TNG Returns!

[JoeZhang]

Imagine for a second they pull a Logan and have Picard's entire Next Gen crew die off-screen somewhere between Nemesis and now.

I certainly think that at least some of them will be dead - instantly tells the audience that is not TNG 2.0 and can be part of the back story for why Picard left Starfleet - e.g. the Borg attacked years ago and they won but the Enterprise and Titan were lost with Picard being one of the few survivors.

 

[MrPointy]

They'll kill off Picard at the end of the series in the same way they killed off Data.

 

[jaime]

They'll kill off Picard at the end of the series in the same way they killed off Data.

Of course. Stewart won’t have to arm wrestle Spiner for who gets the death this time.

 

[Kop]

Do you know what...life is too short to be worried about this.

Picard is back....and I'm MEGA HYPED whatever it is.

 

[Jedman67]

Orville works because it sells itself as a scifi-show bringing back the bright optimism of 80's tv (i.e. TNG) while still tackling serious issues. Its not "camp" but TNG is quite explicitly an inspiration.

 

[Mudd]

Orville works because it sells itself as a scifi-show bringing back the bright optimism of 80's tv (i.e. TNG) while still tackling serious issues. Its not "camp" but TNG is quite explicitly an inspiration.

The narrative is more emulative of Trek TOS than of TNG at it's best, which is the real reason I'm so fond of it.

Short stories, competently told, is not a strength of modern Trek and certainly not of STD.

 

[Jedman67]

The narrative is more emulative of Trek TOS than of TNG at it's best, which is the real reason I'm so fond of it.

Short stories, competently told, is not a strength of modern Trek and certainly not of STD.

Although i do enjoy the serial format, i wish it were a little less constrained.

 

[Mad Jack Wolfe]

In comparison to Discovery, that isn't much of a bar to clear.

Nah, they'll just treat it as a limbo competition.

 

[Mudd]

Although i do enjoy the serial format, i wish it were a little less constrained.

It was ridiculous for STD to try to pull off the serial format last season because to do it well requires the writing staff to know where they're going. They have to have a map.

Instead, what the folks at STD were doing - and they're far from alone in this - was getting a script out that they had to know had real logical issues and dropped threads and saying "we're going to address this in a few weeks" while having only the most general of notions how.

And then they'd have the suits coming in and telling them - "you haven't done a planet story. Drop everything and do a damned planet story" right in the middle of the year.

That don't work.

 

[WarpFactorZ]

Have you actually watched the show? It's not presented as camp.

Of course -- I love Orville. But the set design is an obvious and intentional copy of 1980s TNG style. It doesn't try to look like a modern show, but rather tries to recreate the TNG feel to cash in on the nostalgia of old folks like me who grew up on Trek. Even the music is trademark TNG.

Ergo, it's camp.

 

[jaime]

Of course -- I love Orville. But the set design is an obvious and intentional copy of 1980s TNG style. It doesn't try to look like a modern show, but rather tries to recreate the TNG feel to cash in on the nostalgia of old folks like me who grew up on Trek. Even the music is trademark TNG.

Ergo, it's camp.

That’s not camp.
Also.
The music is decidedly not TNG. it’s more movie era in places, eighties sf movies when not specifically Trek.

 

[mos6507]

Of course -- I love Orville. But the set design is an obvious and intentional copy of 1980s TNG style. It doesn't try to look like a modern show, but rather tries to recreate the TNG feel to cash in on the nostalgia of old folks like me who grew up on Trek. Even the music is trademark TNG.
Ergo, it's camp.

Retro by itself isn't necessarily camp. It's camp if the audience is being asked to laugh at it. I don't get the sense that The Orville is asking you to ROFL over the beige carpeting or the fact that most of the shots actually use (horror of horrors) a tripod. I get the sense that Seth just wanted to do things his way and not kowtow to modern fashion trends. In its own way it's the same as Quentin Tarantino insisting on shooting Hateful Eight in 70mm and then trying to get a few theaters to project it that way. That doesn't mean a lot of people won't laugh at it the same way people might laugh at a guy walking down the street with bell-bottoms, but that's not the authorial intent. It's really more homage than camp.

