Everybody having their own streaming service is starting to get on my nerves. Is this the future that the cord cutters envisioned for us? Instead of paying the cable company $100 a month for 1,000 channels you don't watch and 10 channels you do watch, now you can spend $100 a month for 10 channels you do watch.
New 'Star Trek' TV series planned for 2017, streaming on CBS All Access platform
- Thread starter WyndhamPrice
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STO is all sorts of wacky plots to me. Better if they keep the EU off in non-canon land.
Bobby Roberts
Banned
And even then, their first choice was Benicio Del Toro. Who is a great actor, but also not of Indian descent.
While I was hoping for a new TV Series and want to be excited this announcement is a little bit deflating. While I like the new Star Trek movies they are definitely not Star Trek. And putting the same people in charge for the TV series (which I hoped would be more true to the original Star Trek formula) makes me worried. I have to hear and see more before I will get excited for this.
UberTag
Member
These companies were always going to get our $100/month from us one way or the other.
They're just trying to find different ways of going about it.
S1 of TNG was a big upgrade from most of TOS, though.
firehawk12
Subete no aware
Yes. lol
And look at The Newsroom. People hate that show. I hate that show. lol
You can't have middle aged white guys in spandex yell at middle aged white guys in face masks about how they are being racist, especially when your show has one black guy on it who does nothing but stand there in order to fill a quota.
A new Star Trek would have to be drastically different from the old formula, if they wanted to do something that is meaningful to someone other than old fanboys who can't let go of Trek for whatever reason.
And yeah, I remember reading that about the episode, but it seems in more recent episode Farrell is much more positive. The other thing to remember at the time was that the "lesbian kiss episode" was all the rage in the 90s. It's the only homosexuality that you could comfortably show on TV because people seemed fine with two women kissing each other.
This is the thing that people don't understand. Paying ala carte means you pay more, unless you really only watch one or two "channels".
You could argue that Voyager and Enterprise never got good.
I'm not saying you're entirely wrong but I remember this argument doing the rounds when TNG was launching
You can have The Best of Both Worlds
Wat.
Bobby Roberts
Banned
Friend just asked me this question upon finding out the news.
"So... so this is gonna end up being some Blood & Chrome bullshit, isn't it"
"So... so this is gonna end up being some Blood & Chrome bullshit, isn't it"
Cross-Section
Member
Ugh. I can easily imagine CBS cheaping out and having CG sets for everything, too.
firehawk12
Subete no aware
That's fair, but I don't know what Star Trek is supposed to stand for now. I don't think anyone really does allegorical science fiction now, at least not of the kind where the racist aliens are suppose to represent human racism.
Like, maybe you could write an interesting Star Trek episode that is peripherally about police shootings in America and how only Black Americans seem to suffer... but why would you need Star Trek to do that when you could do much better by making a cop show that directly addresses the issue?
Just look at what Enterprise tried to do with 9-11. That whole fucking story arc ended with Alien Nazis taking over earth. lol
soundscream
Member
This is madness.
I have, rather fortunately or unfortunately, never watched The Newsroom precisely because people said it was too preachy and Sorkin unchecked. Accordingly, I don't know if I can comment on the quality of the show but based on what people have told me I believe the problem with the show isn't that it is preachy but because it is too "on the nose" or "in your face" and not written as well or elegantly as say The West Wing was.
I disagree. I watched the Drumhead last week and that episode is just as relevant, if not more so today. The reason why indirect stories about aliens are compelling is the same reason why we use metaphors and analogies in the first place. If done well, it makes things easier to understand when it's from another perspective.
SolarMystic
Banned
THANK YOU GOD!!!!!!
They said it wouldn't happen, that it couldn't be done!
Tears of joy will flow like rivers into the vastness of space!
They said it wouldn't happen, that it couldn't be done!
Tears of joy will flow like rivers into the vastness of space!
firehawk12
Subete no aware
To be honest, The Newsroom tainted The West Wing for me, so I haven't been able to go back. But when science fiction is now The Walking Dead and The Leftovers, where the drama is character based instead of plot based, I just don't think you can have "issue" episodes and hoped to be taken seriously.
Well, unless you are going for cheese/camp like the CW shows I suppose.
Ex Machina is basically an updated Drumhead, and it's fine. But the question is can you make a series like that, where every other episode is some unsubtle allegory?
