Line #30 YMMV/StarTrek


1	! Series
2	* ''[[YMMV/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries The Original Series]]''
3	* ''[[YMMV/StarTrekTheAnimatedSeries The Animated Series]]''
4	* ''[[YMMV/StarTrekTheNextGeneration The Next Generation]]''
5	* ''[[YMMV/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine Deep Space Nine]]''
6	* ''[[YMMV/StarTrekVoyager Voyager]]''
7	* ''[[YMMV/StarTrekEnterprise Enterprise]]''
8	* ''[[YMMV/StarTrekDiscovery Discovery]]''
9	* ''[[YMMV/StarTrekPicard Picard]]''
10	* ''[[YMMV/StarTrekLowerDecks Lower Decks]]''
11	* ''[[YMMV/StarTrekProdigy Prodigy]]''
12	* ''[[YMMV/StarTrekStrangeNewWorlds Strange New Worlds]]''
13
14	! Movies
15	* ''[[YMMV/StarTrekTheMotionPicture The Motion Picture]]''
16	* ''[[YMMV/StarTrekIITheWrathOfKhan The Wrath of Khan]]''
17	* ''[[YMMV/StarTrekIIITheSearchForSpock The Search for Spock]]''
18	* ''[[YMMV/StarTrekIVTheVoyageHome The Voyage Home]]''
19	* ''[[YMMV/StarTrekVTheFinalFrontier The Final Frontier]]''
20	* ''[[YMMV/StarTrekVITheUndiscoveredCountry The Undiscovered Country]]''
21	* ''[[YMMV/StarTrekGenerations Generations]]''
22	* ''[[YMMV/StarTrekFirstContact First Contact]]''
23	* ''[[YMMV/StarTrekInsurrection Insurrection]]''
24	* ''[[YMMV/StarTrekNemesis Nemesis]]''
25	* [[YMMV/StarTrek2009 The 2009 film]]
26	* ''[[YMMV/StarTrekIntoDarkness Into Darkness]]''
27	* ''[[YMMV/StarTrekBeyond Beyond]]''
28
29	! [[Franchise/StarTrekExpandedUniverse Expanded Universe]] novels
30	* ''[[YMMV/StarTrekFederation Federation]]''
31	* ''[[YMMV/StarTrekNewFrontier New Frontier]]''
32	* ''[[YMMV/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineRelaunch Deep Space Nine Relaunch]]''
33	** ''[[YMMV/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineAStitchInTime A Stitch in Time]]''
34	* ''[[YMMV/StarTrekTheLostEra The Lost Era]]''
35	** ''YMMV/TerokNor''
36	* ''[[YMMV/StarTrekATimeTo A Time To...]]''
37	* ''[[YMMV/StarTrekVulcansSoul Vulcan's Soul]]''
38	* ''[[YMMV/StarTrekTitan Titan]]''
39	* ''[[YMMV/StarTrekDestiny Destiny]]''
40
41	! Video games
42	* ''[[YMMV/StarTrekOnline Online]]''
43
44	! Franchise as a whole
45
46	* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation:
47	** Roddenberry's vision of Trek seems to be that in the future, Earth is a Marxist dystopia ruled by Pod-People. While it is true that the series (focused as they are on Starfleet) do not show much of civilian lifestyles in the Federation, what we ''do'' see actually implies a rather high standard of living, and quite a diversity of lifestyles, especially when the colonies are factored in. For example, Beverly Crusher's grandmother lived on a colony where everyone was basically doing {{LARP}} of life in the pre-industrial Scottish Highlands (with hidden technology maintaining things like the weather). So there is a definite absence of stereotypical Marxist conformity. If anything, people appear to cluster in "lifestyle communities" that meet their personal preferences.
48	** Cracked had a blast pointing out the [[http://www.cracked.com/video_18398_why-star-trek-universe-secretly-horrifying.html horrifying undertones to Federation Society]].
49	--->'''Dan:''' So Star Trek and Next Gen are about a resource rich society that is in such a creative rut they will send the Enterprise, humanity's ''finest'' ship out to unexplored corners of space just to find new life and new civilizations. ''Novelty'' is the most precious commodity there is! This is a profoundly bored people, so jaded, that they will load up their children and women onto a heavily armed warship and send it just out... just go! Just go ''somewhere'' and find me ''something'' interesting and tell me about it?!
