Why Is Star Trek So popular ?

[BAYLOR]

Because Paramount wants it to be?

 

[CupofJoe]

I read that ST:TOS benefitted from syndicate re-runs. Small TV networks needed to fill the screen and in the early 70 ST:TOS was cheap filler.
It found a new audience with teenagers and then Star Wars arrived...
ST:TMP was fairly successful, as were the next three and now Paramount had a franchise.

 

[BAYLOR]

I read that ST:TOS benefitted from syndicate re-runs. Small TV networks needed to fill the screen and in the early 70 ST:TOS was cheap filler.
It found a new audience with teenagers and then Star Wars arrived...
ST:TMP was fairly successful, as were the next three and now Paramount had a franchise.

In the mid 70's there was Star Trek Phase II which was aimed at Syndication as well . The Motion Picture ended that before it starred . Probably just as well because if it had gone to series in the 70's it might not have made it past the first or second .

 

[Brian G Turner]

I remember reading an article years ago that put down a big part of its success to extensive syndication, so a huge number of people were exposed to it and it was entertaining enough to watch when it was on. We can talk all we want about great characters, plot, and special effects, but Babylon 5 had the best of all but had very poor syndication, and because of this still remains something of a cult hit rather than a mainstream phenomenon.

 

[Dave]

Babylon 5 had the best of all but had very poor syndication, and because of this still remains something of a cult hit rather than a mainstream phenomenon.

I think that a problem with Babylon 5, but also with DS9, or also with any SFF set on an island, so include Lost or any fantasy island, is that being stuck on a space station or on an island, the stories and the visitors must come to you. With a ship-based story, you can go anywhere the writer's imagination will take you, but more crucially, you can visit a completely different place each episode.

You would expect that after so many different TV series set on a spaceship/starship/TARDIS, that people might be bored with that format now, but obviously not as they are still making them. So, I do think that the ship-based series must work better.

 

[Cat's Cradle]

...but Babylon 5 had the best of all but had very poor syndication...

This was my experience with the show in real time, exactly Brian. There wasn't a lot of quality SF on TV back at that time (early-mid 90s). I'd grown disillusioned with Star Trek TNG after a few years, and was thrilled when Babylon 5 premiered.

But as I recall it, Babylon 5 was very difficult to find on TV for its entire run. It might be shown where I lived (New York) at 1am on an obscure cable channel (so, not a major broadcast network, and one perhaps not available to all potential viewers) Saturday... or perhaps another season on a Sunday, and one year it was on Monday at that time, I believe. One showing per week (as was typical at the time), and I don't remember it being aired on re-run over the summer, as major Network shows were at the time (shows like Dallas, or The Cosby Show, etc).

Star Trek TNG was more of an event show. I believe where I lived it was always on Saturdays, early evening, perhaps 5pm, and on one of the bigger cable networks. I honestly don't know how Babylon 5 survived as long as it did, except that it had a truly loyal, though smallish fan base. I think we were really lucky/blessed to get as many shows as we did.

 

[paranoid marvin]

I think that a problem with Babylon 5, but also with DS9, or also with any SFF set on an island, so include Lost or any fantasy island, is that being stuck on a space station or on an island, the stories and the visitors must come to you. With a ship-based story, you can go anywhere the writer's imagination will take you, but more crucially, you can visit a completely different place each episode.

You would expect that after so many different TV series set on a spaceship/starship/TARDIS, that people might be bored with that format now, but obviously not as they are still making them. So, I do think that the ship-based series must work better.

DS9 obviously agreed, as they brought a face ship into that part way through the run. Which kind of defeated the whole object.

Having a show set in one place can work, but the problem is that many of these series are 25-30 episodes long and over 6 or more seasons. That's way too long imho; sometimes less is more.

As for the popularity of Star Trek, a lot is definitely down to marketing, and getting the show out to as many networks across as many countries as possible. Especially when there were only 3 or 4 channels, the choice between TNG, the News, a soap and a quiz show was really mo contest at all. It did help that Star Trek actually was pretty good, and it wasn't impossible to watch an episode in isolation and still enjoy it regardless of the fact you may not be familiar with the characters or setting.

 

[BAYLOR]

They're doing a Section 31 Project and Starfleet Academy.

 

[Dave]

You would expect that after so many different TV series set on a spaceship/starship/TARDIS, that people might be bored with that format now, but obviously not as they are still making them. So, I do think that the ship-based series must work better.

They're doing a Section 31 Project and Starfleet Academy.

If that was in reply to me, then I would assume that the Section 31 series will stretch across the whole Star Trek universe over multiple different ships, planets and locations. I would assume that the Starfleet Academy series will be more parochial and have stories set within the confines of the San Francisco based academy and medical school, it's classrooms, grounds and the undergraduate's holidays. I think you can see which of those has a greater scope and that I expect will be more successful, and have a longer life. That doesn't mean at all that there aren't good stories to be told within both.

 

[psikeyhackr]

It's great with ketchup.

