From the time I was a child I’ve watched “Star Trek.” I never got into the Original Series — other than the movies — but Jean-Luc Picard was totally my Captain. Then after that it was “Deep Space Nine” and “Voyager.” Each show had its own special charms. (“Kahn! Kahn! KAHN!”)
“Next Generation” — It was all about exploration and meeting new species. It encompassed man’s need to be the first to see something cool. And the vessel of that spirit happened to be one balding Captain, his complete man-whore of an exo, and his crew of Red Shirts. It was 100% Picard’s show and there was no room for any smart-assed kids to try and steal camera time.
“Deep Space Nine” — Started out as the story of a small station encircling the liberated Bajor that quickly became one of the hubs of the Alpha Quadrant. Then it became a war that would decide the fate of everyone and everything in the Alpha Quadrant as the Dominion strikes for conquest. Also, Sisko kicked ass and had a crew of interesting and engaging officers — Bashir, O’Brien, Jadzia Dax — and that gave the show more of a team dynamic.
“Voyager” — Is all about one ship lost out in the middle of nowhere trying to find their way home. At first they are set on staying true to the values of the Federation, but by the end Janeway totally gave the Temporal Prime Directive the middle finger and a straight up “I don’t give a f**k.” And that was awesome.
I think maybe “Enterprise” didn’t do as well as the other franchises due to a story line that didn’t appeal to the public at large. It felt like a step backward to just have a story about people flying around space looking at stuff, but to not have all the sci-fi campiness that is basically a hallmark of “Star Trek.” And that was kind of the issue I had with the “Star Trek” reboot.
Where was all the heart? Sure, there was a lot of flash and it was all sleek and stylish and Spock was totally “teh hot,” but where was the rest of what made “Star Trek” “Star-freaking-Trek!!!” instead of just some show?
There are just some times when I want to slap Hollywood movie makers and tell them to stop trying to fix the shit that works. S’all I’m saying.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMkwevlNthQ&
