Beyond the fact that classifying fans by presumed ages tends to get one into unhelpful frictions, I actually find at this point that many of the older fans who saw TOS in first run are the ones who are more likely to roll with the changes than the somewhat younger fans who got into the franchise through TOS syndicated reruns or TNG. On average, many of those would be Gen Xers.

It’s kind of ironic that it seems that many who were ready to embrace new characters, eras, tone in the late 80s and 90s now often are the least open to something new, and most vocal.

Certainly, back in the 80s and 90s, there were OG TOS diehards saying only the original 1701 and her crew were ‘real Trek’. They were vocal at cons, in fanzines and anywhere else that they could express their outrage. They were relentless, and it seemed that Voyager and Enterprise both suffered from Paramount’s attempts to satisfy their complaints.

These don’t however seem to be the fans who are complaining about SNW for the most part. While there are they odd few, most of the oldest fans who saw TOS in first run seem to be delighted with SNW and rolling with it.

Akiva Goldsman is himself an OG fan who attended the first convention ever in NYC in the 70s. Age-wise he falls at the very end of the boomers and the beginning of Gen X as do many of us who watch TOS in first run as young kids. He’s got a good grip on the vibe of TOS that he’s trying to recapture and it seems that many of us who saw TOS as kids are welcoming that.