All Those Star Treks

[Barry]

The Star Trek, The Next Generation Movies will be released in a week or so.I became a fan of Star Trek, not when it was first one, but when it went into reruns.
 
In the 1960s, generally, when a show reaches 100 episodes and it is cancelled on the networks, it was offered in syndication to local stations. Star Trek had only 78 episodes. In the late 1960s, the FCC allowed UHF broadcasting, channels above the VHS dial to be broadcast. The owner of several of these stations was looking for a show that teen-agers would like and would be placed against the local news broadcasts at 6 PM.  He was given a bargain on Star Trek because it only had 78 episodes.  It then became very popular and stations around the country grabbed it!
 
The very next year after Star Trek was cancelled Nielson, the rating company, introduced “demographics” to their rating.  NBC discovered that Star Trek was the highest rated show in the demographic they had wanted.
 
I enjoyed Start Trek the Animated series. Not for the  animation, but some of the stories were very good.  I really enjoyed Star Trek Movies 2, 4, and 6. 1 was just okay, The Search for Spock (III) was more of a TV episode than a movie and 5 was terrible!
 
The Next Generation, for me, had a slow start the first year or so. Season 3 through 7 were great. The movie Generations I guess was made to dispose of the original series and was a great missed opportunity.  But First Contact was great.  Insurrection was a just a long enjoyable episode and Nemesis was terrible.
The Trek s  were released on home video, with ten minutes or so restored from the shorten syndicated version.  Then they  released “updated” on Blu- Ray.  
 
In both Star Trek and Next Generation, the live action was filmed and the effects were on video tape.  They then combined the two, on tape, and that is what we saw.  Ten years ago they redid the video effects are re-combined with the original film. This cost $20,000,000. Because of streaming they did NOT get their money back.
 
 
Star Trek took a bad turn, with Deep Space Nine.  The optimism of the future and it’s brightness was gone.  And they were no longer going where no one had gone before.  It also introduced the concept of a long narrative, stretching for years in the series.  I did not like that..
 
Voyager was a return to space but only took off when Jeri Ryan cam on as 7 of 9 and the show changed for the better. Trek has always been a action-adventure show and men do the fighting. Now, 7 of 9 gets to fight Dwayne Johnson.
 
There was no chemistry in Enterprise and I found it very boring.
 
I did not really enjoy the last three Star Trek movies, especially the second one which as a remake of Star Trek 2. Instead of continuing the voyages of the Enterprise, they just redid them.
 
The streaming series seem to have aa bad pattern. First, Misdirection: The writers construct the first few episodes to have you think the story and characters are going one way, but then you discover it goes another. Time consuming, misleading and helps stretch out the plot. Second: Stretching out the Plot: Things that took 5 minutes on the TV shows take 40 minutes here.
 
I am not a fan of Discovery. There is no more optimism, no brighter future, no self-contained episodes. I gave up watching.
 
Strange New Worlds gave me some hope, their episodes are a bit more episodic. The Horror episode was terrible. But the cast is good and I hope it finds it way.
 
Star Trek Picard:  Just to have Patrick Stewart back is wonderful. Season 1 and 2 brought back a few other favorites but, again, it does not have the features that made Star Trek what it was.  And a few things did not make sense.  I hope season three gets better.

[Craig Peer]

I am looking forward the The Next Generation Star Trek movies arriving on 4K. My box set should arrive April 6th. Maybe I'll be a Star Trek movie marathon in May, with the original Star Trek movies I have not had a chance to watch yet.

[David Vaughn]

Barry,

Did you watch "The Center Seat: 55 Years of Star Trek?" (https://www.amazon.com/Queue-for-Q/dp/B09SKRBCFH/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=the+center+seat+55+years+of+star+trek&qid=1679530719&sprefix=The+center+se%2Caps%2C156&sr=8-1)

As someone who grew up on Trek, I liked it a lot. It delves into the production problems, personalities, money, etc. It's a must watch for any fan.

As for the Trek films, I liked 2, 3 4, 6, and First Contact the best. Totally agree that 5 was a horrible film and Nemesis just didn't need to be made (it wasn't very good either). 

As for the new Trek, I tried to watch Discovery and found the main character completely unlikable. I'm about ready to review "Strange New Worlds" and generally like it and it reminds me a lot of the original series.

I liked seasons 2-7 of TNG--Season One was difficult to watch at the time--it was if they were trying too hard. Once they got comfortable with their characters, it took off.

