How did Trek Become Such a Phenomenon?

[sabrinathecat]

She's a nice kid. I think her husband was a little shocked by these as well.
So now I know what to bring to movie night... ...for the next few months.

 

[MarkB]

At some point, I'd never seen a Doctor Who, or knew what a Bronie was. And at some point, I've exposed somebody else to Doctor Who and explained what a Bronie was.

I've never heard of the term "Bronie" before this post.

 

[Janx]

I've never heard of the term "Bronie" before this post.

A Bronie is a guy who's really into My Little Pony.

The world's a big place. There's a lot of things to see and hear. Though it surprises me to meet somebody who hasn't seen Star Wars or Star Trek, it's not impossible for someone to have not seen it.

I'm not wholly sure if lack of knowledge about a pop culture reference is a true indicator of "messed up home school kid" or just didn't see that film.

 

[billd91]

I'm not wholly sure if lack of knowledge about a pop culture reference is a true indicator of "messed up home school kid" or just didn't see that film.

When it comes to cultural footprint, it's hard to see either Star Trek or Star Wars as being another case of "just didn't see that film." That sort of thing applies to movies like Mean Girls, My Cousin Vinnie, or Turbo. It's like comparing the Harry Potter series of books to a single juvenile novel that sold an average number of copies.

That said, there is an ebb and flow for these things. Star Wars was primarily a videotape and toy phenomenon between 1984 and 1997. That's approximately a generation of kids who didn't have a chance of seeing the movies on the big screen. And for Star Trek, I can see a longer span for kids who didn't grow up with a decent local TV station playing syndicated Star Trek series and reruns in a decent (not late at night) time slot.

 

[sabrinathecat]

Did we answer the OP's question, do you think?

 

[Orius]

I've never heard of the term "Bronie" before this post.

ENWorld's userbase is somewhat older than the places where bronies seem to hang out. Go to a web community that has a lot of teens or maybe people in their early 20s, and you'll see plenty of them.

Did we answer the OP's question, do you think?

I dunno, let's just keep talking about Trek!

 

[sabrinathecat]

Making the communicators into the badges may have saved a ton of the props budget for Next Gen, but I really think they missed out of the toy revenue possibilities.

 

[MarkB]

Making the communicators into the badges may have saved a ton of the props budget for Next Gen, but I really think they missed out of the toy revenue possibilities.

I always thought it was a missed opportunity back in the 90s, when flip-phones were at their most popular, that none of the major manufacturers did a deal and brought out one in the shape of a classic Star Trek communicator.

 

[Erekose]

I always thought it was a missed opportunity back in the 90s, when flip-phones were at their most popular, that none of the major manufacturers did a deal and brought out one in the shape of a classic Star Trek communicator.

Me too - the design of mobile phones is always credited to communicators but just seems odd that no company decided to bring one out that was exactly the same. May be the licensing fees were just too high. I was going to say it could still happen but now phones have moved on to be touch screen phone/camera/music system/email/web access devices - the boat has probably sailed on this one.

 

[sabrinathecat]

A couple of prototypes were made for JJA Trek, but weren't considered sufficiently advanced for consumers demands.