The “standard” Star Trek for me by which I compare others to is TNG, because I grew up in the 80s and 90s. TOS I guess is great for getting it off the ground but I just can’t relate to the 60s aesthetics, feels like I’m watching an old episode of The Munsters or I dream of Jeannie. I’m not from that time, and it feels very campy to me.
It’s a thing you can’t get back, a melange of culture and society and media technology and drugs. It was absolutely the best, and still is, in many ways. It was almost done in a vacuum, because the fanbase wasn’t there yet (they were becoming fans) and there was no instant polling or trending media other than the basic ones they had in the 60s. The studio, even the actors, weren’t getting a good picture of how huge it was.
With DS9, as an example, you get all the cool things and you also get to speculate about why this is the way it is, and what they were trying to do with that and if they thought the other was going to make the show a certain way or not, etc. . . . With TOS you get what you get. Star Trek, original, home made, artisinal episodes with 100% pure Shat and a Spock/McCoy overtone blend on a shoestring with everyone but the fans laughing at or ignoring them. Watching it now and kind of going back to the future is big fun if you can get to it. I totally understand if people can’t, but don’t dismiss it - it’s the only one you actually need to grok to love Star Trek.
Early TNG feels pretty campy too. I watched a lot of TNG and some DS9 in the early 90s (with some VOY/ENT and obviously the movies) but only really took it at face value. It wasn’t until post-college (05-06) with a lot of free time & streaming that I’d marathon TNG and DS9 and was able to really start to appreciate it all.
The “standard” Star Trek for me by which I compare others to is TNG, because I grew up in the 80s and 90s. TOS I guess is great for getting it off the ground but I just can’t relate to the 60s aesthetics, feels like I’m watching an old episode of The Munsters or I dream of Jeannie. I’m not from that time, and it feels very campy to me.
It’s a thing you can’t get back, a melange of culture and society and media technology and drugs. It was absolutely the best, and still is, in many ways. It was almost done in a vacuum, because the fanbase wasn’t there yet (they were becoming fans) and there was no instant polling or trending media other than the basic ones they had in the 60s. The studio, even the actors, weren’t getting a good picture of how huge it was.
With DS9, as an example, you get all the cool things and you also get to speculate about why this is the way it is, and what they were trying to do with that and if they thought the other was going to make the show a certain way or not, etc. . . . With TOS you get what you get. Star Trek, original, home made, artisinal episodes with 100% pure Shat and a Spock/McCoy overtone blend on a shoestring with everyone but the fans laughing at or ignoring them. Watching it now and kind of going back to the future is big fun if you can get to it. I totally understand if people can’t, but don’t dismiss it - it’s the only one you actually need to grok to love Star Trek.
Early TNG feels pretty campy too. I watched a lot of TNG and some DS9 in the early 90s (with some VOY/ENT and obviously the movies) but only really took it at face value. It wasn’t until post-college (05-06) with a lot of free time & streaming that I’d marathon TNG and DS9 and was able to really start to appreciate it all.