Why is Star Trek so popular?

[ccharles000]

I don't get it I have seen an episode and it looked corny.

[Syrinx]

1. it was a great sci-fi show that was all about civil rights

the subtext of the show was civil rights.

You've seen an episode? Our youth worry me.

[blogslut]

2. Corny? No.

Camp? Absolutely.

You have to understand that the original program was ahead of its time. The cast was multi-racial. The show addressed lofty subjects such as the futility of war and tolerance of cultures.

The crappy sets, hot ladies and goofy fight scenes were par for the course in those days. Despite all that, the show was deep.

[intheflow]

4. First interracial kiss on prime time.

Maybe on television. They did a lot of episodes on race issues, also anti-war, sexism, kicked the Cold War in the teeth... good times, good show!

[Frank Cannon]

7. Gene Roddenberry made good use of the Rod Serling Rule...

that you can deal frankly with controversial subjects on soap-sponsored television as long as you wrap it in a science-fiction or fantasy setting.



In "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield", Captain Kirk essentially told the nation's TV viewers to stop being a bunch of stupid assholes. That's not something you were likely to see on "Gunsmoke" or "The Fugitive".

[redqueen]

21. Exactly.

It was campy and corny, but they did so much to open people's minds. Or at least they tried.

[sarge43]

29. "He's black on the left side." n/t

[Bucky]

45. Please notice the key differnces between the black on lefties and the white on the lefties

The men from Planet White-on-the-Lefties have an inferior, stooping gait whereas the men from Planet White-on-the-Righties are know to walk around sporting a mean boner.

[RandomThoughts]

68. I believe the choice of tight clothing

was to say they were revealing the nakedness of those that believe in racism. Or the episode was striping away the false covering, baring the truth of those that are racist.

Its an added layer to the comment.

[sarge43]

74. Or it was a third season episode and no budget for sets and costumes. n/t

[RandomThoughts]

76. possible.

:shrug: no way to know for sure :)

[Orsino]

3. Hope.

No series could engage our interest without character who face challenges we can understand, but the Federation portrayed had risen above many of the problems we face. The show helped us believe that humanity would survive and thrive, which didn't seem all that certain in the late sixties.

But I agree that Captain Kirk can be hard to watch nowadays. The corny writing and acting of that era wouldn't pass muster today. To enjoy the show, one needs to focus more on the great ideas it presented. For its time, it was groundbreaking in many ways, though it looks incredibly dated to us.

[GreenPartyVoter]

24. Yes, hope. My 11 yo was watching all kind of Treks yesterday and

we were talking about how we wish a lot of it was the future mankind was headed for. I think he was mainly talking about the technology at that moment, but the idea of coexisting with a plethora of species and sharing knowledge with each other sounds wonderful to me.

[mikeytherat]

5. Because nerds and engineers are the heroes, and they get to have sex with hot aliens.

As a nerd, I appreciate this sentiment, even if I didn't really care for the show or the films.

mikey_the_rat

[redqueen]

17. Wow. You just made me decide to rid myself of my affinity for nerds.

:thumbsup:

[DS1]

39. awww

[redqueen]

43. Heh...

well, that's impossible really.

But I'll view them with suspicion from now on! Probably.

[OmahaBlueDog]

6. The show is understandable - but the cult that surrounds it, not so much

Maybe, since many geeks don't golf, boat, fish, or hunt, this has become their time-and-money killer of choice. There is, of course, whole world of Star Trek fan conventions (aptly named "cons"), where attendees pay money to shop for comics and sci-fi items from today and years past, and get the thrill of meeting Star Trek actors, producers, directors, set designers, make up artists, gaffers, riggers, and best boys. Add this to the thriving industries of fan costuming (running around looking like your fave Trek character), fan fiction (writing "what if" fiction about the many Trek franchises, or combining the Star Trek plot line with that of other shows, like "Dark Shadows"), and reproduction Star Trek set piece manufacturing (that's right, you too can have a Captain's chair just like the one William Shatner used - as seen in SkyMall). The only logical conclusion (thinking like Spock, here) is that many of us have too much time and money on our hands.

