Red Dwarf: 10 ways the Brit sci-fi sitcom proved it was as smart as Star Trek
It may be engineered for gags, but the 35-year-old show has never shied away from sophisticated sci-fi ideas.
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Star Trek is smart now?
On the one hand you have TNGepisodes like Damok, Inner Light, DS9: Duet, etc.
Then there's episodes which defy any attempts to categorize them, like Threshold.
Or Time's Arrow!
You're right, there are several smart episodes, but on average Red Dwarf is way smarter.
Always has been.
Ehhhh... the Abrams movies were decidedly un-smart.
Before that, though, I'd agree.
The TNG movies were starting to suffer from Action Movie Syndrome before then, alas. The curse of having a big budget these days is that you get lots of focus groups meddling to try and give the movie "broader appeal." Plus, IIRC Patrick Stewart was also starting to gain a lot of influence at that point and made a bunch of demands to have Picard be more action-oriented.
Anyway. Basic point is that Star Trek has had an un-smart period, but once upon a time it was smart. And perhaps it's starting to get smart again, Strange New Worlds and Lower Decks have been quite promising in that regard IMO.
I was having a great time with Abrams' Star Trek up until Spok's mom dies and Vulcan was destroyed. :(
They had their moments. One thing I never liked about the show was how afraid the writers would get. They would stumble upon a horrible problem and just magic a solution sitcom style in under an hour. To be fair they did do it a few times. Borg and Picard. Nog and PTSD.