So that no one will be confused by any previous entry, my primary nerdy allegiance belongs to Star Trek.

Star Trek: the Next Generation was one of the shows I remember my parents watching when I was very young. I joined the fandom, though long after the show’s original run from 1987 to 1994. Despite that there were [and are] more complex, exciting television shows to be viewed, in the sci-fi genre or otherwise, I still gladly claim Star Trek as a favorite.

Star Trek introduced a thoughtful element into television that other shows could not quite capture. [The anthropological principle of The Prime Directive is something that I still think about often.] Still, as thoughtful as the show was, it stayed interesting, keeping continuity [most of the time] and remaining loyal to the action of space exploration. However, despite these praises, I worry for Star Trek.

The later series—Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise—began appealing to only the Trekkie audience, widening the already-existing gap between normal people and people who watch Star Trek. While the show did not sell out as much as Star Wars, it consciously delved into sci-fi esoterica. The films did not especially help Star Trek’s case; they alternated between success and failure from 1979 to 2002, yet few of the films escaped the obscurity, either.

With the entertainment series running over forty years now, I cannot help but wonder if it is time to retire the starship Enterprise. With a new feature film in the works, I wonder how much better could it get? Or rather, how much worse? Will another film widen the gap even further, continuing the marginalization of Star Trek fans, or will the series experience a rebirth of interest and a new fandom?

Ultimately, it does not matter to me as much as it might have at one time. I have come to recognize that most people do not watch and understand Star Trek, nor do they have any desire to. That being the case, it is somewhat socially perilous to admit avid watching of the show. [In fact, I am in jeopardy for writing this at all.] And so, I have relegated Star Trek to a lower television tier, beneath my other favs that I have written far too much about.

However, I still claim the show, with nostalgia and admitted nerdiness. And I will undoubtedly be a patron of this upcoming film, though probably not at the midnight showing dressed in Klingon garb.

[If you prefer to think of me without this additional geekiness, feel free to block all of this out of your mind. However, if I were a betting man, I would wager that my nerdiness is beyond saving anyway.]