[TZ]

9. So people should what -not spend money/time on things they enjoy?

Star Trek provides a lot of interesting scientific and social discussions. I find the themes endlessly fascinating. I'm really sorry if it offends you that I and others like me find intellectual stimulation from discussing this and talking to others who enjoy the show.
I guess us nerds should just STFU and not spend time and money on anything right? We should be like children and seen and not heard :sarcasm: Since only golfing fishing or hunting is acceptable pastimes --Right Rush Limbaugh? I despise all that you named but I suppose as a geek, I should just fucking conform to what society deems to be acceptable behavior.
(((hate snobbery HATE IT!))

[Pacifist Patriot]

12. I think people who don't get Star Trek are missing out on a ton of interesting...

discussion topics, but I also understand that it's not for everyone.

I'm not terribly thrilled with the endless characterization of Star Trek fans as geeks and nerds. It's insulting and inaccurate. I'm surprised it's tolerated.

On that note, I'm off to shower. Leaving to go see the new Star Trek movie in half an hour. Tah!

[OmahaBlueDog]

35. Most fans of the show that I've met are self-described geeks

Much as most programmers I know describe themselves as nerds. The use of "geek" in my post was not indended to be pejorative, and I'm sorry if you took it that way.

Enjoy the movie. I'll wait for DVD.

[Sequoia]

56. By all means, let us know how you enjoyed it.

That actor who plays young Spock is a dead on look alike.

[Pacifist Patriot]

59. Loved it!

Granted, I went in with fairly low expectations. Still, I think it's one of the best.

[OmahaBlueDog]

34. You are not the least bit sorry and I am not the least bit offended

You are reading waay too much hostility into my post

a) We all have activities that are endless time and money pits.

b) All of the other time and money pits named in my post -- golf, hunting, fishing -- have had endless fun poked at them. Equally targetable could be quilters, Jane Austen appreciation clubs, and model railroaders. If seeing Walter Koenig or Harve Bennet while dressed as a Romulan Commander makes you happy, great -- but you have to admit, it's kinda funny.

c) I don't get the obsession with Star Trek, but I also don't get Civil War reenactors or people who spend most of their free time travelling from town to town to watch Kevin Harvick turn left for 300-600 miles. There's a big difference between "I don't get it" and offended.

d) For the record, I do not golf, fish, or hunt at this time.

e) "Fucking" is not an adverb.

[Pacifist Patriot]

11. Given the hopeful view of mankind's future, I don't think the large following is...

all that hard to understand.

As for the cult following, some people may need to identify with that alternate view of the possibilities for humans more than others. I've never been to one of these conventions and don't think I ever shall. I think a few people cross the line of good hearty fun and I worry about the psychological health of people so enmeshed in a fantasy world. But by and large I'd say those people are certainly the exception rather than the rule and if it weren't for Star Trek they'd find some other way to not have to face reality. For most it's likely just a fun time to be had.

Is there really much difference between standing in line for Data's autograph and standing in line for Derek Jeter's.

For the record, the die hard Star Trek fans I know wouldn't be classified as "geeks" in our society's view. It is possible to be a fan of a television show AND have outside interests. I think you're focusing on a rather small proportion of the fan base.

[OmahaBlueDog]

36. We all have our personal obsessions

..and no, there is no difference between standing in line for Brent Spiner's autograph than Derek Jeter's -- except for the fact that Jeter is a New York Yankee.

As stated above, most Trek fans I know would describe themselves as geeks. Shopping for reproduction phasers, tricorders, and reproductions of other Enterprise relics is geeky -- but so is buying Civil War chess sets.

The OP said he didn't get Star Trek. I don't get the culture that surrounds it, but I also don't get:

- World of Warcraft
- Following the Greatful Dead (when following the tour was popular)
- Traveling endlessly in an RV from one NASCAR event to another
- Golf
- The burning desire of some people to repeatedly travel to Las Vegas
- Survivor (the show - not the 80s band)

[Pacifist Patriot]

41. Hey, for what it's worth...

I don't get the 80s band either.

