When I first started reading up on Voyager, I was shocked to learn that it's considered to be the most hated of the Star Trek series. Can someone shed some light as to why?
Voyager Hate
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It's not one that Michael Dorn/Worf managed to take over? 
I don't get the negativity, either. Voyager is my favorite Trek show, after TOS.
I don't get the negativity, either. Voyager is my favorite Trek show, after TOS.
I got a negative vibe from the fandom regarding Voyager as well. Maybe it was imaginary because I don't see too much hate on the boards.
For the time that Voyager was airing, I can maybe see why it didn't win too many people over. When you have a show like TNG which was a mega-success with renown characters, followed by DS9.... DS9 shook things up, made them 'darker' with religious politics, plots and conspiracies. It had it's own distinct vibe of 'underground' and 'rebel alliance'.
Given that over-generalization of the properties, when Voyager stepped it, it appears more colorful to me. That's the first impression I had of it, looking at pictures. It looked more vibrant vs the murky colors of DS9. My first impression of Tuvok was that he was a cheap Spock knock off and there wasn't too much diversity (visually) among the crew. Hell, I admit when looking at the synopsis and images online, I was hesitant to watch the show. I didn't think it would be a good show, even though I hadn't watched it.
Reflecting on my first impressions and comparing them to what Star Trek fans may have been used to, I could see why Voyager may have been shunned.
But I love it (with the exception of one or two episodes so far) and I like it better than DS9 (which I had to stop watching, I just wasn't into it even by season 4. But I plan to go back.)
For the time that Voyager was airing, I can maybe see why it didn't win too many people over. When you have a show like TNG which was a mega-success with renown characters, followed by DS9.... DS9 shook things up, made them 'darker' with religious politics, plots and conspiracies. It had it's own distinct vibe of 'underground' and 'rebel alliance'.
Given that over-generalization of the properties, when Voyager stepped it, it appears more colorful to me. That's the first impression I had of it, looking at pictures. It looked more vibrant vs the murky colors of DS9. My first impression of Tuvok was that he was a cheap Spock knock off and there wasn't too much diversity (visually) among the crew. Hell, I admit when looking at the synopsis and images online, I was hesitant to watch the show. I didn't think it would be a good show, even though I hadn't watched it.
Reflecting on my first impressions and comparing them to what Star Trek fans may have been used to, I could see why Voyager may have been shunned.
But I love it (with the exception of one or two episodes so far) and I like it better than DS9 (which I had to stop watching, I just wasn't into it even by season 4. But I plan to go back.)
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I don't hate it, but it's not my cup of tea. There are episodes and characters I rather like, and sometimes I'll go into the VOY forum to discuss those episodes and characters, but the series itself isn't my thing. I tried many times to like the show itself. I have done a re-watch, and got a bit over halfway before I gave up. If I'm not interested after 100 episodes, it's just not going to happen. That said, I don't expect everyone to love DS9 as much as I do, so to each their own.
It's been off the air for over a decade. I don't really care enough anymore to argue its merits or lack thereof. I'm sure you can dig up some old post if you really want to know. It's certainly been debated thoroughly enough.
I found its flaws fairly obvious. If you don't, you probably won't be convinced anyway.
I found its flaws fairly obvious. If you don't, you probably won't be convinced anyway.
Voyager was/is flawed, yes. It started a premise, a lone ship struggling to survive, and somehow the struggle became a lot less pretty fast.
The intensity of Starfleet and Maquis working together was gone in a few episodes. One big happy crew allright.
Continuity was a disaster. I mean, Star Trek had that before, and I don't really care about it that much, I can look beyond it. But it's things like..... The torpedoes. Clearly stated early on, no way to replace them, only 38 left at the beginning of season one. At the end of show, I think Voyager was seen firing over a 100 torpedoes or something. No one seemed to remember anything about limited torpedoes.
This ship is supposed to ration its energy, and they were quite watchfull of that in the beginning, with Neelix cooking real food, replicators on ration. But it wasn't long, or it seemed that holodecks were in use full time, replicators were used for whatever. I mean, for a ship with very, very limited resources, they actually managed to build a state of the art shuttlecraft from scratch. I mean, they can't make new torpedoes, but they can make a shuttle with a warpcore, replicators, phasers and (go figure) micro torpedoes....
Stuff like that is a bit of lazy writing, where the writers just forget certain things so they can tell a story. And really, that's ok I guess. As long as the story is good. Which they weren't always. And it still kinda bugs me how lazy they were.
Having said that, Voyager is highly entertaining, with some good solid characters, some very good episodes, good humor every now and then, and some solid performances as well.