50	** Later, [[http://www.cracked.com/blog/5-ways-star-trek-federation-evil-empire/ they used Fridge Logic to point out all the ways the show's production constraints imply terrible things about the way the whole system operates]].
51	** The theory that The Federation is actually TheEmpire, simply using the BenevolentAlienInvasion to gain new members and extend its own power. Some point as evidence of this in ''Insurrection'', as they are recruiting races who've had warp for only a ''year'' simply to serve as CannonFodder for the Dominion.
52	** A somewhat less dystopian interpretation of the PlanetOfHats present in the show is simply that the nature of the stories being told usually means we're seeing mainly planetary leaders and members of the military, all of whom have been trained to act in a way that the elites of their society consider ideal. Notably the series that suffers the least from this trope is [[Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine DS9]], which takes place in a setting that attracts a fair number of civilian workers and merchants.
53	** Should it be considered that even before the "time capsule" of the species from TNG's The Chase was first discovered, that the few species in Star Trek that aren't humanoid are from those rare planets where the seeding project failed, or, given that it's implied that humanoid species only exist within the Milky Way, could species like the Tholians, the Melkotians, the Nacene, be all that's left of some ancient act of aggression by the first humanoids?
54	* AmericansHateTingle: While not universal, the whole franchise is more popular in the English-speaking world than outside of it, possibly because it deals with very complex topics, [[ValuesDissonance some of them are taboo outside the U.S.]]. The main reason the Kelvinverse series of films stalled out after three movies is that foreign box office receipts have always been very low for what is budgeted and marketed as a blockbuster franchise, in an era when studios are increasingly reliant on overseas grosses. [[Film/StarTrek2009 The first]] [[Film/StarTrekIntoDarkness two movies]] did very well domestically, mitigating this problem, but when [[Film/StarTrekBeyond the third]] underperformed, it was curtains (although a fourth film is -- at least officially -- still in development).
55	** The best example of this is South Korea, when not only the franchise is unpopular, the [[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries very original series]] was banned there because a character of Japanese origin appears there (Hikaru Sulu). The franchise [[https://injapan.gaijinpot.com/play/arts-entertainment/2010/03/17/star-trek-in-japan/ isn't all that popular in Japan, either]].
56	** While not exactly unpopular, the franchise isn't exactly hot in Latin America, despite [[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries the]] [[Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration two first series]] being very well known there, partly because of [[SugarWiki/SuperlativeDubbing excellent voice acting of both series]]. The only exception to this rule is Spock, who is the most popular character of the whole franchise in Latin America, even more than Kirk.
57	** In Brazil, it must be noted that the SciFiGhetto was even stronger than in the USA during the 20th-century, and Star Trek being synonimous with Sci-Fi got naturally hit by this, making it (and most sci-fi outside of Hollywood blockbusters like Star Wars) a cult phenomenom at best.
58	** Despite one of the most popular characters in the whole franchise being [[Characters/StarTrekTheNextGenerationJeanLucPicard French]], and promoting values of humanism and [[TechnicalPacifist - somehow -]] pacifism, Star Trek never managed to be popular in France. That was first due to the SciFiGhetto that made the series mostly unbroadcasted until the [[LateExportForYou very late 80's]] - a 20 years delay that made it look [[SpecialEffectsFailure very poor, cheesy and outdated]] in comparison to the [[SugarWiki/VisualEffectsOfAwesome special effects]] of [[Film/TwoThousandOneASpaceOdyssey 2001]] or [[Franchise/StarWars Star Wars]]; saved for a [[CultClassic thin fanbase]] who could appreciate the stories. Only the movies made it to the Country of Croissants at global release time and were generally [[StrawCritic very poorly received]], part because their were neither as light-hearted as Star Wars or as poetic and metaphysical as 2001, part because you have to know the series to understand them. Consequently, Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration was itself virtually unknown in France until the mid-90's, and every series from this point were only broadcasted on cable channels. To this day, ask random French people about Star Trek and they will likely answer "oh yeah, huh, Kirk and Spock, right ?".
