[TV] New Star Trek Show in Development?

[Blackhawk]

In case it hasn't been mentioned, put Babylon 5 on the list, and just grit your teeth through the first half of season 1.

[$iljanus]

I'd recommend finishing up TOS and TNG before moving on. There's quite a few easter eggs in Picard that reward those who were fans of TNG, as well as adding more layers of poignancy to the story in Picard.

In theory I'd agree, but 70% of TOS and 40% of TNG is what, maybe 80 hours of stuff? If he's hit the classic episodes, I'm not sure it's worth going through all the rest of it instead of just going ahead with Discovery.

But how will his Trek experience be complete without encountering Geordi as a sexual predator, Wesley Crusher on the Planet of the Nearly-Naked Hotties Where Minor Transgressions Are Punishable By Death, Troi being raped and forced to carry the child of an alien, or Beverly Crusher seduced by the ghost of her grandmother's lover?

Or video game addiction really can be a problem. Or Data gets lucky (actually that wasn't a terrible episode)

[Zaxxon]

In case it hasn't been mentioned, put Babylon 5 on the list, and just grit your teeth through the first half of season 1.

And Expanse.

And Kipo. Oh, wait; wrong thread. I just can't stop recommending Kipo to anyone who'll listen.

[El Guapo]

I'd recommend finishing up TOS and TNG before moving on. There's quite a few easter eggs in Picard that reward those who were fans of TNG, as well as adding more layers of poignancy to the story in Picard.

In theory I'd agree, but 70% of TOS and 40% of TNG is what, maybe 80 hours of stuff? If he's hit the classic episodes, I'm not sure it's worth going through all the rest of it instead of just going ahead with Discovery.

But how will his Trek experience be complete without encountering Geordi as a sexual predator, Wesley Crusher on the Planet of the Nearly-Naked Hotties Where Minor Transgressions Are Punishable By Death, Troi being raped and forced to carry the child of an alien, or Beverly Crusher seduced by the ghost of her grandmother's lover?

Or video game addiction really can be a problem. Or Data gets lucky (actually that wasn't a terrible episode)

Wait, have we skipped over Barclay turning into a spider and Riker turning into an ape? Or the episode where they match the drunk space-Irish with the futuristic no-sex protestants?

[Blackhawk]

Or Data turns into a sun goddess? Or Pulaski gets old?

[Zaxxon]

Or Pulaski gets old?

Or Troi gets old.

[$iljanus]

Or the Devil comes down to Ventax II lookin for a planet (and ship) to steal

[Eel Snave]

OH GOD I'VE SEEN ALL OF THOSE.

[El Guapo]

OH GOD I'VE SEEN ALL OF THOSE.

So you've definitely seen the classics, then.

[Isgrimnur]

Deadline

Set to premiere in 2021 on Nickelodeon, the kids orientated CG-animated series will be called Star Trek: Prodigy I can reveal. Here, as Comic-Con@Home really kicks into gear, is also a first look at the logo for show:



First announced back in April 2019, the series from Trollhunters scribes Kevin and Dan Hageman and overseen by Ramsey Naito, Nick’s Animation Production and Development EVP will follow a group of rebellious teens who commandeer an old Starfleet ship and head off into the universe for adventure and more.

Prodigy comes from CBS’ Eye Animation Productions, CBS Television Studios’ new animation arm, plus Secret Hideout; and Roddenberry Entertainment. Trekverse overlords Alex Kurtzman, Heather Kadin will serve as EPs will Katie Krentz, Rod Roddenberry, Trevor Roth and the Hageman siblings. Aaron Baiers will serve as a co-executive producer.

[Zarathud]

A Starship full of Wesleys?

Someone at CBS has taken too many drugs, even by the terrible standards of animated Trek.

[dobberhd]

I just finished season 2 of Discovery yesterday. Very good. Much better than Picard, IMO. Haven't watched Enterprise yet, but I'll give it a try.

So, here is how I would rank the series that I've seen so far:

Deep Space Nine
Discovery
Next Generation
Picard
Voyager
Original

[Rumpy]

The original animated series was actually kind of brilliant in that it actually educated about science and wasn't simply just a sci-fi cartoon. At this point, it just feels like they're spreading themselves too thin. Lowerdecks hasn't even aired yet and they're already announcing a new animated series aimed at younger kids. It just feels like they're trying to see what sticks regardless of quality at this point.

Something to keep in mind about Enterprise. It only got really good starting with the 4th season, which is when they had a showrunner change to Manny Coto, who had Enterprise revamped to evoke more of TOS in the ship design and its storylines, but by then, many had the opinion that it was too late to embrace something that should have been part of it all along.

