The Star Trek franchise has certainly changed over the course of its five-decades long existence. This week, the Shuttle Pod crew attempt to classify each “age” of Trek, in the style of the classical Ages of Man (as is done in comic books: golden age, silver age, etc). And, to do it, we use TrekMovie editor Jared Whitley’s series of articles, “The Five Ages of Star Trek” as a guide.
Follow along as we dissect Star Trek through the ages and argue about where to draw the lines set by Jared in his original series of articles, “The Five Ages of Star Trek”.
Golden Age: 1966 to 1976
The Dilithium Age
Start: Sept. 1966 (Man Trap)
End: Sept. 1976 (NASA names shuttle Enterprise)
Episodes: 101 – 79 (TOS), 22 (TAS)
Movies: 0
Silver Age: 1977 to 1986
Transparent Aluminum Age
Start: May 1977 (Star Wars)
End: Dec. 1986 (Shatner hosts SNL)
Episodes: 0
Movies: 4
Bronze Age: 1987 to 1996
Latinum Age
Start: Sept. 1987 (Farpoint)
End: Nov. 1996 (First Contact)
Episodes: 340 – 178 (TNG), 108 (DS9), 54 (VOY)
Movies: 4
Iron Age: 1997 – 2005
Polarized Hull-plating Age
Start: Jan. 1997 (Star Wars special edition)
End: May 2005 (These are the voyages …)
Episodes: 284 – 68 (DS9), 118 (VOY), 98 (ENT)
Movies: 2
Modern Age: 2006 – 2016
Vreenak Age
Start: July 2005 (Vreenak meme drops)
End: July 2016 (Beyond)
Episodes: 0
Movies: 3
Torchwood,
Re: nitpick
Overall I think Jared did pretty well but we are here to pick nits:
Personally I would have emphasized the import of STAR TREK, a television series, by dividing the Ages of STAR TREK along important milestones in the shows. But if you are visiting a site called “TrekMovie” and they keep calling it “the franchise” then I’d have expected clear divisions along the movies.
Instead, the first Age covers the television, as I would have expected, and then he starts the next Age with STAR WARS, of all things, and continues with film demarcation (either start or end) to today. Now, using that other “franchise” might have set better with me if Jared had bothered to include how the two have been clearly quantum entangled from that Lucas film’s start as Lucas has said in many interviews on the importance of STAR TREK to his conceptualization of STAR WARS — a quote or two from the man on that would have been nice.
Jared brings up GALAXY QUEST without mentioning that SPACEBALLS came into its own on DVD around the same time:
http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Spaceballs#Spaceballs
missing another opportunity to not only to add to his deconstructionist contention but to compare and contrast to that STAR WARS thing he introduced, and contribute more along entanglement lines because while SW made money in that Age many regard that the SW product experienced a declined as well.
I think if you are going to go with film demarcations then the Dilitihium/Transparent Aluminum line would be better split along ending Dilithium with the first film Paramount attempted, STAR TREK: PLANET OF THE TITANS, and starting Transparent Aluminum with Phase II and its partner, a Paramount Network, whose conception not only heralded Trek’s ultimate return via a movie, TMP, but also its decline as UPN heralding Trek’s exit from OTA television production in the Polarized Hull-plating Age, as well.