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Attended the premiere - no spoilers

My reaction to the whole tribble thing:
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There are two issues here (that are worth caring about or not ;))

The first issue is whether or not tribbles were known "in-universe" to Federation people before "The Trouble with Tribbles"
The answer to that is "Sure -- why not?"


The other issue was raised by uniderth, and is this:
But it's an introduction for the audience as well. One rendered unnecessary by showing tribbles before hand. Like Enterprise showing Romulans destroys their introduction in "The Balance of Terror" or showing Anakin and Darth vader as the same person in the prequels ruins the reveal in "The Empire Strikes Back."
I have no good reply to that, because I really don't feel the same way about this introduction that he does.

I suppose in my mind the 50-year old TV show's introduction stands on its own, and having DSC give us tribbles again does nothing whatsoever to affect that 50-year old TV show.

For example, I don't think First Contact's use of Zephram Cochrane made Cochrane less meaningful just because TOS: Metamorphosis already introduced him to us 30 years earlier.
 
A suspect a good chunk of people who watch the Discovery premiere on CBS are going to recognise the tribble as being that little fluffy dead thing McCoy revived with Khan's super blood ;)
 
I have no good reply to that, because I really don't feel the same way about this introduction that he does.

I suppose in my mind the 50-year old TV show's introduction stands on its own, and having DSC give us tribbles again does nothing whatsoever to affect that 50-year old TV show.

For example, I don't think First Contact's use of Zephram Cochrane was less meaningful just because TOS: Metamorpahsis already introduced Cochrane to us 30 years earlier.
Right on.

TOS is still the original. It's pretty rare that someone produces a prequel that's actually meant to be watched first. Most contain a lot of self-referential moments that will slip right by anyone who hasn't watched the first installment(s). ENT's no different, and neither is DSC. Neither is trying to be "first". TOS was first and always will be.
 
A suspect a good chunk of people who watch the Discovery premiere on CBS are going to recognise the tribble as being that little fluffy dead thing McCoy revived with Khan's super blood ;)

I don't even know what that means.

It's pretty rare that someone produces a prequel that's actually meant to be watched first.

That makes zero sense to me, especially in terms of Star Wars which is specifically numbered Episodes 1, 2, and 3.
 
Just because Uhura didn't know what a tribble was doesn't mean *the Federation* didn't know what tribbles are. There are plenty of adorable little critters right here on Earth whose species names you may have never heard or have only heard once or twice, possibly without an image to associate the name with.
I’ll admit, there’s still something that’s not gelling 100% with me on that series, but I do find it entertaining.
I agree, but, at the same time, it's already gelling better for me than TNG, DS9, VOY, or ENT did during most of their first seasons, so I'm more than willing to let them have some shakedown time. ;)
 
Yes. Clearly.

But this:
UHURA: What is it? Is it alive? May I hold it?
(Jones puts it in her hand and it starts purring)
UHURA: Oh, it's adorable. What is it?
JONES: What is it? Why, lovely lady, it's a tribble.
UHURA: A tribble?
JONES: Only the sweetest creature known to man, excepting, of course, your lovely self.

Is meant to introduce not only the Enterprise crew, but we the audience, to what they are. If we've already seen them, then what's the point of the introduction? Just have Uhura walk up and say; "Oh, I see you have some tribbles there. I've always thought they were so cute. Are they for sale?"
TOS - "Balance of Terror" introduced the Romulans to teh Star Trek audience; but the Federation was well aware of them.

It's the same with Tribbles; yes TOS - "The Trouble With Tribbles" did introduce Tribbles to the audience and that no one on the 1701 was aware of gthem, , but it's very clear MANY in the Star Trek Prime Universe (and teh Federation itself) DID know about Tribbles as later in the same episode:

JONES: Captain Kirk, I'm mystified at your tone of voice. I've done nothing to warrant such severe treatment.
KIRK: Oh, really?
SPOCK: Surely you must have realised what would happen if you removed the tribbles from their predator-filled environment into an environment where their natural multiplicative proclivities would have no restraining factors.
JONES: Of course. What did you say?
SPOCK: By removing the tribbles from their natural habitat, you have, so to speak, removed the cork from the bottle and allowed the genie to escape.
JONES: If by that, you mean do they breed quickly? Of course, that's how I maintain my stock. Breeding animals is not against regulations, only breeding dangerous ones. And tribbles are not dangerous.
KIRK: Just incredibly prolific.
^^^
Read the boded line. How do you suppose Mr. Spock obtained the info about the Tribbles natural habitat? He probably did a search on Tribbles with the ships Library computer and got the info from it - meaning the Federation has nknown about Tribbles for some time.

I mean hell episode also introduced quadrotriticale (a type of wheat) to the audience; (and it seemed everyone else DID already know about it:
KIRK: (shows Chekov the packet of wheat) Mister Chekov, what do you make of this?
CHEKOV: Oh, quadrotriticale. I've read about this, but I've never seen any before.
KIRK: Does everybody know about this wheat but me?
CHEKOV: Not everyone, Captain. It's a Russian invention.
^^^Would fans be up in arms if one of the crates in the U>S.S. Discovery Hold read quadrotriticale? ;)

This isn't a situation where they are introducing something we know for certain was introduced to the Federation itself for the first time (along with the audience) like say, the Gorn race in TOS - "Arena"<--- The events of that episode clearly show that this was the first time any Starfleet ship from the Federation encounter the Gorn.
 