I LOVED DS9 because it was grittier and more realistic. While Star Trek in general is supposed to be about an "evolved" human race, it's complete and utter fantasy in that regard. But that's a different subject. I thought DS9's story arc the last 3 seasons was some of the best Trek ever made.

I enjoyed Voyager for what it was, but it was not a great show. I did like the characters though and it took a leap forward when 7 of 9 joined the show.

I loved the first JJ Abrams reboot movie (or alternate timeline as it's referred to now). I thought it was a fantastic film. The second film was enjoyable and I like how they twisted the Kahn narrative. I've watched it four time (I think) and still enjoy it. The third film was OK, not great, but I did like certain aspects of it. 

Like Craig, I'm looking forward to the 4K copies of the TNG films to arrive (particularly First Contact).

[Barry]

David, except for DS9 we are close.  I posted this because I too have ordered the 4k and have 4k for the first 6 movies.  But, really, the New Blu rays of the first two series are great.  I think they use these versions in streaming. But on the Star Trek Blu-ray, they have my favourite episode of deep space nine. It’s the one where they go back in time into the starship enterprise and meet Kirk and the tribbles.

[SRW1000]

My journey is similar to yours, Barry.  I believe syndicated Star Trek reruns aired on weekend afternoons on one of our local stations, and I was hooked as a kid.  Then the animated series showed up, it was something new to watch on Saturday mornings.  And then the Mego toys came out with their cool Enterprise playset (with cool teleporter function!), and I could continue their adventures on my own.

Then a few years later, Star Wars came out, and quickly replaced all that Trek stuff in my life.  Of course, I still paid attention to what was happening with Star Trek, but it was definitely in second place.  In our circles, anyway, this was a rivalry equal to that of Marvel vs. DC, with just as many passionate fans on both sides.

The success of Star Wars led to the Star Trek movie, and I was extremely disappointed.  We waited over a decade for this?  I remember reading Harlen Ellison's review in Starlog where made referred to it as a $44 million f***.  While I wasn't that upset about it, it really didn't appeal to me as a teenager.  The Wrath of Kahn, on the other hand did, although I was crushed at the death of Spock, and took it a little too personally when Nimoy said he wasn't interested in playing the character anymore.

And then the rumors started that they were going to bring Spock back, and that idea really stung.  All the drama from the end of Kahn just tossed to the side like nothing happened.  I went to the theater to see III for myself, but vowed that if it were true, it would be the last Trek film for me.

To this day, I still haven't watched Star Trek IV or V.

I did watch The Next Generation, and overall liked it, although there aren't many episodes I can still recall at this point. 

Life went on, and I was lucky enough to meet a woman who liked Star Trek even more than I did.  After we married, Star Tek VI came out, and I finally relinquished my vow, and we went to see it in the theater.  And I liked it.  A lot.

We watched most of Deep Space Nine but couldn't maintain interest all the way to the final episodes, and it competed for time and interest with Babylon 5.  We gave up on Voyager after the first season or two, it just didn't resonate with us.  Same thing with Enterprise.

I liked the first reboot movie, although my wife was just seething through the entire thing.  My attitude to it was more casual and practical - the original cast was either too old or dead for it to be practical for them to return to the big screen.  The new movie was a different universe, so they could chart a new course, the cast was really good, and the script was fun.  They went downhill after that.  With "definitely not Kahn" changing to "oh yeah, that was Kahn."  And tribble blood being the key to bring people back to life.  I'm not sad that there hasn't been a fourth.

We tried to watch Discovery, but I'm not even sure if we made it all the way though the pilot.  Whatever this show was, it wasn't Star Trek.  After that experience, we gave up on any new Trek, although my wife still watches reruns of the original series on one of our local stations.

We've shared a lot of great memories through the years, between watching the episodes we enjoyed to attending a whole bunch of conventions.  Those were back in the days when autographs and pictures with the stars were free (except for Shatner and Nimoy, anyway).  Some of those were fun lunches with Jimmy Doohan and Grace Lee Whitney.

Star Trek will always hold a place in our hearts, but it's at a distance now.

By the way, today is William Shatner's 92nd birthday.  He'll always be my favorite captain.

Scott

[SRW1000]

Barry,

Did you watch "The Center Seat: 55 Years of Star Trek?" (https://www.amazon.com/Queue-for-Q/dp/B09SKRBCFH/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=the+center+seat+55+years+of+star+trek&qid=1679530719&sprefix=The+center+se%2Caps%2C156&sr=8-1)

Thanks for posting this, I've added it to our watch list.

