GRIM RUMOURS ABOUT NEW STAR TREK:DISCOVERY SERIES

[Professor Bear]

You don't want to read 18 pages of fanboy opinions on why something is shit?  I don't think the internet is for you.

Rights splits between tv studios and movie companies doing adaptations of their tv shows wasn't a situation invented by Trek, though as I understand it, the issue with Trek following up on continuity from the films in the tv shows is most likely that bit in the Trek reboot movie where all of tv Trek was rendered non-canon by Trek's own timey-wimey rules.

[blackmocco]

I'll just repeat there's nothing anywhere to substantiate any of that is true. Star Trek on TV belongs to CBS. They can do what they want with their own property. The new show's creators have repeatedly said from day one this show has nothing to do with the JJ Trek. I'm not seeing the problem.

[blackmocco]

Star Trek Beyond bombing at the box-office doesn't help the case for people saying this is tied to the JJ verse either. Time will tell. As I said earlier, I just hope it's good. It'd be nice to have a decent Trek show back on TV. Well, paid streaming service bullshit TV, anyway.

[blackmocco]

Ugh. Delete!

[Professor Bear]

Beyond bombing is probably what allowed the tv series to happen in the first place, as Brannon Braga and Rod Roddenberry both said that the films would have to "run their course" before any new tv shows were made.  Talk of the time suggested that Orci/Kurtzman couldn't even get an okay for an animated spin-off.

Discovery is set in 2256 while "The Cage" takes place in 2254, so if Discovery is set in the TOS timeline, at the very least they'll have to do some number-fudging.

[blackmocco]

Well, judging by how The Orville is being received, probably just as well Braga is busy elsewhere.

As for STD, yeah, none of it makes a lick of sense really. I'm finding myself going pretty easy on this though. Didn't really care for the JJ movies and hated Enterprise. If this turns out to some weird soft reboot, I'll be alright with it as long as it's decent.

[Goaty]

Still can't wait for it in two weeks!

[Professor Bear]

Well, judging by how The Orville is being received, probably just as well Braga is busy elsewhere.

The Orville was always a ship of the damned: McFarlane's detractors were never going to give him a break, and Braga has never been forgiven by Trek fans.  Minds were always made up on this one, but it's kind of heartening that the show's biggest stumbling block for many reviewers seems to be its earnestness more than its humor.

[blackmocco]

We'll know more tomorrow night. Orville's biggest problem is going to be the same problem his Western had: a confused tone and the big man himself. He hasn't really got the charisma or acting skills to carry something like this. I wish it well. I mean, I kinda have to - he's my boss on Family Guy but I'm not expecting much. He might want to see Star Trek go back to a stale episode of the week formula, but I'm hoping for something different and new from STD.

[The Legendary Shark]

I love/hate this thread.

[Professor Bear]

The Orville was actually alright.  Advance word about the earnestness seems to stem from a misunderstanding about the tone of the show whereby reviewers seem to have chosen to paint consistent internal logic as a crippling imbalance between comedy and drama, almost like they have deliberately chosen to forget the last twenty years of comedy while talking about this specific show.  This misconception is probably not helped by the script being pretty light on structured jokes and erring more towards banter to the point that when the comedy becomes the focus of the plot - in a pretty shameless lift from Galaxy Quest - it feels out of place.
There's a really jarring Basil scene at the start that looks like it fell out of an unaired 1990s pilot, but otherwise it's all pretty well done.

[Tiplodocus]

Basil. Michaels Myers and York must be so chuffed this has entered the language.

[blackmocco]

The Orville was actually alright.  Advance word about the earnestness seems to stem from a misunderstanding about the tone of the show whereby reviewers seem to have chosen to paint consistent internal logic as a crippling imbalance between comedy and drama, almost like they have deliberately chosen to forget the last twenty years of comedy while talking about this specific show.  This misconception is probably not helped by the script being pretty light on structured jokes and erring more towards banter to the point that when the comedy becomes the focus of the plot - in a pretty shameless lift from Galaxy Quest - it feels out of place.
There's a really jarring Basil scene at the start that looks like it fell out of an unaired 1990s pilot, but otherwise it's all pretty well done.

Ehhh. It wasn't as bad as the reviews make out, I'll give it that much, but it's a long way from where it needs to be. The whole thing felt so generic really. I get what they're trying to do but they didn't push the comedy OR the drama anywhere near where it needed to go to be remotely interesting or different. Felt the same about the production design. Ship designs, uniforms, the beige carpets, the design of the bridge - just bland and generic. I get the show is worshipping at the feet of TNG, but making it look exactly like it's a bit questionable. If the idea is to not distract from the script - which is something we have to constantly juggle working on Family Guy - then your script had better be pretty honed. There's hope for this, I guess, looks like they threw some money at it so they will need it to perform but I can't see it lasting unless they drastically sharpen it up.

[Professor Bear]

There is a unifying aesthetic to it derived from modular and capsule designs, but it does look bland as a whole - possibly because it all seems a bit too plausible as a real work environment.  I suspect some of those expensive-looking corridor scenes were probably shot in an Apple store somewhere.

There's also some subtly progressive stuff in there, like the crewmember from a unisex species who was broadly painted in a couple of clumsy jokes in the trailers, but in practice the character is portrayed as having nothing to prove and is comfortable with their identity.  As a single-gendered race, it also means he's technically gay, so even before you get to stuff like it being stupidly expensive-looking and based around characters who shout at each other a lot, Discovery is already losing ground to something that's ostensibly making fun of it.

[blackmocco]

Discovery is already losing ground to something that's ostensibly making fun of it.

Truthfully, I wish it were making more fun of Trek. Would've made it more entertaining. I don't believe for a second Discovery should try too hard to match the look of the 60's show in 2017 but honestly, watching Orville last night, I wish they had. That would have been fantastic. (IMO...!)