I would argue the rise of cinema style tv is why Trek movies have largely become irrelevant (and maybe to some extent other sci-fi franchises like Star Wars that have tv output along with movie output). In the older days, movie budget could achieve sci-fi special effects that you wouldn't find on the sci-fi tv show. Now with the rise of cheaper CGI, we have top level special effects in the tv shows and what made sci-fi movies special has now become commonplace, turning the movies into basically a 2 hour episode of said franchise tv shows. I don't expect Mandalorian and Grogu next year to be much different.
Spoilers Strange New Worlds General Discussion Thread
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You can't go back to that. Look at what SNW, Andor and other SW shows and shows like Stranger Things have done. The level of TV SFX is so high right now, if they go back to TNG level for nostalgia reasons and keep a bit more budget, the modern crowd will walk away because of the high standard they are now used to.
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There's a middle road where you can get excellent production values and VFX and still get more than 10 eps a season without breaking the bank.
The priority should be, IMO, maximizing the number of episodes per season.
Oh dear no. The priority are good stories, not how many. Quality over quantity.
It's like I always say, look back at the various 90s Trek shows, with 26 episodes a season, there were usually only about 10 good ones anyway. Or, there's the Futurama joke about TOS, 79 episodes, about 30 good ones. Which also works itself out to 10 good episodes a season. Though in the case of season 3, that might be being generous... 
I've always maintained that so long as the Futurama average is maintained I'm ok with Trek.
Not just Trek and Sci- Fi. Tv in general. Except for the bigger screen you can basically get movie quality product in tv shows these days. This isn't the days were your chosen to not watch "GoodFellas" instead of staying home to watch "Evening Shade."
Theoretically its possible, if the seasons are split into two 10-episode parts.
But then we’d get 3 seasons instead of 5.
imagine if the seasons were like the old days when episodes on most shows were at least 21 or 22 episodes even sometimes 23 episodes
althought before the standard between 21 and 23 episodes per season era the tv shows before that era used to be between 30 and 40 episodes per seasons
That would be terrible.
ya maybe it would be in the current 21st century era
but tv shows was not like that in the old days
One REALLY GREAT two-parter. So... Movies?
It's like I always say, look back at the various 90s Trek shows, with 26 episodes a season, there were usually only about 10 good ones anyway. Or, there's the Futurama joke about TOS, 79 episodes, about 30 good ones. Which also works itself out to 10 good episodes a season. Though in the case of season 3, that might be being generous...
I disagree. There are 20 good (or better) episodes in TOS S1 alone. Maybe more.
The City on the Edge of Forever, Balance of Terror, The Corbomite Manuever, Where No Man Has Gone Before, The Menangerie Pts 1 & 2, The Devil in the Dark, This Side of Paradise, A Taste of Armageddon, Arena, The Galileo Seven, Errand of Mercy, The Enemy Within, The Cage, The Return of the Archons, The Naked Time, Shore Leave, Tomorrow Is Yesterday, The Conscience of the King, The Squire of Gothos.
And Charlie X, Dagger of the Mind, and Court Matial are all just fine.
Heck, the best seasons of TNG & DS9 are loaded with good stuff (3-6 on both).
Take TNG S3, where the show started to really thrive. BOBW Pt 1, Yesterday's Enterprise, The Offspring, The Survivors, The Defector, Deja Q, The Enemy, The Most Toys, Sins of the Father, & Sarek is your 10. And entire NuTrek season of home runs or triples.
The good stuff beyond that is all just gravy. Sure, opinions may vary, but I found Who Watches the Watchers, Allegiance, Evolution, The Ensigns of Command, The Hunted, The Bonding, The High Ground, Captain's Holiday, Tin Man, and Transfigurations to all be pretty good or better.
To my way of thinking, that is 2+ seasons of NuTrek material in a single season, all of which is good or better. I will take that every time.
VOY was more hit and miss, but the stronger ENT seasons (3-4) had lots of good stuff. Prodigy easily had 15/20 good ones per season.
Sorry, I just don't buy that generalization of the longer seasons. Now, there were some seasons where what you describe certainly was true. But that has more to to with the show itself than the 26 episode format. Plenty of exceptions.
And with the serialized storytelling common now, there is only 1 story per season. The episodic shows and shows with more episodes had more stories and more development and less plot service. I will take that everyday over a clunker here and there.
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I feel like people forget that the "lesser" episodes in a 26-season are often doing good work too; they're letting you spend time with characters you like, in a world you enjoy. They're absolutely crucial to the texture of the work as a whole.
There's an artistry to long-running episodic TV which people are way too quick to dismiss nowadays.
There's an artistry to long-running episodic TV which people are way too quick to dismiss nowadays.
I only dismiss it because it's too much time. 26 is ridiculous.
especially in re-watches.
I don't mine longer shows when they're airing weekly, but years later if I want to rewatch a series, it's daunting.
I'm doing a Stargate SG-1 rewatch right now, and I usually skip half the episodes, depending on what they're about.
Besides, 26 was definitely way too much, even by 90s standards, where most other shows did 22-24 episodes. The Trek shows were the only ones consistently doing 26 each season. To their detriment, IMO.
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