[WolverineDG]

49. sure you can golf, boat, fish, hunt, or play baseball

but can you do all those in Klingon? I know people who can.

dg

[OmahaBlueDog]

52. Upon what do Klingons fritter away their time and money?

..I'm betting it involves pain sticks

[Pacifist Patriot]

8. Gene Roddenberry was a visionary and way ahead of his time.

I think most people who were born around the time of the show or later, came of age in a time when television and film production technology had made a giant leap. So by the time we were old enough to understand the show, it was visually behind our expectations.

Here are some neat things to know about Rodenberry and Star Trek


In fact, so radical was Roddenberry's original pitch for the show that it was rejected. The original concept called for Majel Barrett (who later became Roddenberry's real life second wife) to play the part of "Number Two", the second highest-ranking officer on the bridge. This was deemed too shocking for mainstream America (and even the studio execs) and Barrett's role was rewritten into the second string character Nurse Chapel. Lt. Uhuru (Nichelle Nichols) did make it into the final version however, despite her being both a female officer and an African American. And although she was often portrayed as a kind of advanced telephone operator for the Enterprise, it is worth noting that she performed kissing scenes with white co-star William Shatner -- something that would be taken for granted a mere decade later.

Roddenberry meanwhile was a humanist who believed that humankind had created most of its own problems and could, through applied intelligence, uncreate them. Roddenberry did not himself invest much belief in God. But he did allow his characters, in the world of Star Trek, the dignity of their own beliefs (a fact more obvious in the Next Generation era), and he stubbornly resisted the effort of network execs to put a Christian chaplain on the crew of the Enterprise. It would be ludicrous, he argued, to pretend that all other religions would have become obliterated by this point, or that such a cosmopolitan people would impose one group's religion on all the rest of the crew.

http://www.nndb.com/people/503/000022437/

The American Humanist Association recognized him with their Humanist Arts Award in 1991

[NewJeffCT]

16. I forgot which African-American celeb said it

but, they remember liking Star Trek because Uhura was the first black female they recall that was not in the role of domestic servant.

[NYCGirl]

23. That African-American celeb who said it was Martin Luther King, Jr.

Nichelle Nichols planned to leave Star Trek in 1967 after its first season, but Martin Luther King, Jr. persuaded her to stay, stating that she was a role model for the black community.<4>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uhura

I've heard Nichelle tell the story herself.

[NewJeffCT]

28. Ooops

MLK is a bit more than a celebrity.

[Rabrrrrrr]

60. No, it was Whoopi Goldberg who talked about Uhura as inspiration

as a black female who wasn't a servant.

Your story about MLK, Jr. calling Nichols and telling her not to leave the show, though, is correct.

[WolverineDG]

51. Whoopi Goldberg

"Mama, come quick come quick! There's a black lady on tv & she ain't no maid!"


dg

[Sequoia]

57. You put this out:

"It would be ludicrous, he argued, to pretend that all other religions would have become obliterated by this point, or that such a cosmopolitan people would impose one group's religion on all the rest of the crew."

Tell that to the fundies who want to get rid of Muslims, Mormans, Jews and Roman Catholics. Even now, some troops in Afghanistan are trying to spread the gospel to the people over there.

[Pacifist Patriot]

61. Well he did set this in the 24th century. That give us another 300 years...

for fundies of all stripes to wear themselves out.

[NYCGirl]

10. The ideas, the writing and most of all, the great characters. NT

[Symarip]

13. Because geeks want to believe they have the upperhand in the future (nt)

[NYCGirl]

14. Hey, we do now.

:P

[TZ]

15. :eyes:

oh btw..I'll have to remember to post it but I did take a couple of shots of my "jewelry" for you...I'll try to post this weekend..

[Lex]

18. I like it for the high cheese factor.

It's corny, but that's the part that makes it entertaining to me.

[flvegan]

19. Same reason football is. Or reality tv, or anything else.

Different folks like different stuff. It's a lot easier to be drawn into a culture of like-opinioned folks when that culture exists.