I second the response about the music, BTW. The music may employ one or more TNG veterans but they were unshackled from the "sonic wallpaper" edict of Rick berman. The music is the best television music in many year and really should win an Emmy.

 

[jaime]

Retro by itself isn't necessarily camp. It's camp if the audience is being asked to laugh at it. I don't get the sense that The Orville is asking you to ROFL over the beige carpeting or the fact that most of the shots actually use (horror of horrors) a tripod. I get the sense that Seth just wanted to do things his way and not kowtow to modern fashion trends. In its own way it's the same as Quentin Tarantino insisting on shooting Hateful Eight in 70mm and then trying to get a few theaters to project it that way. That doesn't mean a lot of people won't laugh at it the same way people might laugh at a guy walking down the street with bell-bottoms, but that's not the authorial intent. It's really more homage than camp.

I second the response about the music, BTW. The music may employ one or more TNG veterans but they were unshackled from the "sonic wallpaper" edict of Rick berman. The music is the best television music in many year and really should win an Emmy.

Is there a soundtrack out yet? I really want it xD

 

[mos6507]

Is there a soundtrack out yet? I really want it xD

Not that I know of. Unfortunately physical media is dying and soundtracks have always been a niche so who knows when we might see something. Hopefully a Trek-friendly label like LaLaLand could do a box set when the show finally wraps.

 

[MakeshiftPython]

It's already being done on The Orville and the public accepted it. So the idea that it won't sell is false. Not saying it should go that route, just that retro is indeed a viable option.

That's fine for THE ORVILLE as its ultimately a Seth MacFarlane comedy that's basically a riff on TNG, hence the even lighting and wooden panels. I however expect Trek to progress, not regress.

Yes, a visual identity SEPARATE from the abomination of Discovery.

I really think Kurtzman and co. have very specific (and wrong) notions of how to make Trek look contemporary, something that is likely to permeate all the Trek shows. Pulse phasers, viewscreens as windows, god-awful wardrobe ideas like half-collars, kinked camera angles, overly high-contrasty and FX-laden shots, constantly swooping camera movement for the sake of camera movement. That sort of stuff has to be quarantined off in Discovery and not bleed into these other shows.

There were fans in the 80s who hated the visual identity of TNG. Even Matt Jeffries compared the Enterprise-D to a Winnebago. Of course there will always be fans who intensely dislike the look of a current show. I'm much more concerned of the writing rather than the surface level details.

 

[Tom]

Can't wait for 'Star Trek: Picard' ! I might have to do a re-watch of TNG again

I wonder if the tone will be closer to Discovery or a bit brighter.

 

[Jayson1]

Maybe now they will finally give people what they want and that is a Picard with hair. One of those long beards people seem to be into these days. Maybe a poneytail and give him a big scar on the top of his bald head to show he has been through alot since we last saw him. Maybe a eye patch over his left eye and the faces of the TNG crew are shown as tatto's all over his body.

Jason

 

[Greg Cox]

I always assumed that THE ORVILLE looked like TNG for that same reason that YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN looks like an old black-and-white Frankenstein movie. That's part of the joke, and, yeah, for nostalgia's sake.

I don't get the impression that the Picard show is going to be about nostalgia.

 

[Mudd]

I think it's because they know that their audience doesn't think much of the look of current Trek.

 

[Jayson1]

Their might be some crossover stuff with the "Discovery" look but since it's the same people I think that will only make them want to find away to make each show look different. Two "Discovery" looking shows won't benefit either show. I think we will see a difference much in the way you could see some difference between TNG and DS9. Part of me thinks ironically the show might even feel more retro than the prequel to move away form the super futuristic tech people expect from a 24th century show. I always had this theory that futher you set a show in the future the more contempoary your look usually has to be yet if you set something in the near future you can do super futuristic stuff because the contemporary setting will naturally ground it in away that makes it still relatable.

Jason