Quote:
Originally Posted by
Josh Z 
The original Star Trek live action series was also not successful. The special effects were cheap-looking, some of the acting was weak, and the soundtrack was limited, with lots of stock sounds. Some of the scripts were clearly aimed at children, and suffered for it. The execution hurt the show.
I guess the lesson learned here is that Star Trek could never work in any media, right? Oh...
Uh, not exactly.
My comments about the animated series were in contrast with the original:
- The special effects were state of the art for TV at that time. The animation was not. They also clearly used the same stock footage of the characters for episode after episode
- Overall, the acting by the principle actors was good in the original series, but some of those same actors sounded like they were cold-reading off the script. This may be partly due to most of the actors recording their dialog separately, thereby lacking the interplay missing from the classic
- The soundtrack for the live-action show had specific music written for specific episodes, with sound effects that were developed for the show. The animated series largely used recycled sounds from both the original series and with other Filmation properties, show after show
- Some of the scripts of the original series contained childish elements. Most of the scripts for the animated series were primarily aimed at a child audience
That said, the medium did offer one advantages over the classic series: Aliens and planets could be much more diverse, freeing the imagination of the writers.
So, no, it doesn't show that Star Trek couldn't work in any media. Rather, it shows that it could work in either. The animated series just didn't live up to the standard set by the original, due to poor execution.
Scott