Wednesday, February 16, 2005

Space, The Final Series

Uh-oh. This is going to be trouble. Look at this headline at CNN.com:
Trekkies fight end of 'Enterprise'
Now, Star Trek fans do not call themselves "Trekkies". No, no! They are "Trekkers". CNN, prepare for a flood of email.

The Trekker nation is already in a bad mood now that the Star Trek series is finally (and mercifully) being retired:
LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- Trekkies (sic) are uniting to win a reprieve for
"Star Trek: Enterprise," slated to end its mission on UPN in May.

[snip]

"Star Trek: Enterprise," which debuted in 2001 as a prequel to the original
1960s "Star Trek" series, stars Scott Bakula as Capt. Jonathan Archer. It begins
reruns in syndication this fall.

For the first time in 18 years, however, no first-run "Star Trek"
series will be airing.

The franchise included "Star Trek" (1966-69, NBC); "Star Trek: The Next
Generation" (1987-94, syndicated); "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" (1992-99,
syndicated); "Star Trek: Voyager" (1995-2001, UPN) and "Star Trek:
Enterprise."

I grew up on the original Star Trek series and its reruns in the 1960s and 1970s. I am just barely old enough to remember its original airing. My dad was a science fiction fan, so he tuned in regularly when it was first on NBC's prime time lineup. As a young boy, the show was amazing. I continued to enjoy the reruns of the original series even through my teen years.

When "Next Generation" was announced in the late 1980s, I was skeptical but gave it a chance and was pleasantly surprised. After that I lost interest.

The other ST treatments just seemed more and more childish, more and more strained for new alien characters, and more and more insular. By the later incarnations, it seemed like it was only appealing to hardcore Trekkers. And that's fine but I got off that train a long time ago.

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