Star Trek The General Star Trek Thread - From TOS to Corporate Schenanigans

[bullethead]

One of the legendary Big Three, Star Trek is a staple of western science fiction, with 13 movies and 7 TV series released to-date, plus innumerable comics, novels, and games. Feel free to discuss anything directly related to the media or production of Trek, as well as commentary on the franchise and fanworks derived from it.

Upcoming Shows (as of August 2019):

Star Trek: Picard

Memory Alpha contains spoilers to released material only. No information about this series can be added until CBS or an identified studio source discusses information with a press outlet, such as a news service. Because Memory Alpha does not want to include unconfirmed data, please use the talk...

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Star Trek: Lower Decks

Memory Alpha contains spoilers to released material only. No information about this series can be added until CBS or an identified studio source discusses information with a press outlet, such as a news service. Because Memory Alpha does not want to include unconfirmed data, please use the talk...

memory-alpha.fandom.com

Untitled animated series

An as-yet untitled Star Trek series is an animated series that will follow Star Trek: Lower Decks. According to Alex Kurtzman, "there will be a minimum of two animated series as he continues to build out the franchise." With regards to this series, Kurtzman stated that unlike Lower Decks, this...

memory-alpha.fandom.com

Untitled Section 31 series

An untitled Star Trek series, to be released on Paramount+, will star Michelle Yeoh, playing the role of the mirror Philippa Georgiou, as a member of Section 31. [1] The series will be produced by CBS Studios, Secret Hideout, and Roddenberry Entertainment, with Alex Kurtzman, Heather Kadin, Rod...

memory-alpha.fandom.com

 

[Es Arcanum]

Is the incorrect spelling on 'shenanigans' deliberate?

I think Star Trek is a victim of its own success and prominence. It was always prone to progressivist ideas and such because that was the shows whole schtick as a utopian future in spaaaaace. But the idea of 'progressivism' has been hijacked and taken over by deconstructionist and identitarian cultists now.

Hollywood and the media industry is ridden with them and given their own creative bankruptcy and objectives of deconstructing everything, they latch on to any successful franchise as a vehicle for their agenda. The more successful the franchise the more attractive it is to them to takeover. Dr Who was destroyed even the mass appealing Star Wars has been laid low, Star Trek with its already lowered immunity never stood a chance.

I think its overly optimistic to think that 'Picard' will succeed when the only reason anyone is even giving it a chance is the involvement of Patrick Stewart. He's a great actor but he's not the force behind the show or the one who will be writing the storylines and characters. Other than nostalgia and callbacks to when Star Trek was actually somewhat good what has the new show even got to offer?

I think it would be best for Star Trek to go into cryosleep for a few years to be revived after the current trend in SJW insanity has mostly passed, reviving it now in my view just runs the high risk of the franchise becoming forever associated with the stench.

 

[Battlegrinder]

I like how the uniforms on Low Decks are almost an DS9/STO uniform, but with the main body going back to the colored style from TOS/TNG and the front flap of the films. It's a nice mix of the various styles and uniforms, though I'm somewhat mystified as to why we needed yet another uniform variant.

 

[The Original Sixth]

One of the legendary Big Three, Star Trek is a staple of western science fiction, with 13 movies and 7 TV series released to-date, plus innumerable comics, novels, and games. Feel free to discuss anything directly related to the media or production of Trek, as well as commentary on the franchise and fanworks derived from it.

Upcoming Shows (as of August 2019):

Star Trek: Picard

Memory Alpha contains spoilers to released material only. No information about this series can be added until CBS or an identified studio source discusses information with a press outlet, such as a news service. Because Memory Alpha does not want to include unconfirmed data, please use the talk...

memory-alpha.fandom.com

Star Trek: Lower Decks

Memory Alpha contains spoilers to released material only. No information about this series can be added until CBS or an identified studio source discusses information with a press outlet, such as a news service. Because Memory Alpha does not want to include unconfirmed data, please use the talk...

memory-alpha.fandom.com

Untitled animated series

An as-yet untitled Star Trek series is an animated series that will follow Star Trek: Lower Decks. According to Alex Kurtzman, "there will be a minimum of two animated series as he continues to build out the franchise." With regards to this series, Kurtzman stated that unlike Lower Decks, this...

memory-alpha.fandom.com

Untitled Section 31 series

An untitled Star Trek series, to be released on Paramount+, will star Michelle Yeoh, playing the role of the mirror Philippa Georgiou, as a member of Section 31. [1] The series will be produced by CBS Studios, Secret Hideout, and Roddenberry Entertainment, with Alex Kurtzman, Heather Kadin, Rod...

memory-alpha.fandom.com

What the fuck is this abomination on my screen?