[Barry]

I am watching 55 years now! Thanks David

[Paul Heroy]

I am not quite as big a Trekker as some of you. I did watch reruns of the original series, and was in college when TNG started up, and watched most of it and mostly enjoyed it. Like almost everyone else though, I found S1 rough or boring and I recall losing interest then getting back on board for the 2nd season.

I'm with David on DS9. I was a HUGE Babylon 5 fan - I closely followed the usenet group where jms posted even before the show debuted - and if you know the history, you know that jms has long acknowledged that his show was pitched to Paramount and became a major influence on how DS9 was shaped. But he never pursued anything legally b/c it would waste time & energy he needed for his own creation. So I enjoyed both of them, and despite the parallels they each carved out their own identity. Plus, Nana Visitor is probably my all time ST crush...

Voyager turned me off after just a few episodes when it got over the top dumb with some science. ST is of course famous for not being rigidly accurate scientifically but STV went too far.

Enterprise had a really strong final season when they brought on board Manny Coto as showrunner for season 4. He had been involved with another SF series, Odyssey 5, that had 1 strong season but was canceled. I thought he really dug into the ST vibe and history well and produced one of the stronger seasons of any Trek.

I bailed on ST Discovery after grinding through all but the final episode of S1. That says something, to get to the finale and realize... I just didn't give a damn and hated most of the things they were doing. Haven't watched any more of the new Paramount+ Trek, but have heard good things here and elsewhere about SNW and parts of Picard, so may give at least SNW a shot.

[David Vaughn]

I am watching 55 years now! Thanks David

While it has its flaws, it's actually quite good overall from a historical standpoint (it gets a bit repetitive since it was made for History channel and it seems to do a quick repeat after every made for TV commercial break). That's annoying when you're watching it with no commercials.

I did forget to comment on Picard...I watched Season 1 and thought it was just OK. I heard Season 2 was "meh" but things improve in Season 3. I'll get to it at some point, but there's just so many things to watch these days and not enough hours in the week to watch them all. 

[SRW1000]

Have any of you guys watched any of the Star Trek Continues episodes on YouTube?

It's a fan-made series of 11 episodes that pick up where the original TV series ended.  The recreated some of the Enterprise's sets, and there are some actual Hollywood actors that appear in some of the episodes.

I've heard good things about it but haven't watched it yet.

Here's a link to the teaser trailer on YouTube: 

Looks like it could be fun.

[David Vaughn]

Have any of you guys watched any of the Star Trek Continues episodes on YouTube?

It's a fan-made series of 11 episodes that pick up where the original TV series ended.  The recreated some of the Enterprise's sets, and there are some actual Hollywood actors that appear in some of the episodes.

I've heard good things about it but haven't watched it yet.

Here's a link to the teaser trailer on YouTube: 

Looks like it could be fun.

I have not watched it, but it does look pretty good. 

[Paul Heroy]

Have any of you guys watched any of the Star Trek Continues episodes on YouTube?

Scott, I've heard about those for years from a couple of friends who really liked them. As I recall they made those then got a "cease & desist" from Paramount, so I'm a little surprised that the ones they made are still available on YT. 

Another thing on the too damn long watch list... thanks a lot! 

[SRW1000]

Scott, I've heard about those for years from a couple of friends who really liked them. As I recall they made those then got a "cease & desist" from Paramount, so I'm a little surprised that the ones they made are still available on YT.

Another thing on the too damn long watch list... thanks a lot!

I think they got around it since the episodes are available for free, and the group is listed as a not-for-profit.  But it looks like these are the only episodes that will ever be made.

They also offer free fan tours of the Enterprise set that they built in Kingsland, GA.  I watched a video on that, and it actually looked like it could be fun.  Here's their website:  Fan Appreciation Weekends – The Neutral Zone (neutralzonestudios.com)

It's a good time to be a nerd.

Scott

[David Vaughn]

I think they got around it since the episodes are available for free, and the group is listed as a not-for-profit.  But it looks like these are the only episodes that will ever be made.

They also offer free fan tours of the Enterprise set that they built in Kingsland, GA.  I watched a video on that, and it actually looked like it could be fun.  Here's their website:  Fan Appreciation Weekends – The Neutral Zone (neutralzonestudios.com)

It's a good time to be a nerd.

Scott

I nominate Tracy to go and take a look for all of us to see if it's worth the trip

[TRainH2O]

I nominate Tracy to go and take a look for all of us to see if it's worth the trip

Heh........I've never heard of the series or Kingsland. Lemme Google it.