Pondering Trek

Saturday, October 21st, 2006 05:54 am
delphia2ohohoh: (Default)
[personal profile] delphia2ohohoh
Behind the cut as it seems likely I will get verbose.



We watched a really good show on the history channel tonight titled 'How Bill Shatner Changed the World.' It was hosted by Bill and was an oft humorous look at how the show Star Trek changed the world. The guy who invented the mobile and flip phones said right out it was inspired by TOS. And many other scientists were Trekkies, inspired by the show to choose careers in science, engineering or even as astronauts.

But of interest to me was the information about how as the shows went on, they lost their viewership. Now, this downslide coincided with the death of Roddenberry, no surprise. It's clear that the direction the shows took after that were the darker view that was more popular with the younger generations. However, the show...the original show, was always about hope for a brighter future and it was the darling of the OLDER generation. So it's clear to me that even tho the new, younger writers/producers felt they were doing the right thing by trying to appeal to what was popular with the younger generation, they totally failed. And they kept on doing the same and failing worse each time. They never learned. What a pack of morons.

It's clear even tho the younger generations liked 'darker' fare in general, for Trek, they wanted Trek...hope. Keeping that light would have kept the older generations watching AND brought in newer, younger viewers.

For me, I liked Next Gen, but I thought Trek truly came to life in DS9. DS9 overcame it's darker moments because of it's characters. It was more character driven than any other of the franchise and I think that made all the difference to me. They had darkness but it was never episode after episode of failure after failure. The good guys won. They won in the end.

I enjoyed Voyager up to a point. There was a season they went very dark...even calling it the Year of Hell...and that was getting me turned totally off. But it really sucked/jumped the shark with 7 of 9. She could have been an interesting character, but all I could see were tits and lips. Had they made her more normal looking, like choosing an actress who was less skinny/boobsy/explodedlips, I think I could have accepted her better. I have nothing against the actress, btw. Have seen her in other shows where I thought she did a great job. Just 7 sucked. Sucked wind. Sucked exhaust. The ending show had me close to screaming in a fit of rage with a totally out of character/out of left field shipping between 7 and Chakotay. Gimme a break.

Enterprise never caught my interest at all. It lacked so many things. Again, we were stuck with another tits/lips bimbo babe and with possibly the least attractive crew ever. Okay, Scott is a hottie. But he failed to make me like Archer. I never saw a captain, a leader, or a hero in him. And the other guys...bleech. Not a looker in the bunch. Okay, I don't ALWAYS just watch/love a show for the guys, dang it. But it doesn't hurt. And I like the characters to be somewhat attractive. I failed to find any of them appealing, even the women. Not a decent female role model in the bunch. They failed to make them characters that I found appealing enough to keep tuning in to make friends I'd want to watch week after week. It was the dullest Trek ever. I think I was able to watch the first 3 or 4 episodes and then I'd just give up.

Anyway, one of the things they mentioned in the show was that as far as Paramount was concerned, the franchise was DOA. No more Trek. I have to wonder if there was someone out there who could go back to what made the original Trek great...good characters and vision of a bright future...and breathe some life into the franchise. A decent show about morals and character and doing what's right would be a novelty these days. :oP I could use a little hope for a bright future.

Gene...I miss you.



Date: 2006-10-21 12:01 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] maab-connor.livejournal.com
i totally agree with you! Enterprise sucked as a show, it never really drew you in; but i can't blame it all on the actors, i've seen many of them in other series and really liked them; so the problem seemed to be in the writing. they were trying to write a show that, like alias, you HAD to watch every ep or you'd be completely lost; but, unlike alias, they never wrote a tight script or a fast hour. i too left this trek.

i think the biggest difference in post-Gene production was actually in Andromeda. Gene thought it up and wrote the first few scripts, they were great shows, and the ones right after that his daughter (Majel, i think) wrote were right on the coat-tails and also good. but the longer Gene was gone, the darker the show got. i think the younger Rodenberry stepped away too, so that may be why.

and you're right, 7of9 blew goats for quarters. she was hot, but the attempt to write for what was basically a Borg with a soul, really lacked something. they could have had a lot of fun with the character, but no, they just had her running around in lycra and speaking stupid lines in a staccato voice... did nothing for me.

