I'm looking forward to SFA, a Trek show almost entirely unburdened by anything that has gone before (pun intended). Barring a few Disco characters and the EMH.Don’t like recasts or retcons? This new show Starfleet Academy should be right up your alley then.
Seriously though, the last rounds of marketing pushes have me more excited for the show than I originally anticipated. The fact that this will mainly be about brand new characters in a relatively new era mostly free of any baggage from previous shows give me hope that they’ll use the opportunity to create something fresh and unique. Mind you, I know this could still be a total flop, but right now the previews have me excited. What’s maybe not ideal is that the writers room looks very much like it’s staffed chiefly by veterans from Discovery and Picard. But I’ll remain cautiously optimistic that they’ll be able to make it work this time around. It’s a shame that with the Skydance/Paramount merger it very much looks like this won’t go beyond two seasons, regardless of whether it turns out to be good or bad.
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You already got that with Discovery's 3rd to 5th seasons.
And the viewership pretty much bailed.
At this point I am convinced both the Star Wars fandom and the Star Trek fandom invented hatewatching.
I like 92% of all live Trek. I also like the animated series....
The clip was okay, but it's not exactly the best thing ever. No one stood out to me as amazing. Aka seems fine. Braka... he could be a Ferengi, but keep everything else the same, and I wouldn't bat an eye. Read into that what you will. I think it's interesting that this clip chose to focus more on the adults than the cadets.
Sorry to talk about the actual clip itself, instead of conspiracy theories about other fans.
Sorry to talk about the actual clip itself, instead of conspiracy theories about other fans.
One of the issues with the clip is it sells the "Star Trek" element, but not the "Starfleet Academy" very well. We see three of the young actors, essentially gawking and/or reacting silently.
It very much seems like this is their attempt to draw in standard Trekkies, as opposed to much of the promotional material, which is playing up the CW-ish aspect of it.
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I agree. It looks like standard Star Trek made today. Aka seems like a woman of action, meaning she gets things done not fistfights. The rest of her crew, they look like teachers on a starship. I could see them as faculty in an actual school. True, it's not "the military!", but Star Trek has rarely been that from TNG onward, and I imagine it would be even less so by the 32nd Century, so I don't take issue with that. And here they are dealing with normal Star Trek things.
I'd say putting the Academy on a ship like the Athena is actually a good idea. It's a good way for students to gain hands-on experience, learning by doing. It makes the Academy seem kind-of, sort-of like a voc-tech school. You learn your trade, i.e. your specialty, and then you hit the ground running with it when you graduate as an Ensign.
The only issue I have with that is putting the cadets in danger on a regular basis. Unless dealing with hostile aliens is outside the norm for the Athena.
They really need to show more of the kids. I get that this clip was meant to bring in the traditional fans, but the cadets are who are going to make or break this show potentially. So, it's important to show them and to get us interested in them.
As far as the 90210 criticism others have had, it could be that. But it could also be like The Breakfast Club, where the kids couldn't be any less alike if they tried. I think it's going to be neither of those, judging by the poster of them. I've never watched a CW show but it's probably something where they all eventually get along. I'm sure there will be some relationship drama, but it won't be constant like on 90210. I only watched 90210 once ever and not by choice (long story), so most of what I know about the show comes from promos and trailers whenever I'd be watching something else on FOX.
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Keep in mind that Starfleet was, post-Burn, an independent, space-based organization where new crew was presumably trained on the job. While the Academy was officially reestablished, this might be something of a hybrid model as a sop to Earth - nominally HQed on Earth, but keeping to recent tradition, where Starfleet kept mobile in order to be safe.
Some of the promo pictures show people in United Earth uniforms, so presumably Earth-Starfleet tensions will still be a background thing.
Indeed. I mean, I don't think modern Trek picked many bad actors (save for perhaps Evan Evagoria), but there's always the possibility your main cast includes a dud, particularly when picking younger actors.
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I think we will see clips that sell different parts.
I liked much of the clip. Frankly, more than I enjoyed the first clips we ever got of DSC back in 2017.
in my experience CW-ish aspects would be very welcome.