[Holman]

LOWER DECKS looks like they're trying to jump on the adult animation bandwagon without going beyond PG territory.

I'm not sure Star Trek can really fit that model. The humor will be light, but presumably so will the acting. Trek works when you care about the crew and their relationships.

[El Guapo]

Good article on new Trek shows. It's centered around Lower Decks, but also has interesting discussions about the currently programming theories around Star Trek, which I tend to support (use different shows to explore different genres within the Star Trek universe, as long you're careful not to violate core tenets of Trek, such as the utopian framework).

[hepcat]

The original animated series was actually kind of brilliant in that it actually educated about science and wasn't simply just a sci-fi cartoon.

It taught me that it was perfectly reasonable to create a giant balloon replica of The Enterprise in space so you could throw your pursuers off your trail. They don't show Starfleet ships using that tactic enough in the other shows.

[El Guapo]

The original animated series was actually kind of brilliant in that it actually educated about science and wasn't simply just a sci-fi cartoon.

It taught me that it was perfectly reasonable to create a giant balloon replica of The Enterprise in space so you could throw your pursuers off your trail. They don't show Starfleet ships using that tactic enough in the other shows.

Oh, is that why you were throwing balloons at the police last week?

[hepcat]

They sure were surprised to see balloon replicas of the Enterprise being hurled at them during the protest. But I would like to think that as I was being forced to the ground with 3 batons and a what appeared to be a customized taser made to look like a Mirror Universe Klingon agonizer, they appreciated the extra mile I went for their enjoyment.

[El Guapo]

They sure were surprised to see balloon replicas of the Enterprise being hurled at them during the protest. But I would like to think that as I was being forced to the ground with 3 batons and a what appeared to be a customized taser made to look like a Mirror Universe Klingon agonizer, they appreciated the extra mile I went for their enjoyment.

Ok, see, where you went wrong is that the idea is not to fool pursuers with balloon replicas of The Enterprise, per se. The idea is that the balloons look exactly like what the pursuers are chasing. So you needed balloon replicas of you, not of The Enterprise.

[hepcat]

The balloon enterprises were smaller and easier to carry though.

[Isgrimnur]

[Holman]

Of course the Hepcat balloons were pantsless, so you have to weigh the distraction against the public indecency charges.

[coopasonic]

You? We!

[Rumpy]

The original animated series was actually kind of brilliant in that it actually educated about science and wasn't simply just a sci-fi cartoon.

It taught me that it was perfectly reasonable to create a giant balloon replica of The Enterprise in space so you could throw your pursuers off your trail. They don't show Starfleet ships using that tactic enough in the other shows.

And then there's that...

[Kraken]

No Access put the Lower Decks premier up on youtube for free.

It's better than the ads made it look. It has characters and a story and stuff. I didn't LOL, but I definitely grinned a few times.

[Isgrimnur]

I may be a bit drunk.

[El Guapo]

I liked it, laughed a few times. Didn't blow me away, but whenever I get another month of CBS All Access to watch the next seasons of Discovery + Picard and whatnot I'll probably crank through this as well.

[hepcat]

Sat through the pilot and felt decidedly meh about it. But I thought the Harley Quinn animated series sucked after the first episode, and it ended up being one of the most subversive and clever parodies of comic book suoerheroes ever made. When discovery returns I'll give it another shot.

I will say that it made me look forward to the next season of Final Space.

[Sudy]

Finally got around to seeing Picard. I liked it a lot, for the most part. I think it was as good as it could have been.

Spoiler:

But there sure is that feeling of, "Really, this is what one of sci-fi's most beloved characters has been up to since we saw them last?" Just as there was with Luke in The Last Jedi. Now, I actually liked TLJ more than I disliked it. And the same holds true here. I keep reading that Stewart and the writers didn't just want this to be "TNG part 2". I'm OK with that. It's actually a wonderful meditation on aging. And people have complained about the slow pace? I didn't notice pacing issues at all. My eyes were glued to the screen throughout. I thought a lot of elements actually seemed rushed. But it almost feels like a completely different universe. Everyone on active duty in Starfleet seems to be a bad guy. (Is everyone a Romulan agent?) Which... is probably an apt mirror for this era. But even though there were dark conspiracies in Starfleet before DS9 (e.g. back in TNG season 1), it still feels mercilessly pessimistic. That is, until mothballed Riker shows up at the head of a fleet of x-hundred identical flagships? I'm guessing this is how some pre-TNG Trek fans felt when TNG arrived.

