Now they have the daunting task of uniting the FX houses as well as the Klingon houses. All down hill from here. But seriously, this is the first Trek of an all new era in terms of production. It makes sense that there will be many more problems before this show launches. It'll get there. Also, if the TOS remastered and the DSC teaser are any indication, external FX houses are the right choice.
The ships may have been done, but the planet of the week would depend on the script and other space/ground VFX could not be easily cached.
Not entirely true. Depending on the needs of the production overall, a library could be built of the various sfx that would need to be done and just render on command.
And TNG (back in the day) DS9 (back in the day) VOY (TO this day as far as I'm concerned - I dislike VOY)
Yeah... but I'm assuming you made that decision *after* seeing some of Voyager. I remember a little bit of poo-pooing before TNG came out - it was going to ruin TOS - but only a *very* little, because mostly people were excited to have new Trek, and also, my exposure to people whose opinion I could hear was limited to my friends, the comic shop, and a few comic conventions. By the time DS9 began, I was on the 'net, but even then, there was very little negativity - probably less than for TNG, because TNG had proven that more Trek could be *good* Trek. What few critical comments I remember seemed more like *concern* as to whether or not a "To Boldly Go" show could work on a station that didn't go anywhere. I remember a little more negativity leading up to Voyager, but even then it was more concern than Comic Book Guy stuff - concern about whether or not Trek was reaching a saturation point by keeping two shows going at the same time. Opinions about the elements of the show itself were very positive, as I recall - until everyone actually saw the first episode. Something magical for Internet trolls and the hordes of negativity monsters happened a little less than 2 years after Voyager premiered - December 1st, 1996, to be exact: AOL became the first nationwide Internet Service Provider to offer unlimited access for a monthly rate. Before that, the Internet had been inhabited mostly by the technically savvy, celebrities, and other wealthy type persons. But by the time TrekBBS got up and running, and we began posting about rumors leading up to Enterprise, the 'net was well on its way to being the common utility we know today - for better and for worse. (Slightly to one side, but February 1996 was also when Fox News premiered, and the major news channels - including them - began to become increasingly partisan. Partisan news and unlimited web access in their infancy that year, still too small to influence much, and it seems like that was also the last year that we had an actual CIVIL campaign season for the Presidential election. Coincidence? )
A show that features a black woman, an Asian woman, a gay guy, and five alien characters -- CBS clearly hates straight white men! Also, how dare they have a black woman as the lead, but not have her be the captain! And, as if it's not bad enough they expect us to PAY to watch this thing, now we're probably going to have to pay an even higher subscription fee to cover the costs of these two effects teams, and I have it on good authority CBS is going to QUADRUPLE the amount of commercials! And I bet this outside team won't even be able to copy the exact look of the effects in "The Cage", meaning continuity and the Prime Universe will have been permanently ruined! (That's all I got...)
Managing to get the "PC agenda" from both sides (I.e. simultaneously complaining that something has both too much and not enough diversity) - truly a stroke of genius, I doff my hat to you!!! dJE
Over-react much? Jeez! Seems like it might be a good idea to actually watch the show first; just saying.
I think one clear downside of all these delays is it encourages fans to split into optimist/pessimist camps. If fans are going to argue it would be better to have something concrete to disagree about. A little more transparency rather than JJ-style Mystery box would go a long way. What we've seen so far is not particularly substantive, IMHO. A 1970s style ship design, gigeresque Klingons and a plywood captain's chair. Big whoop.
But that would mean the fans are entitled to something, they're not. Shows are delayed, problems arise, the general public is not briefed on every issue.
This is a show with a built-in, dedicated fanbase. CBS is trying to use the show to grow the fanbase and promote their online subscription service. Providing some info to create hype would not be completely unwarranted.
A fandom that is also a liability and nearly impossible to please. Enterprise pandered to them too and failed, the movies increasingly tried to pander to them and grew worse for it. They want a newer, larger audience. The fans really overestimate their importance in all this.