The intensity of Starfleet and Maquis working together was gone in a few episodes. One big happy crew allright.
Continuity was a disaster. I mean, Star Trek had that before, and I don't really care about it that much, I can look beyond it. But it's things like..... The torpedoes. Clearly stated early on, no way to replace them, only 38 left at the beginning of season one. At the end of show, I think Voyager was seen firing over a 100 torpedoes or something. No one seemed to remember anything about limited torpedoes.
This ship is supposed to ration its energy, and they were quite watchfull of that in the beginning, with Neelix cooking real food, replicators on ration. But it wasn't long, or it seemed that holodecks were in use full time, replicators were used for whatever. I mean, for a ship with very, very limited resources, they actually managed to build a state of the art shuttlecraft from scratch. I mean, they can't make new torpedoes, but they can make a shuttle with a warpcore, replicators, phasers and (go figure) micro torpedoes....
Stuff like that is a bit of lazy writing, where the writers just forget certain things so they can tell a story. And really, that's ok I guess. As long as the story is good. Which they weren't always. And it still kinda bugs me how lazy they were.
Having said that, Voyager is highly entertaining, with some good solid characters, some very good episodes, good humor every now and then, and some solid performances as well.
It's because people are wrong.
Probably because it replaced the Trek series most of them fell in love with, TNG. And also that it never lived up to the premise of two feuding crews on a ship that was lost in space.
I think Voyager has more likeable characters and a better hit/miss ratio than TNG. It entertains me and I enjoy it for what it is.
I think I only had one problem that bothered me. The ship was too clean and undamaged every week. I think I took in too much of the Star Wars "lived in look" asthetic. I sort of wanted the ship to look like it had been out of touch with Starfleet, and start to show battle damage and other effects of ware as the show went on. It didn't have to be life threatening issues, just carbon scoring and hull patches like the USS Enterprise had in Star Trek III. Especially after all those Kazon attacks. They had a few hull breeches and other heavy system damage in those two years of attacks. The ship should have at least some patches and marks from that.
^ One of the things that TPTB got right during the Xindi arc on ENT, the ship began to take on a "distressed" look.
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For me it's TOS - TNG - VOY - Ent/DS9, with the last two tied for last. I can pull things that I like out of any of them though.
The high light of Voyager is the characters, with the exception of Janeway they don't let their situation get them down, and it would have been easy for the story line to have gone in that direction. Part of the interst in the show for me (with respects to Teacake) is that I'm one or those who think Janeway was having psychological problems owing to her position and resposibilities. And that this explains her decisions and mannor in the later episodes. I consider this a positive in the show (even if it wasn't the writers intent).
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For me it's TOS - TNG - VOY - Ent/DS9, with the last two tied for last. I can pull things that I like out of any of them though.
The high light of Voyager is the characters, with the exception of Janeway they don't let their situation get them down, and it would have been easy for the story line to have gone in that direction. Part of the interst in the show for me (with respects to Teacake) is that I'm one or those who think Janeway was having psychological problems owing to her position and resposibilities. And that this explains her decisions and mannor in the later episodes. I consider this a positive in the show (even if it wasn't the writers intent).
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If I were put into a Klingon mind sifter, you would discover that I actually like a lot about Voyager - but one of the things I like a lot is to vocally hate on something of the dumber elements. 
(Transwarp salamanders, anyone?)
(Transwarp salamanders, anyone?)
I dunno, I remember enjoying Season 1.
I don't think I saw any episode after Season 1 except for Flashback. Not because I didn't like the show, but because I was in college, going out and I generally just suck at following shows.
I remember a lot of hate, but I'm not sure why.
Now, Enterprise...when I saw Season 1 a few years back...I could understand the criticism.
At the same time, the new Battlestar Galactica was making waves and as I got sucked into BSG, I found myself thinking. "Jesus, this could've Enterprise! A ballsy, exciting socially relevant program with good characters and you just never knew when someone would live or die."
Still, I enjoyed Enterprise Season 1, but it did play it too safe.
I think when I'm done watching TOS in production order, I'm going to watch DS9, VOY and ENT. I've only seen the first 3 seasons of DS9. Season 1 of VOY and Season 1 of ENT.
I don't think I saw any episode after Season 1 except for Flashback. Not because I didn't like the show, but because I was in college, going out and I generally just suck at following shows.
I remember a lot of hate, but I'm not sure why.
Now, Enterprise...when I saw Season 1 a few years back...I could understand the criticism.
At the same time, the new Battlestar Galactica was making waves and as I got sucked into BSG, I found myself thinking. "Jesus, this could've Enterprise! A ballsy, exciting socially relevant program with good characters and you just never knew when someone would live or die."
