Why Is Star Trek So popular ?

[Karapace]

For me when I started watching it in the 1960's the hook was the open ended nature of the concept. As others have said the nearest competitor was Lost in Space (also Land of the Giants, which I watched avidly) programmes with a single goal, to get back home, which every episode leads to hope then disappointment. Programmes like Star Trek and Doctor Who were simply exploring, they were not trying to get anywhere, they could go home (admittedly the Doctor didn't really want to) they could go on missions. It felt boundless. Coupled with alien main characters like Spock that had their own unique culture and weren't simply monster of the week made it very compelling for a young me.

 

[paeng]

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.

Indeed, hence "an abundance of resources and energy thanks to advanced technology". The result is that with such abundance, a classless society emerges. The catch is that it was a utopia only in that way. Many still died, sometimes in large numbers, as they explored the galaxy, and still saw similar in various planets they visited, as they encountered all sorts of problems.

I think earthlings wanted diplomacy because they were probably traumatized by centuries of destructive behavior on their part, leading to results revealed in the movie First Contact. But it's also part of their makeup to be both rational and emotional. But even given that, they strived to follow some of their heroes, like the Vulcans. And the latter were always fascinated by the former, as they appear to embody combinations of Vulcans, Romulans, and Klingons.

 

[paeng]

I just re-saw Galaxy Quest, which not only makes fun of Star Trek but also reveals problems that actors experience when they are in sci-fi movies and TV shows. From Sigourney Weaver, and back in 2014:

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Weaver: It's funny, considering my background, but I was never into science fiction. I liked “The Twilight Zone,” that's as close as I ever got. I thought “Flash Gordon” was stupid. I think “Star Trek” happened and I missed it. I was in the theater, and then suddenly I did “Alien.” Suddenly I was straddling two very different worlds. I'll watch “Star Trek” once in a while – look at those cheap sets! But I also love to watch it as a “Gwen,” watching actors giving dignity to an absurd situation, speaking Klingon. But every time I see “Star Trek,” I just see a lot of people dressed as shepherds. They're always medieval or something. I can't get by it. Whenever I flip past, that's the episode I see – a bunch of shepherds. It's the reason I never wanted “Alien” to go to Earth! You'd see the culture – a bunch of shepherds, ugh! The closest you get to Earth is in “Aliens” at the beginning, on the space station. And poor Burke, Paul Reiser, he's wearing that absurd collar. It just says FUTURE and it doesn't work. In “Avatar,” it's all military and on the ship, so it avoided all that. But I just felt “Galaxy Quest,” as a comedy, was such a love letter to all the insecure actors in the field who have done so many wonderful and somewhat under-appreciated projects, and even though “Star Trek” is very popular, it was very...specific.

What I think is the most remarkable scene from the comedy:

Spoiler alert:

Spoiler