Why Startrek is Dead (Opinion Thread)

[Raven Crowking]

Reviewer Wars

Just a side note:

Do you think that the ratings failings on Enterprise have anything to do with the lousy reviews it received? I, for one, was apparently watching a completely different show than, say, KJB was for his Trek Report on IGN.COM, where even the best episodes under B&B seemed to get lukewarm reception at best.

Yet the reviewer knows how he would write the show, were he given a chance. Oh, yeah, and this is also the first Star Trek series to not accept unsolicited scripts (which I would not have known had the reviewer not mentioned it).

In the sf community, internet reviews are read, digested, and talked about. For many (I feel) they form the basis of personal opinion.

Why is Enterprise cancelled? IMHO, the #1 factor is that reviewers are writers, and sf reviewers are sf writers. And they don't get to write for Enterprise. A combination of sour grapes and the internet did her in.

RC

 

[John Crichton]

Just a side note:

Do you think that the ratings failings on Enterprise have anything to do with the lousy reviews it received? I, for one, was apparently watching a completely different show than, say, KJB was for his Trek Report on IGN.COM, where even the best episodes under B&B seemed to get lukewarm reception at best.

Yet the reviewer knows how he would write the show, were he given a chance. Oh, yeah, and this is also the first Star Trek series to not accept unsolicited scripts (which I would not have known had the reviewer not mentioned it).

I find myself reading his reviews simply as another opinion that I rarely agree with. He is one jaded guy from what I can tell and he gets only a small amount of pleasure from actually watching genre TV.

He does give some interesting "insight" to the TV world in his articles and reviews but I think that just makes him more jaded. It's almost like knowing all the magician's tricks before you see his show and then say it sucks afterword. The perspective is shot.

In the sf community, internet reviews are read, digested, and talked about. For many (I feel) they form the basis of personal opinion.

Why is Enterprise cancelled? IMHO, the #1 factor is that reviewers are writers, and sf reviewers are sf writers. And they don't get to write for Enterprise. A combination of sour grapes and the internet did her in.

RC

Reviewers don't kill shows. If the show was any good and handled well by it's network then it will find an audience.

 

[Wormwood]

I liked the Borg ... that is, until they started to humanize them.

The first appearance of the Borg (in "Q Who") was amazing. Totally inhuman, utterly beyond morality or ethics, like a swarm of locusts. Unlike the dozens of other 'unbeatable' foes in the Star Trek universe (from Gary Mitchell to Q), the Borg had no personlity or emotion to explot, no agenda to thwart, no Achilles heel to discover in the nick of time. They simply were.

It was a chilling view of the darker powers that remained undiscovered in the Star Trek universe---and I rember being blown away when I saw it.

Sadly, the Borg should never have been used again, since they were diminished whenever the writers revisited them.

 

[mojo1701]

As a side question: I know TNG and DS9 were produced in syndication, but what about the other series?

 

[Raven Crowking]

The first appearance of the Borg (in "Q Who") was amazing. Totally inhuman, utterly beyond morality or ethics, like a swarm of locusts. Unlike the dozens of other 'unbeatable' foes in the Star Trek universe (from Gary Mitchell to Q), the Borg had no personlity or emotion to explot, no agenda to thwart, no Achilles heel to discover in the nick of time. They simply were.

It was a chilling view of the darker powers that remained undiscovered in the Star Trek universe---and I rember being blown away when I saw it.

Sadly, the Borg should never have been used again, since they were diminished whenever the writers revisited them.

Well, the Borg were clearly a take on the Cybermen from Doctor Who...and how can you do that without making them lamer as time goes on? (Seriously, though, as a big fan of Doctor Who, despite the obviousness of their roots, I still thought that the Borg were better realized than the Cybermen.)

John's probably right about the relative influence of reviewers, but I thought Enterprise was really good. In fact, I thought it on par with, or better than, anything since TOS. I certainly agree that not every episode was great, and that some of them downright sucked, but that has been the pattern with almost every series of every program ever. Don't even get me started on the Doctor Who story, The Gunfighters.

