From what I've seen, most ST fans, TV critics, and even the actors and production staff on Voyager hated the show. I've even read that Brannon Braga loathed it but since it was his opportunity to sleep with Jeri Ryan he put his opinions on the back burner. In regards to the actors and actresses, I think I've read at various places that Kate Mulgrew, Robert Beltran, and various other main cast members also detested the show for various reasons. Two questions: 1) Has there ever been another long lasting TV series (five seasons or more) that was so widely loathed. 2) Why did they keep it around as long as they did?
1) Easy if you include Reality TV, or telenovelas. But season-style scripted drama, I can't think of obviously worse examples, just many that were equally bad. 2) Money! Lots of people were still watching.
They kept it around because of UPN. It was their flagship show. Almost every other show on UPN got cancelled quickly except for Voyager and Moesha. And I think most of the TNG fans stuck around for at least the first few seasons, until the awfulness of the show could no longer be ignored. I stuck with it through the end of season 4 and then only watched sporadically afterwards. The years from 1992 to 1996 were probably Star Trek at its peak (in terms of pop culture awareness). At least some of Voyager fell into that range.
For a TV series to gather really longlasting hatred, being bad isn't enough ... there's lots of bad TV, and most people, while they may mock it occasionally, just ignore it. But if it's associated with a franchise that people love, that gives them the motive to keep hating it, since they can perceive it as hurting something they like.
Hatred implies that there was any love lost to begin with. Certainly, there was disappointment in how Trek's overall legacy was being fucked up, but for Voyager itself? More like apathy. In comparison, it's been nearly eleven years since The Finale (tm) for Enterprise aired. Not a visit goes by to that forum where there isn't a thread on that topic, and I'd wager the number of finale threads outnumber the ones on shipping (which says a lot). Was there any kind of Voyager episode beside maybe Tuvix that ever sparked any such passion? Enterprise was arguably the worse of the two show, but Voyager was far less memorable, IMO.
This. To hate something, you have to care. Voyager was absolutely crappy cookie-cutter television, but largely inoffensive. Enterprise was simply horrific right from the start and took a giant shit all over the franchise. And no, contrary to popular belief, it didn't get any better in it's final season. All the producers did was hire some new staff to jerk the hardcore loser fans off. The show still failed.
Voyager had what could have been a good premise, but the things that happened just got to be so utterly ridiculous & absurd, the show, in many ways, shot its own premise in both feet. Encountering fellow Alpha & Beta Quadrant species time & again. The overkill (ab)use of The Borg! All that convoluted nonsense with 7 of 9's folks following & studying The Borg [WTF?!?!] many YEARS before "Q Who?", & in the Delta Quadrant to boot Their endless supply of this, that, & the other thing, & the total ignoring of the SCARCITY of resources they would be dealing with, which would worsen as time went on. WHY have them come home?!?! I could go on & on ...
Remember Brannon Braga himself addressed this. He acknowledged that the ship SHOULD be running out of everything and breaking down. But he said that to him the overall theme was already "too depressing" and the "wear down and run out" idea would just make things even worse.
No you didn't. Nobody did. One of my sisters hated it but watched it just for spite because she knew I didn't like having a female captain.
As surprising as it might seem to you, Voyager has a great deal of fans. Personally, I think it was shit and was when Berman Trek started it's slow descent in quality.
Almost everything that hits the television or the big screen has a few million people who like it. Just look at Abramstrek.
I always felt the bridge on Voyager was impressive. Just hated that it had Kathryn Janeway, Chakotay, Tom Paris, and Harry Kim on it.
It was both aesthetically pleasing and functional. I didn't hate the Voyager characters, I just found them boring most of the time. The writers and producers were the real weak link of the show.
Of all the Star Trek commanding officers we've had so far, in my opinion Janeway was both the worst conceived of and the worst executed in terms of writing. To me, Picard (TNG boredom not withstanding) was the hands down best.
RE: Janeway & Crew's gallivanting around the Delta Quadrant - * They had an endless supply of photorps! * Holodecks that never went out of service. Ditto for The Doctor given he was of the same tech. * How about losing the transporters completely? For several episodes, or a whole season, or permanently? * You'd think more of the crew would've ended up dead, mutinied, went their own way [via stolen shuttles?], been kidnapped, Entc Ent al! * Have the ship coming apart in various ways over time. This would force them to stop at places in the DQ like Jakku in "TFA" or Tattooine in "ANH", in order to trade &/or sell for needed necessary ship parts & components. * Having to break the Prime Directive! There would no doubt be situations leaving them no other choice. This could tie back to the previous bullet point possibly, at least a little bit anyway. * Slightly older sibling show DS9 stated Odo has 99 fellow goo siblings scattered all around the Milky Way. Janeway & Co. could've ran into at least ONE of them yes? Interesting to see if she/he/it would be an "Odo" or a "Laas"? Blown opportunity here. * The way Voyager became towards & at the end was so ridiculously ludicrous. Even for Voyager! The Doctor becoming an intragalactic author ["Photons Be Free!"]. The ship having regular screen to screen conversations with Starfleet Command in SF. Among other absurd things. * WHY have Neelix leave the ship? He should've stayed with them thru the end(IMO)! Whether that end be Voyager coming home(?), or preferably, the series ending on an open note, Voyager still stuck in the DQ ... heading for home! Or they could've had it so NEELIX makes it to the Alpha or Beta Quadrant ... ALONE! He makes it back here via some story ... yada yada yada blah blah blah, but Janeway & the rest are still stuck back in the Delta Quadrant! They could've ended the series with this ironic finale! And that would clearly have been an open ended series finale to boot. * But alas, we're stuck with: in SPAAAAAAAAAAAACE!!!!