Fuck, is nothing sacred?

They've ruined Halo, Star Wars, Mass Effect, Doctor Who, and Star Trek.

Thank God they've never heard of Babylon 5.

We're going to need to start our own franchise if we want any decent fucking stories again.

 

[Deleted member 1]

Mass media ultimately is about influencing the way we think and behave, and preexisting franchises provide a nice way to create a wedge into our minds. It’s quite amazing to consider how the fluff material of Star Trek in the 1960s - 1980s incorporated things like the Europa Dam at Gibraltar but the scope and scale of the vision steadily reduced in favour of inclusionism and tokenism. Teaching people how to aim lower in their dreams, essentially.

The original Star Trek was a materialistic utopia, transcendental and capable of tapping into the power of our belief. I still adore all the time I spent with it, but one of my challenges has been untangling the positive old memories from the new ones. Babylon 5 is nice that way.

 

[bullethead]

I think its overly optimistic to think that 'Picard' will succeed when the only reason anyone is even giving it a chance is the involvement of Patrick Stewart. He's a great actor but he's not the force behind the show or the one who will be writing the storylines and characters. Other than nostalgia and callbacks to when Star Trek was actually somewhat good what has the new show even got to offer?

Well, a more interesting premise than Star Trek: Discovery and people who give more of a fuck about continuity and canon than not at all. Plus it's probably got a better resolution to the Borg than the novels whipped up. It's also got someone who actually knows/understands scifi running the show, which automatically gives it much better odds of being good than Discovery.

I like how the uniforms on Low Decks are almost an DS9/STO uniform, but with the main body going back to the colored style from TOS/TNG and the front flap of the films. It's a nice mix of the various styles and uniforms, though I'm somewhat mystified as to why we needed yet another uniform variant.

I think it's because the showrunner is a big TNG fan. How big? He ran the TNG S8 twitter and then fleshed out his joke episode tweets in the book Warped, which is where I got my sig from.

Fun fact: there's a fake episode in that book called "The Lowest Decks". It's about scrub ensigns assigned to menial tasks.

 

[MikeKozlowski]

.....Well, FWIW - your mileage may vary, of course - I'm actually pretty satisfied with Disco (or as some wags have called it, STD ) . There are some plot holes big enough to drive a Dreadnaught through, and I ain't at all sure where the 2nd season's McGuffin is headed, but overall, it's good.

My biggest complaint - and it looks like they turned this up to 11 for the second season - is that LCDR Burnham would with the 'Most Mary Sue' award at the World Mary Sue Festival on World Mary Sue Day. She's NEVER wrong, she always sees just a bit deeper than everybody else, and she has self-confidence of epic proportions. If the writers would throttle her back a bit, it would be just about right.

Mike

 

[bullethead]

Paramount and CBS merged together:
CBS And Viacom Finally Re-Tie The Knot, Merging After 13 Years As Separate Companies

Ending years of fitful discussions that played out against a backdrop of operatic corporate drama and media industry consolidation, CBS and Viacom have finally agreed to merge. The deal reunites them and pools assets such as Paramount Pictures, CBS, Showtime and MTV in a new entity to be called ViacomCBS Inc. after 13 years of the two operating in largely separate media domains.

Under the all-stock deal, Viacom shareholders will get 0.59625 CBS shares for each non-voting share they own, which is an exchange ratio a bit below Viacom’s closing price last Friday. Regulatory approval of the merger is expected in the next several months.

The fair market value of the tie-up as of today is about $30 billion. The combined annual revenue of the new company is $28 billion.