- The non-Starfleet world is gorgeous and compelling. But it's also kind of... generic? I guess we didn't have the technology to easily portray futuristic cities thirty years ago. Everything had a somewhat hollow, claustrophobic set feel. But then we show up at Freeport or Freebase or whatever and it just feels a Blade Runner (or, more recently Altered Carbon) knockoff. And... I loved it. I wanted to spend more time there. But it didn't feel like Star Trek.

- When we got to the android planet, that felt like Star Trek. But... not the good kind. Why are all the androids golden? Because Data's silver-white had already been done? Oh, it's another Soong relative we've never heard of who just happens to build androids? Don't get me wrong; I'd pay to watch Brent Spiner throw up on the sidewalk. But for me, the last two episodes are where things began to fall apart. These weren't the payoffs I was hoping for. And oh, Agnes is off the hook for killing Maddox now? Did I miss something? (And, holy crap, that was the same character as in The Measure of a Man? I thought the name sounded familiar. Different actor, though they do look kind of similar.)

- I'm torn on Data's return. He might be my favourite character in Trek, so of course I wanted to see him. Visually, I think they came close enough to pulling it off excepting the puffy wig. But I feel like there wasn't a big enough build-up in this series for the send-off they gave him. This Data felt a little disconnected from classic Data, but perhaps we can chalk that up to his appearances being dreams or an AI reconstruction in a simulation (nonetheless portrayed as his true consciousness). I still cried though. Having him age was a surprising touch. I was always a little disappointed Data didn't grow more (emotionally) in TNG... but that was back in the era of episodic television. Still, he could have gone further in the movies, similar to Spock. I guess an appropriate rationalization given this series is that Data was only one step in the direction of fully humanlike androids, and his capacity for growth had limits.

- I'm not really clear on Maddox's/Soong's intentions with the Asha androids, or how their memories work. I loved Soji until she arrived on Coppelius... then her motivations seemed arbitrary. Riker alludes to her having Data's "head tilt", but I don't recall seeing it more than once? Don't the A.I. space worms know how to find us now? Were they really going to wipe out all biological life in the galaxy? Wouldn't that have have effects beyond simply saving the synthetics? I guess they're whisking the androids away to the negative zone so it doesn't really matter.

- I don't really care about the F-bombs, but most of them seemed kind of cheap and undeserved, especially when the frequency increased toward the end of the season.

- Did Picard really need to have the brain condition and be resurrected at the end? I feel like there was more than enough already on the line, and his mortality was on full display. Now we're also left with the pedantic question of whether this is the "real Picard" or just a copy of his consciousness. But, I guess we have that problem every time a character is sucked up by a transporter beam.

Anyway, B+. They managed to make it different from known Trek while still cramming a whole ton of Trek into it. The theme and titles are amazing. Jeri Ryan deserves her own show. (Picard makes it obvious that, if they don't create their own, a lot of these characters fall apart without their Starfleet families to hold them up, and I'd be happy for them to explore that further.)

[El Guapo]

Yeah, I pretty much agree with your take. Picard was very good, but not *amazing*, though a lot of my issues with it are similar to yours, and to some degree along the lines of I wish they had made different choices in a few areas.

Spoiler:

I agree with you on the Picard brain condition. The way that they ended it was kind of dumb and cheap, because it took the drama out of Picard's aging / dying. Also they inadvertently invented functional immortality, which should have *massive* implications for the Star Trek universe going forward but which I know is going to be 100% ignored going forward. I wish they had either not done that storyline at all, or if they had just had Picard die at the end and have each season of the show center around a different character (e.g., spend one season focused on Riker, one season on Seven, etc.).

I also agree that everyone was suddenly super chill about Agnes straight up murdering someone. Again, either they shouldn't have done it, or they should've had Agnes go full-on over to the Romulan side of the story (which can be totally justified, given that the robots do indeed try to get everyone in the universe killed).

[hepcat]

Yeah, I'm pretty much in agreement with every critique listed. But I still enjoyed it in spite of those faults, just as you both seem to have.

Spoiler:

The way that they ended it was kind of dumb and cheap, because it took the drama out of Picard's aging / dying. Also they inadvertently invented functional immortality, which should have *massive* implications for the Star Trek universe going forward but which I know is going to be 100% ignored going forward.

THIS was my biggest criticism. It was a cheap and stupid ending that I believe even Stewart didn't agree with (if some of the rumors are to be believed).

