Vaughn Armstrong is my favorite actor of all time, so I insist that he be given his due. 
Will DIS ever show the Constitution Class starship?
- Thread starter Salinga
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Vaughn Armstrong is my favorite actor of all time, so I insist that he be given his due.
I like Armstrong, going all the way back to "Heart of Glory". If I never see him in Trek again, it won't bother me in the slightest.
I wouldn't mind a guest appearance of a connie.
While I'm interested in seeing Discovery do its own thing, I guess I'm not entirely clear on why using TOS elements in modern form would be inherently negative. To use a Transformers example, Starscream and the other Seekers were given F-15 earth modes in the original series and that was consistent with the F-15 being a front line aircraft in the mid-80s. In the more modern IDW continuity, albeit with not the best degree of consistency, he's been updated to an F-22 design that still retains most of his classic design elements. It's not always used for his character model (he sometimes inexplicably has the G1 model or similar one between issues, and then switches back, and many other characters suffer this as well), but it works fine in a contemporary setting and no one's argued that the original version is too "outdated". Most fans aren't arguing either that having a modern form is a visual break/inconsistency for the characters. It would just be nice if IDW would use a given character model more consistently than they actually do.
Please bear in mind, as I've said elsewhere, I'm looking forward to Discovery. I don't think the production team should consider them bound or chained by TOS, but I do think there are elements they could use successfully if the goal is to have this series be a decade or so before and potentially lead into TOS. The Abramsverse has already done so successfully with things like the uniforms, while modifying other aspects for a modern audience. ENT, despite its own issues, had some very good ideas that were done well IMO (Shran and the Andorians, for example).
While I'm interested in seeing Discovery do its own thing, I guess I'm not entirely clear on why using TOS elements in modern form would be inherently negative. To use a Transformers example, Starscream and the other Seekers were given F-15 earth modes in the original series and that was consistent with the F-15 being a front line aircraft in the mid-80s. In the more modern IDW continuity, albeit with not the best degree of consistency, he's been updated to an F-22 design that still retains most of his classic design elements. It's not always used for his character model (he sometimes inexplicably has the G1 model or similar one between issues, and then switches back, and many other characters suffer this as well), but it works fine in a contemporary setting and no one's argued that the original version is too "outdated". Most fans aren't arguing either that having a modern form is a visual break/inconsistency for the characters. It would just be nice if IDW would use a given character model more consistently than they actually do.
Please bear in mind, as I've said elsewhere, I'm looking forward to Discovery. I don't think the production team should consider them bound or chained by TOS, but I do think there are elements they could use successfully if the goal is to have this series be a decade or so before and potentially lead into TOS. The Abramsverse has already done so successfully with things like the uniforms, while modifying other aspects for a modern audience. ENT, despite its own issues, had some very good ideas that were done well IMO (Shran and the Andorians, for example).
In broad strokes, the Shenzhou bridge seems already to be in agreement with the TOS Enterprise bridge. It's basically circular, with the CO in a central command chair that's ringed by consoles mostly facing away from the CO so that the CO can look over their shoulders from a central position. In front we have the viewscreen. Of course, it also evidently incorporates nuTrek sensibilities such as the facts that the viewscreen is in fact a window with an overlying display and that there are standing consoles close to the CO. The viewscreen window also seems to have a much greater arc. But at its core, it's basically a re-imagined TOS bridge.
That's great. It feels like Star Trek and an updated TOS. It makes me feel like I'm getting what I want.
The poster I was responding to had in mind a very rigid and specific fidelity to TOS, involving precise agreement with the floor plan (down to the mm?) and console profiles and basically reimagining only the console surfaces and screen contents and furniture. My response is that that is taking it so far that it becomes a liability.
There are many reasons why the exact TOS floor plan could be unsuitable. A tiny main viewscreen is perhaps the most obvious. A relationship between input and output devices that isn't as ergonomic as it could be is another; we have decades of broad popular experience with computer I/O devices that the designers of the TOS bridge lacked. Space for more actors is a third. A primary access port that does not involve getting on an elevator is a fourth, and so on. Not to mention, who cares for that much exact fidelity? Only a very, very small sliver of the viewing audience does. It would be a waste to pursue it, and it would only lock in faults that have been pretty thoroughly understood by fans over the decades.
I was addressing the extreme proposal. hope that clarifies my position.
I don't always agree with you, but with the sentiment above, I agree 100%!
Yep, that's fair. I wouldn't want a carbon copy of the configurations we saw in TOS either, I just think it would be cool to use some of those elements. There are plenty of possibilities.
I'd all but bet on it showing up...and probably in the last episode of the season--what better hook to get people to come back (or demand to bring the show back if that's becomes an issue)?
Last scene of the season:
Saru: "Captain, we've saved the Klingons and united the Empire, but, oh no! We are spiraling into the event horizon! I sense death!"
Burnham: "Full thrusters! Turn her about, Lieutenant! Hail Starfleet for rescue!"
Tyler: "Captain, there's a ship approaching... it's Starfleet. USS Enterprise, registry number NCC--"
Burnham: "Thank the Gods. Onscreen."
<Viewscreen shows Enterprise-J>
Burnham: "What the hell is that?"
<Credits>
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