How this affects Trek:
‘Star Trek’ Poised To Become New Marvel? CBS & Viacom Merger Brings Franchise Under One Fleet

Taking a page from the now Fox-expanded Disney book, new ViacomCBS kingpin Bob Bakish made very clear just now on today’s investor call, Star Trek and the Mission Impossible franchises have significant potential to leverage “across all the companies’ platforms.” Soon to be minted CBS CEO Joe Ianniello hit the drum hard himself when he added with an international angle that “scale is becoming more and more important all the time.”

...

It may not be Marvel yet but it certainly has the potential to rival the Disney-own comic giant with a legacy and currency that is almost as valuable – especially as part of Shari Redstone’s overall strategy is a great global footprint.

At this very early stage, we hear that any great Trek will fall under the fiefdom of the David Stapf-run CBS Studios – as we await who truly rules what and whether a fourth Star Trek movie in the latest reboot round is truly coming in an R-rated form from Quentin Tarantino or whoever.

 

[Deleted member 1]

.....Well, FWIW - your mileage may vary, of course - I'm actually pretty satisfied with Disco (or as some wags have called it, STD ) . There are some plot holes big enough to drive a Dreadnaught through, and I ain't at all sure where the 2nd season's McGuffin is headed, but overall, it's good.

My biggest complaint - and it looks like they turned this up to 11 for the second season - is that LCDR Burnham would with the 'Most Mary Sue' award at the World Mary Sue Festival on World Mary Sue Day. She's NEVER wrong, she always sees just a bit deeper than everybody else, and she has self-confidence of epic proportions. If the writers would throttle her back a bit, it would be just about right.

Mike

Burnham's Devi-like status as a perfect individual and the dubious continuity choices like what Klingons look like are, I think, really the only two faults of the show. It isn't terrible really; the idea of the herbivore race however is rather clearly stolen from The Great Starship Race, one of the best TOS novels.

 

[The Original Sixth]

Burnham's Devi-like status as a perfect individual and the dubious continuity choices like what Klingons look like are, I think, really the only two faults of the show. It isn't terrible really; the idea of the herbivore race however is rather clearly stolen from The Great Starship Race, one of the best TOS novels.

I have to disagree to some extent.

Things like what the Klingons look like, I do not think was a damning problem. It was a problem and it was certainly one that should never have even existed, but to be entirely fair, the reality is that this is an alternate universe, despite what CBS and Paramount wanted people to believe. Really, the Klingons looking different and being portrayed a bit differently didn't bother me all that much.

My problem directly stems from the politically motivated writing. Look, lots of writing have political motivations. I've certainly read worse, but I rarely see worse than what I did on STD and I've rarely seen it executed more poorly. These characters are insufferable. That autistic ginger chick is more insufferable than Wesley Crusher, the token gay guy is an insufferable prick--Crusher at his worst was not as arrogant and condescending as that shitbag, and Burnham (subtle) is the typical Mary Sue who must be proven right by the universe, because apparently she's deathly allergic to humility.

The writers were so intent on their anti-Trump agenda, that they couldn't even set up a proper narrative of in-group vs out-group preference or the logical comparison of nationalism vs globalism (interstellarism?), but rather boil it down to the most literal skin-deep analogies they could find.

Honestly, you can find better fan fic writers online who'd have done this shit for free. How anyone thought they'd get a sustainable audience to pay for this on an exclusive web service is...well, it probably involves a lot of drugs and political feedback loops.

 

[commanderkai]

So I was able to obtain a copy of the "What you Left Behind: DS9 Documentary" and gave it a watch. It was really good. Some of the political elements were a bit eye-rolly, but what can you do?

Sadly, the issue with Jadzia leaving in season 6 isn't fully settled, but ah well. I doubt we'll ever know who was really at fault, but it did bring in Ezri (and Nicole De Boer has not aged in 20 years. Hot damn)

I do like the concept for a season 8 set 20ish years after the initial series. I love the idea of how they bring up Sisko's sacrifice at the end of season 7 and how they change up DS9. They came up with an idea for tensions between Bajor and the Federation. I won't spoil it for anybody who is interested in watching it in the future.

Avoid spoiler for some of what they shared for season 8.

Spoiler

Although their idea to kill off Nog is fucking terrible. Put him in a coma instead.

