bkev said:

I can't get invested in a show that long that ultimately doesn't really go anywhere*.

I thought they went lots of places during the show ;)

Seriously, though, I think Star Trek is a terrific character-driven show. I love TNG for its character arcs, especially with regards to Data and Picard. I don't particularly care that there's no grand story arc--I'm all about the inner journeys.

...

not to mention that shows that attempt to have a grand, plot-driven story typically fail miserably in my experience. X Files and Lost are a couple examples that immediately come to mind.