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TOS - "Balance of Terror" introduced the Romulans to teh Star Trek audience; but the Federation was well aware of them.

It's the same with Tribbles; yes TOS - "The Trouble With Tribbles" did introduce Tribbles to the audience and that no one on the 1701 was aware of gthem, , but it's very clear MANY in the Star Trek Prime Universe (and teh Federation itself) DID know about Tribbles as later in the same episode:


^^^
Read the boded line. How do you suppose Mr. Spock obtained the info about the Tribbles natural habitat? He probably did a search on Tribbles with the ships Library computer and got the info from it - meaning the Federation has nknown about Tribbles for some time.

I mean hell episode also introduced quadrotriticale (a type of wheat) to the audience; (and it seemed everyone else DID already know about it:

^^^Would fans be up in arms inf one of the crates in the U>S.S. Discovery Hold read quadrotriticale? ;)

This isn't a situation where they are introducing something we know for certain was introduced to the Federation itself for the first time (along with the audience) like say, the Gorn race in TOS - "Arena"<--- The events of that episode clearly show that this was the first time any Starfleet ship from the Federation encounter the Gorn.
Yep!
 
That makes zero sense to me, especially in terms of Star Wars which is specifically numbered Episodes 1, 2, and 3.
It's pretty simple; when filmmakers make a story that takes place before another story already released, they understand that no matter what number they give this installment, it's obvious that it didn't come first. So they don't act like it has. They include spoilers to stuff that was a twist in the initial outing.

I mean, if you watch Star Wars as filmed, you get the shock of "Wow, Darth Vader is Luke's FATHER??" but if you watch them by number, you just go "well, now he knows".
 
Wait, I'm sure I saw a thread where that's already been settled! :lol:
Yes, I'm not living that one down, it would seem. Having re-read it, I realize I said it differently than intended. I was mainly hoping to address the concerns that it was a reboot or would ignore canon. David Mack can attest that isn't true, but yeah, I did seem to be suggesting that if David Mack liked it then we all should.

Look, I'm admitting I screwed it up! :eek::eek:
 
^^^Would fans be up in arms inf one of the crates in the U>S.S. Discovery Hold read quadrotriticale? ;)

Dude, I already got the table ready for flipping.

:techman:

It's pretty simple; when filmmakers make a story that takes place before another story already released, they understand that no matter what number they give this installment, it's obvious that it didn't come first. So they don't act like it has. They include spoilers to stuff that was a twist in the initial outing.

Hmm. I guess I'm just not into that sort of stuff. If I'm watching something that is intended to be a pre sequel. Then I expect the those stories to maintain narrative continuity with the rest of the series.

I mean, if you watch Star Wars as filmed, you get the shock of "Wow, Darth Vader is Luke's FATHER??" but if you watch them by number, you just go "well, now he knows".

To me watching them out of numerical order makes no sense. They are clearly intended to be the first parts of the story.

Which is one of the reasons I think the prequels suck. They completely destroy the narrative flow of 4, 5, and 6.

To be a good prequel (aside from all the obvious issues) they should have kept all the reveals of the later movies intact. So if you watch the films in order 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 you would still get the "Wut this little annoying green guy is really a Jedi master?!?!" and "Wut Vader is Luke's Father?!?!" and "Wut Leia is Luke's sister?!?!"
 
That makes zero sense to me, especially in terms of Star Wars which is specifically numbered Episodes 1, 2, and 3.

If in your mind it makes no sense to have the Reveal in a 1980 film that Vader is Luke's father, then have a 2005 film that shows us a young Vader being the father of Luke, then I don't have any response to that position.

Let's leave it as we agree to disagree".
 
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If in your mind it makes no sense to have the Reveal in a 1980 film that Vader is Luke's father, then have a 2005 film that shows us a young Vadar being the father of Luke, then I don't have any response to that position.

Not just that, but a 2005 film intended to take place prior to the 1980 film. The year it was made is irrelevant.

Let's leave it as we agree to disagree.

No. Let's agree that we must endlessly debate and waste precious hours of our lives in pointless arguements over visual entertainment that in twenty years will undoubtedly be rebooted and dumped into the trash bin of history.

Need moar table flips!

:ouch:
 
They’re essentially competing for viewers. So it matters for viewership and economics. And critical press. IMHO Discovery is far better.
I don't get why they're competing for viewers. People aren't allowed to watch both? Heaven forbid that time when people watched a number of shows in the same genre over the course of a week...
I'll be watching both for sure! :techman:
 
Agreed. So much nitpicking and nobody here except the OP has even seen it yet.

How dare we discuss the known details of the series! :rolleyes:

Just because Uhura didn't know what a tribble was doesn't mean *the Federation* didn't know what tribbles are. There are plenty of adorable little critters right here on Earth whose species names you may have never heard or have only heard once or twice, possibly without an image to associate the name with.

Seems like Federation Google would have given them all they needed. Why would McCoy need to do anything more than that to ascertain what makes them tick?

Read the boded line. How do you suppose Mr. Spock obtained the info about the Tribbles natural habitat? He probably did a search on Tribbles with the ships Library computer and got the info from it - meaning the Federation has nknown about Tribbles for some time.

Common sense? Usually good things don't happen when you take a wild animal out of its natural habitat.
 
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