Why TOS and TNG worked . . . | Report this post to moderator
By: Xevious (Odo's file, contact, web site) @ 23:24:24 on Jul 18, 2003

The Original Series was hip. It was in perfect tune with pop culture. A Russian, a Japanese, and a black woman on the BRIDGE of a fictional military craft??? Unheard of. Very popular. It went against the very convictions of the adults against whom the adolescents were rebelling. Classic Trek was C-O-O-L.

The Next Generation rode on the high from TOS. Some rejected the notion of a new Star Trek, but many fans stuck with it. With season three and beyond, most of those who stopped watching TNG started watching it again. Why, do you think, we had all those debates of Kirk vs. Picard? Because fans had watched both.

Season 3 of Deep Space Nine saw the tailing off of the ratings. This is when the good times ended. TNG was done, and there was YET ANOTHER Trek on the way. Also on the horizon were The X-Files and Babylon 5. IMO, DS9 was just as good as TNG, and it could have held its own against the rebirth of primetime Sci-Fi. The transition was complete. We didn't need another damn series running parallel with DS9. Voyager was a huge fuck up. They should have just been planning season one of Voyager right now, four seasons after DS9 hung it up.

DS9 would have caught fire on its own, just like TNG, without Voyager running with it.

Now we have 24 seasons of Star Trek with us, with 21 of those seasons having basically the same format. The problem is that TIMES CHANGE. What was cool in 1966 is not cool now. What was cool in 1990 IS NOT COOL NOW.

Berman and Braga are smart guys. They REALIZED this. THEY ATTEMPTED TO BREAK BACK INTO POP CULTURE WITH ENTERPRISE. But the sad part is that they failed. Why?

When I watch Enterprise, I think . . . TNG . . . DS9 . . . VOY. I don't think it's cool. I can't see it.

B&B must have asked themselves . . . What would be cool NOW? What would appeal to everyone???

I think what's wrong with that question is the word APPEAL.

Do you think that Uhura on the bridge would have appealed to all the rednecks and skinheads and racists of the mid-twentieth century? Do you think that Hikaru Sulu and Pavel Chekov would have sat well with World War II veterans?

NO.

But it was cool to like what your parents HATED in the sixties, so that shit caught FIRE with millions of TEENS. Star Trek was cancelled right before the networks started demographic analysis. If NBC had known about all the young people that watched Star Trek, in THEIR OWN WORDS, they would have NEVER CANCELLED THE SHOW.

So what is C-O-O-L NOW? What would be inventive, daring, and original??? What would be enough to make adults cringe and teens stay hooked???

Hint: It's not meaningless sexual intercourse. You can get that anywhere.

IMO, the formula is powerful concepts like:

Sarek - Sarek is losing his emotions and mind. Stewart should have won an Emmy.

Chain of Command - Picard is tortured by Madred. TORTURED!!! Stewart should have won ANOTHER Emmy for that role.

Sub Rosa - Crusher has ORGASMS on prime time television. They got away with MURDER. It was a romance novel episode, yes, but the production was still TIGHT. The acting was GOOD.

Rejoined - One of the most mature episodes ever shown on TV. Drama, and ethical dilemma. Right up there with The Perfect Mate.

Inquisition - Bashir thinks he's going crazy, then runs into Sloan and Section 31. THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN THE FIFTH SERIES. THAT IS WHAT IS COOL NOW.

In the Pale Moonlight - Sisko tries to dupe the Romulans and fails. So Garak just kills them. THAT IS COOL.

The Omega Directive - There's a directive higher than the Prime. Janeway is so belligerent, and it is believable. Too bad it turned into a Seven of Nine religion thread. THE OMEGA DIRECTIVE IS FUCKING C-O-O-L.

In the final analysis, you've got to bend around (or even abandon) Gene's vision of the future. His vision called for sick fucking C-O-O-L concepts in the sixties. Those concepts are no longer part of pop culture. We are past that.

According to our trends, there are two major concepts that are COOL:

1) Espionage, murder, horror, film noir - read The X-Files, Alias, CSI, The Matrix

2) Pure fantasy elements - read Stargate SG-1, The Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter

To keep Trek alive, it's GOT TO STAY COOL.

--------

Xevious
To The Undiscovered Country --- The Future!

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RE: Why TOS and TNG worked . . . by deyisus @ 06:03:05 on Jul 21
RE: Why TOS and TNG worked . . . by Wach @ 14:13:33 on Jul 20
    RE: Why TOS and TNG worked . . . by johnQ @ 07:07:53 on Jul 21
RE: Why TOS and TNG worked . . . by glue @ 13:33:52 on Jul 19
RE: Why TOS and TNG worked . . . by Deslok @ 05:59:35 on Jul 19
RE: Why TOS and TNG worked . . . by Brikar @ 23:32:44 on Jul 18