Still, I enjoyed Enterprise Season 1, but it did play it too safe.
I think when I'm done watching TOS in production order, I'm going to watch DS9, VOY and ENT. I've only seen the first 3 seasons of DS9. Season 1 of VOY and Season 1 of ENT.
I think "hate" might be a bit strong, but for me it was very obvious that Star Trek had over-saturated the market. Too many Trek series in too short a time. More specifically, the writing sucked. Loss of imagination, too many plot holes, too many "lazy" ways out...or into a situation. I never made it through the series on its initial run but I recently watched all 7 seasons and it was a chore getting through it all.
I would've liked to see at least one episode at the end which showed more of the homecoming and everyone's plans for the future instead of the abrupt ending that was shown.
I see the late 90s through the end of Enterprise as a time in which there was much inner squabbling amongst Trek fans, and we took for granted having all these adventures.
It's going to be 10 years since Trek has been off the air waves.
I miss having it around.
True, the stories were out of gas or running on fumes, but it's a shame that the Berman Regime didn't hand over the baton when that started happening and that they waited until it was run into the ground.
I might be wrong here, but it's kinda how I perceived the state of affairs at the time.
I gotta give credit where its due though and that's that Berman and co kept the whole TV franchise alive for TNG, launching 3 shows and producing 4 movies. But the fact is that they did run out of gas by the end, and new creative involvement should've taken over before the whole thing fell apart.
It's going to be 10 years since Trek has been off the air waves.
I miss having it around.
True, the stories were out of gas or running on fumes, but it's a shame that the Berman Regime didn't hand over the baton when that started happening and that they waited until it was run into the ground.
I might be wrong here, but it's kinda how I perceived the state of affairs at the time.
I gotta give credit where its due though and that's that Berman and co kept the whole TV franchise alive for TNG, launching 3 shows and producing 4 movies. But the fact is that they did run out of gas by the end, and new creative involvement should've taken over before the whole thing fell apart.
Not one I'm eager to plow through again but I'm sure I will eventually.
No hate here
No hate here
I wouldn't use the word 'hate'. Hate is such a strong word to use. 
But I can not tell a lie: the show did disappoint me sometimes (namely for not living up to its own format). Of all the Trek shows, VOY had perhaps the most interesting set-up of all, and I can't help feeling deflated that so much of that potential got frittered away like it did.
But naw, I like the characters and I like the general feel of that show. I've got a lot of love for VOY.
I love all the Trek series really. In their own ways. They're all like lovable pets.
Well, except for ENT. That's the only Trek show that I still have trouble dealing with.
But I can not tell a lie: the show did disappoint me sometimes (namely for not living up to its own format). Of all the Trek shows, VOY had perhaps the most interesting set-up of all, and I can't help feeling deflated that so much of that potential got frittered away like it did.
But naw, I like the characters and I like the general feel of that show. I've got a lot of love for VOY.
I love all the Trek series really. In their own ways. They're all like lovable pets.
Well, except for ENT. That's the only Trek show that I still have trouble dealing with.
There hasn't really been any active Voyager hate since it went off the air. Back when it was, it all came down to it being the current Trek series. TNG, DS9, and Enterprise also got the same treatment, as do the Abrams movies now. It's the nature of Trek fans.
Granted, Voyager isn't a perfect series, though a majority of its flaws can be traced back to network interference by UPN. One of its main problems was that it stuck to the old and dated 1980s TV format at a time when television was changing. Which was UPN's fault, but there we are.
Granted, Voyager isn't a perfect series, though a majority of its flaws can be traced back to network interference by UPN. One of its main problems was that it stuck to the old and dated 1980s TV format at a time when television was changing. Which was UPN's fault, but there we are.
To use the oft-used line: "Hate is such a strong word."
I don't 'hate' Voyager overall, I was disappointed with certain aspects: It played it too safe for a crew that was out of touch with the Federation in an uncharted region.
I did 'hate' that they used Jeri Ryan as an obvious way to bring in more viewers. And, I wasn't really a fan of the 'catsuit' and the heels. (That style just clashed badly).
I did 'hate' *drumroll* Neelix. That character was torture.
I can go on, but those are my top criticisms...
I don't 'hate' Voyager overall, I was disappointed with certain aspects: It played it too safe for a crew that was out of touch with the Federation in an uncharted region.
I did 'hate' that they used Jeri Ryan as an obvious way to bring in more viewers. And, I wasn't really a fan of the 'catsuit' and the heels. (That style just clashed badly).
I did 'hate' *drumroll* Neelix. That character was torture.
I can go on, but those are my top criticisms...
Who told you that?
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