NakedMoleRat
Legendary Member
Star Trek
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds
- Thread starter Noeland
- Start date
For me, I am happy to call SNW my “Fast Food Trek”…it’s entertaining, looks good on the outside, but ultimately is somewhat derivative, unoriginal, not very thought provoking, will have to do if there’s nothing else available, leaves you with a bit of regret, and is also made by clowns…
If I want proper “5-Star Meal Trek” I can go back and watch Classic Trek, TNG, DS9, etc…
I am perfectly happy watching both but I know where the delineating line in quality between the two is.
Discovery and Picard, on the other hand, are my “Food Poisoned Mall Foodcourt Meal Trek” and to be avoided at all costs.
If I want proper “5-Star Meal Trek” I can go back and watch Classic Trek, TNG, DS9, etc…
I am perfectly happy watching both but I know where the delineating line in quality between the two is.
Discovery and Picard, on the other hand, are my “Food Poisoned Mall Foodcourt Meal Trek” and to be avoided at all costs.
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You learn something new, every day…
I did not know this, but evidently the predominant severe hairstyles of Nu-Trek are referred to as “The Thall Joben” (from the Star Wars cartoon Droids).
Who knew?
Harlan would be tearing them a new*** if he were still alive!
robn1
Master Member
How can anyone translate anything from any race 10 years before anyone knows of their existence?
Well, to that point, I don’t think DC Fontana left behind any heirs to her estate (her husband died in 2019 and I don’t believe she had any children) who could make claim to her intellectual property rights.
Cephus
Master Member
And rightfully so.
(You see, what Heckle, Jeckle and the single laughing emoji that they polyamorously share between them don't realize is that they are the small, vocal minority of toxic trolls who are unable to handle dissenting opinions, and cannot actually articulate why these shows are supposedly "good". People are free to like what they like, but don't dare tell me that this dreck is as well-written or good or even better than what has come before.
The reality is that STAR TREK is past its time. Modern conventions look like AARP gatherings, and what new "fans" these shows are generating are not enough to support the merchandising flow which is the sign of a franchise that is actually healthy. And, being a lifelong fan in my thirties, I am well aware that I'm at the tail end of the original core fandom. It seems to me that what people do watch these shows are either older fans who just don't care anymore, or young people who don't know any better, and are programmed to like things by Twitter and by FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out). New= Good. Consume product, then get excited for new product. And so on.
Just as STAR WARS has been downgraded from a beloved and universally-appealing cinematic franchise into a factory-farm of mediocre streaming shows appealing to a...more selective demographic, so too has STAR TREK devolved from the Rolls Royce of science-fiction television into expensive, fast-food trash TV on a failed streaming service.
This is the inevitable end of any long-running franchise which becomes the victim of its own success--it becomes a corporate asset which is milked to death by uncreative hacks who don't respect or understand it. No episode of any Kurtzman-produced show will ever be labeled as a classic, and none of them or their ethical/social themes will be discussed for decades to come, as with TOS and the other shows.)
The reality is that STAR TREK is past its time. Modern conventions look like AARP gatherings, and what new "fans" these shows are generating are not enough to support the merchandising flow which is the sign of a franchise that is actually healthy. And, being a lifelong fan in my thirties, I am well aware that I'm at the tail end of the original core fandom. It seems to me that what people do watch these shows are either older fans who just don't care anymore, or young people who don't know any better, and are programmed to like things by Twitter and by FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out). New= Good. Consume product, then get excited for new product. And so on.
Just as STAR WARS has been downgraded from a beloved and universally-appealing cinematic franchise into a factory-farm of mediocre streaming shows appealing to a...more selective demographic, so too has STAR TREK devolved from the Rolls Royce of science-fiction television into expensive, fast-food trash TV on a failed streaming service.
This is the inevitable end of any long-running franchise which becomes the victim of its own success--it becomes a corporate asset which is milked to death by uncreative hacks who don't respect or understand it. No episode of any Kurtzman-produced show will ever be labeled as a classic, and none of them or their ethical/social themes will be discussed for decades to come, as with TOS and the other shows.)
1138sw
Sr Member
NO WAY???!!!! LOL now that is funny!!! Not surprised considering the creative party involved but that is funny!!!
Kind of reminds me of when Rey ignited her lightsaber incorrectly in the TFA. Really bugged the hell out of me!!! My uncle actually said "I knew that you were going to notice that"!!! But it's typical JJ who has no attention for detail!!! The guy is so big picture he actually docent realize that the small things count too...like a plot...LOL
But man that backward phaser is hilarious!!!
