Why do I keep watching this show every 3-5 years?

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shellexyz@reddit

Nostalgia and familiarity. I can sit down and watch a random episode and follow just fine. Every character is where they’re supposed to be. There are very few story arcs where you really need some older context: Klingon civil war/succession being the most prominent. Even Q stories don’t really need history or context, he shows up, causes mischief, and disappears.

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roadtrip-ne@reddit

It’s been 30 years for a full rewatch (basically since it was on) still holds up great. I was psyched to find almost a whole season I missed in college (Tasha Yar as a Romulan)

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_Nacktmull_@reddit

I don't know why, but it's definitely not often enough.

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proportional-porcini@reddit

gif

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jakemoffsky@reddit

Competency porn in an era of gross incompetence is comforting.

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Miller335@reddit (OP)

Is that what it is? Interesting take.

Are you saying shows back then sucked so this one stands out or are you saying shows suck these days and that one was done well so it stands out because of the all the suck these days?

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jacobkosh@reddit

I don't think they were speaking about the show's competence; rather, that it's as show about competent characters overcoming challenges through skill, teamwork, and trust, which is an attractive fantasy in a world where the world seems to be bought and sold by the absolute least competent among us.

I personally think that's part of it but I would say that the real secret goes above and beyond; the characters are good-hearted people who represent some of the best and most aspirational qualities in all of us, of which competence is one, but no more important than empathy, patience, curiosity, commitment, responsibility, insight, idealism, and hot yoga pants.

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plantyjen@reddit

Yup. That’s exactly why we enjoyed The West Wing during the Bush Administration. Competency porn, intelligence porn, empathy porn.

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Stressedhumbucker@reddit

You have your priorities straight. I'd even put competence as being *less* important than what you listed. I don't want the misfortune of running into an incredibly competent person who hasn't the faintest hint of empathy, patience, or yoga pants.

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dobrowolsk@reddit

Imagine the Enterprise crew consisting of todays politicians.

The obvious solution would be excluded from the start, because of some ideological reason or because it would make the captains chair slightly less comfortable to sit in for a few hours. Then everybody would start attacking each other. The Enterprise would start breaking apart because fixing it would require shutting down the holodeck and nobody wants to sacrifice their holodeck time and everybody would fight over who gets to be in the room that last loses life support. Then everybody would declare it was everybody else's fault.

Instead we get people who rationally decide what has to be done, who work together constructively, actually fix problems and become better versions of themselves in the process.

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General-Skywalker_@reddit

TNG has a really calming nostalgia feeling. I started watching in 89 when I was 4 with my family and I go back to it all the time. It's a comfort

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Calvin--Hobbes@reddit

After my parents died I started re-watching shows we watched together as a kid. TNG, Stargate, stuff like that. Like a warm blanket of memories.

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Final-Fun8500@reddit

Same. In grad school the D was my laptop background. It helped avoid panick attacks during exams.

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General-Skywalker_@reddit

I think the ambient noise on the bridge and the warp core are oddly relaxing

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dnkroz3d@reddit

Because it has such unforgettable lines, like "We have no law to fit your crime", and "You will never come up against a greater adversary than your own potential."

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qpv@reddit

Its like reading certain books at different ages. You see and feel different things each time.

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Romulan_Mestral@reddit

Every time I'm at the end of Enterprise, I start all over again at Tos.

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Stargazer1701d@reddit

TNG reminds me of a time when the world seemed more hopeful and the future brighter. A future I could see myself living in.

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MyCatPoopedTinsel@reddit

The TNG crew was a surrogate family for me during my parents messy divorce. I waited all week just to spent 45 minutes with them. The summer between BBW part 1 & 2 was really tough.

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Stargazer1701d@reddit

That was the first time Trek ever did a cliffhanger and it such a shock! "To be continued......" Nooooooo!

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dobrowolsk@reddit

I think reality and fiction have entered a downward spiral. People (inadvertently) strive toward what they see in fiction. Fiction, especially Star Trek, has become dark. Humanity in fiction has become a shitshow. Unfortunately this is a self-fulfilling prophecy because people now expect a bad future which makes that future come to reality.

We need more optimism in fiction. Maybe not in actual scientific matters (like climate being somehow solved), but in our ability to come together and fix shit.

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Final-Fun8500@reddit

Remember when the future seemed so enticing? I wanted to visit the future and experience the advanced tech so badly. I miss that feeling.

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isthisonetaken13@reddit

Ditto. I used to be so excited about advancing technology, now I see where technology is going and the uses it'll be put to, and I'm horrified.

AI taking jobs and leaving people homeless. Mass surveillance and drone technology enforcing the will of the wealthy elites. Fucking subscription model heated car seats and remote starts. Subscription everything gradually riding ownership in anything.

I'd rather have the Terminator version of events where Skynet decides to snuff us out of existence than this dystopian hellscape we're rapidly approaching.

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One-Technology-9050@reddit

It's my comfort show, I love going back to all the originals

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suburbanwalleyepro@reddit

Frankly, I forget a lot of it every 3-5 years...I'm old now.

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Ketzerfriend@reddit

It's a vaccine against drowing in the cynicism of our times.

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ImaginationNo7722@reddit

TNG is great!

I went from Voyager to Enterprise and I am currently working on TOS.

I haven't watched TNG in years and I am planning to watch it next.

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ThrustersToFull@reddit

I do the same. My theory is that it's competence porn. Nobody is 100% perfect 100% of the time, but they are professional, mature people who get the job done and contribute to something larger than themselves.