59	* ArchivePanic: This franchise is VAST, comprising seven live action series and three animated series totalling 834 episodes of television, 13 feature films across two separate continuities, and two seasons of short episodes. Just getting through the canonical material will take you a total, as of March 2022, of nearly 629 hours, which is over ''26 days''. And that's not counting the 130 video games (of which ''VideoGame/StarTrekOnline'' alone is vast enough to have its own wiki), 865 novels, and innumerable comics.
60	* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: [[AwesomeMusic/StarTrek Has its own page]]. Various theme songs (plus all the live-action series -- with the exception of the original -- have either been nominated for or won music Emmys, and there's [[http://www.startreksoundtracks.com/ an entire website]] and [[http://reelmusic.wordpress.com/2011/06/15/the-music-of-star-trek-profiles-in-style-jeff-bond/ book]] about the music.
61	* BrokenBase:
62	** Lots and lots and lots of them -- count on this to happen basically every time a new series comes out; but most famously Picard / ''The Next Generation'' vs. Kirk / ''The Original Series'', which has entered into PopCulturalOsmosis.
63	** The old Trek fandom is absolutely split on the new movies. On one hand, the movies are critical and financial successes, and brought a renewed interest in the franchise from young people, actually making it somewhat cool to be a Trekkie for once. On the other hand, the movies were less science-y and more fantastic, something the older fans claim is "[[NoTrueScotsman not what a real Star Trek movie should be.]]" Expect a massive flame war if the subject is so much as touched upon on a Trek forum.
64	* CommonKnowledge: Transporters are frequently cited as FridgeHorror because they vaporize and create a perfect copy of you, spawning tons of discussion on whether this is actually suiciding and a clone taking your place. Transporters actually convert your mass into energy, send it to your destination, and turn it back into physical form, so regardless of one's views on the TheseusShipParadox it doesn't apply here - people who have been transported are still made up of the exact same matter. Though it still dissassembles you and reassembles you, so even if you are made of the same stuff, you can argue it kills you and then brings you back to life.
65	* CompleteMonster: [[Monster/StarTrek Now with its own page.]]
66	* ContestedSequel: Star Trek XI (referred to by some fans simply as "the Abrams film" or similar) has caused a BrokenBase within Star Trek fans between people who only like the old Trek, people who only like XI, and people who like both.
67	** ''Film/StarTrekIntoDarkness'' got this treatment based solely on the trailer. It got even worse when the film came out, some claiming it to be [[http://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/aug/14/star-trek-into-darkness-voted-worst the worst Star Trek film ever made]].
68	* CreatorWorship: [[Creator/GeneRoddenberry The Great Bird of the Galaxy]] himself. Rick Berman, Ronald Moore and J. J. Abrams are a bit lower on the hierarchy. Brannon Braga is, unfortunately, often villainized for what happened with ''Voyager'' and ''Enterprise''.
69	* EscapistCharacter: [[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries Captain Kirk]] is a bold space adventurer that leads a life of excitement that involves discovering new worlds, romancing sexy aliens and outwitting all sorts of alien baddies. Further enforced in the movies when his retirement from active captaincy is treated like a mid-life crisis and in his final adventure, he admits to Picard that his life only had meaning when he was captain of the ''Enterprise'', driving home how liberating his life of adventure and excitement is.
70	* FandomRivalry: Famously, with ''Franchise/StarWars'', pretty much from the moment the latter debuted. Both are similar in name, popularity and influence, while frequently differing wildly in tone, making comparisons almost inevitable; each franchise also frequently [[PopularityPolynomial resurges in popularity]] around the same time the other reaches a period of decline, leading to perceptions that the one has stolen the other's thunder. Although an official crossover has never happened (yet), entire fandom sub-groups such as Website/StarDestroyerDotNet have been dedicated to exploring the possibilities of the two universes colliding, as have numerous fanfiction, and the eternal battle between fans has been explored in media like ''{{Film/Fanboys}}''. All that being said, the two have influenced each other quite a bit (again, pretty much from the start- George Lucas has admitted to enjoying ''Trek'' when it began, and the huge success of ''Wars'' led directly to the series' return in the form of ''[[Film/StarTrekTheMotionPicture The Motion Picture]]''), frequently pay tribute to each other, and there are certainly plenty of those who are big fans of both, making it - if not precisely FriendlyFandoms ([[SeriousBusiness never!]]) - perhaps something closer to a WorthyOpponent.
