why can't we get shows like star trek anymore?

by cptkirk 62 Replies latest jw friends

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  JeffT

  Part of the problem with science fiction is that the gee whizz factor that drove so many great stories (TV, film and print) back in the fifties and sixties is gone. In that era computers were futuristic gadgets that could unlock all sorts of knowledge. Now we all have one sitting on our desks and we complain about how they work all the time. We all have our own pocket communicators now. Cops are carrying stun guns, as are some of the criminals.

  It's just getting harder to come up with nifty stuff that we don't already have.
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  No Apologies

  Sab, you also are entitled to your opinions, even when they are wrong.

  Hahaa comparing Lost to Steinbeck!!!! Seriously???? Steinbeck is one of the greatest writers of the 20th century. Lost is a giant exercise in pretentious navel-gazing, already forgotten by most. Yes it was entertaining for a while, perhaps brilliant at times Ben's whole performance as "Henry Gale" was incredible. But that doesn't excuse the lax writing and the total copout of an ending that they foisted on the audience. After years of insisting they had an ending in mind, that they knew where they were going with the story, and that all would be explained, they just basically threw up their hands and said, eh, this is all we got.

  Look, I understand, its a tv series, things happen, actors quit, ideas get tossed around, revised, that's fine. I did not expect every little oddity and riddle to be wrapped up with a clever explanation. I was even willing to accept some glaring errors that simply slipped through and that in hindsight made no sense at all. Even when one of their central characters was a kid, and somehow they didn't take into account the fact that kids grow! But I expected at least some kind of ending that fit with what had gone on the first five seasons of the show. Instead they created a whole new puzzle for the sixth season and then congratulated themselves that they were able to resolve this new riddle in a way that kind of made sense.

  No Apologies
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  wha happened?

  I agree with Jeff. Disneyland had this problem in the 60's and 70's. That goofie space ride from the 50's looks really corny now. Anyone remember the ride where u got smaller and smaller? If u took your kid to that ride today they would either laugh at u, fall asleep, or demand new parents with brain cells to raise them. As technology advances so does our expectations. A "hand held communicator" is hardly a reason for excitement today.
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  OnTheWayOut

  I like the point about the "Gee Whiz" factor. I mean, the Enterprise had doors that opened when you got near them. That was something to me in the late 1960's. Now we expect it. I mean, I was watching "Back to the Future 2" the other day and the cars of the future hovered. That future from a 1985 prospective was just 30 years later- 2015. So we better get to that point in the next 3 to 4 years. The point is that the movie had to exaggerate what would come just to make it seem so far removed from current (1985) reality. Today's reality includes the expectation that computers will greatly increase our world's changes. Any sci-fi has to WOW us beyond expectations.

  Another thing: The generation gap. "We" tend to think the best music was the stuff "we" grew up loving. "We" tend to think today's kids don't have it as good as "we" did. People may do that with television and movies just the same. So a good program really has to be good to beat our memories of what a good program WAS. Like, I think CHEERS was one of the best situation comedies ever, so well written to appeal to barroom humor and still appeal to sophisticated people. But am I really being exclusionary to say nothing better has come along? I look at THE BIG BANG THEORY as interesting and "almost" as successful in appealing to different audiences. In all fairness, maybe BIG BANG is written better than CHEERS, but I will never think so.
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  ScenicViewer

  I started liking Star Trek in re-runs. Then came the movies, which were great successes even though some of them weren't very good. Then the biggie, Star Trek: The Next Generation.

  It holds up after all these years; good writing, good story tellling, imaginative plots. I feel it is one of the best television shows ever made.

  As much as I liked the original show, now it seems kind of lame compared to TNG.
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  JeffT

  Funny story about the interior doors on the Star Trek set. Years ago I read a book by Roddenberry about the creation of the series. He said that at one point he was approached by a guy trying to make an automatic door, he couldn't get it to open fast enough to work. He wanted to know how they did it on the set. Roddenberry's answer:

  "There's a guy standing outside the camera angle that pulls the door open when somebody gets close to it."
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  AGuest

  I think the current "generation" of "those who [truly] count" are more interested in "reality" than sci-fi fantasy, dear Cap'n (peace to you!). I mean, have you counted the number of reality shows on TV these days?? I think for a series like Star Trek to succeed, they would have to find a way to sustain the fantasy... which could be quite expensive (i.e., instantly opening doors won't cut it anymore, as Jer pointed out). It would have to have some over-the-top "futuristic" stuff, then.

  The truth is, I'm not sure "we" know what that is, right now. I mean, look at how many flicks are going "back to the beginning", back historically, even back to medieval times and tales... rather than forward to the future. Or making old tales look both historic and futuristic (300, Avatar, Immortals, etc.). The "future" was more imaginable a few decades/centuries ago: things depicted did not exist, at least not in the "normal" world (militaristically is another thing). With current technology, however, our imaginations can't really... well... imagine! There is no limit... so anything anyone comes up with is probably already obsolete by the time the script dries. The closest we seem to be getting seems to be involved with video gaming.

  That mind, the one that CAN imagine the "future" far enough out there (even if, in the style of Star Trek, the Jetsons, and Disneyland's "TommorowLand", it becomes obsolete in merely a few decades) hasn't publicly graced us with its presence on a large scale, yet. Hopefully, someone's got something in the "works" with him/her/them... and so won't keep us waiting too much longer!

  Until then, peace... and live long and prosper, my fellow anticipatory intergalactic romantics!

  SA, on her own...
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  sabastious

  Hahaa comparing Lost to Steinbeck!!!! Seriously???? Steinbeck is one of the greatest writers of the 20th century. Lost is a giant exercise in pretentious navel-gazing, already forgotten by most. Yes it was entertaining for a while, perhaps brilliant at times Ben's whole performance as "Henry Gale" was incredible. But that doesn't excuse the lax writing and the total copout of an ending that they foisted on the audience. After years of insisting they had an ending in mind, that they knew where they were going with the story, and that all would be explained, they just basically threw up their hands and said, eh, this is all we got.

  They didn't want to be told how to write by ABC nor the fans, but they got instructions from both. As a writer myself I felt for them as then went through it. I stand by my opinion that Lost is brilliant and profound and should be considered to be in the same place as the Grapes of Wrath or Of Mice and Men. The charcater development in Lost is still unmatched, imo in TV.

  -Sab
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  talesin

  I can't remember when I "DIDN'T" love ST .... I think Fringe is awesome TV Sci-Fi,,, and in answer to the OP....

  The sixties and seventies was a time when we (in North American society) were exploring and embracing cultural and social differences, and also when the "space race" was a popular theme.

  During the 80's ,,, we became overly obsessed with money and social status (ref TV series such as Dallas), and our culture reflects it. We have become so self-absorbed, and self-assured that we are the 'superior culture',,, that shows like Star Trek, with relevant social messages, have fallen off the radar screen.

  Will this change? I dunno ...

  I hope so

  tal
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  talesin

  btw,,, I LOVE Star Trek,,,, and my nickname as a teen,,,, was "Spock",,, so, I hear ya, bro'!

  :D