HMSwolfe
Master Member
Whatever that ad or TV spot or whatever at the end with old William Shatner fighting the Gorn had me cracking up
Bloop
Sr Member
Some thoughts/issues after the latest episode (apologies in advance for the long post):
- I generally thought the episode was alright. Reminded me a bit if the TNG episode "Disaster," in which the Enterprise hit a "quantum filiment" (note: it's not a cosmic string!) which caused damage to the ship and its communications. In particular, the scenes with Uhura and Hemmer reminded me of LaForge and Dr. Crusher facing imminent danger in the cargo bay.
- La'an Noonien-Singh gets the Gorn to destroy one of their own ships by sending a message saying humans had boarded their vessel. How? Did I miss something where they were able to break into their communications and make it seem as if the message was coming from the Gorn? I honestly don't know. If not, then it seems pretty flimsy to be able to just send a fake communique and trick their enemy.
- It didn't seem like the time to perform a dangerous (as Spock himself said) mind meld on the shuttle craft, in light of the dire situation at hand. They ended up using the information Noonien-Singh remembered, but that wasn't part of the plan.
- Nitpick: Noonian-Singh refers to herself by her given name when using ship's communications rather than her family name, which doesn't feel like the established protocol. I don't remember any of the characters on any of the other shows using their first name when hailing (I can't imagine Picard saying, "Jean-Luc to Will" or "Jean-Luc out"). I'm sure they wrote it that way because it's quicker and easier to use her first nane than her hyphenated last name, but it still seems too informal.
- I still think there's too much 20th/21st century colloqialisms being used. For example "and the crowd goes wild," "Uhura for the win," "we've got this," "newbie" are all specific phrases and terms that are very rooted in our current time, and the way some of the characters speak, Chapel, Ortegas, and Uhura especially, is very "of our time." As I've said before, instead of modernizing the show, it immediately dates it and makes it feel more like it's set in our time period than being set in the 23rd century. The same goes for having too much of our current style trends influence the costumes, hair styles and makeup. The writers/show runners don't seem to understand that this is something that has plagued other sci-fi for decades. Even though Star Trek has fallen prey to it on more than one occasion, I feel they did a better job of trying to keep things "timeless" which has contributed to its longevity. Maybe the age of the writers has something to do with it - I don't know how old they are, but I think younger people don't always realize that colloqial speech changes relatively quickley. I've also recently noticed "period" shows set in the 70s or 80s using current words or phrases that didn't exist back then (at least not in the way they're used now).
- I think Peck does a decent job in his attempt to portray Spock, but I think he's overdoing some of it. For instance, he always pronounces "the" as "thee" and "a" as "ay." I'm not positive, but I don't think Nimoy did that, at least not every time he spoke those words. Peck's Spock also seems to be a little too familiar, and less aloof than he was in TOS, though that's more due to the writing. It kind of diminishes his character development and his close relationship with Kirk if he' already getting along so well with his Captain and crew mates. Maybe I'm reading too much into it.
- A small nitpick/question: the ship was getting hotter while hiding in the brown dwarf, and all the crew had slightly sweaty faces, including Spock. But I thought Spock's partial Vulcan physiology enabled him to endure higher temperatures than full humans, so should he really have been sweating?
- Nurse Chapel still is pretty sucky. Maybe not all the fault of the actress, but I don't care for her characterization of Chapel. As I said above, she's also too much of a 2020s character. Noonien-Singh has also gotten annoying pretty quickly.
- I generally thought the episode was alright. Reminded me a bit if the TNG episode "Disaster," in which the Enterprise hit a "quantum filiment" (note: it's not a cosmic string!) which caused damage to the ship and its communications. In particular, the scenes with Uhura and Hemmer reminded me of LaForge and Dr. Crusher facing imminent danger in the cargo bay.
- La'an Noonien-Singh gets the Gorn to destroy one of their own ships by sending a message saying humans had boarded their vessel. How? Did I miss something where they were able to break into their communications and make it seem as if the message was coming from the Gorn? I honestly don't know. If not, then it seems pretty flimsy to be able to just send a fake communique and trick their enemy.
- It didn't seem like the time to perform a dangerous (as Spock himself said) mind meld on the shuttle craft, in light of the dire situation at hand. They ended up using the information Noonien-Singh remembered, but that wasn't part of the plan.
- Nitpick: Noonian-Singh refers to herself by her given name when using ship's communications rather than her family name, which doesn't feel like the established protocol. I don't remember any of the characters on any of the other shows using their first name when hailing (I can't imagine Picard saying, "Jean-Luc to Will" or "Jean-Luc out"). I'm sure they wrote it that way because it's quicker and easier to use her first nane than her hyphenated last name, but it still seems too informal.
