Why every generation should have its own ‘Star Trek’
“Star Trek” turns 50 on Sept. 8, and instead of buying it a fancy sports car, our mission is to boldly go down the “Star Trek” rabbit hole, or rather, wormhole, and nerd out about the show to mark this milestone. We spoke to fellow Trekkies, including a writer, a showrunner and a scientist, about why the series matters to them. Check out the rest of our 50th anniversary coverage here.
Brannon Braga has worn many hats during his time as part of the “Star Trek” franchise. He’s worked as a writer, producer and showrunner for several “Star Trek” movies and TV series, including “The Next Generation” and “Voyager.”
Braga said he misses his time behind the scenes, stating that “there’s no show like it.” He joined us to talk about his writing process and “Star Trek’s” longevity.
On dealing with jargon, as a writer:
Any new technology that was introduced generally was introduced … for a plot reason. If anything, I, as a writer, relied a little too heavily on technological fixes for certain plot lines. In the finale of “Next Generation’s” “All Good Things,” Picard is adrift in three different time periods and to consolidate the time periods … all three Enterprises have to shoot a beam into an anomaly. It was just a bunch of “technobabble” as we called it.
But all that “technobabble” didn’t really bother him.
I didn’t mind the technobabble. It had a certain poetry and rhythm to it that I kind of liked. I just like lines of dialogue like the “inertial dampers are offline.” “Core breach imminent.” You know, it’s just cool stuff.
On whether the series should end:
There’s absolutely no reason that “Star Trek” can’t keep going for as long as there’s some form of television. I mean, you meet people now — I was talking to a young student recently, and I mentioned that I worked on “Star Trek,” and they said, “Oh, the old one?” And they were referring to “Next Generation.” They didn’t even know there was an original series. Every “Star Trek,” everyone has their own — there are people who just love “Voyager.” ‘Cause that’s what they watched when they were young. And that’s their “Star Trek.”
Click the above audio player to hear the full interview.
There’s a lot happening in the world. Through it all, Marketplace is here for you.
You rely on Marketplace to break down the world’s events and tell you how it affects you in a fact-based, approachable way. We rely on your financial support to keep making that possible.
Your donation today powers the independent journalism that you rely on. For just $5/month, you can help sustain Marketplace so we can keep reporting on the things that matter to you.
