One has to wonder why Star Trek enjoys such a substantial and loyal fan base. Naturally, when originally conceived it was rather radical. The idea of a ship where people of all colours, creeds and nations worked together represented something totally inconceivable at a point in time when equality was still a long way off and the Cold War was decades.

Not only that but - and it's hard to believe these days - but the effects were something akin to cutting edge at the time. Understandably, this and the raunchy antics of Kirk made it popular. Then of course it got cancelled and wouldn't grace the small screen again until Patrick Stewart et al donned their pyjamas in The Next Generation.

Inherently, these spin-offs tended toward the original format of the original series - with the exception of DS9 and even it followed many of the conventions. There wasn't anything particularly earth shattering about any of the new shows... the effects were no longer cutting edge, the stories may have been at times interesting but they were seldom controversial or original. In fact, it would be fair to say that as time progressed, the show became even more standardised under the auspices of Berman.

Ignoring DS9 - which didn't come under Berman's control - one can see the Star Trek "product" become more and more refined. While one could lay many criticisms at the door of Enterprise and Voyager, their episodes were all incredibly polished and refined... to the level of almost mathematical precision. Of course, that tended to trap the shows in their own rut... where they just churned out episodes with no soul, just 40 minutes of life filler.

Enterprise finally managed to change with its third season and the Xindi war but - as with DS9 - there were regular breaks from the story arc for relatively unrelated stories and it had a somewhat improbable ending. At least it actually had an ending though, in stark contrast to the ill-fated Temporal Cold War which didn't really end, so much as just stop - making as little sense as it ever did.

As to DS9... well, it was the first attempt by Star Trek at long term story arcs - The Emissary one and the Dominion War - but really, the Emissary element was far more understated and the Domion War didn't really even get under way until the end of the season 2 and really, it was only season 7 that had consistent arcs... and they only bookended the season. We had a pretty grim and gritty start, followed by some of the most insipid episodes - Take Me To The Holodeck is an abomination - and then the closing arc... which managed to end with something akin to a clip show (with Terry Farrel notable by her absence).

Even if the quality of DS9 was on the wane after season 5, at least it could occasionally throw off the feeling that each episode could happen independent of the other. Voyager regularly threw its characters episodes which would probably scar most people but consistently hit the reset button to make sure they never remembered... shame they didn't use it on the Borg kids or Naomi Wildman. The problem being that you never really got a feeling that the characters were progressing.

Obviously, Data and The Doctor both undergo a degree of humanisation but fundamentally they're still the same people seven years on, somewhat less irritating to their crew mates but not really much else. Tom Paris is a cock any season you view. Sisko might shave off his hair, grow a goatee, get a promotion and change uniform but he's still prone to shouting. The format just didn't encourage writers to do anything permanent to characters... hell, it actively DISCOURAGED any change to the status quo... it was almost like the perma-stasis of a sitcom, everyone frozen in a moment in time for years on end.

Not only were the characters unchanging... but so were the episodes. Aliens of the week, random energy anomaly, ship malfunction (including everyone's favourite - the holodeck!) or "personal" episode - the ones where people undergo a life changing event... and then promptly forget pretty much sum up the staple of episodes. Naturally, with some time travel or season finales thrown in for good measure. Things were getting pretty repetitive by the time we got to the Xindi war... which offered only some relief.

When you think about it, Star Trek really hasn't done anything for its fans. Even the Xindi war was a kick in the teeth to fans - as if the whole Enterprise/prequel idea wasn't bad enough - as it meant the Earth/Romulan war (well known to many fans) was eschewed for something totally different that put in an entirely new race that - much like the Denobulans - were never seen or heard of in subsequent (chronological) shows... that and the Temporal Cold War was introduced

Of course, Voyager personified the problems with Star Trek - although, on the plus side... it so disgusted Ronald D. Moore that he went off and made BSG - unlike Enterprise, it never underwent a change of management... it might have been cancelled if not for the introduction of 7 of 9 and her slutty catsuits. Just as well fanboys saved the day, eh? Not really... Voyager just provided more of the Berman brand homogeneous product. If you want to waste 40 minutes (60 with ads) why bother with Star Trek... you could do it with anything and quite possibly better.

If anything, Star Trek actively kicked its fans in the nuts... Voyager, Enterprise, Star Trek: Insurrection, Star Trek: Nemesis... hardly delivering fans love. Berman and Braga made a good job of making substandard episodes. Generic and soul sucking. You'd go to anything for a franchise that fucked you over repeatedly? If you love it... it hates you.