- I still think there's too much 20th/21st century colloqialisms being used. For example "and the crowd goes wild," "Uhura for the win," "we've got this," "newbie" are all specific phrases and terms that are very rooted in our current time, and the way some of the characters speak, Chapel, Ortegas, and Uhura especially, is very "of our time." As I've said before, instead of modernizing the show, it immediately dates it and makes it feel more like it's set in our time period than being set in the 23rd century. The same goes for having too much of our current style trends influence the costumes, hair styles and makeup. The writers/show runners don't seem to understand that this is something that has plagued other sci-fi for decades. Even though Star Trek has fallen prey to it on more than one occasion, I feel they did a better job of trying to keep things "timeless" which has contributed to its longevity. Maybe the age of the writers has something to do with it - I don't know how old they are, but I think younger people don't always realize that colloqial speech changes relatively quickley. I've also recently noticed "period" shows set in the 70s or 80s using current words or phrases that didn't exist back then (at least not in the way they're used now).
- I think Peck does a decent job in his attempt to portray Spock, but I think he's overdoing some of it. For instance, he always pronounces "the" as "thee" and "a" as "ay." I'm not positive, but I don't think Nimoy did that, at least not every time he spoke those words. Peck's Spock also seems to be a little too familiar, and less aloof than he was in TOS, though that's more due to the writing. It kind of diminishes his character development and his close relationship with Kirk if he' already getting along so well with his Captain and crew mates. Maybe I'm reading too much into it.
- A small nitpick/question: the ship was getting hotter while hiding in the brown dwarf, and all the crew had slightly sweaty faces, including Spock. But I thought Spock's partial Vulcan physiology enabled him to endure higher temperatures than full humans, so should he really have been sweating?
- Nurse Chapel still is pretty sucky. Maybe not all the fault of the actress, but I don't care for her characterization of Chapel. As I said above, she's also too much of a 2020s character. Noonien-Singh has also gotten annoying pretty quickly.
I might be wrong and often are but didn't they or she realise they were using light in a morse code style to communicate with each other..
That doesn't explain how, until we know more about the Gorn how they communicate with each other.
Maybe we will find out as her story plays out through the series.
I like the overall vibe of the series and as a kid watching it would have killed to see this version. We sucked up Simple cardboard sets, flashing Christmas tree bulbs, you get my point. Pike is a loose cannon wasn't that how he got in all that mess in The Cage in the first place, I guess he was a sort of retro gunslinger to draw in a certain crowd.. I like Ansons Pike, I can see him being very devil may are as he gets closer to his End date.
Nurse Chapel is OK in my book, I don't dive too deep in many franchises but if it entertains and I've zipped through an hour show it's job done. Yes the show looks very JJ but I liked that and the 1701 has been updated but still recognisable.. Back to Chapel... I didn't much care for her in OG Trek, I was young she looked like my gran and was a real sourpuss..
People change, things change, look what Disney is doing with SW.. Even that religious book that some cling to as fact gets re written, recast but best not go down that one lol..
asalaw
Master Member
Reposted fromFB:
This week on Star Trek: Strange New Hair, I finally figured out what I hate about the show, and what I like. In a nutshell, the concepts and plots are very classic Trek, but the characters—well, the Enterprise has been reduced to a shipload of Mary Sues. Not a real person among them.
I absolutely HATE Ortegas (and why in the everlasting, radioactive **** is there an S on the end of Ortega??), who, together with her Strange New Hair, is the official M.A.C. (Most Annoying Character). She’s really just the resident snark, and nothing else. I HATE Uhura and Chapel, and I find Pike and Spock mostly tolerable. I also strongly dislike the engineer, whom I mistook till this episode for a redesigned Andorian, but who turns out to be some sort of space Quaker.
And don’t get me started on La’an Noonien Singh, who’s basically a clone of Camina Drummer from The Expanse. She even LOOKS exactly like Drummer. Did they really think we wouldn’t notice? Man, Drummer—THERE was a character.
Maybe one day, Alex Kurtzman will get sucked into a black hole and we can all have Star Trek back. Till then, we get this pasty sh**.
This week on Star Trek: Strange New Hair, I finally figured out what I hate about the show, and what I like. In a nutshell, the concepts and plots are very classic Trek, but the characters—well, the Enterprise has been reduced to a shipload of Mary Sues. Not a real person among them.
I absolutely HATE Ortegas (and why in the everlasting, radioactive **** is there an S on the end of Ortega??), who, together with her Strange New Hair, is the official M.A.C. (Most Annoying Character). She’s really just the resident snark, and nothing else. I HATE Uhura and Chapel, and I find Pike and Spock mostly tolerable. I also strongly dislike the engineer, whom I mistook till this episode for a redesigned Andorian, but who turns out to be some sort of space Quaker.
And don’t get me started on La’an Noonien Singh, who’s basically a clone of Camina Drummer from The Expanse. She even LOOKS exactly like Drummer. Did they really think we wouldn’t notice? Man, Drummer—THERE was a character.
Maybe one day, Alex Kurtzman will get sucked into a black hole and we can all have Star Trek back. Till then, we get this pasty sh**.
