How good is Star Trek? Why is it good??

Indricotherium

From the out set, let me say, I think Star Trek is brilliant. I don't know why though!

I don't think any of it is particularly good television, I don't really think the next gen era stuff really deals with anything big, and TOS deals with social issues that just aren't controversial for people my age who grew up in Ireland.

I rate everything I watch out of 10 and I have a little league table going in a spreadsheet. The rating is generally arbitrary, but I score on enjoyment, story-lines, acting, themes etc. etc., it's really just a way of keeping track of shows I like.

DS9 is the highest ST series on my list at 8.1/10 and well outside the top ten.

Next Gen is at 7.5 and in the 20's. Enterprise, Voyager and TOS are way back with between 7/10 and 5/10.

5/10 is about the lowest rating that most programmes get on my list because I generally don't watch enough of programmes I would rate lower than that to give them a fair rating. This means that Enterprises's 5/10 actually has it almost in the bottom 10 places on my all time list!

Despite this, I find the thing as a whole to be brilliant! I particularly like the multiple series overlapping that we got a little bit with Tng DS9 and Voy. I wish that had gone on longer / been explored more.

Why is Star Trek any good??? By any standard it is inferior to a lot of other television, yet for some reason it is good?!?!? The Acting is dreadful at times, the stories bananas! the special effects mixed, the makeup very mixed. The plots themes and stories can be dreadful as well! Still though, I'm tempted to just treat he whole thing as one series and give it a much higher rating! I don't know why though!

For reference, the current top ten and bottom 10 are:

10 Adventure Time*
10 Extras
10 Madmen
10 Coronation Street*^
9.99 The Sopranos
9.99 Fargo*
9.98 Utopia
9.98 Scrotal Recall
9.81 Rick and Morty*
9.8 Arrested Development*

4.1 Made in Chelsea^*
4 Sherlock
4 Americas Next top Model^*
3 The Gilmore Girls*^
2 Friends
2 The Office (US)^
2 Heartbeat^
1 Sex and the City^
1 Big bang Theory^*
1 Two and a Half Men^

*still in production rating could change
^have not seen all episodes

Goodshape

Whoa, those are crazy rankings


There aren't many sci-fi shows on television, particularly not many that last as long as Star Trek. That alone is a big part of the lasting appeal.

It's generally smart, and has some high concepts which it treats seriously. It's got science in there but it's not boring. It can be really silly at times, but can do it with a straight face and make it believable.

I love all that.

Jimbob1977

The storylines in 'The Original Series' were beautifully crafted and the characters were so memorable with their distinct personalities. It was easy to get absorbed in the episodes.

This was a time when the Cold War was rumbling on... and hippies were protesting against society and the Vietnam War. Many of these themes were woven into a 23rd century tale. The viewers wanted adventure and excitement.

While the special effects are now dated, they were ahead of their time in 1967.

The Next Generation introduced a new wave of great characters, while giving a respectful nod to TOS. In addition, the special effects were spruced up and everything had a high production value. It wasn't low budget. Once again, the storylines were crisp and memorable.

To be honest, I always turn over when I see Voyager and Deep Space Nine. I just can't warm to them.

Indricotherium

Jimbob1977 wrote: »

The storylines in 'The Original Series' were beautifully crafted and the characters were so memorable with their distinct personalities. It was easy to get absorbed in the episodes.

Some episodes of it are brilliant and one of things I've noticed about a lot of episodes of it is that they are paced really well. You son't tend to get that with modern shows. I think the limitations of the special effects actually improved it, because it didn't keep cutting to extended action sequences.

Jimbob1977 wrote: »

This was a time when the Cold War was rumbling on... and hippies were protesting against society and the Vietnam War. Many of these themes were woven into a 23rd century tale. The viewers wanted adventure and excitement.

I think I'm just to young to really appreciate the social themes in TOS.

Jimbob1977 wrote: »

The Next Generation introduced a new wave of great characters, while giving a respectful nod to TOS. In addition, the special effects were spruced up and everything had a high production value. It wasn't low budget. Once again, the storylines were crisp and memorable.

I'd have agreed with you until it landed on netflix, and looking through the episodes, there are so few of them I feel are worth a watch. The odd one or two brilliant one's but a lot of them are totally forgettable.

Jimbob1977 wrote: »

To be honest, I always turn over when I see Voyager and Deep Space Nine. I just can't warm to them.

A lot of Voyager is absolute dross, including the delta quadrant mcguffin that runs the thing, but there's the odd episode of it that is fantastic.

Living witness is in my opinion, one of the very best episodes of ST ever, and Equinox, is also right up there with the best of the other series.

DS9 though you have to watch a few episodes in a row to appreciate I think, and more or less skip most of the first 2 series.