71	** The rivalry entered a unique phase when JJ Abrams revived both franchises and brought them into the modern era in the 2010s. While the rivalry ultimately remained intact, JJ Abrams' presence on both franchises brought both closer to to the level of FriendlyFandoms; although the reasoning strongly varies and largely depends on one's [[EnemyMine opinion]] [[CreatorWorship towards]] JJ Abrams' contribution to both franchises.
72	* {{Fanon}}:
73	** Given the PlanetOfHats treatment that the various alien races get, fans like to speculate on what they perceive the ''human'' hat as being. One widely-circulated Tumblr post opined that it's more or less a proclivity for the ZanyScheme--e.g. humans not being content to simply ''copy'' Romulan cloaking technology, but to engineer a version that could ''also'' fly through solid matter at the same time, and Picard defeating highly-adapted Borg on the ''Enterprise-E'' by trapping them in a PrivateDetective holonovel, shutting off the safety, and slaughtering them with HardLight bullets.
74	** T'Pau being Spock's grandmother is a pretty popular subject in fanfics, even though there was no indication of this.
75	* FranchiseOriginalSin: Most of the faults found ''Voyager'' and ''Enterprise'' were already very present in the much-lauded middle seasons of ''The Next Generation,'' and some can even be found in ''The Original Series''; things like the anomaly of the week, the malfunctioning holodeck, the evil versions of regular characters, the shuttle crash plots, and the B-plots that feel like a soap opera. But it wasn't until later in the franchise that they really started to grate on viewers, since it finally started to seem like the same thing over and over again.
76	** The spinoff series tend to grant focus and development to all, or most, of the regular characters. In particular, the Berman era of ''Trek'' tended to have the main plot of each episode give focus to one, or perhaps two characters, or have the A-plot focus on one, and the B-plot on another. When the newer series, particularly ''Series/StarTrekDiscovery'' and ''Series/StarTrekPicard'', started focusing primarily on one character, with the supporting cast mostly there to support that character's story, there were complaints from fans about changing the longterm structure of giving development to all characters. The fact is that the Original Series largely focused on just Kirk and Spock, with Kirk edging out Spock overall, while [=McCoy=] was a tertiary focus and mostly was there to be the voice of down-to-earth wisdom for both stars. The other characters hardly ever got any focus or development beyond their thumbnail personalities and Sulu and Uhura didn't even get ''first names'' for several decades.
77	* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff: As noted above, a problem with ''Star Trek'''s profitability in the new millennium (which killed off the film franchise) is its general lack of popularity overseas, but there are exceptions:
78	** ''Trek'' sometimes seems to be ''more'' popular elsewhere in the Anglosphere than it is in the United States. Canada in particular is known for fostering a devoted fandom of Trekkies and sustaining it through the decades. There are many reasons for this:
79	*** The original series saw its ''world premiere'' in Canada on September 6, 1966 -- two days before it aired on NBC.
80	*** The original series also starred two Canadians -- Creator/WilliamShatner and Creator/JamesDoohan.
81	*** Canadians were able to actively participate in the convention circuit and burgeoning fan communities of UsefulNotes/TheSeventies due to the porous border with the United States (passports were not even required until after 9/11) and (relatively) short travel distances between major population centres.
82	*** Beginning in UsefulNotes/TheEighties, Toronto-based channel [=CityTV=] (which cable providers allowed to be seen nationwide) aired TNG first-run and labelled itself "the Federation Station," even hosting a filled-to-capacity live broadcast of the series finale at Toronto's [=SkyDome=], a stadium which seats over 50,000.