I liked the characters. Battlestar Galactica might be flashier in some ways, and the stories are well written, but I don't care about the characters. The grinding depression is also a bit of a turn-off. On the other hand, Phlox is definitely one of my favorite Trek characters from any show.

Enterprise was also ambitious. I mean, the biggest problem with the Star Trek future (or any utopian ideal) is the difficulty in getting there from here. Enterprise sought to at least open that question up, to explore it. And, to the credit of the creative team, they didn't do it by saying "Earth has the biggest guns/strongest economy, and they'll blow up/trade embargo anyone who opposes them."


RC

 

[satori01]

I liked the characters. Battlestar Galactica might be flashier in some ways, and the stories are well written, but I don't care about the characters. The grinding depression is also a bit of a turn-off.

Which is actually why I like the new BSG as opposed to Star Trek, the more disposable nature of the characters means you can have realistic deaths, squabbles, and plots that shine different light on them.

BSG, SG-1, Bablyon 5, Farscape all have something that Star Trek as a franchise has not had for awhile now..Dynamicism, and a logical consistent malability at that.

I love Star Trek, I have given each series since STNG a chance, ALL of them have lost me. The Federation is sterile space, the convention have been set in stone in honor of Roddenberry, the utopia is real, and History has ended. Simply put there is not enough life or juice in the Federation to have shows live up to the intresting programs being made right now.

Now if they make a show about the Warlike and cunning Klingons, or a political show set in the treacherous Romulan Empire... I would watch that, and the creaters could truly break the mold of Star Trek convention.

 

[Flexor the Mighty!]

The opening theme song was so lame it gave me a bad impression from the get go. God that song sucks. The tech level, the changing of continutity, etc. There was so much stuff to work with but they do Temporal Cold Wars...ugh. Enterprise is where it was headed from day one, cancelled.


And good to see that other people realize that the Borg are blatent rip offs of the Cybermen!

 

[Hand of Evil]

Just a side note:

Do you think that the ratings failings on Enterprise have anything to do with the lousy reviews it received? I, for one, was apparently watching a completely different show than, say, KJB was for his Trek Report on IGN.COM, where even the best episodes under B&B seemed to get lukewarm reception at best.

Word of mouth - The show alienated its fan base and for the most part made enemies (maybe a bad word to use) of the hardcore ST fans, which did go about ripping the show where they could and that showed in reviews, so, yes.

Yet the reviewer knows how he would write the show, were he given a chance. Oh, yeah, and this is also the first Star Trek series to not accept unsolicited scripts (which I would not have known had the reviewer not mentioned it).

Everyone had a idea what the new show should be like, even I, with Captian Logs. This goes back to fan base.

In the sf community, internet reviews are read, digested, and talked about. For many (I feel) they form the basis of personal opinion.

And that is the failing of the internet: Information/opinion from anyone and you don't have a clue who they really are, their background or if they have an adgenda.

Why is Enterprise cancelled? IMHO, the #1 factor is that reviewers are writers, and sf reviewers are sf writers. And they don't get to write for Enterprise. A combination of sour grapes and the internet did her in.

RC

The reason why it was cancelled, cost to produce vs companies to advertise. It does not matter how good or bad a show is, if you don't have viewers, you can't sell commercial time, companies want the biggest bang for their buck, hit shows mean more people see your ads and a network can charge more for the spot. There is a lot of disagreement with Neilsen rating but it is the one used.

 

[Raven Crowking]

The reason why it was cancelled, cost to produce vs companies to advertise. It does not matter how good or bad a show is, if you don't have viewers, you can't sell commercial time, companies want the biggest bang for their buck, hit shows mean more people see your ads and a network can charge more for the spot. There is a lot of disagreement with Neilsen rating but it is the one used.

In other words, the fans who bought the big ad in the L.A. Times should have paid for a commercial spot instead!


RC



EDIT: Btw, I agree that the "reviewers to blame" was a stupid thing to say. Just frustration talking. Mea culpa.

 

[Hand of Evil]

In other words, the fans who bought the big ad in the L.A. Times should have paid for a commercial spot instead!

Or wrote the sponsors or better yet should have placed the ad in the Wall Street Jounral. I mean, how many people saw that ad in a town of so much happening.