I do believe that Star Trek has become a sort of scripture, or mythology. It's clear a lot of viewers interpret it as such. Many episodes of The Next Generation are, in essence, morality plays. That genre doesn't exist anymore, but the old morality plays took themes from the Bible and Graeco-Roman mythology. The characters are anthropomorphized abstractions and archetypes. Greed, cruelty, mercy, pride stride across the stage, arguing their case. The canonical virtues are extolled, some adversity and tribulations are faced, and then good triumphs as we knew it was going to all along. Yet that doesn't dampen the enjoyment. It's the very point. We wish to see how bravery is rewarded and how cruelty is self-defeating. We wish to see how faith is never entirely lost. We want to hear impassioned pleas extolling mercy and self-discipline and camaraderie. It's very much out of fashion, but it is deeply comforting. I wonder if Star Trek takes on this role mostly for lack of competition.
A lot of TV series of the time were... A-Team, Knight Rider, MacGeyver.The difference was characters looking back at our generations, shaking heads how stupid and immature we behaved in our times. TNG delivered a utopy in a convincing and exciting way.
> themes from the Bible and Graeco-Roman mythology
That's true for a lot of stories/saga: Star Wars, LOTR, GoT etc.You have a hero with doubts, going on a journey to save something, living through adventures. (Nicely explained in Joseph Campbell's "The hero with a thousand faces")
Until today, I haven't found anything similar, that gave an idea of a better future for mankind that's achievable and explained without lecturing.
Oh, and unconnected short story episodes are gone. I miss that.
Its not that much. Enough to fund new shows but thats not a big amount in the large scheme of things.
Entertainment can be used to comfort, educate, generate hope, make people think etc but at the most fundamental level it causes a brief mental focus shift, from what ever it is people are dealing with in daily life. To produce such shifts show runners have learnt you don't need many of the elements in Star Trek. You can mesmerize people without them.