83	*** The [[MediaNotes/CanadianMultichannelNetworks Canadian multichannel network]] SPACE, which began transmitting in 1997, is often facetiously called "the ''Star Trek'' channel" for its incessant reruns of all the shows, despite the lack of any "[=CanCon=]" quota which might otherwise explain its ubiquity.[[note]]To make a ''very'' long story short, "[=CanCon=]" rules require all broadcast networks and cable channels to air a percentage of shows on their schedule which involve Canadians in their production - whether the show itself is produced in Canada, is written by Canadians, or stars Canadians. ''Series/StargateSG1'', produced in Vancouver and co-starring Canadians Creator/MichaelShanks and Creator/AmandaTapping, fulfills these requirements in spades, which is one reason it is ''also'' ubiquitous on the channel.[[/note]] This continues to the present day (the channel has since been rebranded as "CTV Sci-Fi").
84	*** CTV Sci-Fi also airs ''Star Trek: Discovery'', ''Star Trek: Picard'', and ''Star Trek: Lower Decks'' first-run, making Canada the only country in the world where these shows can be legally seen without signing up for a streaming service. CTV Sci-Fi was also the only known international buyer of the ''Short Treks'' vignettes.
85	** The UK is no slouch either, although there ''Trek'' must compete with the homegrown ''Series/DoctorWho'', a rivalry which has endured for ''decades''. The prominence of British characters (starting with Scotty in TOS, who despite his broad and somewhat stereotypical portrayal, is [[MexicansLoveSpeedyGonzales beloved by actual Scots]]), of course culminating in Creator/PatrickStewart who played the ostensibly French Picard as IAmVeryBritish, is a major factor.
86	** Speaking of Germany, it's the one market outside of the Anglosphere which has taken to ''Star Trek'' in a big way. The most common explanation for this is that the franchise is reminiscent of homegrown SpaceOpera such as ''Perry Rhodan'', making ''Trek'' and its concepts accessible to Germans in a way it isn't to many non-English-speakers. Symbolically, the core concept of a previously destructive and warlike race becoming "enlightened" and leading a peaceful Federation based on progressive ideals is also very appealing in Germany, for obvious reasons.
87	* HilariousInHindsight:
88	** In the 30th anniversary special, there is a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qxD2eoh-W4 skit]] featuring the cast of ''Series/{{Frasier}}'' serving on the USS ''Voyager'' under Janeway, with Creator/KateMulgrew replacing Creator/KelseyGrammer. At one point, a Klingon beams aboard with the dog, which had been digging up azalea bushes on the Klingon homeworld. Janeway remarks, "Now you see why we shouldn't have [[Series/StarTrekEnterprise pets on starships]]".
89	** It was long established in secondary material, and confirmed by Gene Roddenberry' letters during his lifetime, that the star the planet Vulcan orbited is [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/40_Eridani 40 Eridadi A]]. Fast forward to 2018, [[https://www.sciencealert.com/star-trek-vulcan-exoplanet-40-eridani-a-hd-26965-super-earth-dharma-planet-survey and it turns out there's actually a Super Earth orbiting that same star within its Habitable Zone]].
90	** The Starfleet insignia was first revealed to Earth in 1966. In 2019, [[https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.space.com/amp/star-trek-logo-on-mars-nasa-photo.html a sand dune shaped like the Starfleet insignia]] was discovered on Mars. Looks like some time travelling Federation crew forgot the rule of Leave No Trace.
91	* HomeGrownHero: A classic example -- a multi-planetary FictionalUnitedNations ship being commanded by the American Captain Kirk.
92	* HoYay: ''Every'' series has at least one hugely popular slash pairing, and sometimes more than one. Slash fans will ''insist'' these characters want nothing more than to do each other, no matter how heavily contradicted by canon.
93	** Kirk/Spock (or [[PortmanteauCoupleName Spirk]]) is what gave the "SlashFic" concept its trope name.
94	** Spock/[=McCoy=] from ''[[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries The Original Series]]''.
95	** Picard/Q from ''[[Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration The Next Generation]]''.
96	** Garak/Bashir and Bashir/O'Brien from ''[[Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine Deep Space Nine]]''.
97	** Janeway/Seven from ''[[Series/StarTrekVoyager Voyager]]''.
98	** Archer/Reed, Tucker/Reed and Reed/Hayes from ''[[Series/StarTrekEnterprise Enterprise]]''.
99	** Elnor/Hugh from ''[[Series/StarTrekEnterprise Picard]]''.
100	* MagnificentBastard: See [[MagnificentBastard/StarTrek here]].