 

[MrBirthday]

Paramount and CBS merged together:

I'm reminded of the videos Midnight's Edge did, claiming that the "Prime" timeline wasn't the canon that we were familiar with, but done under a separate license. Well, with the re-merger, it doesn't matter if it's true or not. Any rights issues there might have been are now moot.

 

[AndrewJTalon]

I don't mind them updating the looks of the technology or the sets compared to TOS: We have to accept that TOS had budget limitations and that it was the 60s. So updating the technology and such to a certain extent? I don't mind it too much. Making it look exactly like the Abrams universe? It's annoying but fine, needs must and all.

Insulting and disregarding the fanbase and the show lore, the tumor that was Michael Burnham's story, the political nonsense, and cutting to a Mirror Universe plot in the middle of a war wtih the Klingons? Those are what killed Discovery for me. The second season was only slightly better but same issues: Too much focus on Burnham to the detriment of everyone else. Even Voyager didn't focus on Seven of Nine this much! And at least she had flaws and had to grow as a person! And don't get me wrong, I loved Seven as a character but I thought she was getting overused by the end as a plot device.

Lorca's story was far more interesting, and would have filled out an entire season by itself. How he got treated as a villain by the Discovery crew despite his greatest sin really being that he lied to them about being from the Mirror Universe was cheap and poorly written. He was committed to saving the Federation! He was happy to let Discovery go back home and rule the Empire! And compared to the Emperor (more annoying gender politics), he was a far better choice for the rulership of the Terran Empire! At least he wasn't completely insane and cared about the people under him!

Everyone else were annoying or boring but serviceable. And it is typical for the first season or so of any Trek series to be bad or mediocre-Hell, look at TNG and Voyager's first and second seasons. They were trainwrecks. DS9's first two seasons had some goofy and terrible episodes too (though was buoyed up by a few episodes that were exceptional in the entirety of the franchise). They are always struggling to find their footing and what the show is about. And it's not like Discovery is unique in having politics ruin things: Roddenberry's obsession with his hyper liberal paradise and making capitalists look bad (the Ferengi) are what had to be killed off to save TNG.

So maybe Discovery can turn around now that Burnham is off time travelling or whatever. Or maybe they'll make a Pike series: I'd watch that. And maybe Picard will be good. We'll just have to see.

 

[bullethead]

We have a premiere date:
TrekMovie.com on Twitter

According to Patrick Stewart’s Facebook account, Star Trek: Picard will premiere on Thursday, January 23rd! #StarTrekPicard

 

[Deleted member]

I'm reminded of the videos Midnight's Edge did, claiming that the "Prime" timeline wasn't the canon that we were familiar with, but done under a separate license. Well, with the re-merger, it doesn't matter if it's true or not. Any rights issues there might have been are now moot.

The timeline at this point is just so chaotic that it's reasonable to assume that it's been almost constantly edited by time travel -- which the series more or less implies is the case, so that's hardly a surprise.

 

[MrBirthday]

The timeline at this point is just so chaotic that it's reasonable to assume that it's been almost constantly edited by time travel -- which the series more or less implies is the case, so that's hardly a surprise.

You misunderstand. The claim made by Midnight's Edge was that the "Prime" timeline that Old Spock and Nero's crew came from (for example) was not the timeline of the shows and movies to date, but something that Paramount was fraudulently passing off as such, due to rights issues. I was observing that with the CBS-Viacom remerger, if there was any truth to those claims, it's all moot now.

 

[Deleted member]

You misunderstand. The claim made by Midnight's Edge was that the "Prime" timeline that Old Spock and Nero's crew came from (for example) was not the timeline of the shows and movies to date, but something that Paramount was fraudulently passing off as such, due to rights issues. I was observing that with the CBS-Viacom remerger, if there was any truth to those claims, it's all moot now.

Oh, I would have agreed with that before they declared it not the case.

 

[MikeKozlowski]

We have a premiere date:
TrekMovie.com on Twitter

Just finished watching the trailer.

They're gettin' the band back together.....

Mike

 

[bullethead]

Also, Star Trek: Discovery dropped a season 3 trailer, which is just Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda, but it has this nugget of glory (have to link to SB, because embedding Twitter images doesn't work):

https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/61671520/

 

[Deleted member]

We really should make embedding images work... I will at least look at it.