Pretty much all of that hands on experience can also be gotten through holodecks.
The only thing that can't is the direct "do or die" feeling that Cadets shouldn't really be experiencing anyway.
That's because the ship was ugly.
Ok, the Athena is only marginally better. But still!
I can only assume you're a whale biologist.
One career choice.
Fully agreed.
Here is the thing: The 90210/CW/Wednesday/teenage-angst/whatever - vibe. Like it or not - this is what makes this an ACADEMY series.
This is what differentiates it from the other shows. So even if I normally don't whatch that stuff - this is completely on the money for this show.
Where this show goes wrong, IMO, is the Star Trek factor. The 31st century, as depicted (& arguably failed) on DIS, is so far removed from the "known" Trek universe - it's tropes , it's rules, it's vibes - it would be much more preferably they'd do a Ender's Game, (honest) Starship Troopers' Academy, or some new IP.
All the shoehorned references cannot hide that fact.
Those writers simply shouldn't write in established IPs then. That's part of the package deal of having that brand recognition.
If you don't respect Superman, you probably shouldn't direct a Superman movie.
As in based on the book or the various films? Because this or Space Cadet adaptation are my primary drivers for wanting Academy.
No. Respect is not a requirement for directing.
Do we have that vibe? I don't.
32nd Century. The 31st Century is when The Burn itself happened. DSC S3-S5 and SFA take place a century after, but that's just a nitpick.
I discussed my growing problem with the 32nd Century somewhere else. I might as well copy-and-paste it here and let the chips fall where they may.
The thing that's been bugging me about the 32nd Century is that I remember when "Calypso" was released and it made The Future seem so mysterious. We still had that with Discovery's first few episodes in The Future. Then, once Discovery reaches Starfleet, all the mystery was gone. Not a deal-breaker, though, I could live with it. Earth not being part of the Federation, Starfleet Command being in space, Vulcans and Romulans reunified and Vulcan renamed Ni'Var? I still didn't have a problem with that because at least it was different from the 23rd-25th Centuries. The Emerald Chain seemed like good rival for the Future Federation. So, even though it wasn't mysterious anymore, I was still okay with all of it.
But then we find out The Burn was caused by a fucking scream! And the Emerald Chain, a perfectly good enemy to have, is taken out in no time. Both those of left a huge black mark on the third season. But the next season is a whole new story. Right? Blank page. Right?
After that, Ni'Var can't rejoin the Federation fast enough, with Earth not too far behind, and the Federation is mostly back by the end of the fourth season. Okay. This is television, I get it. The status quo has to be restored. It's fine.
Then comes the fifth season. The Spore Drive is completely abandoned, even though it's a solution to warp drive. They tie heavily back into the 24th Century, making it not feel like it was 800 years ago. I'm not bothered by what they did with the Breen because almost nothing was done with them on DS9 until the very end. But by now, the 32nd Century is starting to look more and more like Just Normal Star Trek. Bit-by-bit, what's made anything unique about it has been taken away. And then "Calypso" is established as being 1,000 years after the 33rd Century. So, great. The Calypso Era (that's what I call it) is mysterious again. But where does that leave the 32nd Century?
Let's see. As of the beginning of SFA, Starfleet is based on Earth again and so is Starfleet Academy. The bridge of the new ship looks like it would fit right in next to the SNW Enterprise. There's nothing to suggest it's the Far Future. A bridge from the 32nd Century should look weird to us, it should seem very futuristic, and it we should feel a little disoriented as we get used to it. SFA isn't that.
I wanted to see more and learn more about the 32nd Century, but it looks to me like the more they reveal about it, the less unique it becomes. Which makes me a lot less curious about it than I was before. It should be the other way around where the more I find out, the more I want to know, and the more questions I have.
So, if anything, I think the 32nd Century has been becoming too much like the 23rd-25th Centuries. I didn't come to this conclusion all at once. It's something that I've been noticing bit-by-bit until it added up to what I'm now realizing.
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