Only the very wealthy in their Ivory Towers were able to see such things in the 90s.
Us peasants living in the wilderness only heard whispers of such great awesomeness.
Seriously though, as a kid in northern Ontario, we didn’t have cable and I was only ever able to see some episodes of TNG and never on a regular basis. I heard about Voyager and DS9 but I never had the chance to see any of them
It wasn’t until I got older and I bought the entire TNG series that I was able to see all of it in about 2000, then later Voyager on DVD about five years later and now I’m working my way through DS9 for the first time.
Star Trek was great when we were kids … most of us just weren’t able to afford to watch it back then.
All the Star Trek shows were on free to air TV in Australia, but at 11pm before a school day, so still not visible to kids unless they had nerdy parents that let them stay up specifically to watch it.
How could series back then afford to run more than two seasons? Like every tv channel I’ve ever had access to only bought the two first seasons then re-ran them over and over and over again, in random order. I was never able to finish a series until internet became popular.
Star Trek was very good at being made cheaply. That’s originally why they had transporters. You don’t need to film how they get from one location to another. And they did things like Shuttlepod One in Enterprise, where the entire episode literally takes place in one room.
Both TOS and TNG did both come very close to total cancellation though. I believe it was Lucille Ball that saved TOS
I was without cable in northern Ontario and most of the time we also saw a lot of stuff over the air with CBC and TVO … especially with Elwy Yost ‘Saturday Night At The Movies’ who gave me a great appreciation for classic film, film noir and everything black and white.
And it was weird … as a kid I complained to my parents about not being to watch anything so I just sat and watched Elwy Yost interview people and talk about old films while I never really understood anything … but over many years of seeing it all, it got me interested in wanting to know why these old films were so important … I now have a whole collection of these old classic films and I love watching them all … Thanks Elwy
Omg same! A part of me died when SNATM transitioned to his kid and then he died. My love of movies comes from him. I’m 46 but one of my favourite movies is the Angela Lansbury “The Picture of Dorian Gray” from 1945.
We also forgot Prisoners of Gravity! Seeing interviews with comic, sci-fi and fantasy authors talking about their craft!
The 80’s truly was a magical time for TV in Ontario.
In northern Ontario just outside the major centers, back then we were more or less closer to the dark side of the moon. I saw TNG on a pretty regular basis but you had to be very organized to catch an episode at the same time every week … and as a kid, I was never that organized. And I remember reading about Xena and seeing ads for it but I never understood it enough or had the opportunity to see an episode or have anyone around that could tell me about it … like every hormonal teenage boy, I loved the imagery but I missed the boat on that one.
Fair enough. The show is just a shade of the style Sam Raimi built in the Evil Dead series and became part of the resume that landed him Spider-Man. Fun, cheeky, with a quirky shooting style.
Only the very wealthy in their Ivory Towers were able to see such things in the 90s.
Us peasants living in the wilderness only heard whispers of such great awesomeness.
Seriously though, as a kid in northern Ontario, we didn’t have cable and I was only ever able to see some episodes of TNG and never on a regular basis. I heard about Voyager and DS9 but I never had the chance to see any of them
It wasn’t until I got older and I bought the entire TNG series that I was able to see all of it in about 2000, then later Voyager on DVD about five years later and now I’m working my way through DS9 for the first time.
Star Trek was great when we were kids … most of us just weren’t able to afford to watch it back then.
All the Star Trek shows were on free to air TV in Australia, but at 11pm before a school day, so still not visible to kids unless they had nerdy parents that let them stay up specifically to watch it.
We didn’t have cable and got it over the air. (Star Trek, not Xena.)
How could series back then afford to run more than two seasons? Like every tv channel I’ve ever had access to only bought the two first seasons then re-ran them over and over and over again, in random order. I was never able to finish a series until internet became popular.
Star Trek was very good at being made cheaply. That’s originally why they had transporters. You don’t need to film how they get from one location to another. And they did things like Shuttlepod One in Enterprise, where the entire episode literally takes place in one room.
Both TOS and TNG did both come very close to total cancellation though. I believe it was Lucille Ball that saved TOS
SW Ontario here but also spent a lot of childhood without cable.
TVO was a godsend allowing us to watch Black Adder, Red Dwarf and Doctor Who.
If I recall TOS was aired on CBC as well.
I was without cable in northern Ontario and most of the time we also saw a lot of stuff over the air with CBC and TVO … especially with Elwy Yost ‘Saturday Night At The Movies’ who gave me a great appreciation for classic film, film noir and everything black and white.
And it was weird … as a kid I complained to my parents about not being to watch anything so I just sat and watched Elwy Yost interview people and talk about old films while I never really understood anything … but over many years of seeing it all, it got me interested in wanting to know why these old films were so important … I now have a whole collection of these old classic films and I love watching them all … Thanks Elwy
Omg same! A part of me died when SNATM transitioned to his kid and then he died. My love of movies comes from him. I’m 46 but one of my favourite movies is the Angela Lansbury “The Picture of Dorian Gray” from 1945.
We also forgot Prisoners of Gravity! Seeing interviews with comic, sci-fi and fantasy authors talking about their craft!
The 80’s truly was a magical time for TV in Ontario.
Unfortunate, but at least you eventually got the opportunity. What about Xena: Warrior Princess?
In northern Ontario just outside the major centers, back then we were more or less closer to the dark side of the moon. I saw TNG on a pretty regular basis but you had to be very organized to catch an episode at the same time every week … and as a kid, I was never that organized. And I remember reading about Xena and seeing ads for it but I never understood it enough or had the opportunity to see an episode or have anyone around that could tell me about it … like every hormonal teenage boy, I loved the imagery but I missed the boat on that one.
Fair enough. The show is just a shade of the style Sam Raimi built in the Evil Dead series and became part of the resume that landed him Spider-Man. Fun, cheeky, with a quirky shooting style.
My intro to Trek was Voyager reruns on SPIKE at like 3am. It was wild. I’m so glad it’s more accessible now lol