Is it just me, or is Star Trek going the wrong way?

[Uhura's Song]

I have no issue with going darker, edgier, or serial. That does not bother me one iota. Now, how much I like it is another matter. Depends on how well it is done. I don't think there should be a monopoly on what Trek is/should be. What I like best or take from the show may not be what others do (positivity, humanity, equality, celebrating differences, sci-fi action, whatever). I have no issue with different flavors (DISCO, PIC, LD, SNW) out there.

BSG & The Expanse are brilliant. The Year of Hell is one of my favorite VOY episodes.

 

[Mudd]

Trek has gone in the dull, predictable, safe and unimaginative "way." It's an old franchise. Sometimes these things experience a creative renaissance, most often they just continue to churn out money.

Honestly, when I try to come up with examples of properties that got creatively better after decades they're mostly shows that either weren't very good or weren't very successful the first time around, or both. Battlestar Galactica and Lost In Space are two examples.

 

[Tim Thomason]

Star Trek isn't going in the wrong way. It's going in every way.

Do you want:
* Comedy? Lower Decks
* Drama? Discovery, Picard
* something even darker and grittier than what was before? Picard, Section 31
* or light-hearted fun and adventure? Strange New Worlds
* something in the TOS era? Strange New Worlds, Discovery, Section 31
* the TNG era? Lower Decks
* thirty years after? Picard, Prodigy
* the far future? Discovery, Academy
* a traditional starship, with a traditional Captain, and a classic crew? Strange New Worlds
* a new starship, with new crew and new adventures? Discovery, Lower Decks
* a continuation of old characters in their later years? Picard, Prodigy
* a unique setting, outside of dreary starships? Academy, Section 31

But none of the creators are creating something purposefully "wrong" (AFAIK, Roger Corman or Max Bialystock aren't in the litany of New Trek producers). Creatives create things that they enjoy and, more importantly, believe others will enjoy. You just enjoy different things. But that's okay! There'll be good and bad, right and wrong, Star Treks in the future. Just like there were right and wrong Star Treks in the past, pre-2017 or pre-2006 periods.

 

[fireproof78]

Just like there were right and wrong Star Treks in the past, pre-2017 or pre-2006 periods.

This.

 

[Mudd]

IOW, it's just a brand - like Campbell's soup.

 

[CorporalClegg]

Except, Campbell's is cheap and good for the price.

Current Trek is expensive and, well, not good for the price.

 

[Oddish]

Six bucks a month for unlimited binge watching... that's not too bad.

 

[plynch]

I do not dislike DSC now. Of course that was true at the starts of both previous seasons.

 

[CorporalClegg]

Six bucks a month for unlimited binge watching... that's not too bad.

You're missing the point.

Star Trek has always been Campbell's soup. The problem is now they take the same product place it in expensive, flashy packaging and charge three times as much for it. But it's still the same 1 can, 1 can of water formula underneath.

**During an era where there's an entire aisle of easily available gourmet soup.

 

[BillJ]

I do not dislike DSC now. Of course that was true at the starts of both previous seasons.

Discovery has definitely fooled me before.

 

[plynch]

In fact, I'd say I enjoy it again. Only thing keeping from going all in on the word "enjoy" is the forced emotionalism.

ymmv

 

[fireproof78]

Six bucks a month for unlimited binge watching... that's not too bad.

I'd take that over trying to to make sure I can watch it on cable or attend to record it. I call it a bargin, especially since there are other things on All Access that I watch.

I'm good.

During an era where there's an entire aisle of easily available gourmet soup.

There is very little of the "gourmet" that appeals.

 

[Brainsucker]

Wait until the next decade and we will get ST Discovery fans to shout "This is NOT STAR TREK!" To the next Star Trek series in the future.

 

[F. King Daniel]

Wait until the next decade and we will get ST Discovery fans to shout "This is NOT STAR TREK!" To the next Star Trek series in the future.

I recall fans saying TOS was only a rough blueprint, badly dated and not to be taken seriously and that TNG was the True Trek from which others should be judged.

 

[Mytran]

I recall fans saying TOS was only a rough blueprint, badly dated and not to be taken seriously and that TNG was the True Trek from which others should be judged.

Gene Roddenberry said something very similar in the novelisation of TMP.
New Trek has always retconned its previous incarnations

 

[Orphalesion]

The action scenes were good, IMO. The pod race, the fight between Maul and the Jedi, even the other battle scenes. And Qui Gon was a great character.

Honestly even as a kid I found the Pod Race to be the most boring part of the movie and way too long. I already don't like car races, so don't shove them into my s ience fiction.
I don't hate the prequel trilogy, particularly Revenge of the Sith is good. I don't mind midiclorians. I quite liked Padme as a character. I liked the Prequel version of Obi-Wan, I found Anakin's downfall in Episode 2 and 3 was handled rather well.
Though I think Anakin not having a biological father and being a special immaculate Force Christ child was really stupid.
(and no it doesn't matter if the expanded universe offers an explanation, I shouldn't have to read books and comics to understand what's going on in a movie)

But I would have vastly preferred it if Episode 1 had started with Anakin being a young adult instead of a kid and with the clone wars already beginning/underway. That way we could have had more of the good stuff from Ep2 and 3 and less of the random stuff from Ep 1

 

[plynch]

George wanted to rope in kids, for the next gen of SW fans.

 

[Lord Garth]

Wait until the next decade and we will get ST Discovery fans to shout "This is NOT STAR TREK!" To the next Star Trek series in the future.

I'm already resigned to the fact that this is The Peak for me with Star Trek. I've seen what's happened next to superfans of previous series and films who've been where I'm at right now. I'm hoping that when my time comes, I handle it better than a lot of them have. I stopped watching when I didn't like what B&B were putting out, so I hope to do the same again when I start thinking "This isn't like Discovery or Picard!"

 

[Oddish]

George wanted to rope in kids, for the next gen of SW fans.

Hence, Jar-Jar. How wude.

 

[Noname Given]

Current Trek is expensive and, well, not good for the price.

^^^
Welcome to how I felt after TNG premiered in 1987.