101	* MemeticMutation: : A LongRunner like ''Trek'' has spawned more than a few. "[[CatchPhrase To boldly X where no one has Y'ed before]]", ResistanceIsFutile, [[GreenSkinnedSpaceBabe green chicks]], [[{{Facepalm}} Picard's facepalm]], and '''[[Film/StarTrekIITheWrathOfKhan KHAAAAAAN!]]''' are some of the more memorable.
102	* MisaimedFandom: In the 2020s, there has been a conservative backlash against the newest series like ''Series/StarTrekDiscovery'', ''WesternAnimation/StarTrekLowerDecks'', and ''Series/StarTrekStrangeNewWorlds'', complaining about various liberal notions in them, asking "When did Star Trek go 'Woke'?" The usual answer is "1966", as Trek has '''always''' had a humanist, liberal outlook on the future.
103	* MoralEventHorizon: See [[MoralEventHorizon/StarTrek here]].
104	* NewerThanTheyThink: Casual fans often assume that elements of the setting that were introduced in the movies or later series were present in the Original Series. Usually, it's reasonable to assume that these are changes that happened to Federation society over time, but fans tend to assume they were always present. One of the most notable is the idea that the Federation is a moneyless society. The first mention of this is as a throwaway joke in ''[[Film/StarTrekIVTheVoyageHome Star Trek IV.]]''[[note]]Technically the phrasing is such that Kirk ''could'' be referring to ''tangible'' money only, which would make perfect sense to audiences watching today, but in 1986 the interpretation was instead that the Federation had no currency at all.[[/note]] There's no evidence of it in the Original Series, and several episodes (Mudd's Women, The Trouble With Tribbles, The Devil In the Dark) would make no sense or at least have gaping plot holes if this were true.
105	** This also applies to the Roddenberry "No Conflict" rule. All ''Trek'' fans know that Roddenberry didn't want his humans fighting with each other (although really it was "petty bickering" he didn't want to see) because he wanted to portray us as an "adult race" rather than the child race we are now. But the application of this rule has fans confused. Most seem to think it applies to ''Star Trek'' as a whole, while the fact is that Roddenberry came up with this rule while creating ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration''. The rule does not apply to the original series or any series set prior to it, making it much ado about nothing when the rule was tossed out for ''Series/StarTrekDiscovery''.
106	** The existence of a Security Chief as a main character began with TNG. Only once in TOS did an episode feature a Chief of Security (Giotto in "The Devil in the Dark"), and it was one of many shipboard roles that showed up once for plot-relevant reasons and then never appeared again (like Ship's Historian in "Space Seed" or Astrobiologist in "Return to Tomorrow"). Since TNG, no bridge crew is complete without a Chief of Security. This (as with so many other things) was referenced in ''Galaxy Quest'': the opening credits for the revival series give Guy Fleegman (ex-"Crewman No. 6") this position.
107	** Similarly, the position of "Operations Officer", a nebulous role (see "What Exactly Is His Job") that seems to exist just to have an extra person on the bridge. Kirk never needed one of those, but it's present in nearly every starship-based series since, including those set prior to Kirk's time (ENT being the one exception).
108	* OlderThanTheyThink: Interstellar transporters were featured as early as the ''TOS'' episode "Gamesters of Triskelion."
109	* TheProblemWithLicensedGames: [[VideoGame/StarTrek Addressed on its own page now.]]
110	* SequelGap:
111	** There was a four year hiatus between 1998's ''Film/StarTrekInsurrection'' and 2002's ''Film/StarTrekNemesis'', seven years between ''Nemesis'' and ''Film/StarTrek2009'' (which is technically a sequel despite also being a ContinuityReboot), and another four-year gap between that one and 2013's ''Film/StarTrekIntoDarkness''.
112	** ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'' went off the air in 2005. The next TV series, ''Series/StarTrekDiscovery'', didn't roll until 2017.
113	* {{Sequelitis}}: it began with the very first episode of ''Voyager'', but by the time ''Insurrection'' rolled around, even major critics were noting that the franchise was taking a fairly serious and noticeable dip in quality. ''Enterprise'' and ''Nemesis'' are "credited" with coming within a whisper of '''killing''' the franchise (''Nemesis'' being the only Trek film in history to ''not'' turn a profit); the reboot salvaged it and its sequel received very good, but not as great reviews than its predecessor.
