Why is The Original Series still the dominant brand?

[MacLeod]

Another aspect to look at as well that including films TOS spanned a 25 year period (1966-1991), TNG managed only 15 (1987-2002)

In terms of competition in the genre TOS had little during a portion of that time when it was either in re-runs or during it's orginal run.

Whilst the later shows might have had some cultural impact, I don't think they have had the same as what TOS had.

 

[Kilana2]

And it worked quite well. As for the english: most difficult things are: puns, idioms and figures of speech. But Google always helped me out.

I remember struggling through L'Etranger by Camus in my high school French class. You're a braver man than I am.

Actually, I´m a female clone

 

[Greg Cox]

And it worked quite well. As for the english: most difficult things are: puns, idioms and figures of speech. But Google always helped me out.

I remember struggling through L'Etranger by Camus in my high school French class. You're a braver man than I am.

Actually, I´m a female clone

Oops!

 

[EnriqueH]

TOS has the mystique.

Not only has been part of the American TV landscape and a huge pop cultural influence, it was cancelled early. And then resurrected.

It's hard to quantify. In fact, it's damn near impossible to analyze why made TOS as great as it was.

As for the reboot, I think the reason TOS was rebooted was that the TNG era was driven into the ground.

Voyager wasn't particuarly well-received by fans, Enterprise got cancelled and Nemesis flopped at the boxoffice, making it the only boxoffice flop of the Trek franchise and the only Trek film not to debut at #1. The fact that it was TNG (the leader of the franchise at the time) sealed its doom.

Clearly, the strategy was to go back to basics where it all started: TOS.

They had been away for a while, having retired as a group in 1991.

 

[Vger23]

It's actually very, very simple. TOS is that much better than everything that came after. TNG and DS9 were both very good series. TOS was just that much better. Regardless of "what you grew up on" or what your personal preference is, that's just the truth of it.

TNG was popular, yes...but TOS has endured and transcended time. TNG has not. TNG is viewed as "dated" while TOS is viewed with nostalgia and "as a classi."

That's pretty much it.

 

[Botany Bay]

My old boss was a very sharp marketer. He always told me "it's better to be first than it is to be better." -- people always remember the first thing in any category.

But I put it down to something else.

Shatner + Nimoy + Kelley.

The other series, were, at times, great entertainment, but they didn't have three supremely talented actors who, when on screen together, could add magic to almost any script.

I think the JJ films have missed a trick by not emphasising McCoy as much, but what they're doing seems to be working fine in bringing the crowds back to see Star Trek movies.

 

[BillJ]

My old boss was a very sharp marketer. He always told me "it's better to be first than it is to be better." -- people always remember the first thing in any category.

But I put it down to something else.

Shatner + Nimoy + Kelley.

The other series, were, at times, great entertainment, but they didn't have three supremely talented actors who, when on screen together, could add magic to almost any script.

+1

Even when Star Trek was bad, Shatner, Nimoy and Kelley were still well worth watching. In the modern shows, the actors and their chemistry simply weren't enough to carry bad material.

 

[EnriqueH]

My old boss was a very sharp marketer. He always told me "it's better to be first than it is to be better." -- people always remember the first thing in any category.

But I put it down to something else.

Shatner + Nimoy + Kelley.

The other series, were, at times, great entertainment, but they didn't have three supremely talented actors who, when on screen together, could add magic to almost any script.

+1

Even when Star Trek was bad, Shatner, Nimoy and Kelley were still well worth watching. In the modern shows, the actors and their chemistry simply weren't enough to carry bad material.

I partially agree, only because I do think Patrick Stewart could transcend a bad script, but the problem was...he was alone in his cast in being able to do that.

Shatner, Nimoy and Kelley had that magical chemistry.

 

[Kilana2]

Not to mention No time like the Past. That´s my favorite so far and I will re-read it, when Cross Cult is going to release it next year. You can find a small but stalwart bunch of TOS fans in the Cross Cult Forum. Some of them don´t have enough english knowledge to read the novels in the original. I thank my english teacher for being able to....

Great. And, of course, No Time Like the Past is a TOS/VOYAGER crossover, so it's not like the various different flavors of Trek can't coexist.

Thanks for making the effort to read my books in English. I confess I've never tried to read to read the German translations. I just display them proudly in my office.

By the way: Khaaaaaan has become a running gag at the Cross Cult forum. The german word for madness is "Wahnsinn". We changed it into "Khansinn". Other questions begin with "khan you tell me" ...... and so on. Let´face it: Khan is quintessential to TOS. And sometimes I prefer single stories that I can read at any given moment .

