What are your controversial Star Trek opinions?

Not sure how controversial this is but I've never liked Riker very much. I think (Jadzia notwithstanding, I haven't gotten that far in DS9 yet) Troi and Worf were a better-matched and more interesting couple than Troi and Riker.

 

Next to the divan and under your old dungarees?

 

Orville is the spiritual continuation of Star Trek.

 

I couldn't agree more. I'd like this post 100 times if it were possible.

 

Captain Janeway is like the Chuck Norris of Star Trek... consider that she has...
* Died 17 times... and still been around to make admiral.
* Called death a coward and ordered him to go back to hell.
* Put the smackdown on fear and made him afraid of her.
* Reformed the Q continuum two different times.
* Trashed the Borg in two timelines.
* Using a beaten, pulverized wreck of a starship, done in 30 seconds what Annorax's fancy pants timeship couldn't do in 200 years.
* Maintained cult leader allegiance from her crew, even the Maquis.
* And done it while getting less action than anyone in Starfleet except maybe Geordi LaForge or Harry Kim.

 

Orville is a fine series, it doesn't deserve to be used as a vehicle of hatred against current Trek.

 

Orville is Orville and Star Trek is Star Trek. Comparing the two is like taking the original Star Wars and using it as a baseball bat to Flash Gordon. It is not informative, it is not constructive and doesn't help other people under what you actually like about the show.

Controversial opinion-comparisons are pointless. Tell me what you like about a show not how another show did it so much better. This probably comes from being in retail for well over ten years and being told 'Well So-and-So store has this product." And the reaction is "We don't. Why are you not there instead of here bitching to rank and file about it?"

 

Yet, I hear plenty of "Orville is better Trek that Trek." If you consider Star Trek more a story telling process and less a brand, they have a point.

Assuming I was CBS. I could buy the rights to Dirty Harry, post process him into Trek uniforms and re-release the Film as Star Trek: Dirty Harry. That would not to my mind make it Star Trek, branding aside.

 

No they don't. They have a preference for a particular type of story. That has nothing to do with whether Star Trek *must* necessarily be that type of story (and there's absolutely no reason why it must be so and plenty of long accepted precedent that wasn't).

 

That is more of my thinking too. I refer to it as the "Star Trek box" and it basically traps Star Trek in to one particular mode of storytelling with no other avenues being considered. It is frustrating and simplistic view that Star Trek can only have stories told in that way and needlessly limits what was originally designed as a fairly multi-modal storytelling sand box.

 

I prefer optimism. I'm an unreconstructed Cambellite.

 

I am unabashedly optimistic. I don't need a TV show to inspire that. I work with humans on a daily basis to support building optimism, hope and personal responsibility to make changes. That's my bread and butter.

But, the flip side of my optimism is the fact that it takes hard work. I love TOS but even they acknowledged that humanity had to go through some harsh times before getting to that TOS level, and even then humanity still struggled. And that's why I value current Trek (and some other modern productions). They are not blind to the struggle itself, that becoming better isn't a transformation that magically appears but one that takes practice, recognition of weaknesses, and willingness to try something new.

If I struggle with anything with older Trek it's that the solutions are too easy. And maybe that's what some people need in entertainment is an easy solution and a warp away at the end. Maybe a lesson learned and then it sets. That sounds nice. It also doesn't sound like many humans I know.

Mileage will vary. Maybe there are those out there where Star Trek is the only bright spot. I don't know. I just know that optimism for me comes with the recognition of responsibility.

 

I would love to see a Quentin Tarantino Star Trek movie using footage from TOS episodes, taken out-of-context and changed into a new story. That would be the most hilarious thing ever. It would be my new favorite Star Trek movie.

See this mock trailer someone put together to see what I'm talking about.

 

LOfinL , and stolen.

 

"Green Blood, Green Women, and NAZIs!!!!!!"
Sign me up. I'd pay real money to see such a film.

 

I think it’s fair to compare The Orville and Star Trek (at least Berman era Trek) because the two are so similar.

 

Except that's not what happens. It is used as a sledgehammer to beat current Trek for not being Trek enough, or carrying Trek's spirit, or whatever fluff words are used to puff Orville up and look down on current Trek.

 

indeed it does. And that really is unfair to both shows.