September 7 2020
The latest Trekzone Conversation looked interesting so I thought I’d tune in and listen to the thoughts of Matt and Lee.
The state of Star Trek is an interesting question, people have different thoughts on the shows present and future.
I think one of Star Trek’s biggest problems is that people are saying whatever is onscreen sucks before it is actually out and so people avoid it because YouTube etc is bombarded with videos saying it sucks or it is going to suck.
The debate about the state of Star Trek and the video bombardment is one reason why something like Axanar is still alive and kicking, there’s enough people that have a hatred for ViacomCBS and their running of Star Trek to want something that isn’t made by ViacomCBS and Alec Peters is the man with a plan that they like.
Another is that today’s TV style is so different now that shows aren’t really re-playable, I can watch most episodes of Star Trek, TAS, TNG, VOY, DS9 and ENT time and time again but Discovery and Picard are not shows that you can just stick on a random episode because everything is connected and you are watching one piece of a ten piece puzzle.
TV shows these days are not ‘episodic’ but are now one long story arc, Lost in Space is a series that all the episodes are connected to each other.
Stargate Atlantis and Universe had arcs that lasted many episodes and if you didn’t watch one you may of missed something important particularly with Universe (though I liked the show, I wonder what happened to Eli?).
Imagine if Law & Order had season arcs, that would of killed the show way before Season 20 because Briscoe probably would of ran out of quips early in the going and there was always a quip or two before they left the scene of the crime and if there’s only one crime in the arc then his quip days would of been numbered.
Fans have been calling on the writers of Star Trek to tell individual stories instead of season long arcs and hopefully that does happen in the future, Strange New Worlds will apparently go the episodic route and it will be interesting to see what happens in the court of public opinion.
Perhaps Kurtzman and the team are trying to give everyone a variety of show choices trying to avoid the franchise fatigue everyone complained about in 2005 when people thought it was the same old stuff but with a different name, who knows and who on earth would want to be working on Star Trek when people bang on about what is considered right or judging your stuff before it is actually released.
Clear your mind, sit back and watch Lower Decks, Discovery or Picard (if you can see them) and if you like it, that’s fine and if you don’t then that’s fine too because as Matt and Lee pointed out there are so many entertainment options out there, you cannot like everything that’s presented on a viewing screen (most Australian movies etc).
Until next time, be good to each other.
Mentioning Trekkie Mentions 