Ok, I grow weary of everyone running the Star Trek franchise into the ground on the bsaeless accusation that it's for geeks. OF course, I can't deny that the series and the movies seem to have drawn an odd number of dorks from the woodwork, but so has the internet and computer programming. It doesn't mean they're bad things; nor does it mean that because geeks like it that it's ONLY for geeks.
The original series was creative, innovative and well thought out. The special effects ground breaking, especially for TV. The actors had an on-screen chemistry that is pretty rare. The characters were well defined, compelling and consistent. The writing always interesting and the occasional social commentary, if you looked for it, was interesting.
The movies were more of the same. Well written and featuring some terrific interaction beween compelling characters.
Someone explain to me how this brilliant franchise came to be represented solely by dorks with Spock ears? Why it's more acceptable to be a fan of the Simpsons than of Star Trek. In a way, it's ironic--the very dorks who loved the show so much esssentially killed and removed it from the mainstream. The concept of the fan convention went from a simple "Meet a Star" kind of thing to a sort of holy commute where nerds across the land followed it one from one state to the next. Even William Shatner made fun of them on Saturday Night Live, and was then promptly roasted by nerd bloggers and commentators.
They only have themselves to blame for the state of affairs they find themselves in. For the first time in 30 years there is no Star Trek of any kind to be found anywhere. No shows, no movies, no nothing.
So desperate are the nerds that they are now filming their own Star Trek movies, with scripts crafted by them, and swapping them online. One such film recently boasted on it's 1 millionth download--proving the power of Star Trek is indeed international.
Since the cancellation of Enterprise, the ill-fated prequel to the original series, rabid Trekkies have found themselves in a blackhole. How long will it last? What will revive this moribound franchise?
Trek is too big a cash cow to lie dormant for too long. Eventually some studio head somewhere, desperate for ideas, will dust it off and try one more time. The problem they will encounter is this: All other movies had a solid cast of pre-established characters with which to work. Clearly the orignial cast is no longer suitable, the Next Generation cast is aging and scattered to the winds and no current show exists. For the first time ever any new film entry must be 100% original, new script, new characters, new plots. When it happens, and it will, it'll be interesting.
2 comments:
Yes, when they finally make a new movie it will be interesting...
FOR DORKS!!!!!!
You're a geek MOJO!
How dare you not use a picture of the original Enterprise! Scotty would roll over in his grave if his ashes hadn't been launched into space.
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