And I should have hated the inclusion of Elnor as he's the very model of the VASTLY overused "klingon" role in Star Trek and most Science Fiction shows like it (you gotta have the bad ass warrior in your crew, and he has to have a heart of gold), but the father/son relationship between Elnor and Picard actually made it work for me.

[Sudy]

I'm definitely looking forward to season two. I love the idea of Guinan returning, and hope the crew gels into more of a team. And I know it's a fanboy's dream, but I'd still like to see John de Lancie return. Preferably for the end of the series, whenever that happens. But I get the feeling that kind of grand story is contrary to what Stewart and the writers are trying to portray, and it was already done so perfectly in TNG.

[El Guapo]

Honestly I didn't love Elnor, as he seemed so out of place, as a functional Samurai in a sci-fi future. But the actor did a good job, and I didn't hate him either.

[hepcat]

As I said, I SHOULD have hated Elnor, but the relationship with Picard they built up, and the actor's ability to portray naivete without making it cloying, worked for me. It was a dangerous balancing act that could have fallen apart in lesser hands (I could easily see it becoming Forest Gump: Samurai*). That's not me saying it was a well written character. Far from it. I'm just saying it worked for me IN SPITE of being so dangerously close to being a fiasco.

*Life is like a box of sharp edged Katanas. You never know what you're going to ge...wait...yeah, you do.

[Sudy]

I liked him but found he had little depth after the beginning, and since he took part in the B-plot he didn't have enough opportunities to interact with the crew. Also, Elnor is a generic elf name. And... I kept thinking they were saying "Eleanor".

[hepcat]

I hear Elsinore.

But yeah, everything about that character should have spelled overused trope for me to the point of distraction. But darn it, my little heart would just swell two sizes every time he had a scene with Picard and he would act hurt or elated, depending on Picard's words.

[Sudy]

It felt strange but was appropriate to see the Romulans break out of their homogeneous mold. There was that one guy in the cafe with the classic haircut though, which amused me. Even in this series, there seems to be this disconnect between the Romulans being portrayed as classic Romans/Greeks and general ruthless strategists. The latter role seemed to be passed to the Cardiassians after TNG. Having a group based on samurai seemed out of place, but I feel there was a welcome intention to diversify the race.

[Rumpy]

One of my critcisms with Picard was that it often felt it wasn't going anywhere. And that if it broached subjects, it never adequately explored them like one would have explored them on TNG, instead being left to sidenotes in a margin. I do agree that most of world felt generic. I honestly felt they could have done a little better in developing that part of the world, ie the non-Starfleet ship, the non-Starfleet way of life, etc. Too much of it felt 'been there, done that' as it is.

Now that they've gotten the main scenario into play, I hope it gives them time to explore the new world Picard's found himself in, into more depth. I want to see more of his motivations, what's happened since he retired, the emerging politics that have sprung up since Romulus was destroyed. There's a great playground for them just on the basis of what occurred in the 2009 reboot, but I fear they won't really get into that other than minor references. I feel it's a perfect opportunity to shake things up. One thing they've hinted at via this season was Starfleet corruption. He's tried to get help from them and been shunned out due to past actions. Well, wouldn't it be neat if he could use his Diplomacy skills against them for once? For most of his life, he's been using it for them, so having it switch to having it be used against them would be an interesting way to study his character and explore the world that's changed. I'd love to see Starfleet over the course of the series slowly being diplomatically won over to his cause. I feel that would be more in character with him rather than the menace Starfleet currently makes him out to be.

[Sudy]

I guess Into Darkness left a bad taste in my mouth as far as corruption in Starfleet is concerned. As much as I love Peter Weller. (Different universe, I know.) I'd be happy enough to forget Romulus was ever destroyed, as well. That event is too "big"... it reshapes the entire universe. Just like the synth attack. But, it's the sandbox we've been given.

[Grifman]

Great news, Captain Pike (Anson Mount) is going to get his own Star Trek series:

https://www.cbs.com/shows/star-trek-dis ... nterprise/

I haven't' watched Discovery but I have seen some Youtube clips and followed fan reactions to Mount's Captain Pike and this may be what gets me to subscribe to CBS All Access. He was fantastic as Pike (in the excerpts I saw) and the fans really loved his story and performance. The description makes this sound like a newer version of TOS with just Pike replacing Kirk. It will have a female Number One and a young fresh out of SF Academy Spook. From what I have read this is going to be more of an episodic show focused in exploration and "strange new worlds". This just sounds like a great idea for show and I guess I am finally going to break down and subscribe for a last a bit to watch this and binge on Picard and Discovery.