re: Star Trek Voyager

quote:

---

I rewatch it often and to this day I am struck by how good the writing, acting and special effects were. To each his own.

---

I'm not making this a criticism of TNG - my order is:

TOS

DS9

TNG

VOY

(Reserving judgment on ENT - it might take 1st place, but that is very, very, very unlikely - just haven't seen more than 5 or 6 episodes over the years.)

Obviously TNG is the bridge - after a 20 year gap following TOS, and leading a run of almost 20 years, uninterrupted of Star Trek branded weekly series, TNG is one of those shows that demonstrated what could be done on television if anyone cared to put the effort into it, particularly real world special effects (although they had transitioned to a good bit of computers by the end) involving 3D models, and the acting was some of the best, most consistent work for a television series up to that time - Stewart was particularly outstanding and an anchor upon which they could secure the whole show.

But the writing was very hit and miss, IMHO. They did direct copies of TOS stories to start (and I'm not complaining - The Naked Now is one of my favorite TNG episodes, but it is not particularly creative) and, as I said, too many deus ex Wesley plot tie ups show me that the writing staff was struggling for a solid 1 to 2 seasons.

Because of the threaded story lines, the writing seemed more cohesive and consistent in DS9 - and they had their moments with great scripts as well. Although the acting was not quite as stellar across the board, the feeling of community and family was much stronger for me with the DS9 crew than any other. We saw them progress, have life changes, and just organically grow much more than any other trek series - other than the individual character here and there on other series.

Voyager suffered from stiff acting at first, spotty writing, but definitely had a sense of adventure not seen since TOS - IMHO. Voyager has a lot going for it - Kes was very intriguing, and had she stayed for the whole run, would have made for some interesting story lines. Seven of Nine was likewise intriguing, for a lot of reasons. Borg were already hybrids, but to have one caught between assimilation and reintegration as an individual was fascinating to watch as it developed.

I have not seen much of Voyager's last 2 seasons, but hope to complete a viewing by this summer - then start Enterprise.