My condolences; I'm so sorry they nabbed you for another month of Strange New Hair.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds
- Thread starter Noeland
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asalaw
Sr Member
My chief complaint about Strange New Hair, and that of others here as well, has been the shoddy, unimaginative, amateurish writing that has characterized the show, especially given the great writing that became a signature of OG Trek and the early spinoffs. Critical Drinker, who by day is a published thriller writer with numerous novels to his name under the Arrow label, gets incensed about the same things we do. As he explains in this video, lots of things can go wrong in a production, from the visuals to the acting, but the writing process is the one thing that a studio with very deep pockets has total control over, and the one thing that there is no excuse for screwing up.
If you’re new to the process of breaking stories down and learning what makes them tick—and believe me, there are a lot of moving parts to any good story—Drinker gives a really great primer on one of the most basic elements of storytelling: setup and payoff.
If you watch this video and would like to know more about what goes into crafting a good, satisfying story in any genre and any format, author KM Weiland has a superb website.
If you’re new to the process of breaking stories down and learning what makes them tick—and believe me, there are a lot of moving parts to any good story—Drinker gives a really great primer on one of the most basic elements of storytelling: setup and payoff.
If you watch this video and would like to know more about what goes into crafting a good, satisfying story in any genre and any format, author KM Weiland has a superb website.
Yes, the Drinker and his contemporaries (MauLer, etc.) have redefined fan criticism for the modern era, and taken it to a new (and necessary) level. His newest video, covering the trainwreck called OBI-WAN KENOBI, is characteristically excellent and on-point.
asalaw
Sr Member
I saw that. It’s his usual, efficient, on-point takedown of a bad story. Hard to gauge what’s happening with Disney+ streaming product, since the numbers aren’t easy to come by as they are with box office figures. But I do know that Ms. Marvel has only had ~700K viewers, which is half of what Hawkeye got. But I haven’t seen enough to know if there’s a trend there. It’ll be interesting to see how badly She Hulk: Attorney at Law flops (and it absolutely will flop). But 700K viewers—that’s bad. Like CNN-level bad.
We’re seeing a big difference now between the last CEO, Bob Iger, who was pretty smart, and the current dolt they have running the mouse into the ground, Bob Chapek. When Solo flopped, Iger had the sense to kill the rest of the SW slate. But even after Eternals and now Lightyear, Chapek is all, “Nah, it’ll be fine.”
And don’t kid yourself that the MCU slate is too far along to kill—movies get their plugs pulled all the time, and at any stage in their life cycle, even as late as late post-production. I myself was on a Paramount picture with a $13M budget (this was in 1990, when that was a sizeable budget), starring Willem Dafoe, Joan Cusack, and Jeffrey Jones, that got shut down two weeks into shooting. When a studio sees the writing on the wall, it will (and should) cut its losses. Chapek won’t get his contract picked up next February. He’s dead man walking. If the board has any sense at all, they’ll beg Iger to come back.
Considering picking up a book entitled THE TROJAN MOUSE, which concerns Disney’s slow devolution and its agendas. Looks like a good read.
And as a lifelong fan of Marvel Comics—which Disney helped kill—the movies wore out their welcome with me years ago. And now the MCU is making exactly the same mistakes as the comics, in less time, with more money. They’re skipping over decades of great stories and characters to try and force their latest non-starters (the modern version of Carol Danvers, Ms. Marvel, Female Thor, etc.) down the audience’s throat.
Of course, just to stay semi-on-topic, the fact that there’s so little talk about STAR TREK, even in a negative way (as opposed to Disney and its very public and well-deserved downfall), is a clear sign that it just isn’t even on the radar, anymore.
And as a lifelong fan of Marvel Comics—which Disney helped kill—the movies wore out their welcome with me years ago. And now the MCU is making exactly the same mistakes as the comics, in less time, with more money. They’re skipping over decades of great stories and characters to try and force their latest non-starters (the modern version of Carol Danvers, Ms. Marvel, Female Thor, etc.) down the audience’s throat.
