Three decades of living in a post-Star Wars and post-Apollo world
has taken away much of the newness and magic that was the first
Star Trek.

Kids look at the original series with derision at the special effects
(explaining the state of FX in the late 1960s plus TV budgets in
that era does little good against what they see and have been used
to for the past 30-plus years) and the hammy acting. We could
forgive and overlook less than stellar FX in the old days so long as
the plots and characters were good; but now that everything in
films and even television looks so real, cheesy effects are automatically
frowned upon and considered a bad joke. God, don't ever let today's
youth see Dark Star, they'll have a fit.

They don't really know or understand the relationship between the
three main characters or that having non-white non-male actors as
main members of a series cast was non-trivial in the 1960s.

Even more damaging has been the numerous spin-off series that
began appearing in 1987. I do count the pretty good Saturday
morning animated series from 1974-75, but most kids today are
unaware of it. Enterprise was the straw that broke the targ's
back in terms of overmilk the franchise.

Even the films had worn out their welcome, as today's audiences were
growing less familiar with the TNG cast. I didn't even see the last ST
film and was quite disappointed with the lame ninth installment.

Will the new film with its all new cast and updated FX do the trick,
bringing in new fans and placating the old? I agree that none of the
new folks working on ST seem to quite "get" how the early days of the
ST universe looked and worked (Enterprise is a prime example of this),
so I am concerned about the new film. But we shall see and perhaps
it is a sign of my gradual maturing that if they don't get it "right", life
will go on anyway and Paramount will rake in a few more million bucks
off a franchise that has gone on far longer than anyone initially anticipated.