It also shouldn't go unmentioned that the producers on the show prevented a lot of queer stuff from happening. There's the episode of TNG where Frakes falls in love with a non-binary alien (who I believe was supposed to be played by a man, but was ultimately played by a woman) and then there's all of Garak and Bashir, which only has a queer subtext due to the actors.
I love the shows, but like you said they were made by a lot of people and some of those people weren't great.
Frakes is a mensch. He'd been talking about how he wanted a male actor in that guest role for decades. Who would have guessed in the mid 1980s that the man brought on for the Kirk Womanizer 2.0 role would have turned out to be among the best LGBT+ allies in the franchise, playing a character who had a basically flawless record for wanting extremely clear consent from partners?
Sometimes I wonder what TNG would have been like if Stewart had left the show after season 3 with Frakes taking on top billing. We might have even been spared the awful TNG movies where Stewart's ego took over the writing room.
It also shouldn't go unmentioned that the producers on the show prevented a lot of queer stuff from happening. There's the episode of TNG where Frakes falls in love with a non-binary alien (who I believe was supposed to be played by a man, but was ultimately played by a woman) and then there's all of Garak and Bashir, which only has a queer subtext due to the actors.
I love the shows, but like you said they were made by a lot of people and some of those people weren't great.
Frakes is a mensch. He'd been talking about how he wanted a male actor in that guest role for decades. Who would have guessed in the mid 1980s that the man brought on for the Kirk Womanizer 2.0 role would have turned out to be among the best LGBT+ allies in the franchise, playing a character who had a basically flawless record for wanting extremely clear consent from partners?
Sometimes I wonder what TNG would have been like if Stewart had left the show after season 3 with Frakes taking on top billing. We might have even been spared the awful TNG movies where Stewart's ego took over the writing room.
We might have a sick modern Ryker show instead of a meh Picard show.
The fact we never got Star Trek: Titan is something I'll never forgive.
Best I can do is this (and it's still kind of awesome).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFbABDEmCAA
That's the scene that sold me on lower decks. I also love that the TNG theme is "Riker's music".