The Top 57 Episodes of ‘Star Trek,’ Ranked From Great to Perfect

Variety ranked the 57 best ‘Star Trek’ episodes across all 10 series — including The Original Series and The Next Generation — in honor of the franchise’s 57th anniversary.

variety.com

I didn't know I would have to go so far back to find a thread where this seemed appropriate.

Oh no, it wasn't 2017. Just Nov 2023. How disappointing!

 

[J Riff]

it isn't here, and neither is jurassic park.

 

[Karapace]

Some good answers on here but speaking personally for me it was the open ended possibilities presented by the show. At the time I discovered it in the 60's there were very few Sci-fi shows about. Most had a single premise, Lost in Space were trying to get home, Captain Scarlett was trying to defeat the Mysterons, etc. Star Trek was one of only two series that was just going out exploring for the hell of it. No body was lost, no one to save, nothing that had it been solved would have meant the end of the series (eg finding your way home). The only other series I watched that had that same sense of what's going to happen this week? was Doctor Who and look how that has faired.

 

[BAYLOR]

It's all about the uniforms.

 

[KGeo777]

I think it is mainly because it was so different from anything else. It does stand out more than shows like Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea or Lost in Space.
More daring in imagination with enough variety in weekly story.
Shows like the Wild Wild West couldn't have such variety each week.

 

[paranoid marvin]

I think what makes the series endure is the feel good factor. That the human race can learn to set aside their differences - regardless of race, colour or creed - and work together. And that when we meet alien races, it is always with the intention of forming bonds of friendship and collaboration, rather than for conquest or monetary gain.

 

[paeng]

From what I remember, in terms of form it follows Westerns like Wagon Train while in terms of content in mind from many works, including ancient Greek epics (like the story of the lotus-eaters).

Meanwhile, in terms of the theme, it's a classical liberal view of the future. I think after hundreds of years of wars, plagues, famines, etc., leading to much of the planet ruined and only a fraction of human beings surviving in the dark, they manage to make contact with alien beings who want to help the race, which in turn becomes peaceful because it has learned from its mistakes. The result is, interestingly enough, a Communist utopia: with an abundance of resources and energy thanks to advanced technology people are no longer in want. With that, there's little need for credit, and with that the drive to profit, fame, etc. Instead, individuals pursue what intellectuals like Plato and Confucius imagined for humanity: the pursuit not of happiness for its own sake but the search for meaning, and based on cultivation of the self.

Maybe deep down people in the real world have that same vision without knowing it, which is why several appreciate this show.

 

[paeng]

William Shatner Clarifies What He Meant When He Said Gene Roddenberry Would ‘Turn In His Grave’ Over Modern Star Trek

The comment prompted a response from fans and stars.

www.cinemablend.com

 

[BAYLOR]

Because it's science fiction ?

 

[Robert Zwilling]

The tv shows covered all kinds of situations while the movies seem to keep going back to the original ship and crew formula which keeps the franchise running. Liking ST because when it first came out it was science fiction that was seen each week as a new program means something to me, but really doesn't mean anything because the audience numbers were so much smaller back then. Looking at the stories, for me, the idea of going from planet to planet and making a story based on the interactions outside of the ship does make a stronger story format than just staying in one place and having the new weekly characters show up in the same old surroundings. The ship scenes were resting points in the story. When TNG came along it seemed like the ship and the activities of the crew had become more important as part of the story being shown than in the original format which made the story seem busier. That doesn't explain the popularity either because there are plenty of successful shows that are centered around the same setting every time. That leaves the characters and the stories as the main attraction. There's a place for space heroes alongside superheroes.

 

[KGeo777]

The result is, interestingly enough, a Communist utopia: with an abundance of resources and energy thanks to advanced technology people are no longer in want. With that, there's little need for credit, and with that the drive to profit, fame, etc. Instead, individuals pursue what intellectuals like Plato and Confucius imagined for humanity: the pursuit not of happiness for its own sake but the search for meaning, and based on cultivation of the self.

Maybe deep down people in the real world have that same vision without knowing it, which is why several appreciate this show.

I have seen it described as a communist utopia although it also suggests salvation through technology--not so much the original series but TNG relied many times on scenarios where technology saves the day.
Plus in the original show they had enemies--the Klingons, the Romulans--there were differences they could not overcome although they might form temporary alliances (such as the episode where they are being manipulated by a cloud-like alien being that makes them fight). From what I remember TNG was always pushing for cozy relations--to ridiculous extremes I think. There was one particularly awful episode where they are seeking the origin of humanoids in the galaxy and the Klingons destroy a planet with life on it--just because they didn't want the Federation and Romulans to be able to use the DNA information in their search.
It was like "eh--no big deal."
And yet Picard was vindictive towards the creature in Skin Of Evil which was abandoned by its creators much like Frankenstein's creation--and he seemed to want to make the creature suffer in isolation at the end of it.
Forget Khan--that oilslick creature had every reason to want to get revenge on Picard--especially since it asked him to destroy it. I haven't seen that episode since it aired but it always seemed to be very strange in message.
It's like doing the opposite in message of a Frankenstein--let's make this creature suffer and even more angry and hostile.