 

[F. King Daniel]

That TOS turns 50 next year, and has a big money movie franchise on the go, probably have something to do with why it's the most pushed.

Oh, and that TOS is the best

 

[nightwind1]

Ask any random person on the street who the captain of the Starship Enterprise is, and I'd bet at least 9 out of ten would mention James T. Kirk rather than Jean-Luc Picard.

In other words, TOS has ALWAYS been the most well-known iteration of Trek.

 

[eyeresist]

The trinity of Kirk-Spock-McCoy has mystical properties. There's no way it can be duplicated.

 

[suarezguy]

The first of anything tends to be the most remembered, especially if the second also generates (too many) sequels and there's some guilt by association.

I think that the general audiences knowing/remembering more of the original series doesn't mean they like it more, a lot of people would feel it and TNG were both dated while people not adverse to older entertainment and sci fi in particular would think they both had their good and bad.

 

[Greg Cox]

The first of anything tends to be the most remembered, especially if the second also generates (too many) sequels and there's some guilt by association.

Granted, there are exceptions. Take THE AVENGERS, for instance. Emma Peel was neither the first nor last of Steed's partners on the original British TV series, but she's the one everyone remembers. And who lives on the remake, comic books, etc.

And I'd argue that the reboot of BATTLESTAR GALACTICA has eclipsed the original 70s show at this point . . ..

 

[RandyS]

And I'd argue that the reboot of BATTLESTAR GALACTICA has eclipsed the original 70s show at this point . . ..

That's....that's......

Aw, screw it, I just don't have the strength anymore.

Regarding TOS, I agree with everybody who said the first of something is usually the best remembered.

Although, not really relevant to the topic, I'd argue that the "big three" of Star Trek is not so much Kirk, Spock, and McCoy, as it is TOS, TNG, and DS9.

At least for me.

 

[Kilana2]

My friends and I always enjoyed the Kirk - Spock - McCoy cameraderie and the dialogues. Some of them were hilarious.

I only know the german dialogues, but I remember McCoy calling Spock a green-blooded breeding bull or something like that.

 

[Galileo7]

Star Trek: The Original Series was original, everything after it has basically been remixes.

Yes.

 

[Gaith]

TNG was popular, yes...but TOS has endured and transcended time. TNG has not. TNG is viewed as "dated" while TOS is viewed with nostalgia and "as a classic."

That's pretty much it.

Not entirely. TOS has two key elements that help keep it from rusting, in a metaphorical cultural sense: Shatner's hammy acting, which can be embraced and enjoyed in an ironic way that Stewart's more nuanced performance can't, and TOS' much heavier focus on titillation and sex, which, ditto. (Its bolder/greater emphasis on primary colors doesn't hurt, either.)

As drama, TNG's average almost certainly beats TOS'. But for camp/ironic enjoyment, meme-able iconicity, and swooning, scantily clad babes - for branding, as the OP so keenly put it - TOS does indeed lead the franchise.

 

[BillJ]

TNG was popular, yes...but TOS has endured and transcended time. TNG has not. TNG is viewed as "dated" while TOS is viewed with nostalgia and "as a classic."

That's pretty much it.

Not entirely. TOS has two key elements that help keep it from rusting, in a metaphorical cultural sense: Shatner's hammy acting, which can be embraced and enjoyed in an ironic way that Stewart's more nuanced performance can't, and TOS' much heavier focus on titillation and sex, which, ditto. (Its bolder/greater emphasis on primary colors doesn't hurt, either.)

As drama, TNG's average almost certainly beats TOS'. But for camp/ironic enjoyment, meme-able iconicity, and swooning, scantily clad babes - for branding, as the OP so keenly put it - TOS does indeed lead the franchise.

You just said, essentially, Stewart is boring. That is the fault of the writing not the actor. Stewart can be just as over-the-top as Shatner.

I don't think the original Star Trek is still around because of camp or ironic enjoyment. I think it's still around partially because it challenged the imagination in a way the other shows never did. I think another part of it is in the way it portrays humanity. In TOS, we are out there making mistakes and showing that we have a ton to learn. In the modern shows, we're out there like human missionaries extolling how great we are and how everyone should be like us.

In every context, TOS is simply the better and more imaginative show.

 

[Gaith]

^ "More nuanced" ≠ "more boring". Hammy acting, when poorly done, can be very tedious indeed. Likewise, "more entertaining" ≠ "better".

Nor did I say that TOS has endured because of the camp and titillation factors; I said that those factors have helped keep it from feeling dated.