I have been a fan of science fiction for as long as I can remember.
I grew up reading short stories and novels by Isaac Asimov, Robert Heinlein, Arthur C. Clarke, Larry Niven, among others.
This included watching the syndicated Star Trek television show. Now known as the Original Series.
I enjoyed the “adventure of the week”, the well written characters and stories, as well as exploring the human condition: hate and prejudice, war and violence, freedom and responsibility. These done largely as allegory, as was the characteristic of science fiction at the time. But, with a hopefulness and positive theme of progress and development.
One could more easily explore and examine these things when assigned to an “other”, like an alien race or culture. Removing them from the personal and contemporary.
I continued to enjoy the original Star Trek as it was transitioned to movies. My favorite characters were there and continued to grow and develop. The writing was still solid, much of the time. The greater production values and longer story running time only increased my enjoyment.
When Star Trek: The Next Generation started to air, I was initially excited. The early episodes did not have the well crafted stories and characters of the original. Some even appeared to be beat-for-beat rehashes of original series episodes. So, I eventually lost interest. Friends of mine who continued to watch let me know that The Next Generation did find its voice and turn out to be at least as good, if not better, than the original series. But, I had moved on.
That is until just recently.
I never watched the Star Trek series that came out since then such as Deep Space 9, Voyager, Enterprise, Discovery, and Picard. I didn’t have any interest and mostly still do not.
But, when I heard about the new series, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, the description intrigued me. A return to the model of the original series – an ensemble cast of characters exploring the universe, having a new adventure each week, exploring the human condition through allegory, and with the positivism that things can be overcome together.
After three episodes, as of this date, I am pleasantly surprised and hopeful. The writing is solid, dialogue and characterizations well crafted, and the stories are entertaining and deliver the themes of the old Star Trek that I remember enjoying.
Hopefully, the writers and producers can continue to make a Star Trek that I look forward to again.
