Of course, since I wasn’t aware we were at war. :)

“I followed the whole debacle with an increasing sense of dread as it happened. It was kind of like watching a slo-mo car crash!”

I know how you feel. For me it was “They’re doing something so awesome they’re going to screw it up……and they only get one shot.”

The rest is, as they say……….well you know the rest.

THX-1138 @ 145

“When TNG started there was no assembly line mentality to Star Trek. That came after the success of TNG.”

Which is why I made constant use of the term “TNG Era” and even specified that what that era consisted of. TNG being the first domino to fall gets included in that, since without it, the other spin-off’s wouldn’t exist.

“And Frakes was quoted in TV Guide at the time of TNG’s run ending that he thought Paramount was making a mistake in taking TNG off the air.”

I recall reading that. I also recall thinking when I read that “that’s not what you said several years ago” when he said that he and some of the cast were ready to move on. IIRC he had been bitten by the directing bug and was more interested in being behind the camera than in front.
He also wasn’t the only one wanting to move on.

But then the reality of not being on a popular show set in and people started backtracking their comments. Perfectly normal reaction when something you don’t think will really end soon actually starts coming to an end.

“My own personal feeling is that there are more TNG stories that could be told on a big or small screen. That doesn’t take away from my love of TOS. I like them both. Like I enjoy Mexican and Italian food.”

and

I agree with your first statement…..unfortunately, thanks to Insurrection and Nemesis it’s going to be a harder sell for me……and most people actually as the numbers on those last two movies show.

“It is no more dead that TOS was at this point four years ago.”

The original show only grew in popularity and people still enjoyed it to the end.

TNG also grew in popularity, then got to a point where people were walking away from it. There’s the difference. Regardless of writer or director, Kirk and Spock are an easier sell to the public than Picard and Data. Plus Kirk and Spock can do, as Orci (?) stated, “rock and roll”. Picard and Data? Not so much.

Seriously, imagine young Picard saying “Why’re you talkin’ ta me man?”

“Saying that most people knew what Star Trek was in the 70’s is kind of a blanket statement that really says nothing. You could also say that most of those people who “Knew what it was” also thought it was silly.”

No. I made no claim as to what anyones personal feelings for the show were, one way or the other. Only that most people, during the 70’s, knew what Star Trek was. The knew what the Enterprise was, and prolly knew what it looked like. They knew who Captain Kirk was, and Mr. Spock and Bones, etc, etc, etc.

Because you only had five channels in most cities through the 70’s. Three VHF and two UHF (although the count per city could vary on the UHF, two seems to be the usual number I hear quoted by people in different cities).

So, you had three channels with new prime time programming for a few hours a day. And you had UHF channels that had reruns of old stuff. It was easier to be aware of what was on t.v. because the amount of stuff was easy to keep track of. That’s why at 40, I can remember shows like “Chopper 1″ or “Quark” even though both of these shows only had a handful of episodes. Because there wasn’t alot of choices.

And as Star Trek was on everyday in reruns for years…..people knew about it.

Again, this is why people my age and up look back fondly on old shows. It isn’t always because we followed them, or thought they were great….it’s because they form a generational and cultural touchstone. We all had an awareness of them in one form or another. A shared experience more than anything that exists in regards to t.v. now.

If you watched t.v. in the 70’s, you had a basic working knowledge of shows you didn’t even watch because there wasn’t that much to keep track of.

The same applied to Star Trek which was only getting more popular during the 70’s. It’s not like the general public wasn’t aware of it. Hell, I remember reading about it’s growing popularity in grade school reading the Weekly Reader. Or watching t.v. hosts like Tom Snyder interviewing the cast and asking about it’s growing popularity.

“It would have to change to meet the demands and tastes of a modern audience. But that doesn’t mean it can’t or shouldn’t be done. It is no more dead that TOS was at this point four years ago.”

And here we get into some sticky territory. Because when you say “TNG” are you saying recast with new actors, ala NuTrek? Or get the old guys back?

The last two TNG movies left a bad taste in everyone’s mouth. Insurrection sucked and Nemesis wasn’t any better. Generations, for better or worse, benefitted from having Kirk in it. So really, only FC stands out as a good TNG only movie. That’s not a good track record.

The general public just doesn’t seem to care about Picard and Co. like they did with Kirk and Co.

As someone said upthread, most likely a new TNG would involve a new cast with a few names being the same and in a time period closer to NuTrek to allow for crossovers.

But for those waiting for a “proper send off” with the TNG crew, don’t hold your breath. While the ST cast said many times “the next film will probably be our last”…those films weren’t created specifically AS “goodbye” movies. Unlike Nemesis, which very much was.

The vibe of a “proper send off” movie would be “we screwed up the first emotional goodbye, so this is the second try. And even though you haven’t seen any of us for years, and you’ve moved on to the plethora of other shows and such out there, we want you to come back and get all emotional for our second and REAL goodbye”.

I just don’t see anyone wanting to write, direct or make that movie. Outside of a Tim Russ type. In order for a “proper” send off to work, you’d have to do a movie or two to re-establish the characters so that the “goodbye” would resonate with people. And I just don’t see them doing those extra movies just to give the TNG crew a send off that some fans would be happy with. Especially with the numbers of the previous two TNG films.

I think at this point, anyone getting on board with Trek will want to play in a fresh, clean new universe. I also believe that Paramount wants a more streamlined Trek franchise for the forseeable future. Any new TNG, I believe, will be in this new, leaner timeline.

Of course I could be wrong.

I agree with everything that LeVar said, except Frakes being his first choice to have replaced Baird as director for Nemesis.

First Contact was decent, but it plus Insurrection aren’t enough credit to have Frakes as my first choice for director.

I’d ask Nick Meyer.

What’s he up to these days, anyway?