From the little I gleaned from a TV Guide cover story, the new Star Trek series “Enterprise” seems to be going in the right direction. By doing a series set before the original, they can bring in some of the wonder about exploration that we feel now. I watched The Next Generation and enjoyed it, but everything was so homogenized and bland. No one ever had an argument, or a problem that wasn’t caused by some nasty alien race. By bringing the series back down to earth, literally, I think there’s some promise. In the same vein, I like the fact that the ship is bolted together like a submarine, and the transporters only work with non-animate objects.
I never watched Deep Space Nine or Voyager, so I can’t comment on those series’ problems or virtues. But this one I definitely will watch.
Deep Space 9, after the first season or two, was excellent. It was very different from the TNG and the classic episodes, but I think that was it’s strong point. The characters were much more fully developed and the plots were much more interesting than the TNG or Voyager.
As for the new show… I was very negative about it at first but things are starting to look good. I’m keeping my fingers crossed, because the Trekkie in me has been unhappy since DS9 ended.
I still have a terrible soft-spot for TNG (my start-up has Jean-Luc doing the “I am Locutus of Borg..” thing – rrrr!) and I’ve loved all of them in their own way – eventually. I usually start off from a position of suspicion and possessiveness and gradually warm to the characters and then I’m hooked. I’m actually looking forward to this new one, though, my trekkie spies are telling me Good Things 🙂
I didn’t mean to slight TNG, it was just eclipsed by my love for DS9.
TNG episodes like Inner Light and I, Borg are why TV was invented. Likewise, DS9 episodes such as The Die is Cast and (can’t recall a name) the one where Sisko has to face compromising his own values in order to reach a greater good. His struggle with that issue is something that (as cheesy as this sounds) brought me a lot of strength when I had to make difficult choices as a manager with my last job. I actually bought a Capt. Sisko action figure and kept it on my desk to remind me.