Of course, just to stay semi-on-topic, the fact that there’s so little talk about STAR TREK, even in a negative way (as opposed to Disney and its very public and well-deserved downfall), is a clear sign that it just isn’t even on the radar, anymore.
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asalaw
Sr Member
By all means, let’s stay on topic! Strange New Hair is just awful, and Kurtzman and his gang of no-talent hacks should be run out of Hollywood on a rail. After being tarred and feathered.
Pike looks like he just sat down on something rather uncomfortable....
Picard102
Sr Member
Just finished Ep 8 and it was probably one of the best ones thus far. Lots of character development, and classic Star Trek playing dress up.
Babs, Horak and Mount really chew it up. Including boltzmann brain theory is a deep pull, really weird and interesting.
If I were to rank the episodes so far; 8, 5, 4, 6, 1, 3, 2, 7.
Babs, Horak and Mount really chew it up. Including boltzmann brain theory is a deep pull, really weird and interesting.
If I were to rank the episodes so far; 8, 5, 4, 6, 1, 3, 2, 7.
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Gimpdiggity
Master Member
Episode 8 ever up being pretty heartbreaking. I loved how his daughter came back, instantly grown up, to let him know how happy she was.
Picard102
Sr Member
Ya, glad she came back. Would have been a real downer if they hadn't.
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asalaw
Sr Member
Wow. The thread police have struck… It’s like the Apocalypse Now sets after the monsoon…
Embarrassing episode, terrible ending, terrible writing. That whole thing with the kid suddenly being grown up was stapled on like a donkey tail at a kid’s party, and just as carefully. I can’t decide if this show is the worst-written Trek of all time, or if STD was, but at best they’re neck-and-neck.
I’ll probably finish out the season just to see the rest of the train wreck, but after that I’m done with Trek. At least until they find some competent show runners who know how to hire competent writers who know how to write competent stories.
I’ve sat out STD S4, Picard S2, all of that Prodigy thing, and I’m done with Lower Dorks too. From now on it’ll just be TOS through Enterprise (with the Mute button on through that excruciating theme song), the first crop of movies, and that’s it. NuTrek is…
Embarrassing episode, terrible ending, terrible writing. That whole thing with the kid suddenly being grown up was stapled on like a donkey tail at a kid’s party, and just as carefully. I can’t decide if this show is the worst-written Trek of all time, or if STD was, but at best they’re neck-and-neck.
I’ll probably finish out the season just to see the rest of the train wreck, but after that I’m done with Trek. At least until they find some competent show runners who know how to hire competent writers who know how to write competent stories.
I’ve sat out STD S4, Picard S2, all of that Prodigy thing, and I’m done with Lower Dorks too. From now on it’ll just be TOS through Enterprise (with the Mute button on through that excruciating theme song), the first crop of movies, and that’s it. NuTrek is…
Lightning
Master Member
How'd that prediction work out?
Disney CEO Bob Chapek Secures New Long-Term Contract
The company's board of directors announced the new three-year contract extension Tuesday, saying the decision was “unanimous.”
www.hollywoodreporter.com
asalaw
Sr Member
The Disney board has shown that 1) They’re delusional, and 2) They really hate making money.How'd that prediction work out?
Disney CEO Bob Chapek Secures New Long-Term Contract
The company's board of directors announced the new three-year contract extension Tuesday, saying the decision was “unanimous.”
I thought Ep8 was good too. A meme I posted the other day about Anson Mount’s hair in that episode fell flat (get it?), but overall an interesting mix of TOS camp, along with a serious turn at the end of what would you do to save someone. I give this one a 7 as well.
Looks like they want the train to go right over the cliff so they can film it...
Maybe Kurtzman will rip off his own master, and Episode 9 will be a riff on EPISODE IX: THE RISE OF PALPATINE.
"What's your name?"
- "Spock. Spock Skywalker."
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