Date: 2006-10-21 06:21 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] delphia2000.livejournal.com
I was under the impression that the Roddenberry involved with Andromeda was the ex-wife, Majel, who is sitting next to him in the pic I posted. But I could be wrong. This whole 'dark is popular' thing is just crap. All teens go thru a morose period, but I think they tend to grow out of it and I don't think it necessarily makes for good entertainment. We get enough 'dark' on the news channels. :oP

Yeah, 7 could have been a great character. They had moments where she was exploring her humanity and those were getting interesting. But her relationship with the holo docter (who I LOVED, don't get me wrong) just wasn't working. He was too busy exploring his own humanity to really be of any help to her. And the shipping. ACK! ACK!

Date: 2006-10-21 12:26 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] amnellwyvern.livejournal.com
I think I was able to watch the first 3 or 4 episodes and then I'd just give up.


Yep, that sounds pretty much exactly like my reaction to the show. All of the other Star Treks I loved, some more than others of course.

Date: 2006-10-21 06:22 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] delphia2000.livejournal.com
Thank goodess it wasn't just me! I just couldn't understand why people were raving about that show. :oP

Date: 2006-10-21 01:08 pm (UTC)
sid: (Sunrise)
From: [personal profile] sid
I had no problem with 7 of 9, or T'Pol. Hated the lips, yes, but the characters were fine. And the skinny/busty bodies were simply not-human, but that fit for a Borg and a Vulcan. ;-)

I never missed an episode of Enterprise, and I HATED the way they ended the series. Grrr. But, yes, there were all kinds of problems with the writing and changing direction to try to raise ratings and boring characters. I loved Scott in Quantum Leap, but he just didn't work as Captain Archer.

But I loved Trip. That Southern charm. And the way he looked in his blue Star Fleet undies. *sigh*

Date: 2006-10-21 06:25 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] delphia2000.livejournal.com
But I loved Trip. That Southern charm. And the way he looked in his blue Star Fleet undies. *sigh*

I've heard others who feel the same and yet I just fail to see it. I don't even like him as Michael on SGA. You can take it as a 'more for you' goodie tho. :oD

It was typical Trek to do at least one Bimbo Babe per show, but both those characters just got on my last nerve even looking at them. Bleech.

Um...I need a Trek icon methinks.

Date: 2006-10-21 01:49 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] or-mabinogi.livejournal.com
I never got to see too much of TOS, but liked catching reruns whenever I could. I think it was the movies that had pulled me in and I was enamored with TNG. DS9 was made of awesome. I loved how character driven it was. but then it would have to be. They were on a space station. The politics were interesting too. Never saw a single episode of Enterprise. I was already bored with all versions of Trek by the time it came out.

Date: 2006-10-21 06:27 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] delphia2000.livejournal.com
Ah, another fan of DS9! We are a rare breed. It was a fascinating show. Bashir and Garek were so doing it, btw. :oD

Date: 2006-10-21 10:05 pm (UTC)
sid: (Shanks' butt)
From: [personal profile] sid
EXCUSE me! Bashir/O'Brien = OTP!!!

*leaves in a huff*

*if that's too quick, leaves in a minute and a huff*

Date: 2006-10-21 11:42 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] delphia2000.livejournal.com
Ah, don't you get huffy with me! :o) OTP my butt! O'Brian had that wife and kid(s) don'tcha know? Garek was so all over Bashir. Neither of them had permanent women...so obvious they kept coming back to each other. Yeah.

Date: 2006-10-22 01:47 am (UTC)
sid: (Martini - drink me)
From: [personal profile] sid
You must have missed the episode at the end where Miles and Julian confessed their love. Julian got Miles to admit that he liked him more than Keiko. OTP, I tell you!! Darts, drinks, holodeck re-enactments of the Alamo (or at least that's what they claimed to be doing in there...)

Date: 2006-10-22 02:52 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] delphia2000.livejournal.com
Okay, he may like Julian better but he didn't say he liked sex with Julian better! I'm telling you, all those lunch dates Julian had with Garak...they weren't just eating gahk. :o)

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