I can't stand Star Trek in any flavor, but lots of folks seem to dig it. More power to them.

Especially if some day, like Outlaws and Hells Angels showing up to the same tupperware party, there's some huge rumble between the Star Trek: DS9 and the Star Trek: TNG factions at some convention.

[bikebloke]

20. I was never a Trekkie.

When it was first broadcast, I watched it in black & white with rabbit ears shadows. An entertainment. Though I knew people who turned it into a religion, which veered me away from it. Only recently, I've started the remastered version. It's not so bad.

[LeftyMom]

22. Because in the 60s presenting a future where humanity survived and thrived was a big deal.

A vision of the future that didn't end in nuclear war, where people had conquered racism and greed and were using human ingenuity for good? That was a huge deal.

[Deja Q]

26. It still is.

[Deja Q]

25. Which episode?

In the 1960s, it was about civil rights and freedom. Friendship and sacrifice. And some great sci-fi ideas, which were new and novel at the time. Ahead of its time. (the ambient social context of the 1960s helped set "Trek".) With a great sci-fi base for many episodes.

The 1980s was a lot to do with revenue making, which was often good - seasons 5 and 6 were beyond corny and preachy, but season 7 was better... season 1 was often trash; even the good episodes were tarnished by the horrid production style. Seasons 2-4 are much better... some ideas were recycled, but new ones were brought in.

DS9/Voyager/Enterprise were milking a cash cow to death. Nothing really new was made, just exploited as cheaply as possible.

The new movie might have what it takes to reinvent the franchise while keeping true to its roots. I don't know...

[sarge43]

27. What episode did you watch? Some of them were bowzers.

But when the writers, directors and actors were up for the game, some of tv's best moments:

The City on the Edge of Forever
Trouble with Tribbles
Mirror, Mirror
The Inner Light
Yesterday's Enterprise
The Measure of a Man
Far Beyond the Stars

[NYCGirl]

31. Also:

Balance of Terror
Court Martial
Space Seed
The Devil in the Dark (one of my personal favorites)
Errand of Mercy

(and that's just the first season)

[sarge43]

32. Balance of Terror was a real kidney punch to the Cold War mentality.

DS9's Far Beyond the Stars should be shown in classrooms. In 50 minutes it summed perfectly the stupid and destructive mind set of racism.

And it concludes with a mind blower, "Maybe, just maybe, Benny isn't the dream. We are. Maybe we're nothing more than figments of his imagination. For all we know, at this very moment, somewhere, far beyond all those distant stars, Benny Russell .... is dreaming of us." (Fade out on a vision of Benny and Captain Sisko looking at each other.)

Yeah, it's about dreams.

[pokerfan]

38. My personal favorite

Space hippies!



:rofl:

[sarge43]

42. You did have bring up that one, didn't you.

Well, at least it wasn't that whining, shredding, drooling mess aka Spock's Brain.

[pokerfan]

44. Spock's Brain was just stupid

Space Hippies was stupid and cringe-inducing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2PXmrBnkI0

[Deja Q]

47. Hot 40 year olds playing hot 20 year olds - that rocks!

[MilesColtrane]

67. You are clearly not Herbert.

:thumbsup:

[Iggo]

78. "Hey, Hey, Brother..."

"I reach botany." I mean, come on now!

If you don't like this episode, you must be Herbert.

[Deja Q]

46. Or these:

The Immunity Syndrome
A Private Little War
Errand of Mercy
Day of the Dove
The Enterprise Incident
Let That Be Your Last Battlefield
The Doomsday Machine

Contagion
Q Who?
The Pegasus

[ElboRuum]

30. Because it's a good show?

:shrug:

[WildEyedLiberal]

33. The spinoffs aren't corny (for the most part)

TNG and DS9 are two of the only TV shows I can count on to simultaneously a) entertain me and b) make me think. It's TV for smart people. That's why Star Trek rules.