The other mode of Star Trek is the wacky scifi anomaly of the week - like the crew gets their memory wiped, or they get trapped in a time loop and end up meeting their own grand kids or whatever. I suppose you could churn those types of gimmick episodes, but you're more likely to end up with shows where Tuvok and Neelix merge into one person or where Janeway and Paris turn into space slugs and have sex with each other.
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Someone brought it up in another thread, but the new Minority Report is what I'm afraid a new Star Trek show would turn into. They need to divorce themselves from that kind of science fiction writing altogether.
Have you played Star Trek Online?
Cause that is actually set in a post-supernova Romulus universe
Dictator93
Member
It really is a fantastic episode. But I love all of data.... later seasons included.
None of the movie stuff though.
Are you thinking of measure of a man? I haven't had the chance to watch Ex Machina yet, but I don't think that's what the drumhead was about.
And yeah, it entirely depends on how good the writing is of course.
The Newsroom has so many much bigger problems than simply being preachy, among them the fact that it is as you say too on the nose, but also because it's basically just a platform for Sorkin to accuse the media of being crappy. Which, like, they are, but Sorkin would do no better without the benefit of hindsight that he has in his show. It's also got characters who seem stuck in a different era of television, where all the men are upstanding goofballs and the women clumsy ditzes whose plots center around men.
It's just, in every way, a show that's got a laser focus on the past and not on the future. It's Sorkin's Rant About How The World Doesn't Live Up To His Standards Hour.
Trek should be preachy, and it should be about how we can do better. I think there is still room for that on television, since the rest of television has gone what seems to be permanent grimdark.
funkystudent
Member
In my head new TV Trek is a mix of the classic alien of the week style of TNG and TOS and a little sprinkle of DS9's over arching plots.
So a bit like Enterprise but less off the rails. Would love to know why Enterprise was as bad as it was. At least Voyager had the excuse of "everyone talented is off writing for DS9"
So a bit like Enterprise but less off the rails. Would love to know why Enterprise was as bad as it was. At least Voyager had the excuse of "everyone talented is off writing for DS9"
firehawk12
Subete no aware
Oh right, I am. Drumhead is the Simon Tarsis half-Romulan episode. lol
But even then, when TV shows have done countless episodes about how Muslim-Americans are mistreated because of terrorism-related paranoia, it would seem really quaint to do it now on a science fiction show.
I just think television has evolved so much, particularly because of cable, that the idea of scifi allegory touching taboo subjects isn't of much interest anymore - and that was Star Trek's claim to fame.
Well, except people seem to accept that DS9 is the best Trek. lol
Berman. It's been ages since I read it, but the DS9 Companion made it sound like he was much more hands off with DS9 as he was spending time launching and developing Voyager.
Well I guess we'll have to agree to disagree because I still think that, if written well, and on the level that old trek was, it would still be compelling.
Also, I don't think most people view DS9 as the best
Many people do. I don't. TOS is the best, TNG is second. Voyager is awful and Enterprise had one good season. DS9 is grimdark proto-BSG complete with weird religious mumbo jumbo. It's a fine show, but it doesn't really represent any of the good things about Trek.
firehawk12
Subete no aware
I suppose it's subjective. I went through select episodes of TNG when the BDs came out and while I appreciate the show, some of the episodes are just awkward. Like the one where Riker tries to run away with an alien woman who is force to give up her gender.
But I'll agree that episodes like Darmok are classic.
It's funny enough, because even MASH has done the "how do two people who don't speak the same language work with each other" episode.
But, it is.
Escape Goat
Member
If we're talking cameos, it doesn't matter how far into the future they set it, there's one character that can return at any moment with no additional explanation.
Sisko got played like a fiddle. Q wanted to provoke Sisko.
firehawk12
Subete no aware
I wonder if Takei is still trying to get a Captain Sulu show.
I'm not even sure where I stand in terms of Trek nowadays. For me, TNG is probably still the most "rewatchable" series. Getting dragged into the Dominion War and Klingon Fetishism of DS9 is something I've never really wanted to get back into.
But the reality is, particularly after BSG, that's the direction any new show would probably need to go in if the producers want the show to be any kind of success.
See above. lol
MrCunningham
Member
Honestly, Star Trek works better in a TV format. I'm somewhat optimistic about this one.
yeah it's getting insanely annoying.
Right, but those plot elements are rehashed over and over again in media. I mean there have been so many time travel and groundhog day episodes, with mixed success. It really depends on execution.
