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Why Startrek is Dead (Opinion Thread)
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<blockquote data-quote="John Crichton" data-source="post: 2123220" data-attributes="member: 4779"><p>Allow me to retort. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /> I do love me a good Trek conversation.</p><p></p><p>I take it as neither. Both shows have a built-in, loyal fan base that can only increase with repeated viewings of its best offerings. Continued exposure via current media forms just makes sense. And Trek has always done well in syndication which is essentially what is continuing now with DVDs and chronologically correct syndication.</p><p></p><p>Comments have already been made of the theme song so I'll just leave that alone. As to why Voyager stayed on the air, I'm really not convinced that it was because of the classic exploration theme. I believe it had more to do with a lack of similar programming on the air and the steam of Deep Space Nine. Recall that VOY aired concurrently with DS9 for 5 years. So those with a Trek jones could tune in and catch a little extra Trek that was in the vein of the original and TNG but with considerably worse execution, acting and writing. So between many Trek fans (unfairly) not liking DS9 to begin with it Voyager simply had to make it 2 more seasons on its own steam. Not a hard thing to do on a new network that had no other programming that pulled in ratings.</p><p></p><p>I will agree that the timeslot change did not help one bit. Few shows have survived the Friday night slot, most notably the X-Files but that one eventually got a better one. If it had started on Fridays that would have been one thing but moving there after being on mid-week gave it almost no chance on a network that didn't reach as many homes as syndication would let it. Being against another genre show on Wednesdays didn't help, either. I blame UPN soley for this just as I blamed Sci-Fi for their mishandling of Farscape's airing schedule.</p><p></p><p>As for the inconsistant writing, production values and format I can only say that these factors had little in the way of ENT's cancellation. The writing is subjective so I will not comment simply because I dissagree. Same for the production values which only showed a noticably decline in the 4th season, ironically. As for the format, I don't see your point. If you mean that because it changed to season-arc format in S3 or mini-arc format in S4 that contributed to it's cancellation you may be right, but only if supported by other examples of this. You can't really compare it to Trek because it has had done both formats (episodic and arc) sucessfully. Genre TV works that way.</p><p></p><p>In short - Trek's decline and ENT's eventual cancellation had more to do with DS9, VOY and UPN than the actual show.</p><p></p><p>We certainly agree that UPN didn't handle or more likely couldn't handle Trek correctly. They had the mediocre Voyager to start with and the average Enterprise to follow. Both would have been better served to air like TNG and DS9 - in syndication, on weekends with repeats on Sundays.</p><p></p><p>An bigger problem that I can see related to the network is the budget to make the show. Genre TV doesn't have to cost alot to make, however space sci-fi typically, especially Trek typically does. Other genre shows such as Buffy and X-Files didn't cost nearly as much to produce (at least for the majority of their runs). So if the audience was there in any force (say, a cult following) the show was a good shot to stay on the air. ENT had good ratings for the network but the budget (just like other genre casualties) was a dead weight around its neck.</p><p></p><p>Sounds about right. ENT was/is not a strong enough show to stand on its own without help from similar programming. I feel this was changing in S4 but that isn't relevant to the past.</p><p></p><p>As for other genre shows being better so folks became hip to the "inferior" ENT, I don't really buy that. There were considerably better genre shows on the air than VOY but that managed to stick around. Look at other genres and you'll see tons of varied degrees of quality. While shows may be compared to its peers there is hardly enough sci-fi space TV out there to justify your statement. BSG and SG did not contribute in a major way to ENT's cancellation in any way related to quality. The only comparision that could be made was the competion for a time slot in one season which hardly means a thing considering that the show was on the ratings decline since the start.</p><p></p><p>Well sure, but SpikeTV couldn't afford the show's production costs either and simply wasn't willing to take a chance on it.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="John Crichton, post: 2123220, member: 4779"] Allow me to retort. :) I do love me a good Trek conversation. I take it as neither. Both shows have a built-in, loyal fan base that can only increase with repeated viewings of its best offerings. Continued exposure via current media forms just makes sense. And Trek has always done well in syndication which is essentially what is continuing now with DVDs and chronologically correct syndication. Comments have already been made of the theme song so I'll just leave that alone. As to why Voyager stayed on the air, I'm really not convinced that it was because of the classic exploration theme. I believe it had more to do with a lack of similar programming on the air and the steam of Deep Space Nine. Recall that VOY aired concurrently with DS9 for 5 years. So those with a Trek jones could tune in and catch a little extra Trek that was in the vein of the original and TNG but with considerably worse execution, acting and writing. So between many Trek fans (unfairly) not liking DS9 to begin with it Voyager simply had to make it 2 more seasons on its own steam. Not a hard thing to do on a new network that had no other programming that pulled in ratings. I will agree that the timeslot change did not help one bit. Few shows have survived the Friday night slot, most notably the X-Files but that one eventually got a better one. If it had started on Fridays that would have been one thing but moving there after being on mid-week gave it almost no chance on a network that didn't reach as many homes as syndication would let it. Being against another genre show on Wednesdays didn't help, either. I blame UPN soley for this just as I blamed Sci-Fi for their mishandling of Farscape's airing schedule. As for the inconsistant writing, production values and format I can only say that these factors had little in the way of ENT's cancellation. The writing is subjective so I will not comment simply because I dissagree. Same for the production values which only showed a noticably decline in the 4th season, ironically. As for the format, I don't see your point. If you mean that because it changed to season-arc format in S3 or mini-arc format in S4 that contributed to it's cancellation you may be right, but only if supported by other examples of this. You can't really compare it to Trek because it has had done both formats (episodic and arc) sucessfully. Genre TV works that way. In short - Trek's decline and ENT's eventual cancellation had more to do with DS9, VOY and UPN than the actual show. We certainly agree that UPN didn't handle or more likely couldn't handle Trek correctly. They had the mediocre Voyager to start with and the average Enterprise to follow. Both would have been better served to air like TNG and DS9 - in syndication, on weekends with repeats on Sundays. An bigger problem that I can see related to the network is the budget to make the show. Genre TV doesn't have to cost alot to make, however space sci-fi typically, especially Trek typically does. Other genre shows such as Buffy and X-Files didn't cost nearly as much to produce (at least for the majority of their runs). So if the audience was there in any force (say, a cult following) the show was a good shot to stay on the air. ENT had good ratings for the network but the budget (just like other genre casualties) was a dead weight around its neck. Sounds about right. ENT was/is not a strong enough show to stand on its own without help from similar programming. I feel this was changing in S4 but that isn't relevant to the past. As for other genre shows being better so folks became hip to the "inferior" ENT, I don't really buy that. There were considerably better genre shows on the air than VOY but that managed to stick around. Look at other genres and you'll see tons of varied degrees of quality. While shows may be compared to its peers there is hardly enough sci-fi space TV out there to justify your statement. BSG and SG did not contribute in a major way to ENT's cancellation in any way related to quality. The only comparision that could be made was the competion for a time slot in one season which hardly means a thing considering that the show was on the ratings decline since the start. Well sure, but SpikeTV couldn't afford the show's production costs either and simply wasn't willing to take a chance on it. [/QUOTE]
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