3. Subtlety
Back in the 1960s, TOS was a pretty progressive show, featuring a fairly diverse cast that included Asians, blacks, and Russians, that tackled social issues of the time in various ways. While it certainly inspired many people in America and the rest of the world, one downside to Star Treks success in social commentary was the sense that Trek had to do it a lot to be Trek. While some of these episodes were great (even Voyager had a winner in Living Witness), a great many of these episodes were bad or worse, dull beyond belief. When it comes to getting a message across, less is often more. For the 1960s, mixed race crewmembers in the background worked because the lack of focus on their race made their presence seem natural. A lot of modern Trek, especially Voyager and Enterprise, beat viewers over the head with messages about all sorts of issues, instead of showing how the characters reacted to them. Deep Space 9, particularly in the Dominion War, managed to avoid that a lot of the time by presenting viewers and characters with a question or situation and letting them figure out whether the right choices were made. That approach should be the model for Trek from here on out give the audience credit for their intelligence and theyll keep coming back to your show.