How to Understand Why Star Trek is so Popular

Can't figure out why Star Trek is so popular? Or are you someone trying to explain to others why Star Trek is so good? Well, you've come to the right place. Being a long-time trekker (prefer that over trekky), I've come up a with a methodical list of the reason why Star Trek is such a good show (reruns are still just as popular today).

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Open mind

1. First, Star Trek has had some of the best writers of any show on TV. In my opinion, The Original Series (Captain Kirk) and The Next Generation (Captain Picard) were certain the best written series. Combine the talents of the writers with the freedom that science fiction (actually, this is more fantasy than science fiction) provided them and you start to realize how good the shows were. The shows were extremely creative ranging from the full gamut of action/adventure to mystery to romance to even comedy. Very few other shows can claim to have that breadth of coverage.
2. The success of Star Trek is in many ways built on its characters. These characters are larger than life. This is true for many other TV shows, but how many shows last for 40 years and have theatrical movies made based on them? Characters like Kirk, Spock, Picard, etc. are endearing characters. We easily respond to them since they have such established backgrounds and histories. They are larger than life due to their heroics, philosophies, daring, intelligence, and humor. With such likeable characters, it's not hard to imagine why the shows have been successful.
3. With all the creativity that the Star Trek plots have involved, they are still rooted in contemporary social issues. They've dealt with issues of politics, slavery, rape, torture, racism, bigotry, sexism, death, family, etc. They've dealt with just about any issue you can think of. This is probably why people have been able to identify with the stories and the characters. And it's refreshing to see how a future world/generation deals with these issues that we face in our lives.
4. In our mundane, hectic, and imperfect lives (lives in a "crude" society), it's nice to fantasize about living in a future society where the goal is not to amass wealth (at least not among those on earth and many in the Federation of Planets, but to work toward to enrichment and advancement of the human race (or all planets).
5. Well, I hope you now have a much better understanding of why Star Trek is so popular. If you're already a trekker, you'll be able to articulate more clearly why Star Trek is such a great show.