us who were actually *there* know only too well that Star Trek as a whole franchise was at the peak of it's cultural zeitgeist during TNG's run, in particular the second half of it.

 

[drt]

This, very much.

I've seen people try to rewrite history, saying things like "TNG wasn't as significant as TOS" and things to that effect, but those of us who were actually *there* know only too well that Star Trek as a whole franchise was at the peak of it's cultural zeitgeist during TNG's run, in particular the second half of it.

I'm guessing their argument is based more on how TNG, outside of Trek-circles, is largely forgotten these days...