As I have aged I have realised I do rewatches because the rest of the time, in the real world, I am dealing with childish brats in their 20s, 30s, 40s and 50s who could do with learning a few things from this show.

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Hemansno1fan@reddit

My TV is basically always running one of the Star Trek Pluto channels. It's just cozy. ❤️

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JasonZep@reddit

It’s cozy sci-fi, what’s not to love?

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milkstrike@reddit

Because no new shows are original and well written outside of a handful of extremely rare cases so we have to just keep watching older shows.

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JoskoMikulicic@reddit

I don’t do a complete rewatch that often but I watch a random episode every now and then.

And I would interject TOS above DS9 on your list. :)

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OilHot3940@reddit

Why have I not stopped watching it since 1987? (Including self edited VHS recordings to cut out commercials).

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brianh71@reddit

I am in a constant rewatch cycle of TNG, DS9, Voyager, and Enterprise. All of them are full of hope and idealism. We could use more of both of those things right now.

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UnTides@reddit

I'm in a perpetual rewatch of the entire franchise. So I'll end up watching TNG every maybe 3 years. Same with Buffy the Vampire Slayer

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Stressedhumbucker@reddit

My experience is the opposite to yours. I love TNG and keep wanting to go back to it, but aside from the occasional clip on Youtube I haven't watched it since I was a kid. I do know why, though. My desire to rewatch Star Trek always manages to fall slightly below my desire to do other things. Things that somehow include building replicas of the Enterprise-D in video games and doomscrolling this subreddit.

...You know what, now that I actually say it I'm starting to understand my reasons less.

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SissyCouture@reddit

If I’m watching TNG or Frasier I know I’m stressed and need to feel like things will get better

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Miller335@reddit (OP)

Funny. Playing FO1 and FO2 has been that for me since I was a teenager. If I found myself in that loop.

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trer24@reddit

For me it’s the characters and the chemistry you can sense that the cast had. It’s magical. Certain shows just had it.

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jacobkosh@reddit

Ultimately, I don't think there's any great secret.

- It's a very good show routinely rated among the best TV ever made;

- The episodic format means it tells many kinds of stories rather than one long arc, so you get a variety pack of emotions and tones instead of just "gritty crime man" or "existential ad executive." You don't need to commit to a front-to-back watch and can just vibe on a random rerun you've seen a hundred times before.

- The specific blend of adventure, low-key adult drama, and ethical morality play is so incredibly rare that in the three decades since the show went off the air only a few other programs have ever attempted it. There are a million cop shows but only a handful of things like TNG.

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Balthierlives@reddit

I think my. Karla’s for the show is operate at this point. I mean yeah I watched it back in the day in syndication but it was on my couch in our old basement . Yeah I have nostalgia for my childhood but not the most comfy memory

I watch the show because it’s a very 90s era show where we envisioned a more united European Union style world of a great unite ls confederation that is unequivocally better for everyone. Sadly the EU hasn’t turned out to be the confront planet’s that we all thought it would be, at least not yet anyway, but it’s fun watching a show that embodies that united techno socialist society that TNG seems to embody. Eradicated poverty, people aspiring to things other than wealth accumulation, etc.

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NotQuiteACasanova@reddit

Because it's an all time classic.

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Miller335@reddit (OP)

Can't do all the commercials though I appreciate they play it

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cidvard@reddit

It's a REALLY good show, to a degree where I almost think it's underrated (as much as a beloved nostalgia show can be) as I go back to it now after a good decade between consistent rewatches.

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Informal_Pepper_8566@reddit

I do the same and it's nostalgic for me. My dad would get home about half an hour after I did for school, and it would be playing on the spike channel, usually two episodes back to back. We'd watch at least one, sometimes two if my mom worked late and we didn't have to run around and clean the house.

On top of it being a fantastic show, it just really reminds me of some of the simplest times in my life, with my dad.

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Miller335@reddit (OP)

You hit the nail on the head for me. It was my dad who was into it and so I was almost forced to watch it cause that's what was on. Little did I know he introduced me to probably my favorite show ever made looking back.

Who know at the time that's where we would end up? Sure there's other good shows thst have came out since then but TNG holds up so incredibly well.

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mikesmithhome@reddit

there's an OTA tv station here called H&I that plays all of them back to back from TOS to Enterprise and i just have it on in the background all night and it's like having a warm blanket

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Triforceoffarts@reddit

We’re stuck in a time loop. You’ve actually seen it millions of times.

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Miller335@reddit (OP)

Tell Data I'm good with that.

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cymonium@reddit

It’s my comfort show too. I prolly watch it through every 2-3 years myself. Such good stories and all. Besides, irl, they’re all really close friends.

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wilstar_berry@reddit

In our current world of Idiocracy TNG is comforting competence porn.

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rachlancan@reddit

I put it on the rerunning Pluto Chanel every day at lunch. It’s a warm cozy break from the world.

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tyme@reddit

I do, though I usually skip a large part of season 1. Some of those episodes just aren’t worth a 3rd+ watch (some maybe not even a second).

As to why? I’m gonna go with because it’s a good show. There’s also the fact it kinda presents a hopeful future for humanity, despite the hardships the world goes through between modern day and then, and that can cheer us up when the world’s looking bleak.

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Miller335@reddit (OP)

I agree but season 1 is like the barrier of entry to me at this point. Enjoy it for what it is and get to the meat and potatoes.

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wizardrous@reddit

I don’t know. I watch it way more often!

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Overall_Falcon_8526@reddit

It bears rewatching better than most other shows.