[MilesColtrane]

37. As other posters have noted the show's popularity...

...hinged on the fictional universe it created, and how it resonated with viewers.

One aspect of that was the so called "Prime Directive".
The United Federation of Planets' (extrasolar UN equivalent) General Order #1 stated that:

As the right of each sentient species to live in accordance with its normal cultural evolution is considered sacred, no Starfleet personnel may interfere with the normal and healthy development of alien life and culture. Such interference includes introducing superior knowledge, strength, or technology to a world whose society is incapable of handling such advantages wisely.

Starfleet personnel may not violate this Prime Directive, even to save their lives and/or their ship, unless they are acting to right an earlier violation or an accidental contamination of said culture. This directive takes precedence over any and all other considerations, and carries with it the highest moral obligation.

The show originally aired when the United States began "Americanizing" the Vietnam War. The highest U.S. casualties occurred during it's run. (at least 45,000 dead)
The results of a particular political and military interference in a "less advanced" culture was being shown every night on the news during those years, and people were just beginning to see its disastrous effects.

After Star Trek's cancellation and as the killing in Southeast Asia continued, the Prime Directive began to seem like a damned smart way to conduct U.S. foreign policy.

[jobycom]

40. It explores cultural and social and political theories in a setting removed from our prejudices.

By creating a completely distinct world with no connection--aside from name--to ours, the writers were able to explore issues of racism, war, tyranny, government, and even classic topics like beauty, love, grief, all in a setting without the emotional hangups. When Sidney Potier romanced Elizabeth McGovern on screen, many viewers couldn't get over their bigotry enough to listen to the message, but when Kirk kissed Uhura in a place and time completely removed from ours, audiences could view it out of context. It could change their minds because it skirted the mind's barriers.

There's an old Buddhist technique for solving problems of imagining that the problem is already solved, then imagining how it was done. That's what Star Trek allowed us to do--to see a future where our problems had been solved, where we watched inferior (in the show's context) cultures battling with what we had already solved. It was like taking our problems out of our culture and putting them in a laboratory to explore. It gave people answers and hope at the same time.

Sure, the stories were entertaining, the cast was charming, and there were moments of pure catharsis and escapism. But the reason the show resonated so strongly, and lasted so long in terms of influence, was more primal. It touched many levels of a person's psyche, even if the viewer wasn't always aware of why they were so moved.

[Iggo]

79. delete -- wrong spot.

[LanternWaste]

48. 'cause even in combat situations...

'cause even in combat situations, the women still wear high heels. :P

[Left Is Write]

50. I don't know. I like the original series and that's pretty much it.

My husband went to a showing of the movie this afternoon (in fact, I was just wondering if he's about done yet - it was a 1:30 showing and it's a little after 3:30 now).

[Pacifist Patriot]

63. Took the family at 10AM this morning. I had low expectations because...

the trailers had me thinking it was going to be a special effects bonanza with little else to say for it. I should have known better with J. J. Abrams at the helm. I was really impressed and thoroughly enjoyed the movie. I may even step out on a limb and say it's the best of the big screen Star Treks.

By the way, I like the Ellen DeGeneres foundation makeup (can't remember the real name of it), but it is a devil to remove. Says volumes for staying power throughout the day, but I'm having to use my eye make up remover all over my face before I wash my face with facial cleanser in order to get it all off. Doesn't turn orange though.

[Left Is Write]

64. The Olay/Cover Girl combo?

Good to know it stays AND doesn't turn orange. I might try it.

[Pacifist Patriot]

66. Yep, that's the stuff.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

53. Locking

This post can be seen as very insensitive to people who have benefited from Star Trek. Please keep things like this in mind before hitting the 'post' button.

Thank you.

[Taverner]

54. It promises a world where mankind works hand in hand to make a better world

I know, pipe dream, but some of us dream still....

[Sequoia]

55. You probably saw one of the corny episodes

Because some of the TOS have some great ones like Assignment Earth, The Tholian Web (my fave) and, Mira, to name a few. What I liked best about Star Trek was how people of differant nations and plants got along and were not regulated to 2nd class citizenship.

