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How Star Trek Generations marked the beginning of the death of Star Trek | Report this post to moderator
By: O. Deus (Odo's file, contact) @ 23:52:32 on Aug 26, 2003

Star Trek Generations was a key, not so much for Star Trek as for the transformation of Star Trek which up till how had generally been associated with 'That show with Shatner and Spock' and one resulting spinoff...to Star Trek The Franchise.

Generations was to be the transitition point between Star Trek as we knew it and a Star Trek Franchise composed of disposable TV series played off for seven seasons and then moved on to movies of which in retrospect the Original Series would just have been the first in a long line of shows.

Berman and Co. were determined to move on to Star Trek The Franchise by moving TNG to film and creating new series to replace TNG resulting in Star Trek created by a sort of industrial conveyor belt process. When one series got old, a new series would replace it. It was efficient, financially sound and Paramount loved it. There was only one problem. It didn't work.

Up until Generations much of Star Trek was primarily synonymous with Star Trek the TV Series, a show that in the wake of the blizzard of spinoffs would end up being reffered to as the Original Series. TNG had achieved some measure of success on television but Star Trek was primarily something ordinary people associated with Kirk and Spock. And though TNG had been popular, Picard and Data never had the instant name recognition of those two. For most people Star Trek still meant Kirk and Spock and Berman and Co. were determined to do something about that.

So of course the first real task of Generations was to demonstrate the rise of Star Trek The Franchise by killing the symbol of the Original Star Trek, Kirk. And since the way charachters are killed off often reflects the way producers feel about them, it was no surprise that the death of Kirk was made to be absurd and humilating. His role was an afterthought and so was his death meant to pave the way for the New Star Trek. The Star Trek composed of disposable lego like sub-franchises all owned by Paramount.

But while there may have been some arguments ten years ago, today it's hard to argue that Star Trek The Franchise has failed and failed miserably. Berman and his flying monkeys ridiculously overestimated their ability to create new Star Trek series that would appeal to fans, the general public or to well pretty much anybody.

Each post TNG series hit a high note in its pilot as viewers eagerly tuned in to see what they had to offer anticipating the return of Star Trek only to be disappointed and fade away leaving each spinoff with lower ratings than the last. The TNG movies themselves though proved to be mediocre products without a central narrative the TOS films had and the duo of Picard and Data lacked the pop culture recognition or the staying power and fan loyalty to effectively triumph in an increasingly competitive marketplace. Until today nearly a decade later, the film franchise is dead and Berman is desperately floundering to keep one series above water which is proving to be a ratings disappointment even by UPN standards.

So what went wrong? Generations was meant to launch a Star Trek Franchise composed of disposable series and films. The viewers and fans were seen as drones who would flock to anything and buy anything as long as it had the Star Trek label on it. Little thought was given to the creative integrity of the shows themselves. This was Hollywood thinking at its worst, rather than Gene Roddenberry's understanding that even the attempt to make TNG was like trying to "Catch lightning in a bottle."

Ultimately Star Trek became the victim of that Hollywood thinking. The victim of greed as an attempt to transform a creative product enjoyed by tens of millions into a lucrative conveyor belt factory franchise backfired leaving Star Trek fans with little more than memories.

Instead of focusing on creative integrity, franchise 'management' focused on demographics. Management didn't admit there were serious declines in the popularity of their products until things had gotten so bad there was simply no point in lying anymore. Instead management kept trying to retool failed series by injecting more old blood from TNG via Worf and a more TNG oriented political situation on DS9 and Troi and the Pathfinder contact on Voyager or bringing in charachters in catsuits. But all that was a dead end because it failed to address the real reasons for viewer flight.

If there is a summary to be made of the death of Star Trek it is that where Roddenberry and Coon saw Star Trek as a story to be told, Berman and Co. saw it as a franchise with the story having no value of its own. And Generations which was meant to serve as the pivotal transtition from Star Trek to Franchise crashed and burned along with the Enterprise D. Certainly back when Berman, Braga and Moore killed Kirk...few would have predicted that Shatner would be likely to outlive Star Trek.

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RE: How Star Trek Generations marked the beginning of the death of Star Tre

RE: How Star Trek Generations marked the beginning of the death of Star Trek

RE: How Star Trek Generations marked the beginning of the death of Star Tre

RE: How Star Trek Generations marked the beginning of the death of Star Trek

Can you blame them?

RE: Can you blame them?

Even earlier

RE: How Star Trek Generations marked the beginning of the death of Star Trek

RE: How Star Trek Generations marked the beginning of the death of Star Tre

I'd really say B5 only shifted

RE: I'd really say B5 only shifted

RE: How Star Trek Generations marked the beginning of the death of Star Tre

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How Star Trek Generations marked the beginning of the death of Star Trek | Report this post to moderator
By: O. Deus (Odo's file, contact) @ 23:52:32 on Aug 26, 2003

Nov 20 | 5-Page Preview of Final Issue of Nero Comic Book Mini Series

Nov 20 | J.J. Abrams Says the Success of the DVD May Bring More People to Star Trek XII

Nov 20 | Karl Urban Says is an Honor and Privilege to be Part of Star Trek, Talks Trek XII

Nov 20 | Simon Pegg Says that Spock Prime Validates the Original Timeline

Nov 19 | John Billingsley Criticizes J.J. Abrams Star Trek Movie, Calls the Script Mundane

How Star Trek Generations marked the beginning of the death of Star Trek | Report this post to moderator By: O. Deus (Odo's file, contact) @ 23:52:32 on Aug 26, 2003

How Star Trek Generations marked the beginning of the death of Star Trek | Report this post to moderator
By: O. Deus (Odo's file, contact) @ 23:52:32 on Aug 26, 2003