114	** The films are famous for going back and forth (see StarTrekMovieCurse.) The series, however, follow a much more consistent path. ''The Original Series'' was something of an uneven novelty, thanks to inconsistent writing. ''Next Generation'' was considered an EvenBetterSequel. ''Deep Space Nine'' was "different, but still good." ''Voyager'' is where the franchise started to unravel, and ''Enterprise'' is where it finally came apart.
115	* SlidingScaleOfSocialSatisfaction:
116	** Categorized as "Heaven on Earth". Roddenberry's vision of the United Federation in ''[[Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration The Next Generation]]'' is that of peaceful humanity in a post-scarcity society -- nobody has to worry about lacking money for food or medicine, nor there is overpopulation. This is true for humans of every race and gender. To boot, freedom is not restricted. Quite the opposite, in fact.
117	** Or it can be categorized as "Outside is Burning, Inside is Safe". Roddenberry's {{utopia}} comes with a cost. Outside the United Federation, there's war and a helping of hostile aliens whose societies are not as idyllic. Even if they change their minds later, the Federation's government is shown to be ready to do ''anything'' to ensure their utopian lifestyle.
118	** Alternatively, it can be categorized as "Sweet with a Help of Sour". The United Federation aspires to be utopian and is mostly successful at it. However, hatred, crime, and bigotry still slip through the cracks. Humans of the [=XXIV=]th century try their best to deal with injustice, it's just that some issues seem unavoidable to even the best of societies.
119	* ViewerNameConfusion:
120	** While everyone knows how to ''spell'' Data's name, some people think "dah-tuh" is an acceptable pronunciation, which he debunks in an episode.
121	** B'Elanna Torres has a [[ProudWarriorRace Klingon]] first name, and so some people think it's spelt B'Lanna or Be'Lanna.
122	** Deanna Troi's surname is sometimes misspelled as "Troy", and her first name is sometimes mistaken as "Deana", "Diana", or even "Dreanna".
123	** Some viewers unfamiliar with Japanese names think Hoshi Sato's first name is [[GenderBlenderName Yoshi, Toshi]], or Hoshy. Additionally, some people call her "Ensign Hoshi", but "Hoshi" is her first name and when officers are addressed formally in that manner, they address them by rank and ''last'' name, so it should actually be "Ensign ''Sato''".
124	** Worf's name is sometimes misspelled as Warf.
125	* SugarWiki/VisualEffectsOfAwesome: Watching a later ''Franchise/StarTrek'' episode is almost like watching a movie in television show form. The best examples would likely be "The Best of Both Worlds" (TNG), "The Way of the Warrior" ([=DS9=]), "Scorpion" (VOY) and "Twilight" (ENT). Of the movies, the favorites are ''Film/StarTrekIITheWrathOfKhan'', ''Film/StarTrekFirstContact'', ''Film/StarTrek2009'' and ''Film/StarTrekIntoDarkness''.
126	* WhatExactlyIsHisJob: Generally it's easy to tell what a shipboard role is, and what the officer's duties may entail. However, there has never been an onscreen confirmation on what exactly the Operations Officer does. Several characters have occupied this role over the years, including Data, Kim, Owosekun and others. What their duties entail seems to be whatever the episode needs it to be. Data tended to operate the scanners, and was the one always asked to scan for lifeforms or bring up something on long-range scanners, which on TOS was one of Spock's jobs as Science Officer. Kim's duties sometimes included that but primarily he acted as the Communications officer (his station even read "Operations/Communications"). Owosekun's duties are even more nebulous, especially since she is the only officer clearly defined as Operations Officer to co-exist with a Science Officer. However, ''Series/StarTrekStrangeNewWorlds'' seems to have retconned the Navigation station into "Ops", as one line of dialog suggests, but as this is traditionally Number One's station, and she's usually seen leading Landing Parties or acting as captain herself, this position seems even less clear.
127	* YouLookFamiliar: Numerous times. But in this case [[RubberForeheadAliens putting a different alien makeup]] helps a lot in distinguishing characters played by the same actor.

Context YMMV / StarTrek