Actually, I think the since scene is swamped with so many grimdark scifi shows, a bright and optimistic, maybe even slightly naive, scifi show would be refreshing and welcomed. Hell, especially since all the joy has basically been drained from Doctor Who lately.I wonder if Takei is still trying to get a Captain Sulu show.
I'm not even sure where I stand in terms of Trek nowadays. For me, TNG is probably still the most "rewatchable" series. Getting dragged into the Dominion War and Klingon Fetishism of DS9 is something I've never really wanted to get back into.
But the reality is, particularly after BSG, that's the direction any new show would probably need to go in if the producers want the show to be any kind of success.
See above. lol
SuperBanana
Banned
I really hope it's not some TOS style show and more closer to TNG. Pleeeeeeeeease be good!
Stallion Dan
Member
Are you pretending the new movies don't exist because they are so awful or...?
firehawk12
Subete no aware
Even the reboot couldn't avoid it though. Star Trek begins with the annihilation of an entire planet and the death of Kirk's father. Then Into Darkness does the whole 9-11 conspiracy thing. lol
Then again, I'm a massive fan of an anime called Aria - precisely because it's so saccharine in its utopianism that it is sickening.
super-heated plasma
Member
CBS shows are like country music: They all feel the same as if every show was(song) made by one guy. Even their sitcoms are like that. Seems like all their shows are meant for people middle aged and older. I think the only show I ever really got into on CBS was Jericho. NBC has a similar problem but not as bad. At least they try and take some risks once in a while. I'm worried Star Trek will fit in that same boring CBS mold, but if its only on the streaming service, maybe they will be a bit bolder and break that mold for once.
firehawk12
Subete no aware
Well, it's not airing on TV, so it won't have that problem at least.
I hope it's a sequel series to TNG. Sure, it's great to revisit old stories but I hate it when a writer is confined to them. Like, "we can't do this because this is how it ends up" ... I mean, sure, they can ignore continuity but dismantling continuity at every turn shouldn't be what Trek is about.
If they had to pick an era to do more Trek stories, probably go with The Wrath of Khan era. I've always wanted to see a functional Starfleet from that standpoint ... with that look/feel. If they could take a slice of that film and run with it. It won't happen but it'd be cool if they "backported" enemies from TNG series (+ spin-offs) and reimagined how'd they'd look with early 80s TWoK production sensibilities. This is just me spouting off my 80s sci-fi nostalgia.
If they had to pick an era to do more Trek stories, probably go with The Wrath of Khan era. I've always wanted to see a functional Starfleet from that standpoint ... with that look/feel. If they could take a slice of that film and run with it. It won't happen but it'd be cool if they "backported" enemies from TNG series (+ spin-offs) and reimagined how'd they'd look with early 80s TWoK production sensibilities. This is just me spouting off my 80s sci-fi nostalgia.
Another area I disagree with the consensus is the idea that Into Darkness is grimdark (in spite of its name). It ends with a round rejection of the idea that we need to be saved from our optimism by shadowy operators who do bad things for us, which is the worst thing DS9 introduced to Trek (rendering all of TOS and TNG's optimism naive and moot). Not being grimdark isn't about no bad things happening, it's about how those things are dealt with.
TOS The Doomsday Machine isn't grimdark imo, and it deals with something destroying multiple planets.
Well, I think the difference between TOS and TNG and the new grimdark scifi is their philosophy regarding how people naturally are. Old trek, like John Locke views people as inherently good, and similarly to Locke, there was always a lot of democratic discussion about issues.
Meanwhile, grimdark scifi of today views people as inherently selfish, akin to what Hobbes argued. That's why all these grimdark scifi shows constantly deal with subterfuge and everyone is a jerk.
I have a lot more to say on this matter, but I don't have time to properly write stuff out right now.
Yes, I completely agree. Shows are grimdark because people die, or bad things happen. It's how the show/movie reacts to it.
Meanwhile, grimdark scifi of today views people as inherently selfish, akin to what Hobbes argued. That's why all these grimdark scifi shows constantly deal with subterfuge and everyone is a jerk.
I have a lot more to say on this matter, but I don't have time to properly write stuff out right now.
Yes, I completely agree. Shows are grimdark because people die, or bad things happen. It's how the show/movie reacts to it.
maquiladora
Member
Not sure about this.....I'm concerned.
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