I've seen a lot of theories that the writers behind the show don't like Star Trek, or science fiction, or whatever, but I'd like to propose an alternate hypothesis.
That the writers know nothing BUT pop culture genre media.
That their entire lives have been spent discussing the minutia of Star Wars/Trek/LOTR/capeshit on internet sites, writing slash fanfiction with 7of9, and wondering what kind of porn Romulans are into.
That they see everything through a lens of geek culture references because they have little to no experiance at, well, life.
nonono, you're confusing different types of people.
if you are the kind of nerd like us, who not only reads stuff on the internet but actually participates in it, there's an exchange of opinions, ideas, knowledge etc. when you have a discussion about something or outright disagreements inevitably it broadens your horizon, because your interest is genuine and you're excited enough about the material that you talk about it in your spare time, to the point you look into stuff to get a better understanding.
also, this might sound a bit arrogant, but there aren't a lot of "dumb" nerds.
the other is the "faux nerd" who has only surface knowledge because he simply has no interest in the material in itself but it's popularity or the power that he can exploit. like the chick in high school who wore a nirvana shirt and didn't know who kurt cobain was or an SCP admin.
or you're a hack and can't cut it in the real world but it's "nerd shit" so "easy to write" and you still like the admiration and "fans", especially when you latch on to a popular franchise (like chuck wendig). even shippers usually care and put more effort into their shit than those people.
not saying those camps are mutually exclusive, but if you actually care about it you would never rape it to the extend star wars and star trek have been, because that take's actual effort and people that allow you to do so.
will there be a nerd (or someone who can look up shit on a wiki) on the nutrek team? sure, probably an intern or shitty assistant job, because no way those people get a cushy writing gig. you can also see how the hacks write the shit backwards. "we need a character die gruesome for drama, preferably established already for the "fans" and so we don't have to write a backstory", then they ask the nerd if there's a borg (because 7of9) who knows picard, who then says "well, there's hugh..." but before he can go further into it the writers already jerk each other off how clever they are. there's no discussion if it fits the character or if it would be what actual fans would want to see, it's just something to plug into an already established story, not a story based on the characters you use or something that grows organically based on the universe.
My partner is watching Voyer again. It's the first Star Trek series I've seen start to finish so I have a soft spot for it but god damn does Neelix get on my tits. I find myself spending most scenes he appears in hurling abuse at him. Am I alone in this?
never got the hate for neelix. I mean his whole point is to annoy the crew and offer a "non starfleet" perspective, it never really annoyed me personally. or maybe the character works better than planned, who knows?
I'm in a weirdly opposite situation to you. Other than some barely remembered TNG back when it aired which I watched the odd episode of (all I really remember is an episode where some one-off low-level crewman is living out this weird holodeck fantasy and thinking that was really good at the time. And Data saying "I'm fully equipped" before having sex with a blonde woman. But dabbling in this thread to replenish my sodium levels piqued by curiosity and got me watching Voyager.
I'm curious what you gonna think about it after watching TNG next.
still mostly managed that. Picard... It really doesn't. I get part of a story, followed by a cliffhanger.