[Mike 03]

58. I agree with much of what has been written and would add: It was well written.

The "Star Trek" scripts are well constructed to induce interest. They contain conflict as well as humor, pertain to human dilemas we all face in spite of the fact that the environment is exotic. I'm more familiar with the "Next Generation" than the original series, but I have seen enough of them all to appreciate these series.

[TK421]

62. It IS corny!!! Don't fight it, damn you!!! just go along with it!!!!

Spock rules!!@!@!

[krispos42]

65. There is also a non-TV universe to go along with it

There are some damn good writers out there that have written Star Trek novels over the past 25 years or so. The ones by Diane Carey are excellent. The character depth, moral dilemmas, philosophy, and vision of her books are impressive.

I would recommend her books "Final Frontier", "Dreadnaught!", "Battlestations!", and "Best Destiny" if you want something good to read.

"Final Frontier" and "Best Destiny" have to do with the Enterprise before she enters regular service. Kirk's father, George Kirk, is the central character in both stories.

Diane Duane also did some excellent writing, but I haven't read any of her stuff recently.


Most of my Star Trek books are in my parents' attic, but I have a half-dozen or so in my bookcase right now.


I was hoping the new movie would be like "Best Destiny", but no such luck. :-(

[Skip Intro]

69. Because it pushes the boundaries of imagination. The whole sci-fi genre is cool, but Trek presented

a utopian eventuality for mankind, overcoming discrimination, capitalism, poverty, greed, etc, as a basis for civilization.

And then there is the premise of going where no one has gone before. The whole tapping-into the wonder of space. Of what is out there. The unknown. Boldly going into that, strong in the evolved human values of equality, honesty, justice, and freedom. I recall the TNG episode where Picard argued in a court of law Data's sentience, his right to free choice.

The series took on the fears and prejudices of modern human society, and showed a future where those weaknesses had been overcome, where the human race turned it's self-destructive and repressive paradigms into a sort of unified pondering of what lies beyond, what has yet to be discovered, and humbly began a mission into venturing out of the known, and into what lies beyond.

Holy shit.

How can you possibly have a better premise for a show?

[AllenVanAllen]

71. Well said!

I have to admit one of the things that attracted me to Star Trek was the really cool starships. When the series went to film it really brought starship scenes to another level!

[Dappleganger]

70. Two words:

Fan fiction.

[Mendocino]

72. It gave birth to that "enduring "character...

Ensign Ricky.

[Liberal_in_LA]

73. Oh you young one!

[rucky]

75. It's an Allegory.

If you watch a couple more episodes with that in mind, I think you'll start to appreciate it.

[Quantess]

77. Just tonight I learned that this Star Trek movie is about the 1960s TV show.

That alone makes me want to go see it!

I'm a child of the 70s, but I watched every Star Trek episode and was entertained (and probably warped) by watching them. Mostly my young mind was warped by Captain Kirk always hooking up with hot young alien women. The inter-galactic-species-sexual content was very mind warping for a kid.

Star Trek movies of the 1980s and beyond held absolutely no interest to me. I did not understand 90's Star Trek's dorky following (sorry).

Star Trek was corny in many ways, but equally cool, IMHO. If you don't "get it", that's okay. You may want to follow the plot of more than one episode before you dismiss it as a corny TV series.

[Iggo]

80. ccharles000 -- see Reply #40.

That is the answer.

[wickerwoman]

81. Because it shows respect for science and education

on a medium that mostly glamorizes 1.) people who are good at sports 2.) people who are superficially attractive and 3.) people who are better at winning arguments than solving problems.

Who wouldn't want to live in a future world where you could have anything you wanted by asking a computer for it and all the energy we now spend on hating people and destroying things was channeled into learning more about the universe around us?

What unexplored and unimaginable potential would be brought out of all of us if we didn't have to punch a clock forty hours a week just to put food on the table?

Star Trek lets people living in less than perfect times expand their ideas about what is possible from life.

The only thing that got me through 9/11 was watching TNG reruns.